BIM – Bay Bottles

F. Dieterich, Agt, Richmond Hill, L. I.

The first initial ” F.” stands for Frederick Dieterich who, according to 1910 census records, arrived in the United States from Germany in 1881. By the early 1900’s he was living in New York City’s Borough of Queens where the first directory listings I can find for him were in Trow’s 1903, 1906, 1907 and 1908 business directories. He appeared under the heading: “wines, liquor and lager beer saloons,” at two locations:

– Williamsburg Rd. ( now Metropolitan Ave.) corner of Hillside Avenue, Richmond Hill and

– Hillside Avenue c. Cottage (now 131st Street), Jamaica

Hillside Avenue serves as the border between Richmond Hill and Jamaica in this section of Queens, suggesting that these two locations were very close, maybe across the street from each other.

Later, New York State’s list of liquor tax certificate holders for years ending September 30, 1909, 1911, 1914, 1915 and 1917 all include Dieterich’s address as “Junction of Hillside Avenue, Williamsburg Road and Cottage Street.” At the same time, the Queens telephone book listed Fred Dieterich with the occupation “hotel” with an address of simply “Hillside Ave.”

All this suggests that Dieterich was the proprietor of a hotel that likely included a saloon located on the border of Richmond Hill and Jamaica, Queens in the early 1900’s.

In 1920, Dieterich is listed in the Queens telephone book without an occupation, likely a victim of National Prohibition.

The bottle I found is a champagne style beer with a blob finish. It likely dates on the earlier side of the 1903 to 1920 range.

Dr. D. Jayne’s Expectorant, Philadelphia.

Dr. D. Jayne’s Expectorant was a patent medicine on the market for well over 100 years from the mid-1830’s up through the 1940’s and possibly longer. Much of that time its ingredients included small doses of the drug opium.

An early advertisement, published in 1854, touted it as:

A Safe and Standard Remedy for all Pulmonary and Bronchial Complaints.

The advertisement went on to provide some detail on the medicine’s purported benefits.

Recent Coughs and Colds, Pleuritic Pains, etc., are quickly and effectually cured by its diaphoretic, soothing, and expectorant power.

Asthma it always cures. It overcomes the spasmodic contraction of the air vessels, and, and by producing free expectoration, at once removes all difficulty of breathing.

Bronchitis readily yields to the expectorant. It subdues the inflammation which extends through the wind tubes, promotes free expectoration, and suppresses at once the cough and pain.

Consumption – For this insidious and fatal disease no remedy has ever been found so effectual. It subdues the inflammation, suppresses the cough and pain, and relieves the difficulty of breathing, and by causing an easy expectoration, all irritating and obstructing matters are removed from the lungs.

Hooping-Cough is promptly relieved by this Expectorant. It shortens the duration of the disease one-half, and greatly mitigates the sufferings of the patient.

In all Pulmonary Complaints, in Croup, Pleurisy, etc., it will be found to be prompt, safe and reliable.

Fifty years later, in the early 1900’s, the patent medicine was still being advertised as having the ability to cure your cough as evidenced by this item published in the September 6, 1906 edition of the”Philadelphia Inquirer.”

Generally sold as a liquid, in 1912 it was introduced in tablet form as well. Directed at retail pharmacists, this introductory advertisement for Dr D. Jayne’s Expectorant Tablets appeared that year in the February edition of “The Practical Druggist.”

Three years later, in response to enactment of the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act that regulated the production, importation and distribution of opiates and cocoa products, a notice published in the March, 1915 edition of “The Practical Druggist” announced that both the liquid and tablet forms of the Expectorant contained a small amount of opium.

While the notice went on to say that “the new law in no way affects the sale or possession” of the Expectorant, by 1920 the opium had been replaced as an ingredient. The change was announced in an advertisement published in the July, 1920 edition of “The Practical Druggist.”

After several months of research work we have succeeded in replacing the very small amount of opium in these preparations with a non-narcotic equivalent that does not impair in the slightest degree the efficiency of these remedies.

This will eliminate the former necessity of keeping a record of each sale and therefore greatly facilitate the handling of these preparations by the druggist.

Recommend these Remedies to your customers. Aside from using a substitute for the opium the formulas have not been changed.

Subsequently, the tablets were advertised to the general public under the brand name JANEX. This advertisement for JAYNEX appeared in the February 25, 1921 edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer.”

As you might expect, as the 20th Century progressed the curative claims associated with Jayne’s Expectorant softened quite a bit such that by the late 1930’s it was pitched as nothing more than a cough medicine. This wording in a February 23, 1938 advertisement in Allentown Pennsylvania’s “Morning Call” was typical of the era.

The favorite for a century. Colds and coughs strike without warning. Be prepared to fight. Keep Jayne’s Expectorant handy. It soothes the tender throat, losens the irritating phlegm and helps to expel it. Just what’s needed. Get it now.

Specific newspaper advertisements promoting Dr. D. Jayne’s Expectorant vanished by the early 1940’s, but it continued to be listed sporadically in drug store advertisements up through the end of the decade. As late as February 12, 1948 you could still get it at “Peck’s Cut Rate Drugs” in Port Huron Michigan (2nd last).

While it’s not clear exactly when the expectorant was discontinued, newspaper references to it completely disappear by 1950.

The expectorant’s original formulator and namesake was a man named David Jayne.

His story gets its start at the turn of the 19th century when, according to his March 6, 1866 obituary published in Philadelphia’s “The Evening Telegraph,” his initial occupation was not as a druggist, but as a school teacher.

Dr. Jayne was born in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on the 22nd day of July, 1799…He was the son of the Rev. Ebenezer Jayne, a Baptist clergyman, and received the most of his education under the auspices of pious parents. When quite a youth he removed to Cumberland County, New Jersey, and commenced life as a poorly paid school teacher.

Jayne’s obituary went on to say that in the early 1820’s he switched his focus to medicine.

About 1821 he commenced the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. E. Shepherd, a practitioner of marked ability and influence. He pursued his studies with untiring industry, and in due time was admitted to practice.

Whether Jayne actually graduated from medical school is not exactly clear (at least to me) as his rather lengthy obituary makes no mention of it. In addition, the 1850 edition of his annual advertising vehicle, “Jayne’s Medical Almanac,” also leaves the issue open with this vague statement in Jayne’s own words:

I would here take occasion to remark that I was a student of one of the best medical institutions in the United States (the University of Pennsylvania) and have now had over thirty years experience in an extensive and diversified practice….

All that aside, his obituary went on to say:

He performed the duties of country physician for some years with eminent success, but had the ambition to desire a wider field of usefulness.

Early newspaper advertisements suggest that it was during his time as a country physician in New Jersey that he began to manufacture his own line of patent medicines. This early newspaper advertisement for what’s most likely his first concoction, “Jayne’s Carminative Balsam,” appeared in the July 30, 1834 edition of the “Alexandria (Va.) Gazette.” The endorsement at the bottom of the advertisement was dated May 4, 1831 suggesting that Jayne had begun the manufacture of his balsam by that time.

In 1836, advertisements for his expectorant, originally called “Dr. D. Jayne’s Indian Expectorant” also began to appear in newspaper advertisements. One of the earliest was published in the November 3rd edition of Newport Rhode Island’s “Herald of the Times.”

Less than a year after the above advertisement was published Jayne picked up and moved his entire operation to Philadelphia where he initially settled at 20 South Third Street. Notices announcing his arrival began appearing in Philadelphia newspapers as early April, 1837.

By June, with his medical practice now up and running in Philadelphia, Jayne’s notices began to include Philadelphia references.

That being said, it’s clear that Jayne continued to focus on his patent medicine business as well. According to his 1866 obituary, when Jayne arrived in Philadelphia

he commenced as a practicing physician, but after a short time found himself gradually becoming a leading druggist and from that time to the present has been entirely engaged in that line of trade.

The transition from physician to druggist, if not complete, had certainly made significant progress by 1840 when the number of patent medicines associated with the Jayne name had increased to five. Now referred to as “Doctor Jayne’s Family Medicines,” they were listed in the December 9, 1840 edition of the “Lancaster (Pa.) Examiner.”

It was also around this time, actually 1843, when Jayne began the annual publication of “Jayne’s Medical Almanac and Guide to Health,” in which he shamelessly pitched the use of his patent medicines. Early versions state in Jayne’s own words:

…It contains a vast amount of valuable information suited to the wants of all; among which will be found a Catalogue of Diseases, with suitable directions and prescriptions for their removal, together with the full and explicit directions for the use of my various preparations…

In 1845 Jayne moved up the street, relocating from 20 South Third Street to 8 South Third Street. Again, notices announcing the move appeared in the Philadelphia newspapers beginning in May of that year.

Other than offering “advice gratuitously,”the ad doesn’t mention medical services suggesting that by then Jayne was no longer a practicing physician. Now, apparently fully invested in his drug business, he was not only manufacturing and selling his “Family Medicines,” but, according to the ad, acting as a wholesale dealer for “everything usually kept by dealers in drugs and medicines.”

The business grew rapidly, and according to his “Evening Telegraph” obituary, by 1849 he was planning another move. ”

His immense business forced him to seek more extensive quarters, and in 1849 he commenced the erection of his magnificent Quincy granite structure, in Chestnut Street, below Third. The center building was finished in 1850 and the wings added in 1852.

As early as 1852 the cover of Jayne’s Medical Almanac and Guide to Health” featured the completed center building…

…and later almanacs featured the completed building, including the wings.

