Hancock City Bottling Co.
Hancock City Bottling Works

23 Nov 2021, last revised 19 May 2026

The Hancock City Bottling Co. was a continuation of the Henry Larsen bottling works, which was a continuation of the Sterling Spring Mineral Water Co.

McKindles and Eckstrom as Proprietors

In Mar 1924, Leo McKindles and Edwin G. Eckstrom purchased Henry Larsen's bottling works, which had been closed for two years (1). The sale included the building, all the equipment, and the formulas previously used by Larsen to manufacture soft drinks (1).

Leo H. McKindles was born on 12 Feb 1882 (4) in Michigan to immigrants from Canada (3,5). He was a resident of Baraga during the 1910 U.S. Federal Census (5) and a resident of Hancock during the 1920 census (3). McKindles was a shipping clerk and then a salesman for a local E. R. Godfrey branch before purchasing the bottling works (1,2).

Edwin G. Eckstrom was born in Sweden in 1895 or 1896 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1914 (3). He was Henry Larsen's bother-in-law and was residing in Henry's household during the 1920 U.S. Federal Census (3). Eckstrom had worked at the Larsen factory until it closed, and then worked at the Mattson Bottling Works, so he was said to be "experienced in the soft drink business" (1).

After a month of repairing the building and installing new machinery, the new firm was ready to begin operations in a few days (6). Their bottles are embossed with M & E BRAND, signifying the proprietors, and HANCOCK CITY BOTTLING CO., a bottling works name that appears to have originated with McKindles and Eckstrom.

In Apr 1925, McKindles and Eckstrom sold the bottling works back to Henry Larsen (7).

McKindles and Eckstrom ran the bottling works for only a year. Leo H. McKindles later died in Hancock on 04 Mar 1927 at the age of 45 and was buried in the L'Anse Township Cemetery, L'Anse (4). It is unknown what happened to Edwin Eckstrom.

Larsen as Proprietor

At first, it was puzzling that the H. L. BRAND bottles, with H. L. presumably initializing Henry Larsen, did not date sequentially with the HENRY LARSEN bottles. Now we know that Henry Larsen sold the bottling works and then bought it back. The H. L. Brand bottles show that Henry Larsen continued to use the Hancock City Bottling Co. name.

The 1927 and 1930 directories listed the Hancock City Bottling Co. for Henry Larsen (8,9). Henry Larsen died on 08 Dec 1929 at the age of 54 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (10). One H. L. Brand bottle (abm-54) dates to 1931, so the bottling works evidently continued to use Larsen's brand after his death.

Kearney as Proprietor

In Sep 1933, "Jack Kearney" purchased the "Hancock City Bottling Works" (11). The newspaper did not identify who owned the plant, but it mentioned that Kearney was an employee for seven years and manager for the last three years (11), indicating that the bottling works continued to operate after Larsen's death. Correspondingly, the 1920 U.S. Federal Census listed "John Kearney" as a manager of "City Bottling Wks" (3). On the 1920 census, he was 35 years old, a resident of Houghton in his father-in-law's household, and recorded to have been born in Michigan (3).

The J. K. BRAND bottle (abm-58) can be attributed to Jack Kearney. Additionally, Kearney appears to have been the one to change "Bottling Co." to "Bottling Works". It is unknown when Kearney stopped being proprietor.

Nutini as Proprietor

The 1939 directory listed Aladino Nutini for the "Hancock City Bottling Works" at the same 511 Hancock Ave. address (13).

Aladino Joseph Nutini was born on 06 Oct 1910 in Trimountain (14) to immigrants from Italy (3). His family resided in Trimountain in 1920 (3) and had moved to Hancock by 1930 (15). He was listed as a sales manager in 1940 (16) and had 511 Hancock Ave. as the employment address on his World War II draft registration card (17).

In Dec 1939, sheriff John G. Salmi purchased the Larsen estate property, including the apartment building and the pop factory building (12). The newspaper did not identify who previously owned the property. A later article suggested that Salmi did not own the pop business despite owning the property (19).

The bottling works started to bottle franchised brands in the 1930s. The company advertised Killarney Extra Dry Ginger Ale and Virginia Dare Pale Dry Ginger Ale in 1934, Buster Beverages and Cheer-Up in 1936, Orange-Kist and Wegener's Original Rock & Rye in 1939, Sparkling Life Beverages in 1940, and Black Kow in 1942.

In Oct 1941, management announced that the bottling works would be moving from the Salmi property to the Exley building on E. Hancock Ave. (19). The bottling works held an open house at its new location in Jan 1942 (20). The Exley building was centrally located and provided a larger facility for an expanding business (20). The company installed new sanitary machinery for manufacturing pop and washing bottles (20).

It unknown when Nutini stopped being manager of the bottling works or when he left the area, but he was a resident of Detroit when he later died on 28 Mar 1971 (18).

It is unknown when the bottling works closed. It was not listed in the 1946 phonebook (21) or a 1947/1948 business directory (22), so it apparently closed within 1942 to 1946.

Citations

1. anonymous. (1924, Mar 25). Soft drink plant is sold to new firm. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
2. anonymous. (1924, Mar 25). Larson pop factory sold to new company. The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 8.
3. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
4. Find a Grave. accessed May 2026. Leo H. McKindles. findagrave.com/memorial/197109395/leo-h-mckindles
5. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
6. anonymous. (1924, Apr 29). Pop factory plans to operate in few days. The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 8.
7. anonymous. (1925, Apr 14). Larsen takes over Hancock pop factory. The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 8.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1927. Polk’s Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1927-1928. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1930. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1930. 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. anonymous. (1933, Sep 16). Hancock Bottling Works is purchased by Jack Kearney. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
12. anonymous. (1939, Dec 07). Hancock briefs. The Evening News Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 3.
13. R. L. Polk & Co. 1939. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1939. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
14. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (accessed on ancestry.com)
15. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
16. U.S. Census Bureau. 1940 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
17. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (accessed on ancestry.com)
18. Michigan, U.S., Death Index, 1971-1996 (accessed on ancestry.com)
19. anonymous. (1941, Oct 02). Hancock Bottling Works will move into Exley Block. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
20. anonymous. (1942, Jan 06). Hancock Bottling Works will hold open house today. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 7.
21. Michigan Bell Telephone Company. Aug 1946. Houghton and Keweenaw Counties Telephone Directory. Michigan Bell Telephone Company.
22. The Daily Mining Gazette. 1947 or 1948. Copper Country Classified Business and Professional Directory. Houghton, MI.