This year marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic, curvy Coca-Cola bottle, designed in part by Alexander Samuelsson. The Swede worked at Surte glassworks near Gothenburg and immigrated to the U.S. in 1883.
In 1915 he made his mark with the help of plant supervisor Earl R. Dean in the design of the Coca-Cola bottle at the Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana. (A design whose popularity was also immortalized by another Swede, Haddon Sundblom, who created the Coca-Cola advertising with images of Santa Claus in the 1930s: I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick).

Samuelsson was a senior manager at Chapman Root Bottling and his name is on the patent, though he didn’t get rich with the design (business owner Chapman J. Root became the multi-millionaire). The bottle, modeled after a kola nut — one of the ingredients the flagship product was named for — became one of the world's most famous, most iconic and timeless product packages. The design, considered genius because it was easy to grip, looked good and the glass didn’t break if it was dropped, was initially available in blue, green and clear glass. The bottles are smaller today but still hold the shape it was given 100 years ago.