The “Jayne” building, sometimes referred to as Philadelphia’s first skyscraper, was initially listed with an address of 84 Chestnut Street. Shortly afterwards, what appears to be a revision to the numbering system, changed the address to 242 Chestnut Street.

This description of the new building was included as part of a feature on Philadelphia, published in the March 15, 1852 “Pittsburgh Post.”

The next place of interest in Philadelphia to visit is Dr. Jaynes great building on Chestnut Street. It is 42 feet in width, 135 feet in depth, and is eight stories high. The height of the building above the pavement is 96 feet, and the height of the cupola 33 feet, making the elevation above the pavement 129 feet, to which may be added 27 feet for the stones under ground, or foundation, which makes the entire altitude, from bottom to top, 156 feet! The material of which this immense structure has been constructed is granite, from the Quincy quarries in Massachusetts. The front of this building has numerous columns, which inclose Gothic windows, and the whole is crowned with Gothic cornice. I was also taken through the building from foundation to turret, by one of the polite clerks of the establishment. From the top I had (a) magnificent view of Philadelphia and its environs, the shipping, navy yard, Camden, etc., etc. The cost of Jayne’s building exceeds $350,000 -the ground alone cost $144,000.

This early photograph the building is courtesy of the New York Public Library’s Digital Collection.

As you might guess, constructing a building of that size in 1850 had its issues, not the least of which, according to the December 11, 1850 edition of Philadelphia’s “Public Ledger,” was fire protection.

The Jayne Palace – In a few days, the Diligent Engine Company will make an attempt to throw water to the top of Dr. Jayne’s new building in Chestnut Street… The effort will be made at the request of Dr. Jayne, in consequence of one of the Insurance Companies refusing to insure the property if the feat cannot be accomplished.

The successful attempt took place the following spring and drew quite a crowd. It was described in the April 18, 1851 edition of the “Public Ledger.”

A Great Feat. – An attempt to throw water over the cupola of Dr. Jayne’s granite palace in Chestnut Street was successfully performed yesterday with the Diligent Engine, in the presence of a great throng of persons attracted to the spot by the great novelty of the undertaking. The engine was manned by about fifty men, a large portion being members of the Good-Will Engine, who had volunteered for the occasion. The gallery stream was first tried with a 1-1/8 inch nozzle, and the stream was thrown above the cupola with perfect ease. Several persons were standing in it, and probably deemed themselves above all the efforts of the fireman, but they soon found themselves deluged, one of the gentlemen having his hat washed off by the sudden gush of the watery element. He acknowledged the triumph of the engine, by waving a very wet handkerchief, amid the cheers of the spectators below. The breastwork of the cupola is 134 feet above the Chestnut Street pavement, and the height to which the water was thrown was therefore fully 140 feet. The water was next forced through two side streams with 7/8 inch nozzles, and each of these streams went over the cornice, which is 96 feet above the pavement. The whole power of the engine was then applied to a single side stream, and though the pipe was held by a person standing on the ground, this stream was thrown at least twelve feet above the top of the cupola, attaining an actual height of 146 feet….The Diligent has in this instance handsomely sustained the reputation it has hitherto borne of being the most powerful engine attached to the fire department.

On a side note: Ironically, 20 years later, on September 4, 1872, the building was partially destroyed by fire when firemen were unable to get water to the cupola. A story in the March 7, 1872 edition of the “Carlisle (Pa.)Weekly Herald” reported:

…after burning for twenty minutes the cupola collapsed inside the building.

In 1850, just as the new building was about to open, Jayne formed a business partnership with family members to run the wholesale drug piece of the business. According to an 1896 publication entitled “Men of the Century:”

…Dr. Jayne formed a partnership with his son, David W. Jayne, and his nephew, Eden C. Jayne, to conduct the wholesale drug business. This attained large proportions, but was not so remunerative as desired, and was discontinued in 1854, a new partnership being formed in 1855, including the three partners named and John K.Walker, Dr. Jayne’s brother-in-law, under the firm name of Dr. D. Jayne & Son.

According to Eben Jayne’s obituary, published in the November 21, 1900 edition 0f the “Lewiston (Pa) Journal,” the 1855 partnership was established to consolidate the wholesale drug business with Jaynes patent medicine business.

Under the new partnership, the menu of Jayne’s Family Medicines continued to grow and by the late 1850’s had more than doubled. This expanded list of medicines appeared in the 1865 Philadelphia City Directory.

Shortly after forming the partnership David Jayne turned the day to day management of the business over to his partners. Now focused on real estate, David Jayne went on to build several more iconic buildings in Philadelphia before passing away in 1866. After his death ownership of the company passed on to his estate while it continued to operate under the management of his brother-in-law, John K. Walker and nephew, Eben C. Jayne. (David Jayne’s son, David W., had previously passed away in 1863.)

It was under their management that the company survived the March 1872 fire, announcing in the March 6, 1872 edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer” that they were temporarily resuming business at 622 Chestnut Street…

…and less than six months later, on August 24, 1872, another “Philadelphia Inquirer” notice announced they were back in business at 242 Chestnut Street

It was also under their management that the business continued to grow. In the late 1860’s/early 1870’s newspaper advertisements for Jayne’s medicines were appearing throughout much of the northeast and mid-west as well as California suggesting that the company’s reach was nearing national proportions; an amazing fact considering the mode of distribution described in a December 19, 1877 “Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer” story.

A valuable old mare, the property of Dr. D. Jayne & Son, has just reached Philadelphia in good order after having traveled eleven months a year for the last six years, through Virginia and Pennsylvania, traveling during this period the immense distance of 46,500 miles by actual measurement. From the record of her driver, William Shall, while collecting for the firm she was always driven with a mate; a new one however, had to be supplied every year.

It was also in the mid -1860’s that the company was shipping their medicines overseas to agents in places like England and Australia.This advertisement for Dr. D. Jayne’s Expectorant that appeared in the October 21, 1865 edition of a British publication called the “Cambridge Weekly News,” identified their London, England agent as Francis Newberry and Sons, 45 St. Paul’s Churchyard, London.

By the turn of the century their medicines had even made their way to China where in 1899, and possibly earlier, agents for the company were being listed in “The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Cores, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands, India, Borneo, the Philippines, etc.” This business card advertisement was included in the 1909 edition of that publication.

Highlighting their world wide reach was a notice to druggists promoting Jayne’s 1910 Almanac. It pointed out that not only were seven million copies being printed but it was being published in seven different languages.

David Jayne’s brother in law, John K. Walker, passed away in 1881 after which his nephew, Eben C Jayne, continued as head of the firm until his death in November 1900. That being said, as late as 1926 the company was still being managed by the Jayne family, with a grandson, J. Maxwell Bullock, listed in the Philadelphia directory as “General Manager.”

In 1927 the company announced that they were moving from their long time home in Chestnut Street’s Jayne Building to a new location along the Philadelphia waterfront. Also owned by the Jayne estate, the property was located at Delaware Avenue and Vine Street. The move, announced in concert with a plan to standardize both their bottle type and size (5 ounces) was announced in the June, 1927 edition of the “Practical Druggist.”

For many years almost from the foundation of the business, Dr. D Jayne & Son have put up their preparations in various sizes and styles of bottles, but today with the greatly increased manufacturing costs and with the impossibility of advancing prices to the public, Dr. Jayne & Son decided to adopt a uniform size and style bottle for all of their preparations, and in their advertisement in this issue they quote both the old and new wholesale and retail prices, and where the price has been raised, it is only nominal as the quantity has been increased, so that it is not really a price raise.

The making of these changes in prices and uniformity of size was under consideration for some time and an excellent opportunity to make the change (occurred) when Dr. Jane & Son were able to dispose of their building on Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and remove to property that they owned at Vine Street and Delaware Avenue. When the removal was decided upon, plans were made to install the latest styles of pharmaceutical apparatus and bottle labeling machinery with the result that today Dr. D Jayne & Son are in a position to fill all orders more expeditiously than at any time in the long history of the business. In the removal to their present premises there is a great advantage in receiving and shipping facilities as the Belt Line railroad is within a hundred feet of the building, and for water shipment only the distance of the width of Delaware Avenue.

Ownership of the company remained with David Jayne’s estate until 1931 when Jayne’s estate was distributed among the surviving heirs. A May 24, 1931 “Philadelphia Inquirer” article tells the story.

Sixty-five years after his death and nearly a century after he settled in Philadelphia and first began to amass a fortune from patent medicine and real estate transactions that made him one of the wealthiest men of his time, final distribution of the estate of Dr. David Jayne, physician, philanthropist and civic leader is about to be made…

There were twelve grandchildren, ten of whom are now living. Harry W. Jayne, a deceased grandson left two sons and J. Maxwell Bullock. another deceased grandson, left three sons.

Real estate which has not yet been converted includes the premises 611-27 Chestnut Street, valued at more than $600,000; Pier 15 North Wharves, Delaware Avenue and Vine Street, and 216 Vine Street.

Less than a month after the announcement, the business incorporated in the State of Delaware. The incorporation notice appeared in the June 5, 1931 edition of the Wilmington Delaware’s “News Journal.”

Seven years later, in 1938, David Jayne’s heirs sold the Vine and Delaware property to the corporation. The sale was reported in the March 12th edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer.”

Jayne Heirs Convey Stores 2 to 16 Vine St. for $50,000

2 to 16 Vine St. eight store properties, lot 153 by 81 feet have been conveyed by A. R. Bullock, Charles H. Jayne, Horace F. Jayne and other heirs of the Jayne estate to Dr. D Jayne & Son, Inc. for $50,000. They are totally assessed at $79,400.

