H. Larsen & Co.

23 Nov 2021, last revised 27 Apr 2025

With the publication of Old Copper Country Bottles, it was unknown if bottles embossed with H. LARSEN & CO. from Calumet were from the same person as the bottles embossed with HENRY LARSEN from Hancock. We can now confirm that the same person ran both operations.

In Jan 1907, Peter Larsen, Henry's father, planned to retire from the pop business "for a time at least" due to his rheumatism (5). Then in Feb 1915, Peter announced plans to open a pop factory in Calumet on about Apr 01 (6) in association with Henry (7). Peter planned on leasing quarters near the Copper Range railroad yards (6).

The 1916 Polk directory listed H. Larsen & Co. Bottling Works as consisting of Henry and Peter Larsen and also listed Howard Larsen as manager (1). Howard was Peter's son from his marriage with Elizabeth (2). They all resided in Hancock (1), so it is unknown who worked at the Calumet factory. The directory specified the bottling works to be at 612 Portland St. (1), but this address did not exist on the 1917 Sanborn map. The Sanborn map, however, showed a bottling works at 812/814 Portland St., which was likely the correct address, especially since it was adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Newspaper ad - Jun 1915

In Jun 1916, Frank M. Kinsman purchased an interest in the firm and became manager of the Calumet operation (8). About a month later, on 01 Aug 1916, Kinsman purchased the remaining interest and became sole owner of what would then be known as the "F. M. Kinsman pop factory" (3).

H. Larsen & Co. operated the Calumet branch for only a year and four months. Their operation spanned the transition between hand-blown and machine-made bottles. Even though the Larsens sold the Calumet branch, they continued to operate the Hancock factory for many more years. Peter Larsen died on 22 Dec 1925 at age of 76 in Detroit (4). Henry Larsen died on 08 Dec 1929 at the age of 54 in Hancock and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (4).

Citations

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
3. anonymous. (1916, Aug 02). Sole owner of firm. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 6.
4. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
5. anonymous. (1907, Jan 23). Leases pop factory. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
6. anonymous. (1915, Feb 23). Will open pop factory. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 5.
7. anonymous. (1915, Feb 27). Mainly about people. The Diamond Drill (Crystal Falls, MI). p. 8.
8. anonymous. (1916, Jun 27). Frank Kinsman takes interest in Larson Co.. The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 6.