Farrell’s Magnolia Bitters – O. H. Peckham & Co. – St. Louis
26 March 2016
Ellen Hass Faulkenberry snagged this killer labeled Farrell’s Magnolia Bitters at the recent antique bottle show in St. Louis, Missouri. She posts on Facebook, “Thank you Tom, for selling us this fantastic, extremely rare St. Louis Magnolia Bitters bottle!!” The pictures were pulled from the Antique Bitters Bottles page on Facebook.
I’ve cleaned up the pictures a bit and cut away the background. Looks like a fantastic bottle. I’ll see if I can get some complete pictures. What’s interesting here is that the product was sold by a candy manufacturer named Osgood Hazard Peckham. He was from New York and worked in the grocery business in Chicago before coming to St. Louis in 1873.
The Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:
M 9.5 Farrell’s Magnolia Bitters
MAGNOLIA BITTERS // O. K. (should be H instead of K) PECKHAM. CO. / PROPRIETORS. // ST LOUIS // //
// b // N motif – 5 pointed star
L … Farrell’s Magnolia Bitters
9 1/4 x 2 5/8
Square, Amber, LTCR, Extremely rare
Label: One wine glassful taken two or three times a day before meals, will be a cure for dyspepsia, and will remove all flatulency or heaviness from the stomach, keep your system in good order, assist digestion, give a good appetite, and be a sure preventative of the fever and ague, and all other fever, Farrell’s Magnolia Bitters (delete)
Osgood Hazard Peckham
Osgood H. Peckham, president of the National Candy Company, and a well known figure in St. Louis, Mo., business circles, is a native of the State of New York, where he was reared and educated. In 1873 he came to St. Louis and engaged in the candy business, under the corporate name of the O. H. Peckham Company. The business thus founded was carried on under various firm names until it was merged into the National Candy Company, October 15, 1892. This larger company was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey and is one of the greatest business concerns in the United States, having the control of candy and confectionery manufacturing plants in nearly all the large western cities of the country. Of these factories, that of the original O. H. Peckham Candy Manufacturing Company, at St. Louis, is one of the largest and best appointed; and a tribute was paid to Mr. Peckham, by the directors of the National Company, by electing him to the presidency, an office he has held ever since the National Company was organized. Further recommendation of his business ability and qualifications is unnecessary. In the larger volume of business, brought about by the consolidation of interests, he has shown himself to be an executive of rare skill and judgment, which has resulted in his retention in that important position. Besides his interests in the candy companv Mr. Peckham is a director in the Merchants-Laclede National Bank, one of the leading financial institutions of St. Louis. – The Province and the States Biography – Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1904
PECKHAM, Osgood H., president National Candy Co.; born in New York State, Sept. 9, 1844; son of George T. and Cynthia M. (Osgood) Peckham; educated at Pulaski Academy, Pulaski, N. Y.; married, 1st, Utica, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1876, Fannie Sherwood; children, Frank E., Mrs. S. Graham Wilson; married, 2d, Syracuse, N. Y., March 3, 1891, Susie H. Clark. Was traveling salesman in grocery line out of Chicago for seven years before coming to St. Louis in 1873 and establishing in candy business as O. H. Peckham Co., later becoming successively Dunham, Peckham & Co., O. H. Peckham & Co., and O. H. Peckham Candy Manufacturing Co., which, with seventeen other candy manufacturing concerns, formed in 1902 the National Candy Co., of which has been president since 1903. Also director Merchants-Laclede National Bank. Republican. Presbyterian. Clubs: St. Louis, Noonday, St. Louis Country, Commercial, Office: Granite Block, 406 Market St. Residence: 4382 Westminster Pl. – The Book of St. Louisans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of St. Louis and Vicinity – John W. Leonard, St. Louis republic, 1906
Select Listings:
1844: Osgood H. Peckham born in New York State on 09 September 1844. Son of George T. and Cynthia M. (Osgood) Peckham.
1866: O.H. Peckham was a traveling salesman in grocery line out of Chicago before coming to St. Louis in 1873
1868: O.H. Peckham, traveling agent, 29 E. 2nd. – Davenport Iowa City Directory
1873: Osgood H. Peckham came to St. Louis and engaged in the candy business, under the corporate name of the O. H. Peckham Company
1874: O. H. Peckham & Co., 422 N. 2nd, Saint Louis – St. Louis City Directory
1976: Osgood H. Peckham married, 1st, Utica, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1876, Fannie Sherwood; children, Frank E., Mrs. S. Graham Wilson; married, 2d, Syracuse, N. Y., March 3, 1891, Susie H. Clark.
1878: O. H. Peckham & Co., (Osgood H. and George C. Peckham), candy mnfrs. 206 N. 2nd. – St. Louis City Directory
1881: Fire destroys the large candy factory of O. H. Peckham & Co. (see clipping below) – The Atchison Daily Champion, Sun, February 6, 1881
1888: A few boys (preferably German) to work at O. H. Peckham & Co. – St.Louis Post Dispatch, Thursday, May 24, 1888
