Canada Dry – Bay Bottles

A. Hupfel’s Son’s, 161st St. & 3rd Ave., New York

Three generations of the Hupfel family owned and operated two breweries located in and around New York from the mid-1800’s up through the start of Prohibition. One was situated in New York City’s Borough of Manhattan and the other in the Westchester County town of Morrisania, that later became part of the Bronx.

The Manhattan location got its start in 1854 when a German immigrant named Anton Hupfel along with several partners established a brewery on East 38th Street. The founding of the brewery along with its early history was described in a publication entitled “One Hundred Years of Brewing,” published in 1903.

In 1854 John Roemmelt, Anton Hupfel and Dr. Assenheimer, under the firm name of John Roemmelt & Company, founded a brewery in New York City, in Thirty Eighth Street, between Second and Third Avenues. In 1856 Andrew Leicht, Charles K. Leicht and John M. Leicht purchased Dr. Assenheimer’s interest, and two years later (1858) Anton Hupfel bought out Messrs. Roemmelt and Leicht.

Much of this history is supported in the N.Y.C. directories where Roemmelt & Company was first listed in 1855/1856 as brewers with an address of 151 and 153 East 38th Street. By 1858/1859 Anton Hupfel was listed individually as a brewer on East 38th Street.

Later, in 1863, Hupfel acquired his Morrisania brewery. Its history prior to Hupfel’s acquisition is somewhat muddled. According to “One hundred Years of Brewing:”

About 1857 Xavier Gnant built a small brewery in New York City, which he operated until his death. His widow (Eliza) married a Mr. Schoemig, who in 1863, disposed of the business to Anton Hupfel.

Records associated with an 1868 Westchester County Supreme Court Case, “Xavier Gnant against Anton Hupfel,” tell a different story. They indicate that Xavier’s brother, George Gnant actually established the brewery and was the Gnant actually married to Eliza. In 1857 George deeded the brewery to Xavier in an effort to protect the property from the claims of an ex-wife. Though the property was deeded to Xavier, it was George who continued to run the business and it was his death in January, 1862, not Xavier’s, that resulted in Eliza’s marriage to Schoeming and the sale of the brewery to Hupfel; a sale that Xavier would go on to unsuccessfully contest.

A reference to the brewery found in the 1858/1859 N.Y.C Directory refers to the business as G. Gnant & Co. which serves to support this version of the brewery’s early history. Either way, it’s quite certain that by the end of 1863 Hupfel was running the brewery.

The Supreme Court records generally located the brewery in an area bounded by streets formerly named Carr Avenue, Cliff Street and Avenue A in the Town of Morrisania, with the 1858/1859 directory listing its address as 93 Avenue A. In 1874, Morrisania, along with much of the surrounding area west of the Bronx River, was annexed to New York City and ultimately became part of the Bronx. At that point N.Y.C directories were listing the brewery’s address on St. Ann’s Avenue (3rd Ave.).

Both breweries operated under Anton Hupfel’s name until 1873 when, according to “One Hundred Years of Brewing,” he disposed of his entire interest to his two sons, J. Christian. G. Hupfel and Adolph G. Hupfel. Over the next 10 years the sons continued to operate both breweries as a single business entity that was listed in the directories as A. Hupfel’s Sons. This advertisement that exhibits the address of both breweries under the A. Hupfel Sons’ name appeared in the December 31, 1878 edition of the “New York Times.”

In 1883 the Hupfel sons dissolved their partnership at which time Adolph Hupfel continued to operate the 161st Street brewery under the the A. Hupfel Sons’ name while J. Chr. G Hupfel retained possession of the Manhattan plant. Individual advertisements for each brewery published in late 1883 and early 1884 serve to confirm the new arrangement.This December 25, 1888 “New York Sun” advertisement located A. Hupfel’s Sons solely on 161st Street in Morrisania…

….and an April 27, 1884 advertisement, also in the “New York Sun”, put J. Chr. G. Hupfel on 38th Street in Manhattan.

