John D. Larkin (original) (raw)

John Durrant Larkin, was born in Buffalo in 1845 at 13 Clinton Street, where the Lafayette Hotel now stands. John Durrant was the middle child of Levi and Mary Ann Durrant Larkin's seven children. He was only seven when his father died. His parents were English people; and his father, Levi H. Larkin, was the founder of the Clinton Iron Works.

One of Mr. Larkin's first recollections is of the burning of the old Eagle tavern, November 14, 1849, when he was but four years old. This hostelry stood on Main street, on the ground afterward occupied by the American hotel, where occurred the disastrous fire of 1865. At the time of the earlier fire the work of fighting the destroying element was entrusted to the volunteer fire department, of which Mr. Larkin's father was a member; and the apparatus at their disposal was extremely limited. When it was discovered, therefore, that brands from the burning tavern had lodged in the belfry of the old court house on Washington street, the building seemed doomed to destruction, as no water could reach the spot. But Mr. Larkin's father succeeded in climbing the slippery shingles and smothering the fire with his coat, thus saving the building, which was then deemed a most important one.

In 1852, Mr. Larkin's father, Levi, contracted pneumonia after fighting a particularly stubborn fire. He was exhausted from his efforts, and after a brief illness, he died at the age of 35, only three months after the birth of his youngest daughter. His wife made arrangements for Levi's burial in the old North Street Cemetery (where the Masten Armory now stands). In 1853, she purchased a lot in he recently opened Forest lawn Cemetery, and Levi's body was moved there. Mary Ann was left a widow at the age of 33, with seven children to care for ranging in age from three months to thirteen years. Mary left 13 Clinton St. shortly after her husband's death.

After attending the public schools of Buffalo in childhood, Mr. Larkin began business life at the age of twelve by working as a Western Union telegraph Company messenger. Then he worked for William H. Woodward, a dealer in wholesale and retail millinery. He remained with him four years; and then, in 1862, began work in the soap manufactory of

Justus Weller, his sister Mary's husband. For the next eight years he worked for Mr. Weller in Buffalo, learning thoroughly the business. From courses at Bryant and Stratton he took in 1865, he learned business bookkeeping. When Mr. Weller moved to Chicago in 1870 Mr. Larkin went with him, and the next year was admitted to partnership in the firm of J. Weller & Co. While in Chicago, Justus introduced his cousin Frances ("Frank") Hubbard to John. They married May 10, 1874 in her parents' home in Hudson, Illinois. The Company The next year, 1875, Mr. Larkin sold out his interest in the business to Mr. Weller, and he and his wife moved to Buffalo (living at 213 Eagle St.) and John set up his factory: "J. D. Larkin, Manufacturer of Plain and Fancy Soaps," at 196-198 Chicago Street. His only product was a yellow laundry bar named Sweet Home Soap. The business grew so quickly that in 1877 Larkin bought two lots on Seneca Street and built the first of many factories there. By 1878, the company produced nine different soap products, ranging from "Boraxine" soap powder through a variety of laundry soaps to "Jet" harness soap, "Oatmeal" toilet soap and Glycerine.

Larkin's first salesman was

his wife's brother, Elbert ("Bert") G. Hubbard, who had been working as a salesman for J. Weller & Co. in Chicago. Bert decided to follow his sister and brother-in-law (eleven years older than he) to Buffalo and work for John as a salesman. Daniel I. Larkin gives an account of Bert's success in his book about his grandfather, "John D. Larkin: A Business Pioneer":

In 1875, Bert hired Frank Martin as a soap salesman. Three years later, Frank was able to have his thirteen-year-old brother, Darwin, also get hired as a salesman. Larkin was in Boston on business, and checking up on the local sales force, saw the young Darwin working, and raised the lad's salary from three to five dollars.In 1878 Hubbard was admitted to a share in the enterprise, and the firm of J. D. Larkin & Co. was organized. This style continued until February, 1892, when the business was incorporated as a stock company, called the Larkin Soap Manufacturing Co., with Mr. Larkin as president and treasurer.

In 1878, Madame Helena Modjeska brought her famous Shakespearean troupe to The Academy, and Larkin saw a performance. In 1886, "Factory to to family" became the hallmark slogan for the company. it was also the year that the company introduced the first Modjeska toilet soap , to be followed by Modjeska perfume, tooth powder and sachet.

By 1880, "soap slinging" was giving way to custom sales to general stores and other merchants who would buy the products in large quantities Bert informed Frank Martin that he was being moved to the middle west. Frank asked that his younger brother, Darwin, be hired in Buffalo. In Martin's own words, he "became the first and at that time the only hired office-worker of J. D. Larkin & Co.; until then all office-work was done by Mr. Larkin himself at a standup bookkeeper's desk."

Bert pioneered the idea of mail-order merchandising. The idea was hugely successful. By offering premiums and bonuses in return for sales, the company was able to dispense with a sales force. In offering premiums to stimulate sales, the company needed a variety of premiums, and it was more profitable to produce them in-house. Buffalo Pottery, precursor to Buffalo China, was founded in this way.

(His fortune made, Hubbard retired in 1893 to East Aurora, where he styled himself as Fra Elbertus, sage of the Roycrofters.)