# Message Inna Bottle! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046 "2002-09-29T01:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/1 "2002-09-29T01:31:47Z")
When I went down by the lake today, I walked past a pile of garbage floating next to a wall. There was an empty, corked wine bottle bobbing up and down. “Maybe I can use that for a vase or something,” I thought to myself. It happened to be within arm’s reach, so I crouched down and grabbed it. Then I noticed that there’s a folded-up piece of paper in it! I borrowed some napkins from a couple of elderly women who were eating ice cream (“Ohhh, a message inna bottle! When you meet the love of your life I get invited to the wedding, right?”) to wipe it off with, and stuffed it in my purse. The bottle itself is green glass and has a long neck. I wonder how I’ll ever get the paper out of there, since I don’t want to break the bottle. The message itself is sort of yellowy and looks like it might have been written on the back of a sheet of graph paper. Whoever wrote it’s got chicken scratch handwriting. I can make out one line - “please don’t throw me away.” So I’m going to take it home, let it dry out, and then try to retrieve the message with a pencil or a pair of needle-nose pliers or something. I wonder what it says. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/2 "2002-09-29T01:38:03Z")
Very cool! Chopsticks might be best for getting the paper out - grab one layer and twist to roll it up. Make sure to let us know what it says! ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/3 "2002-09-29T01:38:07Z")
Staying tuned. Oh, there are long tweezers, maybe at drug stores or hardware shops. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/4 "2002-09-29T02:49:29Z")
Are you going to let us know what it says? ---
**Author:** ![EggNogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@EggNogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EggNogg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/5 "2002-09-29T10:16:14Z")
It might be the one I put in the sea once. I think it said something like: “Stop picking up rubish on the beach and get a real job hippy.” egg 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/6 "2002-09-29T10:26:10Z")
If the message says to rub the bottle and ask the emerging genie for three wishes, be very careful what you wish for. Those things always seem to go horribly wrong! ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/7 "2002-09-29T10:46:02Z")
ooh report back soon as you work out what it says! I wanna know now! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/8 "2002-09-29T21:07:25Z")
Update, please? ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/9 "2002-09-29T22:33:35Z")
Aauggh! I’ll bet the note said “If you read this you will shrink and be sucked into the bottle. Have a nice day. P.S. Please don’t throw me away.” I’ll bet even now she’s pounding on the glass trying to get out. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/10 "2002-09-30T05:12:33Z")
I can’t look at this thread title without getting “I’m sending out an SOS, sending out an SOS…” in my head. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/11 "2002-09-30T12:25:32Z")
“This is a chain bottle. If you do not send out ten bottles with this message out in the next 24 hours, horrible things will happen to you. Just look at Peggy Sue of Norfolk, VA who ignored this letter…” Fucking messages in a bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/12 "2002-09-30T12:33:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*“This is a chain bottle. If you do not send out ten bottles with this message out in the next 24 hours, horrible things will happen to you. Just look at Peggy Sue of Norfolk, VA who ignored this letter…” \*\* \If the bootle had chains, wouldn’t it sink?\ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/13 "2002-09-30T13:58:58Z")
“Earn $1000 to $5000 a week part time, in the comfort of your own home, stuffing bottles! Send ten dollars to…” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/14 "2002-09-30T17:28:33Z")
Now, if it had been a tablet instead of a bottle, we’d finally know who that guy in BC has been communicating with all these years… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/15 "2002-09-30T21:54:23Z")
[obscure SF reference] If it’s addressed “To the Loneliest One”, you’re screwed. 😃 [/obscure SF reference] ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/16 "2002-09-30T22:46:54Z")
If I was in this position, I could never read the message… I wouldn’t have the bottle! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/17 "2002-10-02T23:05:35Z")
**The Message Revealed.** I pulled it out with a pair of chopsticks and some needle-nose pliers. The message is written on the back of a… something. It looks like a radio station playlist or an order to make a mix CD. Whoever wrote it out likes Dave Matthews, John Hiatt and Jane’s Addiction. There is a URL printed on the paper - [http://www.modernspecialty.com](http://www.modernspecialty.com) . The back of it doesn’t have a name or phone number or e-mail or nothing, which I thought was pretty disappointing. Instead, it’s just a couple of random lines and stuff. Here’s what it says on the back: “‘Reality’ is the only word in the language that should always be in quotes” - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult “music is the closest thing to true love” - T. An unintelligible signature. “P.S. Mr. Garbage Man please don’t throw me away.” ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/18 "2002-10-03T00:21:41Z")
It’s good that you’ve posted the contents. Now, when the author googles those phrases in an effort to find out what became of the bottle, the answer is here. I think we can date it to the 1990s or later. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-inna-bottle/130046/19 "2002-10-03T12:38:17Z")
You should write to the people who administer the Modern Specialty site… see if the person works there or something.