National Botting Works
Mattson Bottling Works

18 Nov 2021, 23 Jul 2022

National Bottling Works was one of the later soda companies to start in the Copper Country, but it lasted well into the ABM age. The bottle embossing specifies Ruona and Mattson as proprietors. We found National Bottling Works first listed in the 1910 directory, which specified the proprietors as August Ruona and Matt Mattson (1). Interestingly, Ruona resided in Ishpeming, while Mattson resided in Hancock (1). Michigan labor records specified a start date of 1909 (2).

Kustaa Adolf Ruona was born on 25 Sep 1869 in Finland (21) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1889 (22,23). He first settled in Calumet, and then in 1890, he moved to Ishpeming where he worked in the iron mines for 12 years (23). The Ishpeming City directory listed August Ruona as a miner during the 1890s (3,4,5). After acquiring sufficient funds, he established the Ishpeming Bottling Works in 1902 (23,6-9). It is unknown how he formed a partnership with Mattson given he lived in the iron country, but he also served as a director of Suomi College in Hancock from about 1914 (23), so he clearly maintained ties to the Copper Country.

As for Matt Mattson, he was born on 27 Mar 1881 in Finland (10) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1899 (11) or 1900 (12). He was married in Ishpeming on 16 Aug 1902 (13), so he may have resided in Ishpeming before moving to Hancock.

Their listing stated that they were manufacturers and dealers in all kinds of carbonated beverages. The bottling works was located on the northwest corner of Scott St. and Hancock St. (1).

Sanborn map - Aug 1917

The business was quite small, with only two employees in 1910 (18), three in 1913 (19), and two in 1915 (20). Ruona and Mattson were last listed together in the 1916 directory (14). A Michigan Department of Labor inspection in 1919 still listed the company as National Bottling Works (24). The 1921 directory then listed only Matt Mattson as a bottler of high-grade carbonated beverages at the same location (15). Mattson died on 03 Apr 1925 at the age of 44 and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Hancock (17). The bottling works was then listed as Mattson Bottling Works with Louis A. Pasula as manager in the 1930 directory (16). It was called Mattson Bottling Co. in the 1939 directory (25) and a 1947/1948 directory (26). It is unknown when the bottling works closed. The ABM bottles reflect the changes in proprietorship and company name.

References

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1910. 1910 Calumet, Houghton, Hancock and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1916. Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1894. 1894 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1899. 1899 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1901. 1901 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1908. 1908 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
7. R. L. Polk & Co. 1910. 1910 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. 1916 Ishpeming City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
10. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
11. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
12. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
13. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (accessed on ancestry.com).
14. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
15. R. L. Polk & Co. 1921. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921-1922. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
16. R. L. Polk & Co. 1930. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1930. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
17. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
18. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1911. Second Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
19. Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1914. Thirty-First Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
20. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1916. Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
21. Find a Grave. accessed Feb 2022. Kustaa Adolf Ruona. findagrave.com/memorial/186889545/kustaa-adolf-ruona
22. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
23. Fuller, G. N. 1926. Historic Michigan: Land of the Great Lakes, Vol. III - A History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. National Historical Association, Inc.
24. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1920. Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
25. R. L. Polk & Co. 1939. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1939. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
26. The Daily Mining Gazette. 1947 or 1948. Copper Country Classified Business and Professional Directory. Houghton, MI.