When the famous slogan was created in 1896, there were just over 57 varieties, but Mr. Heinz admitted he liked the ring of the number 57 and stayed with it. See:
Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century - HBS Working Knowledge
The original column talks about a 40 foot and 70 foot gigantic pickle. Can anyone find an archive picture of this somewhere? I could not find anything on The Google.
You’re missing the big point.
Cecil got to say “you dope” to the asker of a stupid question.
Of all the things we fight for around here, this should be the absolute number one priorty. 
That column was written a long while ago; I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 57 varieties of Heinz ketchup nowadays Well, OK, probably not 57, but there’s at least the low sodium ketchup, the no sugar added ketchup, jalapeno-flavored ketchup, etc.
A few years ago they experimented with colored ketchup, blue, green . . . I’d say it was a failed experiment as it didn’t last.
I went to a school not far from the main Heinz plant in Pittsburgh, and don’t remember seeing any giant pickles around there. The Heinz Regional History Center (named after the late U.S. senator, a scion of the family, and not the food company as such) has a nice exhibit on Heinz corporate promotional materials over the years.
Incidentally, fans of Watchmen can see, if they look very closely in the scene where Rorschach is slurping down baked beans in Daniel’s kitchen, a can that says Heinz 58. Just another sly indication of how their world is different from ours…