Heinz has been linked to the number 57 for more than a century. The company’s “57 varieties” slogan was a key part of its early strategy to attract consumers. It’s still featured on Heinz ketchup bottles today and is central to the brand’s identity.

But that famous number is completely made up. There weren’t 57 Heinz varieties when Pittsburgh business magnate H.J. Heinz first invented the slogan in 1896. Nor when Heinz 57 sauce was introduced soon after. There aren’t 57 now. There are, in fact, hundreds of Heinz varieties. The 57 on a Heinz bottle is more than just the right spot to smack to make the ketchup ooze out at .028 miles per hour. That number has stuck around for 126 years because it reinforces Heinz as a nostalgic and distinctly American food brand — the condiment you put on your hot dog at a baseball game or on a burger at a summer barbeque, marketing experts say.

In the early 1890s, H.J. Heinz, once described by a biographer as a “marketing genius,” sold bottled horseradish, pickles, pepper sauce, ketchup — introduced by the company in 1876 spelled “catsup” and soon changed to “ketchup” to distinguish the product — among some 60 food items. Pickles were Heinz’s biggest success at the time, and he became known as the “pickle king.”

Visiting New York City in 1896, Heinz spotted an advertisement for “21 styles” of shoes. He found it memorable and thought attaching a number to his own brand would help it stick with consumers. There are varying theories on why he landed on 57. Ashleigh Gibson, Heinz’s brand director, said in an email that the company’s founder felt there was something “mystical, magical, and memorable” about the number 57, which was a combination of five, his lucky number, and seven, his wife’s lucky number.