Early career

In 1860, Arbuckle entered the grocery business with his brother, Charles.^[2][4] Arbuckle served in Company B of the 15 Militia Regiment called by Governor Andrew Curtin under the threat of a Confederate invasion in 1862 during the Civil War. He served as a private for 10 days, when the unit was discharged. He later served in the Independent Cavalry Battalion in July 1863 for a period of six months. Under both units, he did not receive any military training and never left the county.^[4] He returned to the grocery business and they renamed the company to Arbuckles & Co. when the brothers' uncle died in 1865.^[4]

Coffee business

Arbuckle Brothers Company in Dumbo, Brooklyn

The Arbuckles entered into a coffee roasting business together in Pittsburgh.^[2][4] In 1868, Arbuckle patented a formula for an egg-based glaze that coated coffee beans, protecting them from the air. In 1871, the brothers moved their business to New York City and formed the Arbuckle Brothers Company. He is the first merchant to sell packaged coffee.^[3] He invented a machine with a machinist and draftsman to fill, weigh, seal, and label the bags in one continuous operation.^[2] Arbuckle sold his packaged coffee under the Ariosa brand and was popular in the western frontier, gaining the motto: "The Coffee that won the West".^[3][5] The brand had a sugar coating to add sweetness and an egg coating to allow the grounds to settle quickly.^[2]

Advertisement of Arbuckle Brothers Company

The Arbuckles used creative marketing with their coffee. They included premium coupons in their packaged coffee, which allowed them to get a secondary revenue source in other goods, like handkerchiefs, curtains, and razors.^[5] Arbuckle's coffee empire in the United States earned him the nickname "Mr. Coffee".^[3]

Sugar business

The brothers then sought expanding from coffee to sugar. Arbuckle developed and patented a machine that automatically filled and sealed sugar bags. They set up a partnership with Henry Havemeyer, head of the Sugar Trust, to produce sugar in two-pound bags. Charles died in 1890.^[2]

Legal issues

In 1901, Edward Beverstock, a food and dairy inspector in Toledo, charged a retailer selling Arbuckle's coffee with violating Ohio's pure food law. The charge was for using egg and sugar glaze to increase the weight and inferiority of the coffee product. The trial was held in Toledo, and Harvey W. Wiley, chief chemist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was used as a witness. The jury found Arbuckle guilty, but the appeals court reversed the conviction, citing that the original jury had been improperly selected and were closely associated with the claimant and his son.^[2] Arbuckle became friends with Wiley and worked with him in the pure food movement. Arbuckle established an independent sugar testing laboratory to monitor the quality of sugar in the American market. There is suspicion that Havemeyer may have had some involvement in these legal issues.^[2]

In 1909, Arbuckle's firm was implicated in arranging customs fraud for underweighing and undervaluing crude sugar shipments in its Brooklyn docks with custom inspectors. They claimed no knowledge of the arrangement, but agreed to pay the U.S. Department of the Treasury US$695,573 (equivalent to about $24,467,500 in 2022), a sum representing shortage of duties for the last ten years.^[1]

Other endeavors

Arbuckle Deep Sea Hotel (1910)

In 1901, Arbuckle also entered the towing business. He believed that a rate of US$50 (equivalent to about $1,800 in 2022) to tow from New York City to Albany was too steep. The price of towing quickly dropped, reaching a low of US$5 (equivalent to about $200 in 2022), and caused a permanent lowering of towing costs.^[2] He also designed methods to raise sunken vessels and worked to establish a warning system to allow ships in distress to call for help and salvage vessels would come to their aid.^[2][6] He founded the Arbuckle Wrecking Company and it helped salvage sinking ships, including the naval collier USS Nero and the USS Yankee.^[7][8]

Arbuckle built a retirement colony for older citizens and a hotel in Lake Mohonk. In 1901, he established the Arbuckle Deep Sea Hotel off the shore of New York City to help low income workers. He made another hotel for handicapped wishing to learn a trade.^[2][9][10] He also ran the Sunshine Magazine, a magazine for children.^[1]

Coffee business and brand

In 1921, the New York City location of Arbuckle Brothers in Dumbo, Brooklyn, was more than 12 city blocks with its own railroad and port facilities.^[5] The company stayed in family's hands until 1929.^[5] Arbuckle's company closed in 1935. It was sold and combined with Maxwell House, which would later join General Foods.

In 1994, a company based in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, resurrected the Arbuckle name.^[3][11] Another company based in Tucson, Arizona, have sold coffee under the Arbuckle name since 1979.^[5][12]

The Yuban brand (sometimes Yule brand) was Arbuckle's name for his personal mix of fresh coffees for Christmas gifts. According to General Mills advertisements in the 1960s, Yuban was an abbreviation of Yuletide Banquet. Kraft Foods owns and distributes this brand today.^[11][13]

Philanthropy

The Community House in Allegheny City was gifted by Arbuckle's sisters as a living memorial to the family.^[5]