The company continued to publish their almanac up through the early 1940’s. As far as I can tell the last (98th) edition came in 1941.

Newspaper advertisements continue to locate Dr. D. Jayne & Son in Philadelphia at 2 Vine Street as late as 1946 after which I lose track. That being said, as late as the 1960’s, newspaper advertisements for their “Vermifuge,” now called “Jayne’s P-W,” continued to appear sporadically. The last one I can find appeared in the October 29, 1969 edition of the “South Bend (Ind.) Tribune.” The ad closed with the line:

Perfected by Dr. D. Jayne & Son, specialists in worm remedies for 100 years.

The subject bottle is mouth blown with a tooled finish and eight ounces in size. This likely dates it sometime around the turn of the century. At that time Jayne’s Expectorant, in liquid form, was being sold in three different size bottles. For much of its history it was sold in what the company referred to as the “Dollar” size. Then, as early as 1893 they began offering it in “Half Dollar” bottles as well.

In 1905 the company took it a step further, announcing the addition of a two ounce size.

This 1917 price list refers to the three sizes as “Large,” “Half” and “Quarter” respectively.

We know from the 1905 advertisement that the “Quarter” contains two ounces. Therefore, logically the subject bottle, containing eight ounces, is what the company called the “Large” or “Dollar” size which in 1917 was selling for $1.20.

Lea & Perrins, Worcestershire Sauce J.D.S. (John Duncan’s Sons)

There are several differing versions of how Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce got its start, but all seem to agree as to where it happened; namely in the drug store of John Wheeler Lea and William Perrins located at 68 Broad Street in Worcester, England. I suspect that all versions of the story are rooted in some truth but also contain a dose of marketing and salesmanship mixed in for good measure. I’ll relate the version that appeared in the July 30, 1892 edition of an English publication called “The Drug and Chemist.”

Mr. Lea was in his shop one day when an old Indian officer came in and asked for some hot sauce; he could not get any hot enough. Mr. Lea bethought himself of an old jar in the storeroom which had been neglected for years. It was formerly made for “a nobleman in the county,” but the nobleman had departed, and Lea and Perrins had a stock of it on hand. The Indian officer tried it and was delighted. He recommended it among his chums, and a demand sprang up. To meet the English palate the force heat of the original had to be modified, and Worcestershire sauce was established. This came to pass soon after the year 1830.

By the early 1900’s, the success of the sauce might best be indicated by this colorfully written paragraph that appeared in a 1916 publication called “British Industrial Expansion.”

There is hardly a locality in the world in which meals have not been flavored with Lea & Perrins’ Sauce. It has been transported in sledges across vast tracts of snow and ice to mining camps of Alaska; by caravan across the deserts of Arabia, and into the interior of Africa; by pack mule train along thousands of miles of barren land, up the Himalayas and across the Andes; by coolies to the hidden towns and villages of China and Japan; whilst expeditions to the North and South Polar Regions invariably carry a supply with which to flavor their pemmican.

That success continued up through the turn of the current century when according to a June 21, 2000 story in the “New York Times:”

Today, 25 million bottles a year are produced here (Worcester) and shipped around the world…In all, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is sold in 140 countries.

So, with that as background let’s go back to the beginning. According to the 1892 story in “The Chemist and Druggist,” The Lea & Perrins story got its start in the late 1700’s in the drug store of George Guise.

Lea & Perrins came into possession of the business with which their names became so intimately associated in the early part of this century (1800’s). A Mr. Guise opened the shop about 1780 and John W. Lea was an apprentice with him. He succeeded his master, and subsequently took William Perrins into partnership.

The partnership is said to have begun on January 1, 1823; a fact supported by a June 12, 1823, advertisement in Berrow’s Worcester Journal that named Lea & Perrins as Worcester’s retail agent for a product called “Robinson’s Prepared Barley, and Prepared Groats.” It’s the earliest advertisement I can find that bears the Lea & Perrins’ name.

By 1830, the Lea & Perrins’ partnership was operating a second store, this one on Vicar Street in Kidderminster. Both the Worcester and Kidderminster locations are referenced in this May 29, 1830 advertisement found in “Jackson’s Oxford Journal…”

This photograph of the Kidderminster store front appeared years later in the October 7, 1916 edition of “The Chemist and Druggist.”

Later in September, 1831 they opened a third store, this one in Cheltenham at 373 High Street. In partnership with James Perrins they conducted business under the name Perrins, Lea and Perrins, The opening of the Cheltenham store was announced in the September 22, 1831 edition of “Berrow’s Worcester Journal.”

Perrins, Lea and Perrins dissolved on September 14, 1832 and was followed by Lea, Perrins and Ormond which dissolved on April 15, 1837.

At this point Lea and Perrins partnered with Nathaniel Smith forming Lea, Perrins and Smith. According to Smith’s obituary in the November 7, 1903 edition of “The Chemist and Druggist:”

Mr. Smith was with Messrs. Lea & Perrins in their Cheltenham branch as an assistant, and in 1837 was taken into partnership…

Three years later, the first newspaper advertisements for Worcestershire Sauce appeared under the “Lea, Perrins and Smith” name. The earliest one I can find appeared in the October 17, 1840 edition of London’s “The Guardian.” The ad suggested that the sauce was being sold locally prior to 1840 (most internet accounts say 1836 or 1837).

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE. – So many sauces under every variety of name, have been of late contending for public favor, that we have hesitated to extend beyond our own vicinity the introduction of a new one, which has, in a very short time, become much sought after and esteemed in other parts of the Kingdom. The Worcestershire Sauce is prepared by us from from the favorable recipe of a nobleman of knowledged gout. it possesses a peculiar piquancy; it is applicable to almost every dish, on account of the superiority of its zest; the diffusible property of its delicate flavor renders it the most economical, as well as the most useful of sauces.

LEA, PERRINS & SMITH, Worcester and Chentlenham. Sold in Manchester by Messrs. Roach and Co., Market Street; Mr. Yates, Old Exchange, and Mr. Hutchinson, Old Church Yard.

The Lea, Perrins & Smith partnership dissolved in 1848 when, according to Smith’s 1903 obituary, he bought the Cheltenham branch of the business. This is confirmed by Smith’s newspaper advertisements that began appearing in the Spring of 1848. One such ad appeared in the May 27, 1848 edition of the “Cheltenham Looker-On; A Note Book of Fashionable Sayings and Doings.” It’s last line reads:

Prepared by Smith, (late Lea, Perrins, & Smith) 373 High Street, Cheltenham.

By the mid to late 1840’s Lea & Perrins’ advertisements indicate the company had agents all over England and were even making inroads in Australia as evidenced by this February 27, 1850 ad that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.”

By the early 1840’s, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce had also made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, but more on that later in this post.

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce grew rapidly until they could no longer meet the demand for its manufacture in the back of their 68 Broad Street store. So, in 1845 they established a separate factory on Bank Street, directly behind or close by their Broad Street store. Now, with an increasing focus on manufacturing, in 1865 they sold their retail drug store on Broad Street to the partnership of George and Welch. A rendering of the store front after the sale appeared years later in the July 30, 1892 edition of “The Chemist and Druggist.

As you might expect, the company’s success inspired a good deal of competition. Local Worcester High Court records, Lea v. Millar, identified a man named Batty as one of, if not the first, competitor to also use the word “Worcestershire” in the name of his sauce. As early as January 30, 1847 Batty’s Worcestershire Sauce was included in this “Jackson’s Oxford Journal” list of “Potted Meats, Pickles, Fish Sauces, etc.” (fourth from the bottom).

Another early competitor was “Greatwoods” as evidenced by this August 4, 1855 advertisement in the “Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial.”

In order to distinguish themselves from the competition, Lea & Perrins advertisements circa 1860 began including the phrase:

Pronounced by Connoisseurs to be the “only good sauce” and applicable to every variety of dish.

The ads typically followed it up with:

The success of this most delicious and unrivaled condiment having caused many unprincipled dealers to apply the name to spurious compounds, the public is respectfully earnestly requested to see that the names of LEA & PERRINS are upon the WRAPPER, LABEL, STOPPER, and BOTTLE.

This early advertisement featuring the two phrases appeared in the March 22, 1860 edition of “The Nottinghamshire Guardian.”

Later, in November, 1874, the company took it a step further and changed their label to include the Lea & Perrins signature. Newspaper advertisements highlighting the new label began appearing shortly thereafter. A typical example appeared in the October 9,1875 edition of “Jackson’s Oxford Journal.”

Less than two years later in a July 1876 court case, Lea v. Millar, Lea & Perrins claimed they had sole rights to the word “Worcestershire.” A summary of the case was reported in the July 28, 1876 edition of the Birmingham Daily Post.”

This was a bill filed by Messrs. Lea and Perrins of Worcester to restrain the defendant from using the name “Worcestershire” in connection with a sauce made and sold by himself under the style or firm of Richard Millar and Co., such name being claimed by the plaintiffs as exclusively belonging to the sauce manufactured by themselves from a recipe imparted to their predecessors in business by a nobleman of the county about the year 1835.

The judge would have none of it.

