Red Jacket Bottling Works (Lantto)

14 Nov 2021, last revised 15 Nov 2021

Isaac Lantto had only two bottles, both extremely rare. They form a pair of two different sizes with the same embossing design. Thus, he probably placed just one order of bottles during a short-lived operation.

We found very little information on Isaac Lantto. He was born around 1864 in Finland and was married to Annie Kraunth in Calumet on 27 Jun 1893 (1). He was first listed in the 1893 Polk directory, but as a barber (2). The 1895 directory located his barber shop at 473 Pine St., Calumet (3), which was on the northeast corner with 5th St., although 5th St. was obstructed by a building on Pine St. at that time. By the 1897 directory, he had moved to 426 Pine St. with his residence being at the same address (4). This location was on the south side just west of 4th St., although at the time, 4th St. was obstructed by a building on Pine St.

Sanborn map - Sep 1893

Sanborn map - Dec 1897

The 1897 Sanborn map did not label the building as a barber shop even though he was listed as a barber in the Polk directory. This may have been due to the timing of the publications along with the timing of the move. Interestingly, the 1897 directory also listed Kemp & Roberts at the same address. The 1897 Sanborn map labeled the rear building as a pop factory and the front building as a dwelling. Since the Polk directories never listed Lantto as a bottler, this shared address is the only evidence we found that connects Lantto to a bottling works.

It seems possible that Lantto may have taken over the bottling works from Kemp. However, Kemp was the one to sell the bottling works to R. T. Harvey in Jul 1898 (6), who was then listed in the 1899 directory at the 426 Pine St. address (5).

It is unknown what happened to Isaac Lantto. We could not find him in subsequent Polk directories or census records. We could not find his death record. We could not find the name, Red Jacket Bottling Works in the newspaper. We are left with two beautiful bottles as the only evidence of his existence as a bottler of the Red Jacket Bottling Works.

References

1. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (accessed on ancestry.com).
2. R. L. Polk & Co. 1893. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1893-94. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1897. Houghton County Directory 1897-98. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1899. Houghton County Directory 1899-1900. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. anonymous. (1898, Jul 28). Pop Factory Changes Hands. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 5.