Upper Peninsula Bottling Works (Sorsen)

07 Oct 2021, last revised 08 Jun 2024

The early bottles of the Upper Peninsula Bottling Works bear the name of C. J. Sorsen; intriguingly, the same name found on 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. The existence of the bottles makes it apparent that Sorsen not only dispensed soda, but also bottled soda.

Sorsen started the drug store with Nikander (1) in Nov 1890 (2). The partnership dissolved by at least late Aug 1891 (3), leaving Sorsen as sole proprietor. Sorsen then commenced manufacturing carbonated drinks around Apr 1892 in a new business called the "Northern Michigan Bottling Works" (4). The name we find embossed on the bottles, however, is UPPER PENINSULA BOTTLING WORKS. Sorsen then formed the firm Sorsen & Sodergren with his cousin (1). The 1893 Michigan State Polk directory then listed Sorsen & Sodergren as druggists and proprietors of Upper Peninsula Bottling Works (5). They were "bottlers of all kinds of mineral and soda waters" (5). The 1895 Houghton County Polk directory listed Sorsen & Sodergren, but only as druggists (6). Thus, the bottling works presumably ceased operating by then.

The first two bottles (#89 and #91) bear only Sorsen's name, so they likely correspond to when Sorsen was working alone. The remaining bottles with no proprietors' names likely correspond to the Sorsen & Sodergren partnership. The bottling works was presumably part of the drug store.

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 Sorsen & Sodergren to learn more about their history and drug business.

Citations

1. anonymous. 1895. Memorial Record of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL.
2. anonymous. (1890, Nov 07). untitled. The Calumet and Red Jacket News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
3. anonymous. (1891, Aug 28). untitled. The Calumet and Red Jacket News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
4. anonymous. (1892, Apr 28). untitled. Michigan Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 1.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1893. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1893-94. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.