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New History Center Exhibit Marks Heinz's 145th Anniversary

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The giant neon ketchup bottle atop Heinz History Center points the way to a fascinating exhibit.

Joined by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, History Center President Andy Masich unveiled a towering "ketchup bottle" made of… ketchup bottles.

The exhibit, which opens Saturday, marks the 145th anniversary of the H. J. Heinz Company.

"You'll find out about how the world's greatest food company got its start," Masich says. "A little boy, 10-years-old, selling produce from his mother's garden in Sharpsburg."

Young Henry J. Heinz worked his way from a basket to a wagon and kept on growing, eventually founding a revolutionary food company that boasted of "57 Varieties."

But Heinz already had way more than 57 varieties when the company opened in 1869. The owner just happened to like that number. Today, the company sells 5,700 products in 200 countries.

Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees, from Brazil, says the History Center was one of his first stops in Pittsburgh.

"Last summer," he says, "I was new in town. I wanted to understand the city, the history, and so on. So I came here and spent an entire afternoon. It was fascinating."

"I love the commercials from the past," Masich says.

From the 1950s, eating pickles, to Carly Simon's "anticipation."

They poured everything they had into this exhibit.

"For the first 57 days of the exhibit, if you come, you'll get a free pickle pin," the museum president says.

And visitors will have a chance to relish a Pittsburgh icon.

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