The Master of Rolls said that he was of the opinion that the plaintiffs case wholly failed, and that Messrs. Lea & Perrins would have been better advised if they had not instituted the suit. Many years ago they might undoubtedly have succeeded in preventing other people from infringing their rights as the first makers of Worcestershire sauce, but they had allowed the maxim “Vigilantibus non dormientibus subrenit lex” to become applicable to their case. (The law favors those who do not sleep on their rights but instead seek to enforce them vigilantly.) It appeared to his lordship to be established that Messrs. Lea and Perrins’ predecessors in business either invented or obtained the recipe for an article to which they gave the name of Worcestershire sauce, and that they were the first persons to sell an article under the same name. That was about the year 1836, and within a very few, probably not more than two, years afterwards other people, of whom one Batty seemed to be the first, began to sell an article under the same name. Indeed, the name, within a very few years after it was first used by Messrs. Lea and Perrins, appeared to have become a common name in the trade…

Likely in response to this decision, sometime in the early 1880’s, Lea and Perrins’ advertisements began referring to their sauce as the

Original and Genuine WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

One of the earliest advertisements that include this phrase appeared in the September 13, 1882 edition of “The Derby Mercury.”

Later, in 1906, Lea & Perrins succeeded in a court proceeding that barred other sauce makers from using that phrase. The April 25, 1906 edition of “The Birmingham Post” summarized the proceedings.

Mr. Justice Swinfen Eady had before him yesterday in the Chancery Division, a motion by the plaintiffs in the action of Lea and Perrins v. Holbrook (Limited) for an interim injunction to restrain defendants from advertising Worcester sauce in a manner alleged to be an infringement of the planiff’s rights.

Mr. Sebastian who represented plaintiffs, said the matter was before the court some weeks ago, when an injunction was asked for to restrain defendants from advertising their Worcester sauce as the original, the genuine, or the only original and genuine. Defendants then gave an interim undertaking, and they had now agreed to make an end of the whole matter. It had been arranged that the motion should be treated as the trial of the action, defendants admitting that plaintiffs were the original makers of Worcester sauce. Defendants also submitted to a permanent injunction in terms which were in writing, in effect restraining them from using in connection with the sale of their sauces the words “original,” “genuine,” “the original,” or “the genuine.”

Competition notwithstanding, Lea & Perrins continued to grow throughout the latter portion of the 19th century. According to “Littlebury’s 1883 Guide to Worcester and its Neighborhood,” at some point the company added wholesale and export warehouses on the Bank Street side while continuing to maintain their offices at 68 Broad Street (likely in the upper floors). Ultimately however the entire business was forced to move and on November 16, 1895 a “Barrow’s Worcester Journal” story announced that they were moving to 3 Midland Road, outside of Worcester.

One hears sometime of depression in trade affecting Worcester china and Worcester gloves; but never that other Worcester product, sauce. In that there are no fluctuations, only a steady increase. Worcester Sauce has been come to be looked upon as a necessity in civilized countries, and, I suppose, as the world is becoming more and more civilized, the demand for sauce increases. Anyhow it is hardly a secret that the business of Messrs. Lea and Perrins has outgrown the old premises in Broad Street, and that the manufactory will shortly be transferred to a new site. The new factory will be built on a site in the Midland Road which is in every way convenient, notably for railway transit, it being close to Shrub-hill.

Opened in 1896, a rendering of the factory appears on today’s Lea & Perrins’ web site.

Ultimately, in 1930, Lea & Perrins merged with H. P. Sauce,’ Ltd. The merger was announced in the March 21, 1930 edition of several English newspapers. The “Birmingham Gazette” story follows.

The amalgamation of two Midland firms of sauce manufacturers is announced.

An agreement of amalgamation has been entered into as from 1 January, 1930, of the businesses of H.P. Sauce, Ltd., and Lea and Perrins, the well-known manufacturers of the original Worcestershire Sauce.

Both firms have been regarded as leading sauce manufacturers. The two businesses will continue to trade under their own individual managements, but it is considered that the amalgamation should be of great benefit in the further development of the twin interests of the united companies.

The firm of Lea Perrins is being converted into a private limited company of the same name whose shares will be acquired by H.P. Sauce, Ltd…

In Britain, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is still made to this day by Kraft Heinz at the same Midland Road factory that opened in 1896. This current photograph of the factory is courtesy of “The Worcester News.” Other than a car replacing the horse and wagon not much else has changed in relation to their 1896 rendering.

As early as the 1840’s Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was making its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States where a firm named John Duncan & Son was named as Lea & Perrins’ U.S. agent.

According to a feature on the Duncan’s published in the July 28, 1911 edition of the “Grocers Advocate,” John Duncan had established the business which dealt in rare and fine groceries, wines and liquors in 1819. Located in New York City, this June 20, 1829 advertisement in the “Evening Post,” located the company in lower Manhattan at 407 Broadway, between Walker and Lispenard Streets.

In 1840, Duncan formed a partnership with his son David, changing the name of the business to John Duncan & Son. The co-partnership notice was published in several February, 1840 editions of the “Evening Post.

Later, about 1850, Duncan admitted a second son, John P. Duncan to the partnership, changing its name to John Duncan & Sons.

In January, 1843 John Duncan & Son ran the first U. S. newspaper advertisement (that I can find) for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in New York’s “Evening Post.”

At the start Duncan imported the sauce in bottles directly from England where it was shipped in the transatlantic ocean liners of the day, one of which was the “Great Western.”

In fact, not only could Worcestershire Sauce be found in the cargo hold of the Great Western, but on the dinner tables of the liner’s passengers as well. According to this excerpt from a November 7, 1844 John Duncan & Sons advertisement:

“GREAT WESTERN STEAM SHIP,” 6th June, 1844 – “The cabin of the Great Western has been regularly supplied with Lea & Perrins’ Worcestershire Sauce, which is adapted for every variety of dish – from turtle to beef – from salmon to steaks – to all of which it gives a famous relish. I have great pleasure in recommending this excellent Sauce to Captains and Passengers for its capital flavor, and as the best accompaniment of its kind for any voyage. (signed) JAMES HOSKEY

On occasion, John Duncan’s early newspaper advertisements would announce the arrival of their trans Atlantic sauce shipments. One such shipment that included 500 dozen bottles arriving on a ship named the “Universe” was announced in the August 8, 1850 edition of the “Evening Post.”.

While their Lea & Perrins business was certainly increasing, their wholesale and retail business in general remained quite strong, as evidenced by this advertisement that appeared in the June, 1856 issue of Hunt’s “Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review.”

Eventually, the company outgrew their Broadway facilities and moved to One Union Square in 1860. Later, sometime around 1870, they added a second Manhattan location at 30 South William Street which later moved to 29 Murray Street in 1878 and 29 College Place in 1879. By this time, John Duncan, Sr. had passed away (in 1864) changing the firm name again, this time to John Duncan’s Sons.

In 1877, the Duncan’s were still importing Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in bottles when, in concert with Lea & Perrins’ English operation, they implemented a change that was described like this in an August 21, 1899 story published in the Buffalo (N.Y.) “Courier Express:”

…a change in practice was begun by Lea & Perrins and John Duncan’s Sons, by which, instead of sending over here the sauce finished, bottled, labeled and ready for use, it was sent over in a partially manufactured condition in casks, and the Messrs. Duncan finished the sauce here according to formula furnished them by the English house, and bottled and put it up for sale.

The story went on to say

This course had certain obvious advantages. It saved the firms from paying duty on bottles, labels, straw and finishing expenses, and avoided breakage. `

At least a portion of these savings were passed on to the customers, as evidenced by much of their late 1870’s and early 1880’s advertising which touted:

Great Reduction in Price of Lea & Perrins’ Celebrated Worcestershire Sauce thus giving the consumer not only the Best, but the most Economical Sauce.

As far as I can tell, up through 1886, Union Square served as the company’s retail location, while Murray Street and later, College Place housed their wholesale business and the manufacturing operation associated with the Lea & Perrins sauce.. Then, in 1887, the company discontinued their retail business and moved the wholesale and manufacturing operations to 43 Park Place in Manhattan. A photograph of their Park Place building appeared in an 1895 publication entitled “Kings Photographic Views of New York.”

Twelve years later, in 1899, John Duncan’s Sons began to manufacture Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in its entirety. The change was brought about as the result of a suit brought by the U.S. government over the valuation of the imported products. The particulars were spelled out in a story found in the August 18,1899 edition of the “Birmingham (Alabama) News”

The firm of John Duncan’s Sons, of New York, are the agents in this country for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, and for more than twenty years has engaged in a part of the work of preparation of that sauce – the English house sending the sauce over in casks, in a partly manufactured condition, and Messrs. Duncan finishing it here according to a formula supplied from England. By this method the cost of transportation and the duty on bottles, labels, straw and the liability to breakage were avoided. The United States Government levied an import tax of 3 schillings 4 pence per gallon on the unfinished sauce, which was considered sufficient, as the stuff has no marketable value. When appraiser Wakeman came into office, however, he raised the duty 500 percent, but this being contested he finally was required by the department to reduce it to 200 percent. The appraiser then charged Duncan’s Sons with under appraisement and made a seizure of an importation. A suit followed in which the firm came out victorious, the Government withdrawing from its untenable position.

Meantime, however, the duty of 200 percent proved to be prohibitive and the London house decided to send the whole formula to John Duncan’s Sons, and now the sauce is made in this country, instead of imported in the partly finished state.

At the same time they moved into a new factory building that occupied the entire block between Canal and York Streets. It was described like this in the June 17, 1899 edition of “Brooklyn Life.”

How pleasing it is to visit an establishment as that of John Duncan’s Sons, at 392 Canal Street and 11-13 York Streets, New York, where the American output of the world-famous Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is prepared for market.

Here is a building of eight stories, recently constructed, and modern in every particular. It was planned and built solely for the purpose to which it has been put, consequently every detail of construction and interior arrangement has been studied for utility and comfort…

The vaults in the basement, in which are stored the ingredients in bulk, are large and airy, each cask is labeled and numbered and has its own place, so that it can be readily found. Several of the floors above are also utilized for the same purpose.

