Upper Peninsula Bottling Works (Sorsen)

07 Oct 2021, last revised 15 Apr 2022

It is intriguing how the early Upper Peninsula Bottling Works bottles bear the name, C. J. Sorsen, the same name found on three pharmacy bottles. Maybe it is of no surprise since drug stores sold much more than just drugs. They sold stationery, books, toiletries, paint, sundries, candies, cigars and cigarettes, liquor for medicinal use, perfumery, and in particular, carbonated drinks at a soda fountain. It is apparent that C. J. Sorsen did not just dispense soda, but he also bottled soda. Was the bottling works housed within the drug store or was it a separate business?

The bottles date to the early to mid-1890s, the same time period for Sorsen's drug store. The Houghton County Polk directory, which started in 1895, did not list the Upper Peninsula Bottling Works by name, but the firm, Sorsen & Sodergren was listed in the 1895 volume as druggists (1). Looking earlier, Sorsen was not listed in the 1891 Michigan State Polk directory (2). The breakthrough came with the 1893 volume, which listed Sorsen & Sodergren as druggists and proprietors of Upper Peninsula Bottling Works (3). The listing stated that they were "bottlers of all kinds of mineral and soda waters" (3). Searching the newspaper revealed that Sorsen commenced manufacturing carbonated drinks around Apr 1892 in a new business under the name, "Northern Michigan Bottling Works" (4). We do not see this name used on bottles or find it in later publications, so he apparently changed it promptly to "Upper Peninsula Bottling Works".

The first two bottles (#89 and #91) bear only Sorsen's name, so they likely correspond to when Sorsen was working alone, after dissolving a partnership with Nikander. He then partnered with Sodergren, probably in 1892, and formed the firm, Sorsen & Sodergren. The remaining bottles with no proprietors' names could correspond to the Sorsen & Sodergren partnership. The bottling works was presumably part of the drug store. Subsequent volumes only listed them as druggists, so the bottling works seem to have been short-lived, while the drug store continued on.

Their bottles rank among the earliest Hutchinson bottles of the Copper Country. Two of them (#91 and #92) have applied tops. They had the only Copper Country soda bottles bearing the C & CO LIM maker's mark. They had one (#89) of only two Twitchell marble bottles from the Copper Country. Their bottles are rare or extremely rare, so any collector would be fortunate to have one.

See the Sorsen & Sodergren's page to learn more about their history and drug business.

References

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. R. L. Polk & Co. 1891. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1891-92. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1893. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1893-94. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
4. anonymous. (1892, Apr 28). untitled. Michigan Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 1.