Harry Eng...

http://www.puzzleworld.org/PuzzleWorld/des/he000.htm

Many of the objects were dissasembled and then placed inside the bottles piece by piece. Then they would be reassembled like a ship in a bottle.

the craziest ones are if you look real close, some of the playing decks still have their plastic wrapper on them.

How do you 'disassemble' a steel washer, or a tennis ball??

Don't know about the washer, but I've read that the tennis balls are deflated and then re-inflated inside the bottle.

is it possible that the objects aren't really in the bottles themsleves?

Came across this site and its a wonderful one. CONGRATULATIONS! I have already bookmarked your site!

Regarding this illusion, is it possible that all the objects used are actually not real, instead are made of some sort of material that retracts to the preset shape once inside the bottle? Just guessing.

thanks,

Krishnan

More importantly, or impressively, is the "disassembling of the tennis shoes. Hmm. I think I agree with Derk. But they are fantastic.

My gusse is he made a hole in the back of the bottle not the bottem and coverd the hole with the objacts

i like the rubiks cube one, the kernal of that wouldnt fit throught the neck of that, even if it was dissassembled....

Hahaha.... I want to put those things in the bottle^^

My personal belief is that there is no back. Look at the angle in which the pictures were taken in relation to the backgrounds behind the bottles. I didn't see any reflective light from the back of the bottle. The one with tennis balls makes me think that knot is holding up an artificial back to keep the balls in.

i'm not sure about some of them, but the one with the tennis balls and the knot looks like there's no back of it. the reflectiveness of the bottle stops right around the tennis balls and it looks like the knot is holding them all in that position. then there's the one with the shoe in it. if you look, the shoe doesn't even appear to be all the way in the bottle.. it's sticking out the side a little. someone please tell me if i'm wrong.

ok... front half of a bottle, objects placed behind. easy...maybe

Lol How does one dissasemble sneakers, or dictionaries, or locks? If it wasn't like everyone else said; bottomless or backless, there's only one word for it, and that's photoshopped. =D But it's backless IMO.

Oh, and as a plus fact... you can't technically 'deflate' a tennis ball. If you guys had actually cut open and seen the inside of a tennis ball(which i stupidly did a long time ago) it's just a super rubbery shell on the inside about half a cm thick. Not even vaccum. Looks like onna those Super Saiyan cockpits in Dragonball or something. Toriyama must've done the same thing I did and gotten the idea...

I believe they blow the glass around the objects

its all a camra trick, you can tell by all the fony shines and bakrounds.

I managed to get a tennis ball inside a bottle. It is realy easy. Drive a pin through the ball, then put it in a vice, and tighten the grip. You can squeeze it to a pretty small size, then put some wax or gum on the hole, take the ball out of the vice, then squeeze it into the bottle. Once inside, you can remove the gum / wax with a tooth pick or something, and the ball bounces right back into its original shape.

they just cut off half of the bottle and they put in the items from behind. then they take a shot from the front, and there. that's why you call it illusions.

If u look at the baq u can tel its fake,the bottle has a fake baq. All the bottles have the thread and the baqs look like they are pasted or squashed on something.

while the glass is being blown, the objects are placed inside, and then the rest of the bottle is created to seal the objects inside.

Hey everyone,

I just found your site. I always enjoy reading people's comments on how they think Impossible Bottles are made. Most people are wrong.

Here are a couple of facts. !

1. ALL the bottles are normal, eeveryday, off the grocery store shelf bottles. The bottles are NOT heated, cooled, or blown around the objects. In fact the bottles are not manipilated in any way, shape or form.

2. EVERY oject inside of the bottles are put in through the neck of the bottle. That is a fact. If they weren't, there would be nothing special about Impossible Bottles.

If you're wondering how I know so much about these bottles it's because I've been making them for aabout 4 years now. Harry Eng was the MASTER of Impossible Bottle making. I've been trying to follow in his footsteps. I've even duplicated about 6 of his original bottles. Some of my bottles are already pictured on this site. Mine are the 3 Mistic Juice bottles. If you want to see the full line of them, just go to http://www.bottlemagic.com. If you look at the "history" page, you can even learn about Harry Eng himself.

