The New York Bottling Company, Inc. resulted from the consolidation of several New York City Bottling concerns that occurred in 1914. Those concerns were A. Ludorff, S.A. Ludin & Co., W.E. Seitz & Co., John F. Hughs, Henry Kracke (Globe Mineral Water Co) and the A. Liebler Bottling Co. That being said, the New York Bottling Company name itself dates back thirty plus years earlier.
It started in the late 1870’s with a named George W. Rayner, who was born in Derby, England sometime in the early 1840’s. By 1873 he had arrived in the U. S. where he was listed in the New York City directories with the occupation “mineral waters” and a Manhattan address of 161 West 4th Street.
In 1875 his business address was listed as 137 South 5th Avenue before moving to what would become his long time address of 158 South 5th Avenue about 1878. As far as I can tell, it was around this time that he began using the New York Bottling Company name as evidenced by classified ads found in the “New York Daily Herald.” That being said, he didn’t include the name in his directory listings until 1882.
By 1894 the business had grown significantly as evidenced by a story describing the company’s annual outing that appeared in the September 21, 1894 edition of “The Brooklyn Citizen.”
The employees of the New York Bottling Company held their thriteenth annual outing at College Point yesterday. The members of the firm, President George W. Rayner, Secretary John R. Steele and General Manager Louis E. Madhoff have exerted their utmost endeavors every year to make these trips for their employees a success.
The number of men employed is about 150, and invitations were sent to patrons of the company, who swelled the party to a total of 400…
Things began to change in 1895 when Rayner passed away. Shortly afterward the business moved to West 55th Street and according to a February 12th item that appeared in the “New York Times” it was in financial trouble.
NEW YORK BOTTLING COMPANY. – Judge Truax of the Supreme Court has appointed Louis R. Maidhof and John R. Steele receivers of the New York Bottling Company, bottlers of lager beer, ginger ale and mineral waters at 620 and 622 West Fifty-fifth Street, on the application of the directors on the ground that the company is insolvent. The liabilities are $33,169 and nominal assets $77,879, if kept intact, but if sold at forced sale by the Sheriff or under foreclosure would not realize over $15,000. There is a chattel mortgage on the plant for $8,000, held by Frederick Rayner of Derby, England, who has taken possession under the mortgage. The company has a capital stock of $175,000, of which$147,000 has been issued. Mr Steele is President and Mr. Maidhof Secretary. The business was established twenty years ago by George W. Rayner and it was incorporated in 1890.
Seven months later, the September 15, 1897 edition of the “New York Times” announced that The New York Bottling Company had been dissolved.
Later that year, Frederick Rayner who was apparently the only surviving heir, sold what was left of the business to S. A. Ludin & Co., one of the firms included in the 1914 consolidation. The sale was announced in the November 10, 1897 edition of the New York Sun.
S. A. Ludin, an established New York City bottler in their own right, was first listed in 1880 with an address of 624 West 55th St and the occupation “waters.” Sometime around 1890 the company moved to the corner of Eleventh Avenue and 38th Street and began listing their address as 471-473 Eleventh Avenue. This 1892 New York City Directory advertisement mentioned “Sparkling, Distilled and Natural Waters of All Kinds,” and went on to say “Bottling of Natural Mineral Waters for the Trade a Specialty.”
After acquiring the Rayner business they apparently adopted the New York Bottling Company name. As early as 1901 the Copartnership and Corporation Directory of New York listed The New York Bottling Company as the registered trade name of S. A, Ludin & Co.
Sometime in 1903 or 1904 the New York Bottling Company/S. A. Ludin, now located at 516 West 36th Street, acquired the business of Bolen & Byrne after that company was declared bankrupt in March, 1903. As early as September 11, 1904, a “New York Sun” advertisement was touting the combination of “LUDIN – RAYNER – BOLEN & BYRNE.”
More on Bolen & Byrne can be found in another post on this site.
Another advertisement from the first decade of the 1900’s exhibited both round bottom and siphon bottles
Ultimately, in 1914, S.A. Ludin combined with five other bottling concerns and incorporated the consolidated business under the name “New York Bottling Co., Inc.” The announcement appeared in the January 15, 1915 Issue of the American Bottler:
A consolidation of the following prominent New York City bottling concerns took place on April 1: A. Ludorff, S.A. Ludin & Co., (New York Bottling Co), W.E. Seitz & Co., John F. Hughes, Henry Kracke (Globe Mineral Water Co) and the A. Liebler Bottling Co. The new company is called the NY Bottling Co., Albert Ludorff is president and J. E. Ludin is Tres.
The NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directories for 1915 and 1919 listed the consolidated company as the New York Bottling Co., Inc. (NY), Albert Ludorff Pres, John E Ludin Tres and R E Schoder Sec. Capital $750,000. 532 W 20th, 417 E 90th, 402 w 126th. In the 1922 NYC Directory, the company address was given as 502 – 514 W. 45th Street.
Two of the consolidated businesses, John F Hughes and the A Liebler Bottling Company, are both covered other posts on this site. In fact, one of the addresses included in the 1922 directory, 402 W 126th Street, was the old Liebler address.
According to an April 6, 1929 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The New York Bottling Corporation was acquired by the Carl H. Schulz Corporation in November, 1928 and soon after both were folded into the American Beverage Corp.
Concentration of the manufacturing operations of the American Beverage Corporation, which early this year acquired the Carl H. Schultz Corporation, Schoneberger & Noble, Inc., and the Brownie Corporation, all of New York, in a new plant in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, is announced by E. C. McCullough, president… The report of the subsidiaries for the first three months of 1929 show deliveries, in money, amounting to 24.7 percent more than the first quarter of 1928. Mr. McCullough attributes this increase to the fact that the Carl H. Schultz Corporation is making goods under trademarks which it acquired last November through the purchase of the New York Bottling Corporation and to the active sales campaign of the company. The new plant will provide manufacturing facilities for a gross business of $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 per year, or about three times the volume done by the subsidiaries last year, while concentration in one plant will materially reduce operating costs.
A June 17, 1928 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle explained what became of the New York Bottling Company’s last factory location at 502- 514 West 45th Street.
A group of 14-story buildings, to be used as warehouses, is planned for the entire block front on 10th Ave., from 44th to 45th St., by Irving I. Levin, Inc., which purchased during the past week the property of the New York Bottling Company and closed a leasehold of 502 to 508 W. 45th St., and the premises, 510 to 514 W. 45th St.
The bottle I found is machine made (9oz). The embossing includes “Inc” after the company name, dating it no earlier than the 1914 consolidation and certainly no later than 1928.