A history of each entity moving forward continues below.

J. Christian G. Hupfel Brewery, 229 East 38th Street

In October, 1887 the business incorporated as the J. Chr. G. Brewing Company with capital of $500,000 and J. Christian G. Hupfel as president. The first listing for the new corporation that I can find appeared in the March, 1889 N.Y.C. Copartnership and Corporation Directory.

At some point during the 1890’s Hupfel’s three sons, Anton C. G., Adolph G. and Chr. G. Hupfel were appointed officers and/or trustees of the company, as evidenced by the March, 1900 N.Y.C. Copartnership and Corporation listing below.

A turn of the century depiction of their 38th Street facility appeared on this serving tray recently offered for sale on the internet.

In 1914 the company added a Brooklyn plant, acquiring the former brewery of Joseph Eppig. Joseph Eppig Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y. The acquisition was announced in the August 8 edition of the Brooklyn “Times Union.”

The plant of the Joseph Eppig Brewing Company, which covers an extensive area at Central Avenue, Grove and Leonard Streets, has been sold by the estate of Joseph Eppig to the J. Chr. G. Hupfel Brewing Company, of 229 East 38th Street, Manhattan. The purchase price is not known, but the property is known to have brought a high figure.

The Eppig Brewing Company’s plant consists of two large brick and one frame structure covering an area of 200 x 500 feet.

Another story covering the sale, this one published in the “New York Times,” went on to say:

Both breweries will be operated in the future under the Hupfel Company’s name.

Five years later, with Prohibition becoming a reality, the Hupfel’s transitioned into the real estate business and in 1919 established the Hup Realty Company. The incorporation notice was published in the October 3, 1919 edition of the “New York Times.”

The address of the realty company, 229 East 38th Street, makes it clear that they were running the business out of their former brewery building. Another advertisement, this one found in the September 3, 1922 edition of the “New York Herald,” indicates that other portions of the 38th Street brewery (items 2 and 3 on the list) were being rented out to other businesses.

That being said, as Prohibition ended the Hupfels were back in the beer business serving as brewers for Canada Dry who at the time was attempting to expand into the domestic beer arena. The Boston Globe was one of many nationwide newspapers providing the details. They appeared in their August 31, 1933 issue.

CANADA DRY GINGER ALE, INC TO HANDLE HUPFEL’S BEER

P.D. Saylor, president of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc., and Anton C.G. Hupfel, president of J. Chr. G Hupfel Company, Inc. announced yesterday that an agreement has been entered into between the two concerns, under the terms of which a company will be organized called the J. Chr. G. Hupfel Brewing Corporation, in which Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc., will have a financial interest. There will be no sale of stock to the public.

The new company will immediately install modern equipment in the Hupfel brewery on 38th and 39th Sts., between 2nd and 3rd Aves., Manhattan, New York City, established in 1854.

Brewing will begin about the first of next year, and distribution will start about April, 1934, when it has been properly aged.

Distribution of Hupfel’s beer will be undertaken by Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc. The initial capacity of the brewery will be about 350,000 barrels and may be increased as demand warrants it. A new bottling plant will be erected on the 39th St. side of the property.

The agreement marks the launching of Canada Dry’s domestic beer business.

Canada Dry newspaper advertisements for “Hupfel’s Beer” began appearing in June, 1934

Canada Dry’s venture into the beer business was short-lived with the end of the venture, as well as the end of the Hupfel brewery, coming less than four years after Hupfel Beer was introduced. An October 21, 1939 story in Toronto Canada’s “Financial Post” ultimately served as the final chapter in the brewery’s history.

In 1935, a former contract was revised and a new one signed, whereby Canada Dry was relieved of all financial responsibility with respect to the brewery and from any obligation to market draft beer.

Canada Dry gave back its 50% interest in the common stock of the brewing company in consideration for the cancellation of the original agreement. Canada Dry still had the $1 million first mortgage on the property and when in 1938 the Hupfel Corp. discontinued operation, foreclosure proceedings were started.

