This is the Stanley Heritage Classic Vacuum Bottle, it’s one of the classic designs from the age-old American company that has been put back into production with a traditional design but modernized construction.
For the uninitiated, vacuum flasks and bottles like this have a two-wall design with a vacuum in-between them, this vastly reduces heat/cold transfer and means that the fluids you put inside stay hot (or cold) for many hours longer than they would otherwise. This make them perfect for carrying things like hot coffee and tea – which is what most owners use them for.
The Stanley Heritage Classic Vacuum Bottle is made from 18/8 stainless steel, it’s BPA free, and its designed to be both leakproof and packable. Image courtesy of Stanley.
History Speedrun: Stanley
Stanley was founded by inventor William Stanley Jr. in 1913 – he was a prolific electrical engineer but he’s best-known today for creating the revolutionary all-steel vacuum bottle. Before this, vacuum-insulated bottles typically used glass liners, which were fragile and not well-suited to rough handling.
Stanley’s breakthrough idea was to build a double-walled steel container with a vacuum layer between the walls, providing thermal insulation for the fluids inside but offering much improved durability.
Initially, Stanley bottles were aimed at professionals who worked outdoors, particularly in industries like railroads, construction, logging, and oil drilling. The tough nature of the design made it ideal for these sort of environments, and it quickly gained popularity across North America.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Stanley bottles were common among blue-collar factory workers who relied on them to keep coffee hot for the duration of their oftentimes long shifts.
During World War II, the Stanley bottle saw widespread use among American soldiers and with the industrial workers involved in the war effort. In the post-war years, the brand expanded its product line to include lunch boxes, cook sets, and larger thermoses, still maintaining its utilitarian working class image.
Today, the Stanley brand remains one of the best-known in its market segment, if not the best-known outright. In the 2020s the Stanley Cup became a status symbol of sorts, with people waiting in long lines to buy one, and prices on the aftermarket for rare versions reaching borderline-obscene levels.
The Stanley Heritage Classic Vacuum Bottle
The Stanley Heritage Classic Vacuum Bottle is one of the company’s best-known designs, with its 18/8 stainless steel construction and Hammertone Green finish, and its collapsible handle for easy transport.
The double wall stainless steel design can keep fluids hot or cold for 24 hours, and iced beverages can stay cold for up to 5 days. Image courtesy of Stanley.
Rather than using a glass internal vacuum section, Stanley uses a double wall stainless steel design that makes it far tougher and less likely to break. This version comes in both 1.1 quart and 2 quart versions, both of which come with a wide neck for easy filling, and a cap that doubles as a cup when you need it.
It’s now for sale on the official Stanley Amazon store here, and it’s 100% BPA-free.
Images courtesy of Stanley
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