Take care,

Jeff Scanlan

i think they cut the bottles from the bottom. but i also think chongo,derk,Corey,Allison,and kenny have good ideas too.

Ok... as for how to "break down" some of the more impossible items...

The washer was (somehow) folded in half and half again.. you can see the bends if you look close... and the flattened out inside.

The silver locks are made of a series of plates bonded together... break them apart somehow and place them inside and reassmble...

I have no clue about the brass lock...

the rest of the items are small enough or flexibe enough (if creative) to fit through the necks of the bottles.

must be pretty damn diffcult to tie knots through the neck of a bottle...

seee it

I think they are all great.
Who cares wether it is assembled disassembled and so forth.
I like to be amazed, not to be tricked.
>benjamin i would love to see you bend a washer in to a quarter of its size and then, unbend it inside a bottle. Even if that is the trick it is beyond me how he did that.
Coincedentally i've seen a real good magician this weekend, doin card and burning sigaret tricks richt in front of me, at less than a yard distance. It gave me the creeps. But nice creeps. :-)
LOVELY SITE!!!!!!

BG

they never show the back of the bottle, it probably is cut out

If any of you noticed, each bottle has a knotted rope entering through the neck. Does the rope haave something to do with the illusion?

my first impression was that the bottles were cut in half and the objects were put behind the front half of the bottle. However post 22 says the bottles are not manipulated at all. My next thought was that the objects were simply placed behind the whole bottles but i quickly found this to be false because you can see the webster dictionary in the first one bends to the shape of the bottle. So if post 22 is telling the truth when he says the bottles were not manipulated in any way, the objects are most definately put in the bottle through the neck. How i have no idea.....

dont trip guys, this is a common MAGIC trick. easy to do. everything in there is eather fake or reassembled. you can BUY this freaken trick on lance butons sights or shops. I own one of them, its called halfdolor in bottle. the half dolor is REAL... but fake at the same time: basicly rhe coin is cut down the center in a way were when its brought together it looks 100% whole. THEN the outer edges all the way around are milled so that there is a deep crevis that goes around the edge that is barely visable. from there you take regular braces (flash back to middle school) rubber band and stretch it all the way around the coin so that they fit in the groves un-noticed. now the coin can be 'snapped in half' then become whole again. its all illusions and tricks. 90% sure there is no photoshop involved. samething goes for washers etc.

Wow. I am amazed at how post #30 (Ender" thinks he has it all figured out. Well, let me be the first to tell "Ender" he is COMPLETELY wrong. He does not have one of these at home.

As a professional magician, I can tell you that they do make folding half dollars. And, it is a magic trick. But, Harry engs coins and washers are 100% real. Just because most people don't know how to make Impossible Bottles doesn't mean that they aren't real. YES! There is a "trick" to getting the tiems in the bottles, but EVERY item does go through the neck. The bottles are perfectly normal. So are ALL the items.

Thnk about this. If the botles and the items weren't "normal" then what would be so impressive about it? What makes them so impressive, amazing, and such conversation pieces is the fact that eVERYTHING is normal. There are less than a dozen eople in the US that even know how to do this art form. I'm fortunate enough to be one of those people.

I challenge you to go to my website www.bottlemagic.com and check out my bottles. See if you can figure out how they are done. I never met Harry Eng, but, he's been the main influence behind all my Impossible Bottles.

Take care,

Jeff Scanlan

If you cannot think anymore how it's done, you may simply say/think that the bottle was cut, blow or photoshopped. Just like magic tricks you'd just say the performer has a magic. But, actually it is simple how its done and it's just up to you to find out.

maybe they cut off the back of the bottle, put the things in there, and then put the back of the bottle back on with superglue er sumthin.... (its just a guess.....dont get all crazy like jeff did and basicly call me a know it all...lol....im just kidding jef....)

ithink all of the objects in the bottel are made of ruber or that copy and pasted crap in a bottel

Is it possable that the bottle isn't even there

Hey I think this is a easy one all u do is put the objects behind the bottle.

