Jan 15-06
Past-E-Mail: Cam Notes - 2006: January: Jan 15-06
Digging up memories    ...scroll down to share comments
Photos by Charlie Hopper
Where it was found    ...scroll down to share comments
Photos by Charlie Hopper
By Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 09:41 am:

In spite of the heavy equipment moving some serious dirt this week at The Hut in Kearsarge, one artifact surfaced unscathed. The face of the bottle reads:

CALUMET BOTTLING WORKS
R.T. HARVEY
PROP

This prompted a little digging on my part, Googling my way into history, which eventually brought me right back here to the Pasty Central archives! One of the most popular sites we host, George Hite's Eagle Harbor Web, has an article by Sue Adams ("Baseball to Bottling") which introduces her Great Grandfather Richard T. Harvey as a young buck back in the 1800's when he played for the Aetna Mine team in Copper Harbor. This was one of the forerunners of the Keweenaw Clippers, featured a few years back on the Pasty Cam:

Clipers

...but I digress... Seems that after he hung up his cleats, R.T. Harvey spent the rest of his life scratching an entrepreneurial itch - running boarding houses and bottling companies. His Delaware establishment was where guest Horace Greeley was reported as saying "Go west young man!"

R.T. didn't go very far west (and south), settling on Pine Street in Calumet, where he established Calumet Bottling Works, according to one source, around 1880 (which gives a clue about the age of our archaeological find). Mr. Harvey eventually sold the company (possibly to a Joseph James) and founded an enterprise with his own name, passing it on to his family. A Past-E-Mail posting back in 1998 from Ramp Harvey sheds a little more light:
I was born in Laurium on July 8, 1918. Went to Sacred Heart school, graduating from high school in 1935... My Dad , Wilmar Harvey, and his brother George owned the Harvey Bottling Works in Laurium and for years Harvey's Soda Pop was well known in the Laurium , Calumet area. My Dad died in 1944

Our thanks to those who have taken the time to write their experiences on the web, where they are woven into the colorful fabric of history. And special thanks to Mike Mattson for rescuing more than just a bottle, but a time capsule... which we look forward to displaying one of these days when The Hut is back in operation.

Speaking of The Hut, we've had numerous inquiries about our progress, which has been slow but sure. Besides the digging for the Pasty Kitchen next door to the restaurant, a lot is happening this month in expanding our connectivity to the Internet, and ramping up our network center to serve DSL and wireless broadband in areas all across the U.P. We also have almost tripled the number of local phone numbers across North America where Pasty.NET members can connect. In the next few days we'll start a new discussion topic where we can begin some regular updates.

Have a good week :o)
By Grace M Wetton (Gmw) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 09:57 am:

WOW! So there was a Calumet Bottling Works, very interesting. A piece of Calumet history.
It's nice to be able to read about these businesses and see pictures of them on the Pasty Website, thanks loads!

By WishingIWasInDaUP (Sur5er) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 11:10 am:

Wow Chalie, I love the old pop bottle...especially since I collect glass. So what's the chance of you auctioning off some of those old pop bottles, on Pasty Cam ;)

By Liz B (Lizidaho) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 01:23 pm:

I remember when Sue's Mom, Virginia, would allow us to have a "special pop" that George (Sue's grandfather and Virginia's Dad) kept in the basement of their Eagle Harbor home. What a treat! (late 50's early 60's).

By Erica - Florida Keys (Erica) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 02:36 pm:

If The Hut is opened this summer I hope to see the bottles there. Nice piece of history.

By Margaret, Amarillo TX (Margaret) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 03:44 pm:

Great find.

By Seismic Pirate (Marc) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 04:21 pm:

That is a very cool bottle. Last year I found an old, wooden Bosch Beer keg, stamped "Houghton". I'm restoring it and eventually making it into a lamp, I think.

By james f. haven (Technoido) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 05:14 pm:

I looked up this bottle in "Old Bottles and Jugs of Michigan's
Copper Country" and if it is the pint size, it is pictured as #122 in
the soda and mineral water section. It is a Hutchinson Bottle
(refering to the type of stopper), dates from c.1898 to 1905, and is
noted as rare. The name "pop"and "pop bottle" may come from the
very distinct pop sound made when the stopper was tapped down
to break the seal.

By Susan Harvey Adams (Huronmoon) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 07:26 pm:

I was so excited to hear from Liz Boorman that my great grandfather's bottling works is featured in Pasty.net today! Where did the picture come from of the clippers and which was my great-grandfather? I am trying to find more about him. It was documented in his obituary that he came from Cornwall to Isle Royale to work the mine. One winter he and friends left the island with a team of horses and walked to Copper Harbor across the ice...! Can you imagine??? I am always interested in purchasing anything that relates to Richard Thomas Harvey.

Susan Harvey Adams
Ann Arbor, Mich.

By happyooper (Trigal) on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 08:03 am:

I found a bottle exactly like that in my basement. It's now a decoration piece above my cabinets.

By Julwisc (Julwisc) on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 01:14 pm:

Was that Delaware, Michigan, or Delaware the state?

By Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper) on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 04:18 am:

Michigan

By Mary Drew at Pasty Central (Mdrew) on Monday, July 13, 2020 - 12:29 am:

This archive discussion page is closed to new comments, see the current Pasty Cam.