The story went on to say:

Canada Dry Ginger Ale acquired the property of the J. Chr. G. Hupfel Brewing Corp. at a mortgage sale recently. Canada Dry was the foreclosure plaintiff and bid in $500,000 for the brewery property. Amount of the mortgage debt involved was about $1.2 million.

A. Hupfel’s Sons Brewery, St. Ann’s Avenue (3rd Ave) and 161st Street

Meanwhile back in the Bronx, Adolph Hupfel continued to operate the 161st Street brewery under the A Hupfel Sons name and in 1889 joined a newly formed corporation called the United States Brewing Company. The terms of the deal were explained in the May 13th edition of “The Journal,” published in Meridian Connecticut.

New York, May 13. – Three big lager beer breweries in Newark, one in this city and one in Albany were combined last week in a great brewing corporation, with a capital stock of $4,750,000. The owners of the plants are Gottfried Krueger, the brewer king of Newark; Mrs. Christiana Trefz of Newark: Peter Hauck of East Newark, Adolph Hupfel of this city and the Albany Brewing Company…Krueger’s brewery is the largest in the scheme, and it is understood that it has been taken at a valuation of $2,000,000, and that he is to receive half in cash and the other half in stock. The valuation upon Hauck’s brewery is said to be $1,000,000, and he gets the same terms. Mrs. Trefz’s is valued at $600,000, Hupfel’s at $600,000 and the Albany Brewing Company’s at $500,000. The management of the breweries is to remain entirely in the hands of the former owners…

The brewery continued to operate under the A. Hupfel Sons’ name up through Prohibition.

This 1896 view of the brewery appeared on a post card recently offered for sale on the internet…

…and a May 23, 1908 feature published under the general heading “Industry and Commerce,” in the Staunton Va. “Leader,” provided this snapshot of the business in the first decade of the 20th Century. By this time, Adolph’s son, Adolph G. Hupfel, Jr. was serving as president.

Four different kinds of beer are brewed by A. Hupfel’s Sons – a light beer, in which rice is an ingredient; a dark German brew which, with the beer used for ordinary consumption, is a malt product and a special brew for bottling purposes.

Twice each day there is a brewing. Each adds 300 barrels to the output of the A. Hupfel’s Sons’ brewery, whose capacity is 600 barrels a day….

Started in 1854 by Anton Hupfel with an output of only a few thousand barrels a year, it now produces 120,000 barrels annually, and has branches at Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Peekskill, Ossining, Fishkill, Mamoroneck and Bridgeport Connecticut. A total of 100 hands is employed.

Between 1913 and 1915 the brewery transitioned from horse drawn delivery to motor trucks. A story found in the March 5, 1917 edition of the “Anaconda (Montana) Standard,” described the associated benefits of this transition in Adolph Hupfel’s own words. It also provides some insight into the issues associated with the operation of an early 20th century brewery.

Mr. Hupfel explained that the great gain affected by the trucks had been in the abolition of two service stations. These were located at Mount Vernon and Mamaroneck. Beer was shipped to the two points in car load lots under the old arrangement and then distributed by horse-drawn vehicles.

At both points it was necessary to maintain full-fledged stations with 10 horses each, 6 wagons, 3 drivers, watchmen, stablemen, superintendent, clerks, etc.

There was also the problem of the extra handlings. Beer had to be carted to the railroad station, taken off, loaded on the platform, thence into freight cars, taken off these at the end of the journey and then put on the horse-drawn vehicles that completed the journey.

Now all the delivery is made from the main garage. The stations have been rented for other purposes and now, in place of being a source of outlay to the company, have become a source of revenue.

The brewery survived prohibition in unique fashion, transitioning into, of all things, a mushroom plantation. A November 4, 1923 story in the “Tampa Tribune” tells the story.