I have met Harry Eng, and seen most of his bottles. He was featured at a magic convention and had most of his bottles on display. During the convention he did a padlock, rope and deck of cards bottle. Watching him do it was almost more impressive than the end result!!

Magic Magazine did an article on him about three years ago, (I think it was March or April 2003) and many of his techniques were taught. His deck of cards including the plastic wrap was explained in detail, along with the metal washer. (the washer is genius..)

The bottom could be possibly cut out. They NEVER show you the back.

Check this out.....

http://www.shipbottle.ru/english/how/

We have some of these impossible bottles in our museum and I can garuntee you that they are full bottles not backless because I have personally picked them up and handled them...I dunno how its done!

yah i agree with #38. As a gifted teacher, i would als say that the bottom the the bottle was cut out because they could'nt just fit a ensufficient various number of highly unusual of sized tennis balls fit into to the narrow neck of a huge body bottle.

i've seen ones like these in real life, the items are really in the bottles. no photoshoping nor fake items.

i have no clue as to how it's done (i used to think the bottoms were removed then re-attached but that is not the case)

very cool. i think why many people posting think they were photoshopped is becasue they are on a sight about illusions.

and by "sight" i meant site.

You Can't put the objects BEHIND the bottle! Things like tennis ball cannot be put on top of each other!!!!!!!!!

Its impossible - just leave it

i dont get it

Hey Guys,

I'm back. Well, I just wanted to let you all know I just upgraded my website. Go and check it out - http://www.bottlemagic.com

I've added 4 new pages, some new graphics, and 2 new bottles. You can see the 2 new bottles under the "For Purchase" page. The two new bottles are called -
"The Golfers Bottle" whic his a Titleiest golf ball inside of a small Marachino Cherry bottle. The second bottle is called "Cork Srew in Wine Bottle". This bottle is REALLY cool and took me months to figure out how to make. It's a regular Beringer Wine bottle, emptied, with the cork put back in, the was re-sealed on top, and the cork screw is inside the bottle going up into the cork.

Once again for all you "nay Sayers" out there. The bottles are ALL completely normal. They have NOT been cut, heated or cooled. They have NOT been manipulated in ANT way, shape, or form - guaranteed. The items inside are ALL 100% real and normal. Yes, they were manipulated, but the question is how were they manipulated to go through the 1" to 1-1/2" neck.

Until later. Have fun thinking. Look forward to checking bacak later and seeing some of your comments.

Sincerely,

Jeff Scanlan
America's Sports Magician

My dog "deflated" a tennis ball once.. that was the easy part... (He chewed a hole in it and squashed it flat) but how on earth would you REINFLATE one?? This is just gonna remain one of those things that make me sit back, scratch my head and go... ooooooh

someone way up there said "they dont show the back of the bottle so its fake". DUH they can only show one side at once you cant show the whole thing in one photo i think its real but i have no idea how

I guess most people are just taking a easy way out rather than actually thinking about how it's done, which seems to be the entire point of the artwork.

Someone said the silver locks can be dissassembled, but had not clue about the brass ones. From the ones I've seen, the brass lock will fit through sideways without the silver hook.

Books seem easy: Take out the pages in sections, roll them up, then glue them back together inside. Even a hardcover wouldn't be too hard: cut the cardboard into sections, then glue the single thin layer over the sections and fold it up like an accordian.

As for the shoes, the top part is very flexible, and wouln't be too hard. The sole is the tricky part. One way could be to almost cut the sole into sections (like the hardcover book).

The baseball and tennis balls: Remove whatever is inside them (stuffing or air), then they should slip thought pretty easily. Hell, one could even use a cricket ball (solid wood core wrapped in leather) if they wanted to.

Of course, it's all easier said than done. Sewing the sole onto a shoe though the neck of a bottle sounds pretty damn tedious.

As for the knots, you'd have to be pretty good with knots outside of a bottle to start with -- I'm definitly not.

It has something to do with liquid nitrogen

if you look at the first picture, you'll notice the bottle comes down and curves through the shoe. if you ask me, that one looks photoshopped.

the others, i have no idea.

also, how would liquid nitrogen help? all you can do with that is shatter stuff. and putting it back together inside(especially the deck of cards) would be pretty hard.

vacuum pump ?

no you dumb people the bottle is made around the items.