The bottling department is an interesting one. The liquid is brought from properly placed casks on the floor above through silver tubes to the bottling machine which works automatically. When a row of empty bottles is placed in position the machine allows only just enough of the sauce to flow in to just fill them, and then stops. There is no ladling out or measuring by hand – nothing comes in contact with the liquid except the wood of the casks and the silver tubes. Each bottle is then carefully wrapped in the familiar paper that we all know and is then taken in hand by the packers who deftly fill the boxes according to sizes, and so it goes to the shipping room. The room fronts on York Street and occupies the entire ground floor, except for the small portion on the Canal Street side which is used for general offices.

An unusual fact in connection with this factory is that even the paper of the wrappers is manufactured expressly to order, as are also the corks and the red twine used to tie around the neck of each bottle and which is one of the distinguishing features of the brand of goods.

As modern and large as the factory was, within a decade it was outgrown, forcing the company to move again, this time to a nine story, 80,000 square foot building at 237-241 West Street on the corner of Hubert Street. The building was depicted in the 1911 feature published in the “Grocer’s Advocate.”

Always a devoted advertiser, according to a story in the June 14, 1923 edition of an advertising publication called “Printer’s Ink,” up through the early teens Duncan’s advertisements were designed simply

to remind people of the fact that the sauce was good for soups, gravies, steaks, chops and fish, and keeping the name and trademark in the public’s eye.

The story went on to say:

But in 1915 an educational campaign was inaugurated to tell about new uses. For the first time in its history the company hunted for reasons why the dining public should desire “Lea & Perrins’ Sauce, the original Worcestershire.” Over a hundred recipes were prepared to which the sauce should be used, not merely by its addition as seasoning at the table, but in preparation during the cooking of foods. These recipes were printed on a hanger which could be placed in the kitchen, and they were offered free in the company’s advertising…More than 150 uses have been discovered and more are being found constantly.

One recipe, this one for Fish Hash appeared in the October, 1915 issue of “The Ladies Home Journal.” The ad went on to tout their “Kitchen Recipe Hanger” as well.

Likely as a result of the amalgamation with H.P. Sauce, Ltd., Lea & Perrins, Inc. filed as a domestic business corporation in the U.S. on April 1, 1930. From this point on the business was listed in the U S. directories and telephone books as Lea & Perrins, Inc. at the 241 West Street address. That’s not to say that the Duncans weren’t involved. In fact as late as 1978 a “New York Times” story in their April 18th edition referred to Ransom Duncan, the great-great-grandson of John Duncan, as the technical director of the American firm of Lea & Perrins.

In 1958, Lea & Perrins, Inc. was planning to move out of New York City, and in October obtained approval to build a new plant in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The approval was announced in the October 22nd edition of Paterson New Jersey’s “Morning Call.”

The construction of a Lea & Perrins plant, sauce manufacturers, in Industrial Park, was approved last night by the planning board.

It was reported that the plant will employ a maximum of 100 persons working 9 to 5 shifts only.

The one story masonry structure will front on Pollitt Dr., adjacent to the Erie Railroad. It will be 364 feet long and 241 feet wide.

The 1960 New York Telephone Book indicated that by then the company had removed to Pollitt Drive in Fair Lawn New Jersey, suggesting the move occurred sometime in 1959.

In 2005, H. J. Heinz Co. acquired Lea & Perrins when they purchased the HP Food Group. The purchase was reported in the August 17, 2005 edition of “The Hackensack (N.J.) Record.”

H. J. Heinz Co. completed its purchase of HP Foods Group on Tuesday, but the deal left in doubt the future of the company’s North American headquarters in Fair Lawn and the 50 employees there.

The $820 million deal with France’s Group Danane S.A. gave Heinz the HP brand and Lea & Perrins – maker of the world’s No. 1 Worcestershire sauce – as well as a license for Amoy Asian sauce in Europe.

As part of the purchase, Pittsburgh-based Heinz gained two British manufacturing plants and the Fair Lawn location, which includes a factory for making Lea & Perrins and HP sauces.

Heinz spokesman Robin Teets said the company would conduct a detailed analysis of the newly acquired assets to determine how they fit into existing Heinz operations…

“The Fair Lawn facility remains open,” he said, “Until that assessment is completed, we don’t expect any changes.”

The Fair Lawn factory remained open for roughly another 10 years, until 2014 or 2015. Where exactly it’s made today in the U. S. is not clear.

I’ve found a total of three Lea & Perrins bottles over the years. All have the letters J D S in some arrangement embossed on the base. These letters are certainly the initials of Lea & Perrins’ long time U. S. agent, John Duncan’s Sons. The Duncan’s initially imported the sauce in bottles from England and it wasn’t until sometime in 1877 or 1878 that they began bottling it in the United States. Logically, this establishes 1877 as the earliest year any bottle with those initials was produced.

One bottle is mouth blown and roughly 10 ounces in size. The other two are machine made; one is 6 ounces the other 10 ounces. The website glassbottlemarks.com suggests that the mouth blown bottles were produced abundantly until the 1910’s before a switch was made to machine made bottles.

Base photos of both 10 ounce bottles are shown below.

Mouth Blown

Machine Made

Emil Schlicher, Farmingdale, L.I.

Emil Schlicher was the successor to the Farmingdale, Long Island mineral water and bottling business of Schnaderbeck and Runge. A nephew of Richard Runge, Schlicher likely took over the business sometime in 1908. That year he’s included on a New York State listing of liquor tax certificate holders with an address of Fulton and Main, the former address of Schnaderbeck and Runge. More information on Schnaderbeck and Runge can be found in another post on this site. Schnaderbeck & Runge

Referring to the business as the “Enterprise Bottling Works” during 1909 and much of 1910 Schlicher ran this advertisement on an almost weekly basis in Belmore, Long Island’s local newspaper, the”South Side Messenger.”

In 1920, census records continued to list Schlicher’s occupation as “soda water manufacturer,” so it’s reasonable to assume that he was still in business during the early 1920’s. Then, on January 16, 1925, a legal notice published in the “Farmingdale Post” announced that the business, now located on Elizabeth Street in Farmingdale, was up for sale.

This dates Schlicher’s proprietorship to the 17 year period from 1908 to 1925. That being said the Enterprise Bottling Company survived the sale and was still active in the Spring of 1928 when this advertisement appeared in several editions of the “Farmingdale Post.”

I haven’t been able to find any record of the business in the 1930’s.

The bottle I found is mouth blown with a blob finish. It’s a shade under 11-inches tall and roughly 3-1/2 inches in diameter. It likely dates to the early Schlicher years, say 1908 to 1912.

I’ve also found the lower portion of a smaller bottle that would have been approximately 7 – 8 inches tall and likely had a crown finish.

Mimnaugh Bottling Co., Far Rockaway, L.I.

The name Mimnaugh in Far Rockaway dates back to at least 1867 when Curtin’s Long Island directory named James Mimnaugh as the proprietor of a “country store.” He’s not listed in the 1865 directory suggesting that the Mimnaugh business got its start sometime in the mid-1860’s.

At some point in the early to mid 1870’s it appears that his son, also named James, joined the business at which time it operated under the name “J & J Mimnaugh”until 1887 when James Mimnaugh, Sr. left and turned complete control of the store over to his son. An announcement to this effect, dated June 3, 1877, appeared in several editions of Freeport Long Island’s “South Side Signal.”

JAMES MIMNAUGH, JR., would inform the public that he has assumed entire control of the store business conducted under the firm name of J. & J. Mimnaugh.

The announcement referred to the business as:

…and went on to say:

A year later Mimnaugh still owned the business when it was burglarized on a Sunday morning. The burglary was reported in the March 13, 1878 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

At one 0’clock on Sunday morning thieves effected an entrance to the store of James Mimnaugh, in Far Rockaway. They bored holes around the lock, knocked the wood out and thus were enabled to unlock the door. The hand of one of the men was cut in the operation. They had a wagon and one horse, and carried off dry goods, boots and shoes and groceries to the amount of $680. The burglary was not discovered until seven o’clock the next morning.

Up to this point it’s clear that the business was still operating as a general or country store, so it’s possible that Mimnaugh was selling bottled beer and soda, however, if he was it certainly wasn’t apparent in his advertising. In fact, I can’t connect the Mimnaugh name with bottling until 1889 when this item appeared in the July 13th edition of the “South Side Signal.”

On complaint of Charles L. Looker, agent of the Bottler’s Association, Henry Lotz, of Rockville Centre, and James E Mimnaugh of Far Rockaway, were arrested on the charge of using and trafficking in bottles belonging to Pflug and Ackley and E. Matthews, bottlers , of Hempstead. They were tried before Justice B. V. Clowes and found guilty. Lotz was fined $65 and Mimnaugh $10. Lotz had 198 bottles in his possession and Mimnaugh 20.

Subsequently, in the 1890’s, I’ve been able to find three Far Rockaway business listings for James Mimnaugh all of which suggest bottling. In 1890, he’s listed with the occupation “liquors” with an address of Central Avenue, near Cornaga Avenue. Later, in 1898 and 1899, he’s listed as a “bottler of lager beer” at the corner of Carleton Avenue and R.R. Avenue. During the same 1890’s period there’s no listing I can find that associated Mimnaugh with a general store, dry goods or groceries. By 1900, census records list Mimnaugh’s occupation as a day laborer and business directories in the early 1900’s don’t associate him with any bottling related categories.