Speaking of prohibition and the changes it has wrought, one of the most remarkable is to be seen from the windows of elevated trains that pass the old Hupfel brewery at Third Avenue and 161st Street. Above the lofty cornice of the big red brick building a sign rears itself: “Hupfel Mushroom Plantations.”

Inside those red walls, covering only a portion of a city block, ten acres of ground, a fair sized farm, is under cultivation, and is yielding daily something like half a ton of fresh picked mushrooms…

Mr Hupfel himself hardly knows why he selected mushrooms as an industry when he had to admit to himself back in 1918 that prohibition was practically sure to come. A brewery represents a very large investment, mostly in the shape of insulated store rooms which are but slightly adaptable to any other line of manufacture. Also as a brewer, one of his principal interests had been the growing of yeast, a very low form of fungus. So it didn’t seem wholly strange to contemplate growing a higher fungus, the mushroom…

Building specially designed racks in the cellars and store rooms he created a skyscraper garden precisely on the principle of the skyscraper office building or dwelling. Now in many rooms six tiers of beds are erected one above the other, which accounts for the existence of a ten acre “plantation” on a comparatively small ground space..

The end product was a paste marketed under the name “Champee,” a name he trademarked in 1922.

The following spring advertisements for “Champee” made their appearance in more than a few magazines and newspapers. The following appeared in the May, 1923 edition of the Chilton Hotel Supply Index.

“Champee” advertisements popped up in other forms as well. Look closely and you’ll see a “Champee’ billboard in this photograph of Yankee Stadium taken on opening day in 1923. The photo is courtesy of the Detroit Public Library.

After Prohibition the Hupfel Brewery resurfaced as a division of the Allied Brewing and Distilling Company called the Pilsner Brewing Company (Listed first below).

A stock offering for the Allied Brewing and Distilling Company, published in the June 28, 1933 edition of Louisville, Kentucky’s “Courier-Journal, clarified Allied’s relationship with the Pilser Brewing Company.

Allied Brewing and Distilling Company, Inc. represents a consolidation of a number of long established and profitable enterprises which have been developed and operated for many years under the present management. The company has acquired all of the assets, including plants, equipment, patents, trade-marks, inventories of merchandise and supplies as well as the organizations of the constituent companies…

This advertisement for Pilser’s “Special Draught” appeared in several Westchester County newspapers in the late summer of 1936.

Other Pilser brands included “Lion Beer,” “Koenig’s Special,” “Champ Ale” and “New Yorker Beer.” This advertisement for “New Yorker Beer” is the last one I’ve been able to find.

The ad appeared in the June 17, 1948 edition of Hackensack, New Jersey’s “The Record.” That year, The Pilser Brewing Company was still listed at 3rd Avenue and 161st Street, now 561 East 161st Street, in the New York City Telephone Directory. After that I lose track so it’s likely the company didn’t last into the 1950’s.

Today 561 East 161st Street certainly looks like it could have served as a brewery office back in the day.

The subject bottle is blown in a mold and roughly 12 oz. in size.. It’s embossed with the company name of A Hupfel’s Sons and an address of 161st St. and 3rd Ave. That associates it with the Bronx location and its tooled crown finish dates it well after the Hupfel brothers dissolved their partnership in 1883. Likely early 1900’s.

Kirsch & Herfel Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.

Kirsch & Herfel was established by Hyman Kirsch and Henry Herfel in the first decade of the 1900’s. The company existed as Kirsch and Herfel up until 1920 after which both went their separate ways.

Kirsch went on to become a giant in the industry and in the 1950’s was the developer and initial manufacturer of sugar-free soda. A feature on his business in the June 23, 1971 issue of the Tampa (Florida) Tribune mentioned his early years:

Hyman Kirsch learned how to formulate soft drinks before the turn of the century when he worked for a Russian family in the Crimea. After five years in the Russian army, he immigrated to England then the United States.

