The subject bottle exactly matches the one pictured on this circa 1940 advertising card so it almost certainly contained Re Umberto Olive Oil.
The words Re Umberto are the Italian equivalent of King Umberto, a reference to King Umberto I, the second King of Italy, who reigned from 1878 until his assassination in 1900. Much of the brand’s advertising capitalized on this theme referring to Re Umberto as the “King of Olive Oil.”
Always ask for RE UMBERTO and just look for the king with the big mustache
Infinitesimally small lettering embossed on one face of the bottle states:
Imported and Packed By United Pure Food Co., N.Y., N.Y., U.S.A.
Established in 1911, the United Pure Food Company was the Registered Trade Name for a company called Strohmeyer and Arpe, an importer and wholesale grocer who also did business under the United Pure Food Company name from 1911 up through the late 1960’s.
Strohmeyer & Arpe, was established by a man named Frederick Gottfried Strohmeyer a good twenty years before the Re Umberto brand was born . According to Strohmeyer’s obituary in the February, 1931 edition of a publication called “Groceries:”
Mr. Strohmeyer was born in Bremen, Germany, and established himself in the wholesale grocery and specialty lines here in 1882. Mr. Arpe came to him as a partner sometime later.
The business, originally called F.G. Strohmeyer & Co., was first listed in New York City’s 1883/1884 directory as “merchants” with an address of 55 Pine Street. Herman Arpe, who according to 1900 census records arrived in the U.S. from Germany in 1883, was also listed in the same directory as a “merchant” at the 55 Pine Street address. So, while not a partner, it’s likely Arpe, if not an original employee of the firm was certainly close to being one. Five years later, in 1888, the New York City Copartnership and Corporation Directory officially named him as a principal of F.G. Strohmeyer & Co.
Located in Lower Manhattan for 90 years, early on the business changed locations quite frequently, listing addresses of 172 Front Street (circa 1885-1887); 122 Water Street (1887-1892); 120 Pearl/84 Water Streets (circa 1892-1894) and 33 Water Street (circa 1894-1901)
Around this time an advertisement found in the October 29, 1889 edition of the Springfield (Mass) “Daily Republican” referred to the business as:
Sole Importers of German Peat-Moss and Dealers in Honey, Maple Syrup and Wax of all kinds.
Several directory listings around that time suggest the company also dealt in “cork,” and by 1893 an August 16th classified ad found in New York’s “Evening World” indicated the company was dealing in smoked and preserved fish as well.
SALESMAN WANTED for New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark and Paterson, acquainted with delicatessen, grocery, hotel and restaurant trade, well recommended and able to handle delivery wagon, to sell smoked and preserved salmon and other fish; also parties having an established route and own wagon; liberal inducements will be given. Apply in person between 4 and 6 P.M. every week day except Saturday, F.G. Strohmeyer & Co., 120 Pearl St.
Sometime in 1894 or 1895 the company officially changed its name to Strohmeyer and Arpe and in 1900 the business incorporated under that name. The incorporation notice published in the July 20th edition of the “New York Times” named Frederick Strohmeyer and Herman Arpe along with a man named Victor Porges as directors.
New York City’s 1901 Copartnership and Corporation Directory named Strohmeyer, President; Arpe, Treasurer and Porges, Secretary. The following year the company moved again, listing 64 Pearl Street as their address in the 1902 Copartnership and Corporation Directory.
It was later in the decade that Strohmeyer & Arpe added olive oil to their list of imported goods. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, in February 1908 the company registered the name Re Umberto as a trademark.
The above records indicate that the Re Umberto name was first used in December 1903. That being said, it doesn’t begin to appear in grocery store advertisements until several years later. One of the first I can find appeared in Elmira, New York’s “Star Gazette” on January 23, 1907.
Based on this it’s safe to say the Re Umberto brand got its start mid-decade, sometime between 1903 and 1907.
Initially advertised in 1/2 gallon and gallon cans, soon after it was also being offered in small glass bottles and fancy tins, as evidenced by this February 1, 1910 price list published in Washington D.C.’s “Evening Star.”
By 1909 the company was building a new ten-story building at 139-141 Franklin Street, a building they would occupy for the next 60 plus years. The building then under construction was described like this in a July 4, 1909 “New York Times” story.
Warehouse on Franklin Street
An interesting feature about the new ten-story offices and warehouse building which Maynicke & Franke are building for the Strohmeyer & Arpe Company in the heart of the wholesale grocery district, at 139 and 141 Franklin Street, is the fact that almost 400 piles of hollow steel filled with concrete have been used in the foundation of the building to prevent the frequent settling to which buildings in this neighborhood are subject. The tract between Duane and Watts Streets was formerly marshy meadow land, and though it was partially filled in with sand, builders digging twelve feet through the sand still reach the primal bog.
The new building is situated on a plot 50 by 100 feet, between West Broadway and Greenwich Street. Nearby are the Welsh, Lipton, Leggett, and other large wholesale grocery warehouses and offices. It is constructed of the heaviest material to fit the bulky storage uses to which it will be put. The Strohmeyer & Arpe Company will occupy the entire building. It is thought that the warehouse will be completed in four months
This rendering of the new building accompanied the “New York Times” story.
Less than two years later, in August 1911, Strohmeyer & Arpe established the United Pure Food Company as a subsidiary. It’s incorporation notice was referenced in the August 18, 1911 edition of Brooklyn’s “Daily Times”
United Pure Food Co of New York City , organized with the State Department with a capital of $500 to deal in foods, Liquors, etc.
