H. Larsen & Co.

23 Nov 2021, last revised 15 Jun 2024

With the publication of Old Copper Country Bottles, it was unknown if bottles embossed with H. LARSEN & CO. from Calumet were from the same person as the bottles embossed with HENRY LARSEN from Hancock. We can now confirm that the same person ran both operations.

In Jan 1907, Peter Larsen, Henry's father, planned to retire from the pop business "for a time at least" due to his rheumatism (5). Then in Feb 1915, Peter announced plans to open a pop factory in Calumet on about Apr 01 (6) in association with Henry (7). Peter planned on leasing quarters near the Copper Range railroad yards (6).

The 1916 Polk directory then listed H. Larsen & Co. Bottling Works as consisting of Henry and Peter Larsen (1). It also listed Howard Larsen as manager (1). Howard was Peter's son from his marriage with Elizabeth (2). They all resided in Hancock (1), so it is unknown who worked at the Calumet factory. The directory specified the bottling works to be at 612 Portland St. (1), but this address did not exist on the 1917 Sanborn map. The Sanborn map, however, showed a bottling works at 812/814 Portland St., which was likely the correct address, especially since it was adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Sanborn map - Jul 1917

The bottling works was later operated by F. M. Kinsman. It is unknown when Kinsman took over the factory, but certainly by Sep 1918 (3). Peter Larsen died on 22 Dec 1925 at age of 76 in Detroit (4). Henry Larsen died on 08 Dec 1929 at the age of 54 in Hancock and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (4).

Citations

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
3. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (accessed on ancestry.com)
4. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
5. anonymous. (1907, Jan 23). Leases pop factory. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
6. anonymous. (1915, Feb 23). Will open pop factory. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 5.
7. anonymous. (1915, Feb 27). Mainly about people. The Diamond Drill (Crystal Falls, MI). p. 8.