This trade postcard from the Boston Public Library collection is a grand advertisement for E.J. Larrabee & Co., manufacturers of biscuits. We’ve shown one of their elegant billheads before. The front is just a gorgeous script; the back is a listing of their extensive offerings. Howell’s “Bi-Centennial History of Albany,” part of our normal bedtime reading, has this extensive description of the company that was once known far and wide, and then apparently disappeared:
The Larrabee Biscuit Works
The firm of E.J. Larrabee & Co., of Albany and New York, has now become a household word, so excellent are the Larrabee Biscuits and so extensive is the trade of this house. A brief historical sketch will doubtless interest our readers, and call attention to an industry that does honor to our city.
It was started in 1861 under the name of the Albany Aerated Bread Company, by Belcher & Larrabee. They were the first to introduce that process of bread-making north of New York City. In 1862 they put in machinery and commenced in a small way the manufacture of the common kinds of crackers or biscuits then in use, and made by hand, using only the best materials. The demand for their goods increased so rapidly, they were compelled, in 1866, to cast about for more room, and purchased a large corner building, once St. Joseph’s Church; made the necessary alterations in 1867, and built two vast ovens.
Their business then took a fresh start, steadily growing to such an extent, that the firm ordered from England a complete set of the most expensive machinery for their special line of goods, being at that time far superior to any similar machines made in this country. Messrs. Larrabee & Co. were then prepared to compete successfully with English biscuits, at that time very largely imported into this country. In 1871 Mr. Belcher died, and W.G. Thomas became a partner with E.J. Larrabee, the senior member of the present firm of E.J. Larrabee & Co. Their business prospered and, in 1872, property was purchased on the east, and another building with four more ovens was erected in 1873.
In 1876, Charles H. Thomas became a general partner in the firm; new and improved machinery was added to meet the requirements of their trade. Yet such was the demand for their goods, that, in 1881 they were obliged to buy still more property on the north, and enlarge their works, until now they have three five-story buildings, all connected and conveniently arranged, filled with the best and most approved biscuit machinery that can be obtained. The facilities of this house now enable them to use annually 40,000 barrels of flour, 2,000 tierces of lard, 75 tons of butter, 450 barrels of molasses, 3,000 barrels of sugar, and other materials in corresponding quantities.
E.J. Larrabee & Co. employ about 350 hands, and make over 300 different kinds of plain and fancy biscuits. Their trade extends to nearly all parts of the world. This house was the pioneer in this country in the manufacture of fancy or London biscuits, and their success has effectually replaced the English biscuits in the United States. This firm has always received the highest awards wherever they have exhibited their goods, both at home and in foreign countries. At the Centennial they received a medal and diploma; at the Paris Exposition in 1878, the first and only gold medal ever awarded to American biscuits. Their branch house in New York City is managed by C.H. Thomas, the junior partner. A business success such as is shown by the house of E.J. Larrabee & Co., clearly demonstrates the capabilities of its founders and managers. It is an honor to Albany and the State of New York.
All this expansion and growth took place on North Pearl Street, near the corner of Wilson Street. There is no sign of all this biscuity excellence today. Interesting to note that they were pioneers in re-purposing St. Joseph’s Church; perhaps we need another biscuit-maker to come forward today.
Larrabee suffered a major fire in 1887, and we’re not sure if they ever re-opened in Albany.
The bakery – northeast corner of North pearl Street and Livingston Avenue – on the burned to the ground on October 30, 1887. Larrabee afterwards moved the main business to New York, leaving a branch office here. Larrabee died in 1891.
Larrabee earned several firsts and accolades. They were the first biscuit makers north of New York City, and pioneered the manufacturing of fancy or London biscuits. At the Centennial of 1876 a medal and diploma were bestowed upon them in honor of their biscuit, and at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 the company earned the first and only gold medal ever awarded to American biscuits.
Albany, which had become famous for its biscuits, remained without a baker until the New York Biscuit Company was formed in 1896.
Thank you for this information about the fate of the original Saint Joseph’s church in Albany. I have been searching for an image of it – perhaps in vain – but until I found your very complete explanation of the biscuit company, all I could determine was that the church was sold to a bakery. My 2x-great aunt, an immigrant from Ireland, was very likely married in that church. She married in Feb 1856 (confirmed by the Albany Diocese records), and since the ground on the new Saint Joseph’s (on Ten Broek Street) was broken only the year before, I am only guessing that their marriage probably occurred in the older/smaller church. Is there possibly a drawing or any image of the Saint Joseph’s church which was once located at N. Pearl and Livingston (formerly Lumber) Streets? I’d be grateful for more information.
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