His obituary in the May 13, 1976 edition of the N. Y. Times (he lived to be 99 years old) picked up the story from there.

Mr. Kirsch came to this country in 1903, and the next year he went into the soft drink business in a 14-by-30-foot store in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Distribution of ginger ale and other sodas was by horse and buggy, and the daily production was 25 cases, made by hand.

Census records from 1910 indicate that Herfel immigrated to the United States from France in 1882. Prior to meeting Kirsch he was sometimes listed as a grocer in the Brooklyn directories.

Later Kirsch advertisements include the phrase “Since 1905,” so it appears that the two formed their partnership around that time. The first listing I can find for Kirsch and Herfel is in the 1907 Trow Business Directory for Brooklyn and Queens. Their address, 67 Bartlett, was in Williamsburg so it’s quite possible that it’s the location referenced in Kirsch’s obituary. A year later, the 1908 Trow Business Directory listed their address as 244 Scholes Street where they remained for the next 12 years. According to the November, 1915 issue of a publication called the “New Confectioner,” the business incorporated around that time with capital of $10,000.

In this April 26, 1919 Brooklyn Daily Eagle advertisement the company called themselves manufacturers of soda water and another beverage called Golden Dwarf Celery Tonic.

They also served as one of three local Brooklyn bottlers for Ward’s Orange and Lemon Crush as evidenced by a series of Eagle advertisements in 1920

Around this time, with prohibition just enacted, the company was feeling optimistic and broke ground on a new plant. According to this January 24, 1920 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,

Soda Water Firm Building Big Plant

Ground has been broken for the new plant at 172-6 Cook St. of Kirsch & Herfel Co., Inc. of 244 Scholes St. The new establishment, which will be devoted to making soda water and celery tonic, will be ready to use about April 1.

The building will be 225 feet long, extending from Cook St. to Flushing Ave. The latest model machinery, purchased during the convention in Chicago in November will be installed.

No interim in the business due to moving will occur. The old plant will be kept in full operation until the new has completely taken over the load carried by its predecessor.

Due to prohibition and other causes, the company expects a bumper season this summer and is already keeping a full force at work, although it is the winter season. In some quarters the soda water companies are expecting to step in where the breweries stepped out and take over the enormous business of quenching the nation’s mid-summer thirst. Although Kirsch & Herfel do not go so far as to predict that soda water will build up great castles of industry, such as the modern brewery had grown to be, they are very sanguine of the outlook for the coming year.

Despite the optimistic outlook, five months after this story was published, an item in the June 22, 1920 edition of the New York Times announced that the Kirsch & Herfel corporation had been dissolved. Whether the dissolution had been planned all along or was the result of a recent development is not clear, but by August, the business had moved into the new plant and was continuing as H. Kirsch & Co.

The August 28, 1920 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle covered the story.

Kirsch & Herfel Now H. Kirsch & Co.

The old soda water firm of Kirsch & Herfel is now continuing the business under the name of H. Kirsch & Co., located at 923 Flushing Ave. and 172 Cook St.

It was this firm which made the old reliable Golden Dwarf celery tonic, popular even at the bar of that merry old John Barleycorn person.

The company’s business has grown since the institution of prohibition. It is now the largest soda and mineral water bottling plant in Brooklyn and maintains a large fleet of trucks to care for its boro business and out of town trade.

According to an official of the company, a great many people have been coming direct to the factory to fill their orders. The plant has been working to capacity.

Advertisements for the new business began appearing in the Eagle in early September, 1920.

The demand was such that according to this March 19, 1921 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, by the following summer they had doubled the capacity of their new plant in an effort to expand their product line.

Soda Water Plant Enlarges Capacity

In anticipation of a long spring and summer, H. Kirsch & Co. have doubled their capacity by extensive alterations and additions to their factory for soft drinks at 923-925 Flushing Avenue. These extensions are now complete and include a new washing machine capable of turning out several thousand clean and sterilized bottles per hour.