With a combination of cleverness and some special tools it could be done, but its hard. Things like the booklet can be folded at half then put it in, then fold the other half then fold all and put it in. Well i don't know if that method is used, but if you stop to think im sure you'll find a way-

this one was i must say one of the wierdest i've ever seen

http://www.puzzleworld.org/PuzzleWorld/des/he000.htm

love the illusion I don't know how it's done and i won't guess because what's the point. that's why they are called "illusions"

i see it as a perfectly normal bottle

I think that he might have just put up the objects, then he might've used photoshop, or something like that, and put in the bottle. And the items were just there and it was photo-ed. But that's just my guess.

If you look at the sides of the one with the playing cards and the scissors, you can see where the bottle stops and there is no back

For the love of Zeus - NO! It's not a fake photo. All the objects are real and whole. And YES! there is a back to the bottles. Jeff is right, there are ways of getting these objects in the bottles. Just because the lot of you don't have a creative, scientific bent in your infantile imaginations doesn't mean you can your overly simplistic childish explanations are correct.

Thank you, anonymous! We can always count on you to be so clear-minded.

These bottles are not faked. They are not photoshopped. It's far simpler than you think.

And as far as I can tell, there was no liquid nitrogen used. But hey, I might be wrong.

Dude Come On! I cant belive nobody said the were PHOTOSHOPPED Darnit!!!!! >)-( This Jeff Scanlan Dude and Valinor is tryin to do all the "Magicians never Revail their tricks" crap. But been a computer geek it is all POTOSHOPPED! U can change th light and disorent the objects to make it look like they were in a bottle. To prove it, somepeople said he took of the back because the light wasn't reflecting off it. It because he tampered with the light to make it more convincing.. The truth is, the were photographed in frnt of a blue screen, then merged together and disoreinted to make it look like it was inside a bottle. Then to make it more convincing he added light to the front to make it more convincing. More likely he just created the bottle on the computer. they dont look very real to me. to shiny and smooth like you would see in Animation

Thank you anonymous! I've visited Jeff's website. His bottles are amazing! In fact, I purchased two of them. EVERYTHING Jeff said about the bottles is true.

The bottles are normal, ALL the objects are inside the bottle. The brass padlock is insdie the bottle, locked, and too big to come out. I have no idea how he does it, but they are truly amazing.

One thing is wanted to mention though, someone earlier said they saw an article on Harry Eng in magic magazine and it was explained how Harry did 3 different bottles, including how he put the cellophane wrapping on the deck. This person is mistake. Harry NEVER put a deck of cards in a bottle with the cellophane wrapping on. Jeff is one of the very few who does. And, Jeff's decks are so clean and crisp ( no wrinkles or creases in his decks).

Mr. "X"

OMFG!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!! THESE BOTTLES ARE PHOTOSHOPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY DON'T BELIEVE PEOPLE COULD GET THIS CRAP IN THESE FREAKIN' BOTTLES!!!! Yes, they can be rubber to get them inside the bottle, but the bottles look like ghosts and completeley photoshopped! They ar almost completely transparent. He took the pictures of the objects in front of them in front of a blue screen with some andheasives and wires to hold them up, edited out the wires and stuff, and made the bottles on PHOTOSHOP!!! The only way to prove it is to see these REALLY frustrating sculpters is to see one in person, and to let me fiddle around with it!!!! \ /
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I think GmanX is right!

I think they are photoshopped

The objects are to good to be true. I deefinatly agree with GmanX

it is simple!

the bottle is built around the items!

if u can't get them out, u can't get them in!

Perhaps if you say it was photoshopped enough times it will be true, right? I find it quite amusing that many of the people who are so convinced that the bottle was cut or photoshopped can't be troubled to use proper English, let alone ponder how it is actually done.

The reason the bottles may appear photoshopped to some of you is that they are made of glass. This means that to photograph them properly, (without a very nasty glare) they need to be photographed with diffusers on the lights. Kinda like the umbrellas they use on the lights for school pictures. If you were to take a simple flash photo of these bottles there would be horrible glare. It is also possible the bottles were sprayed with hairspray, whish would also be done to reduce the glare.

