Necks, Long and Red

[Al Dente]

Off-topic, and politically incorrect, but I'll say it anyway: I'm convinced longnecks were invented for the sole purpose of drinking while driving - you can pinch the neck with two fingers, and tilt the bottle upward to allow the beer to flow while keeping your head perfectly level and focused on the road.

Is this correct, or do I have an overactive imagination?

I think you're right. It wasn't too long ago when you could still legally drive with an open container in Texas.

[mktye]

I think you're right. It wasn't too long ago when you could still legally drive with an open container in Texas.

To drive this further off-topic...

While at A&M, there was a drive-thru liquor store right next to my apartment building. However, you could not buy alcohol, not even beer or wine, on Sundays in that county.

[MBK]

To drive this further off-topic...

While at A&M, there was a drive-thru liquor store right next to my apartment building. However, you could not buy alcohol, not even beer or wine, on Sundays in that county.

And drive-thru daiquiri shops were commonplace in Louisiana when I was growing up as well. The law, as far as I remember, was that a cup with a plastic lid and a straw was NOT an open container. Good times.

[The Leaver]

...and all this time I thought longnecks were for ready-made weapons in bar fights and playing slide guitar. Ever hear the hank Williams, Jr. song, "Why Can't We All Just Get A Longneck?" Classic.

[dinwiddie]

Actually, the style was developed when bottles were hand blown. The typical "export" bottle (the exported it from St. Louis to the west after pasturization of beer was developed and beer could be shipped and stored easily) was developed to ease filling since it allowed more control of the head or foam. Bottles in those days were rare and usually refilled often, and often with things other than beer. They developed from the experience of making wine bottles, expecially champagne bottles, and needed to be strong enough to have a carbonated beverage in them and still be easy to stopper. When machine blown bottles were developed, the shape was fairly standardized and is still in use. Of course, better glass and machine blown techniques now allow for different shapes, but the long neck was the most common from about the 1870s on until the 1960s or so, and still is very the prefered style for smaller bottling lines.