This company, taking prohibition by the forelock put on the market a drink called Golden Dwarf Orangeade, which quickly caught public fancy. Although the company specializes on soda water and celery tonics, sold throughout the Greater City, its new orange drink will occupy a large part of the old plant’s capacity.

The extension is devoted chiefly to bottle washing, this operation in the preparation of soft drinks for the market requiring considerable space, not for machinery so much as for stacking up clean “empties” waiting to be filled.

After prohibition they continued to be successful and sometime in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s they changed their name to Kirsch Beverages, Inc. By the late 1940’s they were manufacturing 16 different flavored drinks as evidenced by this 1949 Brooklyn Daily Eagle advertisement.

In 1952, the No-Cal Corporation was formed as an affiliate of Kirsch Beverages, Inc. to produce a new line of sugar free soft drinks. Hyman Kirsch’s 1976 New York Times obituary described how the “sugar free” concept got started.

Mr. Kirsch began the commercial production of sugar free soft drinks in 1952, when he started distributing them through dietetic outlets under the No-Cal brand.

The idea for the product was the byproduct of one of his many philanthropic activities. As vice president of the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Diseases, he and his son, Morris, had become concerned about the lack of a sugar-free, nonalcoholic beverage for diabetic patients of the sanitarium.

They got together in the laboratory at Kirsch Beverages with Dr. S. S. Epstein, their research director, and explored the field of synthetic sweeteners. Saccharine and others left a metallic aftertaste. Then, from a commercial laboratory, they obtained cyclamate calcium, which proved satisfactory in soft drinks produced for diabetic and cardiovascular patients in the sanitarium.

No-Cal Ginger Ale was first to hit the market in March, 1952 and by the end of the year four additional flavors were being sold. This early ginger ale advertisement appeared in several June, 1952 issues of the New York Daily News and Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

By December the advertisements included Cola, Cream Soda, Black Cherry and Root Beer as well.

Originally intended for dieters and those with medical issues like diabetes, it wasn’t long before the company focused their marketing efforts on the public at large. The reasoning behind this change was explained in an April 10, 1953 story in the Long Branch (New Jersey) Daily Record.

More than a year ago Kirsch Beverages, Inc. marketed their new sugar free NO-CAL ginger ale. Aimed primarily at the dietetic and diabetic markets, NO-CAL was an immediate sales sensation.

As sales doubled and re-doubled with each passing month, the pleasantly amazed Kirsch people enlarged their bottling capacity and developed four new NO-CAL flavors, cream, cola root beer, black cherry.

In an effort to determine the “why” behind the “buy,” Grey Agency, which handles Kirsch advertising, conducted an intensive survey in metropolitan area supermarkets. The survey revealed the amazing fact that only half of regular NO-CAL buyers are on a diet. This means that a market of literally millions of non-dieting, yet weight conscious, soft drink buyers is wide open for NO-CAL

In an all out effort to capture this huge market, Kirsch is initiating this program with a quarter-of-a-million dollar “saturation advertising campaign.

Their focus on the weight conscious market is exemplified by this 1954 advertisement that appeared in the New York newspapers. With the tag line “Time to Switch to NO-CAL,” the advertisement was designed to make you weight conscious even if you weren’t!

Another series of advertisements in the mid-1950’s highlighted the star of a current movie, always slim and female, promoting both the movie as well as NO-CAL. An advertisement from July/August, 1956, which was typical of the series, featured Kim Novak and the movie “The Eddie Duchin Story.” It reads in part:

You know Kim Novak as a NO-CAL girl! You see the slender modern look…sense the relaxed “enjoy life”air. You know Kim refreshes with NO-CAL.

Other advertisements featured Mamie Van Doren in “Running Wild,” Julie Adams in “All Away Boats,” and Jan Sterling in “The Troubleshooter.”

