I currently have two bottles of maple syrup in my cabinet (which I just learned I should actually be storing in the refrigerator). One is a Costco-sized plastic jug, the other is a dainty glass flask, and both have the same teeny-tiny handle stuck on the side—roughly the size and shape of a baby squirrel ear.
Obviously, I pick them up by grabbing the whole bottle, because what other option is there? If you’ve ever attempted to lift a full jug of syrup using just that adorable little loop, you already know it’s less “functional handle” and more “decorative earring for your breakfast condiment.”
“The current bottle shape, complete with the little handle, has been around for well over 100 years, and probably longer,” says Norman Anderson, 97, of Anderson’s Maple Syrup in Cumberland, Wisconsin, who also happens to be a member of the International Maple Hall of Fame. (Yes, that’s a real thing, and yes, I absolutely want to visit it.) “I remember when syrup used to come in a ceramic jug—a crock—and of course that had a handle. As time passed, it evolved into a glass bottle.”
But why this handle? Was it designed for elves? I asked Norman and his son Steve Anderson, the third-generation syrup boss at Anderson’s, to walk me through the history of the iconic syrup jug and answer the age-old question: Why the elf handle? Turns out, the answer is a little sticky—pun absolutely intended. Keep reading.
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What’s the history of the maple syrup bottle?
Let’s rewind to the 1940s, when a man named Brooks D. Fuerst of Sylvania, Ohio, had a vision. That vision? A squat, round-bellied bottle with a disproportionately tiny handle designed to hold syrup. Fuerst applied for a United States patent in June 1949, and by 1951, he was granted Design Patent USD162147 (descriptively named “jug or the like”).
But even earlier, in 1922, a man named Joseph Klein had patented a similar bottle for the Little Brown Jug Products Company, complete with its own wee little handle. So why does Fuerst get most of the credit? Who knows. Either way, neither man was reinventing the wheel—or the jug.
Long before the patents, everything from molasses to moonshine was traditionally stored in clay or ceramic crocks with big, chunky handles—ones you could actually use, Norman says. Naturally, people used them for syrup because they were durable, reusable and designed for pouring syrup by the gallon (sometimes directly into your beard).
How the bottle evolved with the syrup industry
By the mid-1800s, maple syrup had grown from a seasonal, small-scale farm staple into a full-blown regional industry in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada. Families tapped sugar maples in the spring, boiled the sap over roaring fires and stored the precious syrup in those trusty ceramic jugs. Syrup was sold locally, bartered or gifted, and its container became a symbol of rustic authenticity and homemade goodness.
As production scaled and packaging modernized in the early 20th century, glass bottles took over, improving shelf life and letting consumers admire the rich amber color. But producers didn’t want to give up the warm, homespun charm of the old crocks. So they kept the jug shape … and somewhere along the line, the handle shrank.
Why? Perhaps it was a marketing decision. “What if we made it look like an old-timey jug … but make it glass … and make the handle hilariously tiny?” someone likely said. And boom: The maple syrup bottle as we know it was born.
Ironically, most syrup bottles today aren’t even glass—they’re plastic, mass-produced and machine-filled. But that tiny, useless handle? Still hanging on.
Why do maple syrup bottles have tiny handles?
Basically: It’s cute, it’s traditional and it sells more syrup. “Marketeers didn’t want to lose the style and nostalgia of the old crock, so they kept the handle and it is still there today,” Norman says. Let’s break down the old-time charm.
It’s all about nostalgia
That dainty little handle isn’t there to help you pour syrup on your pancakes—unless you have toddler-sized hands and superhuman wrist strength.
“The bottle shape is a nostalgic look reminiscent of the old gallon-type glass and clay jugs,” Steve says. “We realize it doesn’t have much function, but somehow it feels wrong to not have it. It’s kind of like a penny—it really doesn’t do anyone any good, but we’re used to having it.”
It sells more syrup
The handle is there to make you feel things. Warm, fuzzy, rustic things. And that feeling sells syrup.
“This design gives a nostalgic feeling that our industry has had for generations,” Steve says. So much so, that he says even imitation brands copy the style to hitch a ride on the warm, maple-scented coattails of tradition.
It’s tradition, plain and simple
Sometimes a handle is just a handle … and sometimes it’s a cultural artifact. “It’s been around so long, people expect to see it,” Norman says. And once people associate a shape with a certain kind of quality, you don’t mess with it. Unless you’re trying to start a syrup revolution, and let’s be real, no one wants to fight that sticky battle.
Does the design signify anything?
Only that you’re holding a vessel of sugary gold. A lot of people assume the tiny handle is a sign that the syrup is “real.” It’s not.
“I’ve seen imitation or flavored syrups use the same or similar bottle,” Steve says. “It’s just their way of using the same nostalgic feeling.” The jug-style bottle is used “heavily all over the world where pure maple syrup is sold,” he adds, and it’s just as beloved in Canada as it is in the U.S.
Even outside North America, syrup makers rely on the shape for one reason: instant rustic credibility. That tiny handle practically whispers: This is high-quality, hand-crafted syrup, probably harvested by someone in flannel. But that might be a sweet, syrupy lie.
The only way to know whether your syrup is legit is to ignore the handle and check the label. The ingredient list should only include “maple syrup,” but too many have high-fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient.
What’s the future of the tiny-handled bottle?
If the longevity of the Andersons is any indication, the bottle will be with us for years to come. Steve is the third generation to run Anderson’s Maple Syrup; his father, Norman, now 97, was the second. “Maple syrup was always sort of a cottage industry until the last 20 years or so—and then it exploded,” Norman says. Steve adds that other than a few large companies, most real maple syrup businesses are still family-owned operations, like theirs.
“Last we talked about it, [my dad] couldn’t even remember what made our family choose that bottle design in the first place—it was just normal—and he is a little baffled where the newfound interest is coming from,” Steve laughs.
And maybe that’s the beauty of it. The handle doesn’t need to be functional. It doesn’t need to be symbolic. It just needs to be familiar. A quiet reminder of pancakes with your grandparents, Saturday-morning cartoons and the sacred childhood ritual of pouring way too much syrup and pretending it was an accident. (And if you want to do that while gripping the tiny handle between your thumb and index finger like an adorably ridiculous teacup? More power to you.)
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Sources:
- Steven Anderson, CEO of Anderson’s Maple Syrup, Inc.; phone interview, Aug. 29, 2025
- Norman Anderson, International Maple Hall of Fame member; phone interview, Aug. 29, 2025
- USDA: “Timeless and Thoroughly Modern: Maple Syrup Production in the Twenty-first Century”
- Google Patents: “USD162147S: Jug or the like”
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