Frederick Helmke was born in Germany in 1856 and arrived in the United States in 1880. He ran a soda water business in Hoboken, N. J. from approximately 1900 through the late teens.
As early as 1900 census records listed his occupation as “Pop (Soda Manfry.” Subsequently, various New Jersey directories listed Frederick Hemke’s occupation as bottler or mineral waters from 1901 to 1918. The business address was always 114 Hudson Street.
In addition, in 1907 Frederick Helmke was listed as an incorporator (along with Henry Schoffer and Henry L Schmidt) of the Hudson County Bottler’s Collecting and Distributing Co., Jersey City, NJ. Several of the directories in the teen’s listed him as a Vice President in this Company located at 155 Beacon Avenue, Jersey City. This company was also listed in the NJ State Board of Assessor’s Annual Report for 1913, 1915 and 1916.
The September 1914 Congressional Record of the Senate under the heading “Petitions” stated that:
Fred Helmke along with the National Mineral Water Co., and the United Bottling Co. of Union, all from the State of New Jersey, petitioned against a proposed tax on soft drinks to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Helmke passed away in February, 1920.
The building that housed Hemke’s building no longer exists. Today, a newer building is located at the Hudson Street location and houses an early learning center.
The bottle I found is a tooled crown (8oz) embossed with the 114 Hudson Street address. Mouth blown. its manufacture likely trends toward the earlier years of the company’s 1901 to 1920 time frame.