By the 1960’s their slogan had become:

In 1969, when the United States banned the use of cyclamates in food and drink products, it could have spelled the end of the company, but according to a June 23, 1971 feature on Kirsch in the Tampa Bay (Florida) Tribune:

Our first decision the morning after the ban was announced was that we wouldn’t go out of business. That gave us just eight weeks to develop a new formula and market it.

This October 22, 1969 New York Times News service story found in the Franklin (Pennsylvania) News Herald demonstrated that they had been up to the task.

The nation’s diet food and soft drink manufacturers rushed out new-product announcements yesterday, indicating they had been prepared for the Government’s ban on the use of the artificial sweetener cyclamate in general-purpose food products.

The Government’s action was announced on Saturday. By nightfall yesterday, a number of leading soft drink manufacturers and others involved in the $1 billion low-calorie market had reported they were ready to market new, cyclamate-free beverages and other products within a matter of days or a few weeks at most…

No-Cal Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirsch Beverages, Inc. will have a new line of No-Cal drinks on the market in about two weeks. A company spokesman said they will contain sacharrin and a small amount of sugar, adding about 10 to 14 calories to the drinks.

Both Kirsch Beverages, Inc. and No-Cal Corporation remained under control of the Hirsch family until 1980. Morris Kirsch, Hyman’s son, had joined the company in 1926 and assumed the presidency of Kirsch Beverages sometime in the early 1940’s. By 1971, according to the Tampa Tribune feature on the business, Morris’s sons, David and Lee, were presidents of No-Cal Corporation and Kirsch Beverages respectively, and both Hyman, at the age of 94, and Morris were still active on the board of directors. Around this time the business moved to a new location in College Point Queens at 112-02 15th Avenue.

Hyman died in 1976 at the age of 99 and his son Morris retired in 1980. At that time the Kirsch companies were acquired by a Philadelphia bottler named Harold Honickman. According to January 21, and March 19, 1980 articles in the Daily News, shortly after acquiring Kirsch, Canada Dry awarded him a bottling and distribution franchise and their products were added to his College Point production line of Kirsch and No-Cal sodas.

That was the beginning of the end for the Kirsch companies that ultimately fell victim to consolidation in the soda industry. The end of the line came sometime in the mid-1980’s. It was summed up like this in a July 26, 1987 story in the New York Daily News:

After years of mergers, the man who would be king today is Harold Honickman, head of Pennsauken, N. J. based Honickman Enterprises.

The leading independent bottler of Canada Dry products gradually acquired such city favorites as Dr. Brown, Kirsch, Hammer, Hoffman, Kirsch’s No-Cal brand and Meyers 1890. Though distribution is somewhat limited, all brands but Kirsch and Meyers are still alive.

The 244 Scholes Street address no longer exists and is now within the limits of Ten Eyck playground which is under the jurisdiction of NYC Parks and Recreation.The building currently located at the 172 Cook Street address is likely the building built by Kirsch & Herfel in 1920.

The College Point plant is now owned by Pepsi.

So, you ask, “What became of Henry Herfel?” Well he certainly didn’t achieve the same notoriety as Hyman Kirsch. A year after their partnership was dissolved, he established another Brooklyn soda water company named Herfel & Co. The company was listed as a new corporation, with capital of $20,000, in the April 15, 1921 edition of the New York Times. The incorporation notice named Herfel, along with J. Grodinsky and E. Heyman as directors. The initial company address was 215 Montague Street.

By the mid 1920’s, the directories listed the company address as 257 Ellory Street with Morris and Sam Shapiro named as proprietors. Herfel was no longer mentioned. A notice in the June 8, 1934 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle announced that the corporation had dissolved.

The bottle I found is machine made and 27 oz. It’s embossed with the name “Kirsch & Herfel Co., Inc.,” which dates it between 1915, when the original business incorporated, and 1920, when it dissolved.

G. B. Seely’s Son, Inc., 319-331 E 15th St., New York

seely-1

Early company advertisements stated that the business was established in 1857 by Gilliam B Seely. It first appeared in the 1859 NYC directory, listed as soda water and located at 80 Commerce Street.

