History of the P.E. Sharpless Company

P.E. Sharpless Co. plant in Concordville; photo courtesy of Concord Township Historical Society archives

CREAMERY BEGINNINGS

Pennock Sharpless began dairying in 1873, manufacturing a high-grade "gilt-edge butter" and selling 50 lbs. weekly to private customers in Philadelphia. He utilized hand skimming, where milk was placed in pans, and the cream was removed by hand. He sold his butter directly from his wagon to circumvent market stall rent. He is noted as the first man to buy milk and manufacture butter commercially in Pennsylvania and began purchasing the milk from a neighbor's dairy for 4 cents per quart. Pennock stated he needed more capital to buy the cows when selling his butter. Thus, he relied on buying milk from local farms in his neighborhood. This quickly grew to sourcing milk from over 20 dairies in his area.

P.E. Sharpless Gilt Edge Butter Carriage photographs, date unknown. Emma Leuschner personal collection.

Advertisement in Atlantic City Gazette-Review on 24 July 1885 / Advertisement in Newport Daily News (Newport, RI) on 11 June 1890 / Advertisement in The Philadelphia Times on 10 January 1889

In 1876, Pennock established the first commercial creamery known in the State of Pennsylvania in the town of Toughkenamon and imported a centrifugal cream separator machine known as the "Danish-Weston," which was reportedly the first imported separator used in the United States. His butter became popular around the Philadelphia area, garnering noteworthy write-ups in newspapers such as The Philadelphia Times and The Lancaster Examiner, where his butter was described as a "golden morsel" that consumers would "never put tongue to anything so toothsome."

Article in The Eureka Post (Eureka, SD) on 5 May 1910

The establishment and boom of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Concord Township during the 1870s prompted Pennock to move his plant to Concordville, PA, in the early 1880s to ship his products faster and farther in distance. By 1882, Pennock purchased the Concordville plant in Ward Village from the Farmers' Association and began butter and cottage cheese production at this plant. Reports of 600 lbs. of butter weekly were noted in 1883 from the Concordville plant. By 1884, the Concordville Creamery had a capacity for using 15,000 lbs. of milk. However, an arson attack in June 1900 destroyed the Concordville Creamery. 4,000 lbs. of butter and a total estimated loss of $15,000 (equivalent to $540,000 in 2023) was reported. The Concordville plant was immediately rebuilt.

Train pulling into Concordville Staton, photo courtesy of Concord Township Historical Society archives / P.E. Sharpless Co. creamery in Concordville, photo courtesy of Concord Township Historical Society archives / Concordville Map c. 1900

ESTABLISHING A DAIRY EMPIRE

Pennock organized the P.E. Sharpless Company into a corporation in 1902. He rapidly expanded his reach, opening offices in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia and operating seven branch creameries in Delaware and Chester Counties. The Lancaster Examiner reported in March 1902 that P.E. Sharpless Company butter was used in large cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, and the White House. In January 1904, the P.E. Sharpless Company was granted a charter from the State, with a capital of $52,000 ($1.7 million in 2023).

Article in The Lancaster Examiner, 5 March 1902 / Article in The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 7 January 1904

Pennock opened a milk condensery plant in Rising Sun, Maryland, in October 1906. The building plans show a 115 x 44 ft. one-story building made of stone and frame, situated along a stop on the Baltimore Central Railroad. The most significant amount of milk handled at the Rising Sun condensery was reported to be 34,232 lbs. in one single day in 1908. Pennock also installed a state-of-the-art electric filtering system at the Rising Sun plant to reduce pollution in a nearby creek. In 1912, the condensery specialized in a new form of unsweetened sterilized milk for household use, known as the "Acorn brand." Their marketing slogan was "Keep your cow in the pantry using Acorn brand of sanitary sterilized milk."

Rising Sun, MD condensary plan, photo courtesy of Cecil County History Facebook page / Sharpless Acorn Brand Milk label, photo courtesy of eBay / Article in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 17 May 1906

By December 1908, the P.E. Sharpless Company purchased five buildings in Philadelphia on Eleventh and Reno Streets. The Sharpless Company also purchased the former S.G. England creamery in Zion, Delaware. In 1910, the Sharpless Company purchased the former William W. Sharpless plant, which was equipped with state-of-the-art Toughkenamon condensers. It began construction on a large cheese and storage building at the Concordville plant. The Concordville plant reported a total use of 11,000 lbs. of milk daily to produce 2,000 lbs. of cheese under the direction of master cheesemaker John. B. Fassler of Germany.

Article in The Midland Journal (Rising Sun, MD) on 4 February 1910 / Article in the New York Produce Review and American Creamery, 1907 / Article in the New York Produce Review and American Creamery, 1910

Pennsylvania State Pure Food inspectors noted in 1911 that the Rising Sun condensery was exceptionally clean and hygienic upon inspection and that the P.E. Sharpless Company was a leader in cleanliness among all plants inspected.