It's Called IM Slang Mr "Anonymous". It keeps my hands from aching when im trying to write long paragraphs. Step into the 21st Century!

ofcorse the plastic wrap hav not been taken off...they are new cards..duh!
=^.^=
p.s. you guys think too much

There are no tricks to getting un altered items through material. If you could, then tunnels wouldn't have height restrictions... they'd just bring this eng person. Come on people, physics is physics... magic/illusions are all fake. If this was possible, then they'd be famous doctors that remove cancer without cutting people, or special movers that can put huge couches and tv's through a single/smaller door. Come on, you'd be uber rich (especially if you did this in NY)!!

Also you cannot blow glass around ordinary objects... do to heat and gravity. Blowing glass, depending on the molecular structure, requires temps 1000C+

Also the objects would distort the glass because to form it, it must be pliable, and so would sag and move when an object is touching it. Not to include the fact that paper and most of the other objects burn or melt below 1000C that are in the bottles.

So if this Jeff Scanlan person writes back... ignore him, he's just trying to promote this foolishness. If you want to prove something... then explain it... if not... then its bogus.

Well, I'm back. Sorry Parchofi ( commentor # 75), but you told everyone to ignore me if I wrote back because I was only trying to promote my foolishness. Why is it foolishness? Is it because your mind can't comprehend how the art of Impossible Bottles are made? Just because you don't understand doesn't mean something isn't possible.

The only thing I'm trying to promote is for people to think differently and keep Harry Eng's legacy alive. I challenge anyone to tell me that EVERY item inside of my Bottles Magic bottles are not real.

In fact, I have another bottle that I'd like to challenge you with. The name of the bottle is called
"Cork Screw In Wine Bottle". YOu can see it by going to http://www.bottlemagic.com. CLick on the "for purchase" page and scroll down about 2/3 of the page. It will be on the righthand side.

See if you can figure that one out. To all of you nay sayers out there, lets get somethings straight. First, the bottles are ALL perfectly normal. They have not been heated, cooled, or cut. Secondly, EVERY item inside of an Impossible Bottle went in through the neck. They are NOT photo shopped!! Third, there are backs and bottoms to ALL the bottles. I don't know what more can be said.

Remember, Harry Eng always said to THINK. The average human being only uses 10% of their brain.

visit with you all later.

Jeff Scanlan

perhaps the glass of the bottle is a magnifying glass? so like the objects are mini? just a thought...

That is so cool! I think my favorite one is the rubix cube one.

How does he do it. :)

ok first of all i dont think this scanlan guy is fibbing cuz i mean seriously, wuts the point then. my teachers have always taught me to use my brain & there's more then one way to do that ((dont ask, there is)). all these bottles are, are puzzles and in my years of life of learned more than an average person and i use my brain differently i've figured a few aspects of them out but im still working on a complete theory for all of them before i post my ways. thank you mr. scanlan for creating these sensational bottles because maybe now, there will be some more people in this world that accually think things through

P.S. im 12 years old and i am "smarter" ((well using my brain more)) than about half of the people on here

can somebody please just tell me how they are done!! I know they are not photoshopped, made around the objects, and i know the bottles are whole and unschathed. I am 13, and in ap classess and still cannot figure some of these out...

I have not seen this explanation yet. (unless I missed it!) I think they were very cleverly painted on the bottles. i would like to see them from 30, 60 90, 180 degrees by spinning the bottle....

the easiest is the tennis ball because all u do is put a match in the jar and place the tennis ball on the open hole.....i think

I know exactly how they are done... and I'm still impressed :)
yes... I know a lot of magic too... and still love to see a good trick done well :)
these are great!!!

The corkscrew in the bottle is cool! I suspect that most of these objects are meticulously taken apart and reconstructed in side. some are probably bent or squished. Jeff only said the bottles weren't heated or cooled or manipulated. He never denied that the objects themselves weren't. He only said they were real objects. With our knowledge of science I'm sure there are many ways to do these things. Also, anything that is made can be taken apart and put back together. How good it looks simply depends on having a steady hand and LOTS of free time! lol!
That's my 2 cents, stick that in your bottle!

