Day & Brother was a New York City mineral water manufacturer and bottler that operated from 1870 up through the early 1890’s. Always located on the east side of Manhattan, the business was operated by several different members of the Day family over the course of their history.
That being said, the story actually begins with the soda water business of Moore and Day. First listed in 1860/1861 the business was initially located at 214 East 20th Street with NYC Copartnership and Corporation directories in the mid-1860’s naming Michael Moore and James W. Day as partners.
Subsequent to writing the initial version of this post I was actually able to find a bottle embossed “Moore & Day.” The year 1861 is embossed on the back side of the bottle, likely supporting a start date for the business that year.
Sometime in 1866 or 1867 Moore & Day moved to 353 East 20th Street where they were listed in NYC’s 1866 – 1867 directory. Around the same time Day’s brother, James P. Day joined the company and by 1868-1869 the NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory named him as a third partner.
The following year the listing for Michael Moore and the Moore & Day business both disappear from the directories. Whether Moore passed away or retired is unclear. Subsequently it appears John W. Day continued the business in partnership with his brother, James P. Day and by 1870/1871 the business of Day & Brother appeared in the NYC Directory at the 353 East 20th Street address.
This advertisement featuring the company appeared in the 1872 edition of Goulding’s Business Directory.
The business continued in this fashion until sometime in 1873 when James P. Day passed away after which John W. Day continued the business ultimately moving it to 351 East 23rd Street sometime around 1877.
John W. Day passed away in November, 1878 at which time his widow Catherine took over. She apparently served as the proprietor until 1886 after which management apparently transferred to her eldest son Peter S. who, according to census records turned the age of 21 that year. Peter served as proprietor from 1886 to 1891. In the early 1890’s, another son, James R. Day, was also listed with the occupation “waters,” at the East 23rd Street address.
Still listed in 1892, by 1894 Day & Brother was no longer mentioned in the directories.
The bottle I found is a six ounce pony with a blob finish. It’s embossed with the 353 East 20th Street address, dating it from approximately 1870 to 1877 when the business utilized that address.
Examples of Day & Brother bottles that exhibit their later address at 351 East 23rd Street have also appeared on the Internet. They date from 1877 to the early 1890’s
I’ve also seen a bottle for sale on the internet that’s simply embossed John W. Day, with the 353 East 20th Street address. This example also included the embossed year “1874,” which suggests that John W. used this style for a period of time in the mid-1870’s after James P. Day passed away but prior to their move to East 23rd Street, roughly 1874 to 1877.