It continued to be listed as G.B. Seely up through the 1884 directory at the following addresses:

1859 – 1860: 80 Commerce Street
1861 – 1871: 281/2 Commerce Street
1872 – 1874: 431 West 28th Street
1876: 401 West 26th Street
1877 – 1879: 271 Ninth Avenue
1880 – 1883: 57 Gansevoort Street

In 1884, the business moved to 319 West 15th Street where it remained listed through the late 1920’s. A company advertisement in the 1884 directory stated that they were manufacturers and bottlers of soda water, sarsaparilla, ginger ale and root & raspberry beer.

It is apparent that Gilliam’s son, Frank, joined the company in the late 1880’s. The company name was listed as G.B Seely & Son in the 1887 and 1888 directories.

Then in 1889 the company name listed in the directory changed again, this time to G.B. Sealy’s Son.

Frank Seely is the only company principal named in the NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory in 1890. It’s not clear whether Gilliam retired or died but he was no longer listed in the NYC directories.

According to the Annual Report of the Factory Inspectors of the State of New York, in the year ending November 30, 1899 G B Seely’s Son had 50 male employees working a 60 hour week .

The business was listed as a New York Corporation for the first time in the 1914 Copartnership and Corporation Directory. Frank Seely was listed as President, Hugo Eiche as Secretary and Carl Klingelhoeffer as Treasurer with a capital of $200,000. In 1919, Hattie Seely was listed as president and Frank was not mentioned.

An early 1910’s advertisement for G B Seely’s Son states: “Drink Seely’s Carbonated Beverages and Forget It’s Summer.”

A story in the April 30, 1909 Brooklyn Daily Eagle about G B Seely’s Sons exhibit at the Food Show provided some insight into the company and their products at the time:

One of the many attractive booths at the Pure Food Show, which is being held in Prospect Hall is that of G B Seely’s Son, dealers in carbonated beverages. Harry Coll and James Morgan are in charge of this booth and are prepared at all times to serve soft drinks to everyone attending th show. The Seely exhibit is one of the best in the entire show and well merits the praise which has been bestowed upon it. The list of beverages exhibited comprises ginger ale, sarsaparilla, lemon soda, cream soda, root beer, birch beer, orange phosphate and raspberry soda.

The modes, processes and materials used in the production of the carbonated beverages manufactured by G B Seely’s Son are explained by the men in charge who are careful to point out that everything is properly tested and found to be absolutely pure before it is made use of. The result is that a line of goods is produced which the manufacturers claim cannot be excelled for quality or purity.”

G B Seely’s Son must have been an annual participant in the Food Show. An advertisement ten years later in the March 13, 1921 issue of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” said “Sample our Beverages at Booth at the Food Show.”

Canada Dry acquired Seely’s in 1928. Under Wall Street Topics, a June 26,1928 article in the Milwaulkee sentinel stated:

June 25,1928 New York. Directors of Canada Dry Ginger Ale today voted to offer stockholders the right to subscribe to new stock at $60 a share on the basis of one new share for every ten held at present. The funds raised will be used to acquire G.B. Seely’s Son, Inc…the purchase price has not been announced.

Canada Dry was still using the Seely name in advertisements in 1929: “Seely’s Delicious Beverages, incorporated, owned and operated by Canada Dry.” Around this time they moved from their long time W 15^th Street address to 625 W 54^th Street but continued to be listed separately in the NYC Directories through at least 1932. It’s not clear when Canada Dry dropped the Seely name.

Today the West 15th Street addresses are incorporated in a large 20^th century apartment building.

The bottle I found is machine made (28 oz) with the “Inc” embossed after the name, which puts it in the vicinity of 1914 or later. The back of the bottle is embossed with their trademark picture of a bartender pouring drinks. Frank Seely filed the trademark application on July 11, 1905 (No. 10,063). In the application he stated that it had been in use since 1870.