FOOD AND DRUG ACT VIOLATIONS, LAWSUITS

The P.E. Sharpless Company received several violations of the Food and Drug Act in the 1910s. In 1910, the Sharpless Company pleaded guilty to mislabeling cheese shipped into New Jersey as "Neufchatel" when the cheese was, in fact, not Neufchatel. In 1911, the U.S. government seized 55 barrels of condensed milk at Camden Station in Baltimore, as the milk was skimmed and butterfat removed without disclosure on the label. In 1913, the United States District Court found the P.E. Sharpless Company guilty in 3 cases where the percentage of butter fat in their evaporated milk products was below 8% (the P.E. Sharpless Company was only ringing in at 5.5% butter fat). The P.E. Sharpless Company was fined $20 for each case ($600 per case in 2023). The United States Department of Agriculture also published notices of judgment against the PE Sharpless Company for mislabeling and adultering their evaporated milk products that were shipped to New Jersey, Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. The Department of Agriculture found that the Sharpless Company labeled their cans as "Evaporated Blended Milk" when the product was only evaporated skimmed milk. The P.E. Sharpless Company was found guilty in those 3 cases and fined $20 per case ($600 per case in 2023).

Article in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 19 March 1910 / Article in The Southwest Farmer (Wichita, KS) on 7 October 1910 /Article in The Baltimore Sun on 17 January 1911

The P.E. Sharpless Company also filed a heated trademark lawsuit with the William A. Lawrence & Son Company in 1913. The William A. Lawrence & Son Company is credited as the first to produce cream cheese in the United States and sold a trademarked cream cheese product featuring a cow on a tinfoil label under the moniker "Philadelphia Cream Cheese," despite being in New York state. William A. Lawrence brought the lawsuit against the P.E. Sharpless Company for trademark infringement on the use of the cow on their cream cheese label. The P.E. Sharpless Company lost the suit but won a later appeal.

Advertisement in The Evening Star (Washington DC) on 10 December 1915) / Lawrence et. al. v. P.E. Sharpless Co. / William A. Lawrence, photo courtesy of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation

GROWTH THROUGH WORLD WAR I

1914 was a turning point for the P.E. Sharpless Company, as they now operated five plants: Rising Sun, MD; Concordville, Toughkenamon, Bradford, and Troy, PA. The P.E. Sharpless Company also won a government contract from the Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts to produce 390,000 lbs. of evaporated milk for Navy soldiers serving in France during World War 1. This contract was valued at $23,972 ($730,000 in 2023). This contract continued through 1917, with many carloads of evaporated milk being shipped to New York City and overseas. The P.E. Sharpless Company also sent a company motor truck filled with camping supplies for US Marines from League Island to West Chester in 1915 to support the war effort.

Evaporated milk advertisement in the Delaware County Daily Times on 22 March 1912 / Article in the Midland Journal (Rising Sun, MD) 9 October 1914 / Article in the Midland Journal (Rising Sun, MD) 16 April 1915

The P.E. Sharpless Company continued to grow into the 1920s, with a lease on the Perkiomen Dairy in Skippack, PA, for cheese production and the purchase of the former Supplee Milk Company's creamery in Cochranville, PA, in 1919. The Cochranville Creamery was destroyed by a fire in 1923, with damages estimated at $12,000 ($212,000 in 2023). The P.E. Sharpless Company also received a United States Patent for their process of making soft cheese in 1918 (Patent # 1,258, 438), a patent for their method of packaging and sealing perishables in 1921 (Patent # 1, 399, 270), and a patent for coating metal foil with paraffin in 1923 (Patent # 1, 466, 380).

Article in The Daily News (Lebanon, PA) on 24 December 1917 / Article in The News-Journal (Lancaster, PA) on 8 June 1923 / United States Patent #1,258,438

RISING SUN CLOSURE AND THE BEGINNING OF THE MILK WARS

After the rapid decline in demand for condensed and evaporated milk, the P.E. Sharpless Company's Rising Sun condensery closed temporarily in 1920. The plant eventually transitioned to a milk separating station with the cream, then sent to the Concordville plant for processing. The P.E. Sharpless Company suggested paying milk suppliers for their cream only. However, the Rising Sun plant was plagued by payment disagreements between the milk suppliers and the P.E. Sharpless Company. The Interstate Milk Producers Association of Philadelphia sued the P.E. Sharpless Company for $20,000 in 1924 ($350,000 in 2023) for breach of agreement in payment for milk to the Rising Sun milk producers. Several months later, the P.E. Sharpless Company sold the plant to Sheffield Farms of New York.

Article in The Baltimore Sun on 18 September 1920 / Article in The Baltimore Sun on 1 September 1924 / Article in The Midland Journal (Rising Sun, MD) on 24 October 1924

BREYER-SHARPLESS MILK ASSOCIATION

The Breyer-Sharpless Milk Association was formed in Philadelphia in 1921 between the P.E. Sharpless Company and the Breyer Ice Cream Company for fluid milk sales. The association was valued at $500,000 ($8.4 million in 2023), and they purchased a lot in Philadelphia for the construction of a milk processing store. The Breyer-Sharpless Milk Association purchased a large-story manufacturing building in Philadelphia for $70,000 in 1922. However, the Breyer-Sharpless Milk Association slashed milk prices from 13 to 12 cents a quart in Philadelphia in 1923, causing rival milk suppliers difficulty making a profit. Dairymen across the region accused the Breyer-Sharpless Milk Association of undercutting the milk prices and refused to provide milk to the association. Because of this "milk war," the Breyer-Sharpless Milk Association filed for dissolution in December 1923.

Advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer 1923 / Breyer-Sharpless Milk Can from personal collection / Article in The Morning News (Wilmington, DE) on 31 October 1923

SHARPLESS-HENDLER ICE CREAM

The Sharpless-Hendler Ice Cream Company began in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware, and grew to include a manufacturing plant in Baltimore, Maryland. It started in an old city garage in Wilmington but later purchased a $200,000 ($3.5 mil in 2023) 4-story building as its plant. Pennock served as a company director, but his son Caspar Sharpless was the long-standing president. It was sold to Borden's Dairy in the early 1940s.

Sharpless Ice Cream plant in Wilmington, DE in 1919, photo from personal collection / Advertisement in The News Journal (Wilmington, DE) on 24 September 1931 / Advertisement courtesy of OldWilmington.net

SALE TO KRAFT CHEESE COMPANY

The P.E. Sharpless Company sold its entire stock to Kraft Cheese Company of Chicago, Illinois, in 1924. Pennock's son, Caspar Sharpless, remained general manager of the P.E. Sharpless Company after the sale. At this time, cream cheese was only made commercially by five companies in the United States: Phenix, Kraft, F.X. Baumert, Blue Label Cream Cheese Company, and the P.E. Sharpless Company. Kraft then obtained the three patents issued to the P.E. Sharpless Company about their cream cheese manufacturing process. Kraft's purpose in buying the P.E. Sharpless Company was to acquire distributing facilities in the Philadelphia area. Kraft continued to buy cream cheese companies, merging with the Phenix company in February of 1928. Kraft registered the "Philadelphia Brand" trademark for its cream cheese product on June 18, 1941.

Excerpt from Kraft Foods Co v. Comm'r Internal Revenue, 1954 / Article from The Chester Times (Chester, PA) on 8 January 1926 /

SALE TO JUNE DAIRY PRODUCTS COMPANY FOR DISTRIBUTION

On November 3, 1928, the June Dairy Products Company Inc. of New York purchased the P.E. Sharpless Company but continued to operate under the Sharpless name. June Dairy Products was a butter and cheese distribution company established in Newark, NJ, and Miami, FL, with reported annual sales of $7 million in 1928 ($124.5 million in 2023). The Sharpless family ultimately left any offices relating to the P.E. Sharpless Company after this sale.

Article in The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE) on 13 November 1928 /

LEGACY OF THE P.E. SHARPLESS COMPANY

The P.E. Sharpless Company tremendously impacted the southeastern Pennsylvania dairy industry as it grew into the 20th century. The Sharpless company was an essential leader in solidifying Philadelphia and the surrounding regions as a dairy powerhouse and bolstering the reputation of southeastern P.A. dairy products through its mass distribution along the East Coast via the railroad system. It was one of only five commercial creameries in the United States to produce and sell cream cheese in the 1920s and was the only one of those 5 to be located in Pennsylvania. The high reputation of Sharpless cream cheese and dairy products and their "Philadelphia" packaging labels caused a wide-scale name recognition of Philadelphia as a center of quality dairy products. This is also evident after the sale of P.E. Sharpless Company to Kraft Cheese Company and Kraft's ultimate trademark of "Philadelphia Brand" cream cheese in 1941.

The P.E. Sharpless Company also set essential precedents in trademark law through the Lawrence v. Sharpless lawsuit over food packaging and the P.E. Sharpless Co. v. Crawford Farms lawsuit over a cream cheese patent infringement.

P.E. Sharpless Co. ephemera, courtesy of the Concord Township Historical Society archives

Today, scant buildings that were once the powerhouses of the P.E. Sharpless Company empire remain. The Concordville plant was repurposed for a time as a cold storage food facility known as the Concord Food Bank before being used briefly as a facility for the Royal Mushroom Company. The buildings were entirely demolished in the latter half of the 20th century, and all that remains is a block of concrete foundation and a small bridge over Ward Creek connecting the two stream banks. The land is now owned by the Newlin Grist Mill Foundation.

Miniature of the Royal Mushroom Cannery in the former P.E. Sharpless Co. creamery in Concordville, photo courtesy of Concord Township Historical Society archives / Concord Food Bank in the former P.E. Sharpless Co. creamery in Concordville, photo courtesy of Concord Township Historical Society archives

The P.E. Sharpless House itself is the only pristine local reminder of the Sharpless Dairy empire and is being recognized in recent times as such. The P.E. Sharpless House won the 2023 Preservation Award for Site Preservation from the Heritage Commission of Delaware County. The P.E. Sharpless House also received a Determination of Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office in 2023 for both its Queen Anne Victorian architecture and for the historic significance of P.E. Sharpless. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 2024. This house is a private residence, and not open to the public.

P.E Sharpless House in Concordville, photo courtesy of the Concord Township Historical Society archives