This all suggests that Mimnaugh got out of the country store and established a bottling business sometime in the 1880’s and continued it until 1900 at the latest.

The bottle I found is a mouth blown champagne style with a blob finish. It fits the late 1880’s to 1890’s time frame when Mimnaugh was certainly in the bottling business.

Sammis & Hentz, Hempstead, L. I.

Sammis & Hentz was a Hempstead, Long Island sarsaparilla and soda manufacturer that was active under that name for much if not all of the 1860’s and early 1870’s. It appears that throughout its history the business was closely associated with the Sammis Tavern.

The name Sammis in Hempstead dates back to the mid-1600’s when the family arrived on Long Island from England. A history of “The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, Counties of Nassau and Suffolk, Long Island, New York, 1609 to 1924” by Henry Isham Hazelton, published in 1925, made it clear that the Sammis family’s tavern had a long and rich history on Long Island.

The Sammis tavern at Hempstead was built in 1680 and at the time it closed its doors a few years ago it was the oldest inn in the United States. The first member of the Hempstead branch of the Sammis family came to this country from England in 1650, and bought land from the Indians. While his name is not known, his son, Nehemiah, built the inn…

Seven generations of the Sammis family were born in the place, and the very rafters spoke of Indians, of Dutch and English quarrels, of the days of British occupation of Long Island, of Washington as a guest; of the War of 1812, of the Mexican War and the day when Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, and the boys of Hempstead went there to enlist. A. H. Sammis, the last owner of that name, was of the sixth generation. He was born in the room where his father and grandfather both first saw the light of day.

It stood laterally on Fulton Avenue near the railroad station. The original site was at Main Street and Fulton Avenue. The Avenue was the main coaching road between New York and the eastern end of Long Island.

The tavern, circa 1860, was the subject of this John Evers painting, a reproduction of which was found in the January 1, 2023 edition of Long Island’s “Newsday.”

Born in 1827, it was Lawrence Seaman Sammis who was the early proprietor and possibly founder of the sarsaparilla business. According to the “History of Long Island from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time,” published in 1903, it was Lawrence Seaman, who:

after attaining manhood was engaged for a number of years in the manufacture of mineral waters.

Census records suggest this occurred as early as 1850 when Lawrence Seaman, then 23 years old, listed his occupation as “merchant.” His younger brother, Charles Augustus, then 18, also listed his occupation as “merchant” suggesting that the brothers may have been in business together at that point.

The 1903 “History of Long Island” goes on to say that Lawrence Seaman subsequently moved to Jamaica for a short time and later Brooklyn, before ultimately settling in Mineola, Long Island in 1877. He’s listed in the Brooklyn directories as early as 1856, suggesting he had vacated Hempstead by the mid-1850’s.

This apparently left the sarsaparilla business in the hands of Charles Augustus, who in the 1859 Long Island directory (the earliest I can find) was listed as a “sarsaparilla manufacturer,” with an address in the same general location as the Sammis Tavern at “Main Street, opposite the R.R. Depot.”

Sometime in the early 1860’s, Charles Augustus, having been appointed as a sheriff in Queens County, apparently formed a partnership with Henry Hentz to manage the sarsaparilla business. Long Island directories from the 1860’s that I’ve been able to find (1864-65, 1865-66, 1867-68, 1868-69) all list Sammis & Hentz as a “sarsaparilla manufacturer” with an address of Main St., opposite the R.R. Depot. That being said, in 1860, Henry Hentz listed his occupation as “manufacturer” in census records, so it’s possible, even likely, that the Sammis & Hentz partnership began as early as 1860.

Sammis & Hentz was still listed on Main St., opposite the R.R. Depot in the 1871 -72 Long Island directory.

The bottle I found is a mouth blown pony. Sadly it’s broken off at the neck and the finish is missing. It dates to the Sammis/Hentz partnership, sometime in the 1860’s or early 1870’s.

One final note of interest; the bottle’s actual embossing misspelled the name “Hempstead” as “Hemstead.”

I’ve chosen to spell it correctly in the title of this post.

E. Hartshorn & Sons, Established 1850, Boston

E. Hartshorn & Sons manufactured both patent medicines and flavoring extracts in Boston, Massachusetts from 1870 up through 1930. The roots of the business however date back to the 1850’s and a physician named Edward Hartshorn.

Born in 1817 in New Hampshire, by the late 1830’s Hartshorn was living in Reading, Massachusetts where, according to his biographical entry in the “History of the Town of Berlin, Worcester County, Mass., from 1784 to 1895”

Edward walked back and forth from there to the Medical College of Harvard University; graduating there in 1840. He settled in Berlin the same year, being 23 years of age, the youngest physician in the county.

Embossing on the subject bottle suggests that 10 years later, in 1850, he established his manufacturing business. That being said, I suspect that any manufacturing done during the early 1850’s was quite limited and simply done in connection with Hartshorn’s medical practice.

That apparently changed sometime in 1854 when Hartshorn went into a short-lived partnership with another Harvard educated physician, Dr. Lemuel Gott. According to Gott’s biographical entry in the “History of Berlin:”

…He practiced in Rockport from 1836 to 1854; at the latter date he removed to Berlin and went into partnership with Dr. E. Hartshorn in the manufacture of medicines and family extracts, and also in medical practice. They soon dissolved the copartnership and (Gott) continued as the sole resident physician (in Berlin) to the time of his death.

While Gott continued as Berlin’s sole resident physician, Hartshorn also remained in Berlin and continued to manufacture medicines and extracts. Then, sometime in 1866 or 1867, Hartshorn opened what appears to be a retail store at 132 Water Street in Boston Massachusetts. This advertisement in the 1867 Boston city directory named him the “proprietor” of “Hartshorn’s Family Medicines.”

Around the same time that that he opened up shop in Boston advertisements for one of his family medicines, ” Hartshorn’s Bitters,” began appearing in several New England newspapers. Touting the bitters as the “Key to Health, the ads appeared in several local newspapers in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut and Vermont. The following was found in the June 19, 1868 edition of Bedford, Maine’s “Union and Journal.”

At this point, Hartshorn’s sons, Edward H. Hartshorn, Jr., and William H. Hartshorn, were also involved in the business; both listed with the occupation “clerk” at the 132 Water Street address.

Three years later, “Dr. E Hartshorn & Sons,”was established with sons Edward H., Jr. and William H. named as partners. Located at 18 Blackstone Street in Boston, the partnership was listed for the first time in Boston’s 1870 city directory. That year their directory advertisement no longer mentioned a Berlin laboratory so it appears by then the entire operation had been consolidated in Boston.

In the early 1870’s the company’s menu of “Family Medicines” included products with names that included “Dr. Hartshorn’s Cough Balsam,” for all pulmonary complaints; “Dr. Hartshorn’s Never Failing,” for every pain…

…and “Dr. Hartshorn’s Peristaltic Lozenges,” the most perfect, agreeable and effective cure for every form of Indigestion and the only cure for the Piles, either bleeding or otherwise.

That being said, an advertisement that appeared in the 1871 Boston Almanac suggested that their bitters was at the top of the “Family Medicine” list.

In case you’re interested, the advertisement followed up their sales pitch with this list of ingredients. (What’s not mentioned is the fact that the bitters also contained over 22% alcohol by volume.)

The company only remained at the 18 Blackstone Street address for several years, moving to 71 Blackstone Street, sometime in the mid-1870’s where they shared a building with a brewery. A description of the building appeared under the heading “Real Estate Matters,” in the June 16, 1891 edition of the “Boston Evening Transcript.” The building’s size suggests that Hartshorn’s operation was not all that large.

The building is a four-story brick store with granite front, and is numbered 69 and 71 Blackstone Street, and extends through to North Centre Street. Its measurement front and rear is practically twenty feet, while the building extends back about seventy-two feet. It is now occupied by the Norfolk Brewing Company and Edward Hartshorn & Sons, manufacturers of medicines and flavoring extracts, the annual rental paid on the building being $2,575.

By the 1890’s newspaper advertisements for “Hartshorn’s Bitters” had pretty much vanished (likely due to pressure from the temperance movement), while advertisements for “Hartshorn’s Cough Balsam” were beginning to gain traction. This ‘Hartshorn’s Cough Balsam” ad touting the company’s 40 year history appeared in several December, 1892 editions of the “Fall River (Mass) Daily Herald.”

A Tree Planted Forty Years Ago!

Is Now Bearing Wonderful Fruit.

The company also continued to manufacture extracts as evidenced by this 1892 advertisement that appeared in the The Somerville Journal’s Semi-Centennial Souvenir edition.

Around 1910 the company moved from its long time home on Blackstone Street to 220 Milk Street, where they were first listed in the 1911 Boston city directory. This advertisement exhibiting their Milk Street address appeared in the 1914 “ETA Cook Book.”

Up through the mid-1920’s the company remained closely held by the Hartshorn family. Edward, Jr. had passed away in 1887, leaving William as the sole surviving partner. Edward, Sr., apparently semi-retired, continued to be listed at the 71 Blackstone Street address as a physician through much of the 1890’s. He ultimately passed away in 1906.

William H. Hartshorn remained at the head of the firm until he passed away on February 3, 1926. That same year, likely as a result of his death, the business incorporated under the name E. Hartshorn & Sons, Inc. The 1926 Boston city directory named William’s son, James H. Hartshorn, as the corporation’s treasurer. He had joined the business as a clerk sometime in the mid-1890’s; the third generation of Hartshorn’s to be involved with the business.

