Stackable bottle

A blow molded container which is vertically stackable with geometrically similar containers, each container comprising a unitary body formed of a thermoplastic material having a bottom surface, a generally rectangular sidewall and a top surface including a handle and an opening closed by a cap, said handle and opening being arranged along a first plane midway between and parallel to a first pair of opposing walls of said sidewall and perpendicular to a second pair of opposing walls of said sidewall, said bottom surface having a recessed portion including a release groove bifurcating the bottom surface into two load-bearing portions straddling the release groove, said release groove having a stepped profile from end-to-end thereof and being arranged along a second plane orthogonal to said first plane midway between and parallel to said second pair of opposing walls, a first portion of said release groove having a width along the entire longitudinal extent thereof sufficient to receive therein the opening and cap of an underlying one of said containers, a second portion of said release groove having a width along the entire longitudinal extent thereof less than the width of the first portion and sufficient to receive therein the handle of an underlying one of said containers, said first groove portion being in closer proximity to the bottom surface of the container than said second groove portion, both said handle and said opening and cap being disposed completely within the release groove of an overlying one of said containers, said release groove including a web-like external rib depending downwardly from the second portion of the release groove, said handle including notch means for receiving the external rib of an overlying one of said containers to laterally locate and stabilize the relative positions of the containers.