Subsequently, both Strohmeyer and Arpe and the United Pure Food Co. were listed in New York City’s 1912 Copartnership & Corporation Directory, each with the same address of 139-141 Franklin Street and each with F.G. Strohmeyer named as president.
During this time the olive oil’s distribution was spreading across the country. As early as 1912 it was being advertised in far away places like Missoula, Montana where a July 14, 1912 grocery store ad pitched it as part of a “Nifty Salad” you might take on a fishing trip.
While most people were putting the olive oil on their salad, if I’m to believe the following story, some Tampa, Florida barbers were putting it on people’s hair. The story appeared as part of a department store advertisement found in the January 1, 1911 edition of the “Tampa Tribune.”
The latest scientific success
R. U. OLIVE OIL SHAMPOO
We were surprised ourselves to see this sign in some of the most prominent barbershops of a fashionable pleasure resort, says STROHMEYER & ARPE CO., makers. The barbers claim to have had an enormous success with the R. U. SHAMPOO, not only saving and strengthening the hair, keeping the scalp in perfectly healthy condition but they claim to even grow hair with the R.U. SHAMPOO although we will not guarantee that, but it shows that the RE UMBERTO OLIVE OIL can be sold to the best barber shops because of its purity.
RE UMBERTO OLIVE OIL is the best Virgin Pure Italian Olive Oil that the world produces.
We carry it in stock in both tin and glass.
Over the next 60 plus years Stohmeyer & Arpe along with its subsidiary, the United Pure Food Company, remained headquartered at 139-141 Franklin Street. All the while, their olive oil continued to appear in grocery story advertisements and the occasional corporate advertisement. One such corporate advertisement appeared in several 1952 editions of New Jersey’s “Trenton Times.”
During this time olive oil wasn’t the only product marketed under the Re Umberto brand as evidenced by a Walgreens advertisement in the March 13, 1957 edition of the “Yonkers (NY) Statesman” that included a pitch for Re Umberto Maraschino Cherries.
Another “Yonkers Statesman” ad, this one found in their July 19, 1951 edition, touted their Spanish olives suggesting they be served on what the ad called the “Smartest Idea of the Year,” a plastic olive tree.
In fact, according to Strohmeyer & Arpe’s various patent applications over the years the brand also encompassed onions, peppers, mushrooms, string beans, peas, artichokes, sardines and macaroni.
The company renewed the Re Umberto trademark for a third time on February, 18, 1968 however by then it appears changes were in the works. In the early 1970’s the company apparently moved out of their long time Franklin Street facilities, listing 260 West Broadway as their address for several years before ultimately moving to Milburn, New Jersey. At the same time, the United Pure Food Co. disappeared from the directories all together and newspaper advertisements referencing the Re Umberto brand were becoming few and far between. One of the last ones I can find appeared in the April 30, 1974 edition of the “Fresno (California) Bee.”
This all suggests the end of the brand came sometime in the mid-1970’s. Ultimately, the trademark expired on November 3, 1992 after it was not renewed.
Strohmeyer & Arpe, still in existence today, is now headquartered in New Jersey. According to their corporate profile found on bestfoodimporters.com:
Strohmeyer & Arpe, along with their sister firm C.M. Goettsche, is a leading importer of mountain wax and other natural waxes, as well as a supplier of Kings Pantry and private label canned fruits, vegetables and seafood to top food chains in America. With a history dating back to New York and now headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, the company’s mission is to provide high-quality products at competitive prices for customer profitability. With over a century of experience, Strohmeyer & Arpe is a trusted resource in the industry.
The bottle I found is machine made, 5-1/4 inches tall and contains a little less than 2 ounces. It’s packaged in the company’s familiar pyramid shape bottle and includes this phrase embossed in small letters on one face.
Imported and Packed By United Pure Food Co., N.Y., N.Y., U.S.A.
Recognizing the United Pure Food Company was established in 1911, the bottle was certainly manufactured no earlier than 1911. That said, another face of the bottle is embossed with the phrase “PEER-AMID BOTTLES.” According to the 1955 renewal of this trademark (I can’t find the original 1935 information) it was registered on August 6, 1935 (upper right-hand side).
While it’s possible the bottle type was in use prior to its trademark registration, I suspect that 1935 is much closer to the year the PEER-Amid bottle type was introduced.
The type apparently utilized prior to the PEER-AMID is exhibited on this bottle recently offered for sale on e-bay.
On a final note: The building built by Strohmeyer & Arpe at 139-141 Franklin Street that housed their operation for 60 plus years remains to this day. According to a July 23, 2025 article on the New York YIMBY web site, the building was recently acquired for a planned residential conversion.
A joint venture of Broad Street Development and TPG Angelo Gordon has acquired 139 Franklin Street, a ten-story commercial structure in Tribeca Manhattan, with the intention of converting it into a residential building. The 56,384 square foot structure is currently occupied by a 74-unit self-storage facility… the developers purchased the property for $43.5 million from the Sofia family, longtime operators in the self-storage market, in a deal arranged by JLL Capital Markets…
Here’s today’s view of the building courtesy of the YIMBY web site.
The building’s exterior hasn’t changed much from the 1909 rendering pictured in the “New York Times.” Sadly, the only thing missing is the flag pole.