A list of Hartshorn products on the market at around the time the business incorporated appeared in Randolph, Vermont’s “Herald & News.” They could be purchased at W. F. Blood’s North Main Grocery Store in Randolph.

As far as I can tell, the great depression put an end to the Hartshorn business. Hartshorn advertisements, as well as their product listings in local drug and grocery store newspaper advertisements, completely disappear in 1930 and by 1931, a June 13 item in the “Boston Globe” indicated that the business was in receivership.

In 1932 and up through 1935, the business did continue to be listed in the Boston city directories at 220 Milk Street with J. Gordon MacLeod then named as both president and treasurer. That being said, I can’t find any evidence that the business was active during this period. By 1936 the company’s no longer listed in Boston.

The bottle I found is a small pharmacy bottle. Mouth blown it likely dates to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. Newspaper advertising for Hartshorn’s Cough Balsam was increasing at that time so it’s certainly one possibility for its use. It could also have contained one of their flavoring extracts.

Wm. R. Warner & Co., Philadelphia

William R. Warner is one of several individuals recognized as pioneers in the manufacture and distribution of sugar coated pills in the United States. According to a feature on Warner found in a publication entitled: “First Century of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy,” published in 1922:

Like the process of percolation the sugar coating of pills was discovered in France but was developed in America by the labors of Warner, Bullock, Wiegand and others.

Born in Caroline County, Maryland in 1836, Warner first entered the drug business with the Easton, Maryland firm of Chamberlain and Anderson. His experience there apparently inspired him to attend the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy where he graduated in 1856. Shortly afterwards he opened his own retail pharmacy at Second Street and Girard Avenue in Philadelphia.

According to his son, William R. Warner, Jr., who was quoted in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy story, it was at the Second Street pharmacy that Warner began the manufacture of sugar coated pills. That being said, initially they were not distributed under the Warner name.

My father conceived the idea of sugar coating pills when a lad in the drug store at Easton, Md., and accomplished the feat though somewhat crudely. I am inclined to believe that he perfected his process of covering pills with sugar shortly after 1856, or probably the next year. He made and sold them to Bullock and Crenshaw in bulk and they put them up and marketed them as their own, such is now done by druggists under “buyers name.” My father was not known by the profession as the real maker of sugar coated pills at that time.

It appears that Bullock and Crenshaw began selling Warner’s sugar coated pills under their name sometime in 1858 as evidenced by this notice dated May, 1858. Sounding introductory in nature, the notice starts out with:

The attention of Druggists and Physicians is particularly invited to the Pills of our Pharmacopeia, coated with sugar, which we are now able to supply…

This situation changed in the mid-1860’s when Warner purchased the wholesale drug business of John C. Baker at about the same time that his contract with Bullock and Crenshaw expired. Located at 154 North Third Street in Philadelphia, it was here that according to William R. Warner, Jr., his father began to manufacture and market his pills under the name and label of William R. Warner and Co.

The change had certainly occurred by 1867 as evidenced by this Warner advertisement that appeared that year in the “Handbook of the Great Manufacturers and Representative Mercantile Houses of Philadelphia.”

That same year, now in direct competition, both William R. Warner & Co. and Bullock and Crenshaw, exhibited their sugar coated pills at a September, 1867 exhibition sponsored by the American Pharmaceutical Association. In fact, both firms were listed directly adjacent to each other in the exhibition summary .

Warner remained on North Third Street for the next 10 years during which time he frequently marketed his sugar coated pills to the medical profession. An example of his marketing pitch appeared in the 1870 edition of the “Humboldt Medical Archives” under the heading “Notice to Physicians.”

The solubility of Officinal and other Sugar Coated Pills as made by us, is an indispensable quality, and a matter of so much importance as to command your special attention. An experience of thirteen years, with careful attention and study, has enabled us to achieve a perfection otherwise unattainable.

We claim this art of Sugar Coating, avoiding the necessity of drying so hard as to render them insoluble and inert make them permanent.

Being extensively engaged in the Wholesale Drug business, and in the manufacture of Standard Officinal Preparations, and New Remedies, in our own Laboratory, affords us facilities for supplying Physician’s orders with all articles of the purest quality at the lowest prices.

A discount of 25 percent will be made to Physicians on all orders for Pills amounting to $10.00 net. Less quantities will be sent by mail or express pre-paid on receipt of catalog prices.

Please specify our make (W. & Co.) when it suits your convenience to order elsewhere. Half freight paid on shipments of Drugs to distant points

A good customer could even get a “Pill Globe and Sample Bottle” along with his 25% discount..

It was also during this time that the company began to expand its product line well beyond sugar coated pills to include elixirs, fluid extracts and medicated lozenges among other things.

The company’s success on North Third Street ultimately lead to a period of expansion that began in the 1870’s. This expansion was documented in a January 9, 1908 feature on the business published in “The Pharmaceutical Era.”

In 1876 the business having outgrown the quarters on Third Street, the fine large building at 1228 Market Street was purchased, elegantly fitted up and occupied. About this time, on account of the extensive growth of the business, branches in London, England and New York City were opened, and these were soon followed by branches in Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, Denver, Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis, Minn.

In 1886 a large laboratory building at Broad and Wallace was erected and put into use, the business having outgrown its quarters on Market Street.

Renderings of both Philadelphia locations were included in the ninth edition (1897) of “Wm. R. Warner’s Therapeutic Reference Book for Physicians.” The top view depicts the Broad Street laboratory while the lower view is of Market Street.

The business operated out of both locations until 1899 when the Market Street building was completely destroyed by fire. The fire was described like this in the February 17, 1899 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Snow on many roof tops proved to be a blessing in disguise last night, when a great fire raged at Thirteenth and Market Streets, calling forth every energy of those who were battling with it to save a vast amount of property on all sides that for a time seemed doomed to destruction. It was a fire that brought out the entire department, that swept away an immense six-story building, or rather three in one, entailing a loss estimated at from $400,000 to $500,000….

The story included this sketch of the Warner building in flames.

As early as the next day the company had formulated a plan to move on as evidenced by this February 18, 1899 story in the “Philadelphia Inquirer.”

In regard to the future plans of the firm of William R. Warner & Co., Mr. William R. Warner, Jr., said last evening: “All the employees of our Market Street store, numbering some fifty, have been notified to report at our laboratory, at Broad and Wallace Streets. Those that are available for work in that line will be given employment immediately and the others will be kept on full pay. The laboratory will be made headquarters for the firm and all the offices will be removed there. We intend to rebuild at 1228 Market Street as soon as possible, but as to the size of the new building or its equipment I am not able to speak as yet. All the old men will thus be retained and none of them will suffer by our misfortune.

Less than a month later, on March 13, 1899, an item in the “Philadelphia Inquirer” announced that the company was fully back in business, now filling orders at their Broad Street laboratory.

Around the same time, a March 18, 1899 “Philadelphia Inquirer” story announced that Warner was planning a new 10 story building at 1228 Market Street, however, it appears the company never followed through on those plans and a year later, in June, 1900, the Montana Diamond Co. ran a ‘Philadelphia Inquirer” advertisement announcing their plans to move into a newly constructed eight story building at the 1228 Market Street location.

As far as I can tell William R. Warner & Co. never reopened another location in Philadelphia but instead continued to operate solely on Broad Street.

When Warner passed away in April, 1901, he left the company to his son, William R. Warner, Jr., who, as early as 1880 had been associated with the business, first as a cashier and later as a partner/principal.

In 1908, Warner Jr. sold the company to Henry & Gustavus Pfeiffer, who, at the time, owned a drug business in St. Louis. The Pfeiffer’s retained the William R. Warner & Co. name and continued to operate the business out of Philadelphia where, in 1910, it was listed with William R. Warner, Jr. as president, Henry Pfeiffer as vice president and Gustavus Pfeiffer as secretary/treasurer.

As late as 1916 the company was in the process of constructing a new headquarters in Philadelphia when the Pfeiffer’s acquired the Richard Hudnut Company of New York City. The acquisition was reported in the August, 1916 edition of the “Pharmaceutical Record.”

An announcement of interest to the trade was recently made by Richard A. Hudnut, who has sold substantial interest in Richard Hudnut to Messrs. H. Pfeiffer, G. A. Pfeiffer and G.D. Merner, of the firm of Wm. R. Warner & Co., of Philadelphia and St. Louis. Mr. Hudnut continues as president, and the business policies that have made the name “Richard Hudnut” famous in the perfume and toilet goods world will be continued…

The acquisition of Hudnut apparently motivated the Pfeiffer’s to change course and headquarter both the Warner and Hudnut companies in New York City. This led to the purchase of a large property on West 18th Street in Manhattan. The announcement appeared in the October 26, 1916 edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer.”

W. R. Warner & Co. Leave City

Having purchased the whole of the old Altman store, 113 to 123 and 131 to 143 West Eighteenth Street, and 110 to 124 West Nineteenth Street, New York, William R. Warner & Co., manufacturing chemists, employing about 500 persons, will abandon their property at 639 North Broad Street, this city. The price paid for the new location is said to have been approximately its assessed valuation, $1,100,000, all of which was paid in cash…

Three days later, another announcement in the “Philadelphia Inquirer” put their new Philadelphia building, still under construction, up for sale.

This building is now being constructed on Willow, Seventh and Marshall Streets, Philadelphia, by Wm. Steele & Sons Co., for Wm R. Warner & Co., Manufacturing Pharmacists.