The skepticism of the "computer age" is very frustrating. Just because you CAN photoshop something doesn't mean that they did. If it were as simple as that, it would be pointless. This fellow likely spent hours and hours on each of these, and to say that it was photoshopped is more of an insult than anything. They are truly amazing.

Sailors have been making model Ships in a bottles for centuries I think the earliest recorded one in 1600’s. The superstition was that if the bottle broke and the model ship got wet then the real ship would sink.
I made one myself once (it even had plastacine waves) from a kit, it didn’t look exactly sea worthy! There are two ways I know of:
1: build it outside folded up small enough to fit through the neck and then carfeuly pull on ropes that pull up the masts and rigging.
2: using tweezers and clamps and lots of glue, break the ship up into components and stick them back together again. (a bit like an AirFix model)

I’m sure that these are made using the second method.

Very, Very impressive and if I had the $300 to spend I’d buy one myself…

Tell you what if you think they are fake or photoshopped then just buy one and then sue the makers for false advertising!

Maybe he's just good at Photoshop!!

=)

that is amazing, no matter how it's done. can't you just leave it at that? also, Gmanx, "revail" "andheasives" and "disorent" are not IM slang.

no idea really,
but they could have placed tha objects in a shape of a bottle and
later took a picture of a real bottle,
then used tha computer to make it look lyk the objects were inside tha bottle (just guessin)

I don't really have an idea,
but maybe they arranged the objects in the shape of the bottle and then took tha pic of a real bottle, after that they used photoshop ta make it look lyk tha objects were inside tha bottle.

I'm not really sure, but I think that they first got the objects in tha shapes of a bottle and then took a pic of a real bottle, later they used photoshop (something lyk that) to make it look lyk that the objects were inside the bottle.

what they do is before they seal the bottom they put the stuff in them and then seal the bottom with heat

When I saw this picture I was in complete amazement. You see I own one of these exact bottles. I bought one off of Mr. Scanlan. I used to work for a wine company and that's why I bought it. So, I can tell ALL of you a few things for sure.

First, the bottom of the wine bottle is still on. The stand is made simply for display purposes. In fact, you can remove the bottle from the stand.

I heard many of you talking about how he got the cork back into the neck. That to me is the most amazing part and I'll tell you why. I don't know if any of you know this or not, but corks are angled. What I mean is that once the cork is removed, the top of the cork is actually larger than the bottom.
That's what keeps the wine so fresh the cork sealing. So, he could not have put the cork into the bottle then pulled it up into the neck because the top of the cork is larger than the neck. If he could pull the cork up into the neck, the cork would be upside down. Also, on the other side of the corkscrew handle is the metal braid. Finally, he also has the wax back on top covering the cork. I know he remelted it and put it back in, but, it's one of those touches that really looks nice.

I look at this thing ALL the time. It's truly a work of art. It was expensive ( about $300 -$ 400), but at parties it is a HUGE conversation piece. Jeff told me that an aquaintence of his from New York emailed him a drawing of the bottle and said " I wonder if you ever thought of this idea?". Jeff said it took him almost 11 months to figure out how to create the bottle from beginning to end.

So, it is real. It is amazing! I'm I'm still amazed that I saw it on this website. Too cool. I hope this settles some of the theories about how he made this thing.

The Wine Guy

PS - Did you know that at the top of the page where the bottle pictures are, three of those bottles were made by Jeff not Harry Eng. The 3 decks of cards in the Mistic Juice bottles (all black back ground) were made by Jeff.

The objects are behind the bottles.

wow...why is everyone trying to find an explination? it's art...it doesn't need to be explained. just realize how much creativity you need to be able to do this. it's awesome! i hope to see one of these bottles in real life one day...it's so cool
ariella<33
13 years young

mabe the bottoms were cut off, then the stuff was put in, then the bottoms were glued back on. just a guess!

AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!! that is sooooooooooooo cool .... i think artistic may b right .. but it could also b he fotoshoped the stuff in....or he could just b really smart...oh well i guess well never know...
foofiter
11 years young