Their move to New York, as announced, will bring into the market for sale this new modern six-story, heavy concrete, sprinkled, loft building. The fact that the building is now under construction enables you to adapt it to your needs…

We are also offering for sale an unexpired lease on the present Wm. R. Warner & Co. plant at 639-41-43 N. Broad St. which continues for a term of years.

The building that was under construction 100+ years years ago, remains to this day. Here’s today’s view courtesy of Google Maps. It appears that a seventh story was added, taking the place of the roof top “Wm. R. Warner Co.” sign.

As early as 1917, the New York City directories listed both Wm. R. Warner & Co. and Richard Hudnut, Inc. at the West 18th Street address in Manhattan.

Both continued to be listed under their respective names at that location until 1950, when they were combined under a new corporation called Warner-Hudnut, Inc. At that point both Warner and Hudnut were listed as separate divisions under the Warner-Hudnut umbrella.

Five years later Warner-Hudnut merged with the Lambert Co., makers of Listerine, forming the Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. The merger was announced in the February 9, 1955 edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer.”

Directors of Warner-Hudnut Inc., and Lambert Co. approved plans for a merger of the two companies, with the new concern to be known as Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co.

The new company would have estimated annual sales of $100,000,ooo and assets of $45,000,000.

On the same day the merger was announced, plans to build a new factory in Pennsylvania were unveiled. According to the February 9, 1955 edition of Lancaster Pennsylvania’s “Intelligencer Journal” the plant was slated to replace the company’s West 18th Street facility.

The new plant, according to a Warner-Hudnut spokesman, will replace one operated in New York by the company. It will manufacture the firm’s nationally-known line of “Richard Hudnut” hair preparations and toiletries..

Last November the company announced it had contracted to sell its New York buildings to Webb & Knapp, Inc.

The new factory opened in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in November, 1956. By then, the corporation was completely out of New York, having also moved their offices to Morris Plains, New Jersey earlier that year. The company had announced the move to New Jersey in the February, 1956 editions of several local newspapers.

When completed in mid-summer, this modern air-conditioned building will be the new headquarters of Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, now located in New York City. It is being built on a knoll across Mt. Tabor Road from Warner-Chilcott Laboratories, our ethical drug division.

The site will be the administrative center of our world-wide organization. From here we shall direct our five divisions in the United States, as well as our manufacturing plants in twenty-two foreign countries, and our sales agencies in one hundred more.

Over the next several years Warner-Lambert continued to grow through acquisition. According to a December 15, 1967 story in Philadelphia’s “Intelligencer Journal,” between 1955 and 1962 they acquired a number of well known brands that included Bromo Seltzer, Chiclets, Dentyne, Rolaid’s and Clorets.

Warner-Lambert merged with Park-Davis in 1970, ultimately becoming part of Pfizer in 2000.

Over the years I’ve found two Wm. R. Warner bottles. Both include “Philadelphia” in their embossing, dating them no later than 1916 when the company moved their headquarters to New York City.

The first is a small mouth blown vial. A little over three inches tall, it likely contained a small quantity of pills? The other, also mouth blown, is cobalt blue and six inches tall. It appears to have contained an effervescing salt called “Bromo Soda.”

The product was frequently advertised in the late 1880’s and 1890’s:

For The Speedy Relief Of Nervous Headache and Brain Fatigue.

C. B. Ellin’s Horseradish, New York

Clifford B. Ellin was a native New Yorker born in 1880. He was active in New York City’s wholesale grocery trade during the first two decades of the twentieth century before relocating to Morrisville, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

His business career began at the age of twenty when he partnered with Charles S. Heron forming C.B. Ellin & Company. Located in the Bronx, N.Y., the company was first listed in the 1901 N.Y.C. Copartnership and Corporation Directory at 769 East 167th Street.

A year later, the 1902 edition of the same directory listed their address as 1238 Brook Avenue. During this time N.Y.C general directories identified Ellin’s occupation as “teas.”

C.B. Ellin & Company was no longer listed in the 1906 N.Y.C Copartnership and Corporation Directory (the next one I have access to) and after 1903 Ellin’s general directory listing drops the Brook Avenue address; all suggesting that sometime between 1903 and 1905 the formal partnership between Ellin and Heron was dissolved.

Later, sometime in 1906, Ellin apparently went into business for himself as a wholesale dealer in both “pickles” and “horseradish.” Now located in lower Manhattan, the business was originally listed at 425 Greenwich Street until sometime around 1909 when it moved to 503 Greenwich Street

An item in the September, 1915 edition of a publication called “Simmon’s Spice Mill” referred to C.B. Ellin as “the headquarters for horseradish root in wholesale quantities.” The item appeared under the heading: “Queries and Answers of Special Interest.”

Fresh Horse Radish Root

“M. S.,” of Marion, N. C. asks: “Will you do us the favor of telling us from whom we may obtain fresh horse radish root?”

Ans.- C. B. Ellin, 503 Greenwich St., New York, is headquarters for horseradish root in wholesale quantities. We understand that at the present time, however, there is no actually fresh horseradish root on the market and that there will not be any root on the market until after September; but correspondent can obtain cold storage horseradish root from the above named firm.

The company remained at 503 Greenwich Street until 1918 or 1919 when Ellin apparently closed up shop.

By 1920, Ellin had moved to Morrisville, Pennsylvania where, according to a March 12, 1920 story in the Bristol (Pa.) Daily Courier, he established a business operating a bus route between Morrisville and Trenton, N.J. By then he was also serving on the Morrisville Borough Council.

The jar I found is eight-sided and measures 2-1/4-inches wide at the base. Towards the top it transitions to an approximate 1-3/4-inch round opening. It dates to the 1906 to 1918 time period when Ellin marketed horseradish. Blown in a mold, it likely trends to the early end of that range.

Leslie Dunham & Co., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1-lb. Pure Honey

Leslie, Dunham & Company were wholesale dealers in honey, maple syrup and sugar that operated in Brooklyn, N. Y. from 1888 to 1908. Ultimately the company opened another location in New Jersey where they continued in business until the mid 1920’s and possibly longer.

Their honey was sold with brand names like “Orange Blossom,” and “Choice Extra Clover,” while their maple syrup brands were, among others, “Green Mountain” and “Maple Twig.” “Green Mountain” was apparently one of their most popular.

The company’s founder and long time senior member was a native Canadian of Scottish descent named Charles G. Leslie who settled in Pittsfield, Massachusetts sometime after arriving in the United States in 1848. According to his September 27, 1907 obituary published in the “Berkshire Eagle:”

Mr. Leslie was born in St. Bridget, Canada, moving to the United States when a young man. He spent most of his life in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was actively engaged in business, being the head of the firm of Leslie, Dunham & Co., which he established some 50 years ago.

The above obituary suggests that the business was established sometime around 1860, a fact that’s referenced in several of the company’s business cards published years later in the Brooklyn city directories.

That year census records listed both Charles G. Leslie and Darius W. Dunham as farmers living in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. The census records, along with the obituary of Darius Dunham, published in the 1896 edition of the “Pittsfield Sun,” indicate that in 1859 Leslie married Dunham’s daughter Malissa. So the Leslie’s and Dunhams certainly had a personal relationship by then.

That being said, through the early 1870’s there’s no reference to either Leslie, Dunham or the company in the city directories for Brooklyn, New York City or even Boston for that matter, so any business apparently remained local to Pittsfield during that time.

That changed in the mid-1870’s when both Charles G. Leslie, along with Darius Dunham’s son, Jasper T., both began to appear in the Brooklyn directories with the occupation of “syrup manufacturer” and/or “honey” albeit at separate locations; Charles G. at 150 Nassau Street, and Jasper T. at 478 4th Avenue. During the early 1880’s Jasper also spent some time across the Hudson River in Jersey City where he was listed with the occupation of “honey” at 133 Coles Street.

Whether a partnership existed at this point is not clear, however by 1888 they were certainly in business together when this item appeared in the March 24th edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

On Greene Avenue near Grand, Messrs. Leslie & Dunham are about to build a two story brick factory 25 x 95, to cost $8,000.

Subsequently in Brooklyn’s 1890 “Lains Business Directory” the Leslie, Dunham & Company name appears for the first time with an address of 275 Greene Avenue. That year , their business card was included with the directory listing.

Also listed individually at the Greene Avenue address were both Charles G. Leslie and Jasper T. Dunham along with Leslie’s son, Merwin. The business remained on Greene Avenue for the next 20 years, listing 281 Greene as their address in later years.

Apparently a relatively small operation, the New York State Factory Inspector’s Report for the Year Ending November 30, 1900 listed seven full time employees, all working a 60 hour week.

In 1904 the company opened a second location, this one at 252 Livingston Street in Newark, New Jersey, where the 1904 Newark Directory named Merwin Leslie as “plant superintendent.”

In 1908, with Charles Leslie having passed away the year before and Dunham either retired or having taken a step back (he passed away in 1944 at the age of 96), the Brooklyn plant disappeared from the Brooklyn directories. The Newark operation, with Merwin now listed as principal, remained at the Livingston Avenue location until sometime in the mid-teens at which time it relocated to 644 Montgomery Street in Jersey City. The company was still located there in 1925 (the latest directory I have access to).

It’s not clear when the business came to an end, however, Merwin Leslie was still living in New Jersey and continued to list his occupation as “merchant, maple products” in the 1930 census records, so its possible the life of the business extended into the 1930’s.

The bottle I found is 6-1/2-inches tall with a 2-1/4-inch square cross section that transitions to an approximate 1-3/4-inch round opening. Its embossing includes the “Brooklyn, N. Y.” location, dating it between 1888 and 1908.