Hudson Rock Beverages

[46StPaulsAve]

Hi I have one of the original bottles. it says
Frank Latka
33-37 Hopkins Ave
Jersey City NJ
I am looking for more info.
The value worth of this beautiful bottle it is greenish stars around the rim and bubbles
I think it was some sort of soda or mineral water bottle
Any info will be helpful Thank you
Linda

Hi Linda,

I actually have the same bottle—along with some small Hudson Rock bottles from Hopkins Ave. Appears a Mrs. Elizabeth Latka passes away several years ago and once lived at that address.

It’s a very handsome bottle! I even have a wooden soda crate for Latka, too!

Take care,

MJ

[LLINDA24]

Hi I have one of the original bottles. it says
Frank Latka
33-37 Hopkins Ave
Jersey City NJ
I am looking for more info.
The value worth of this beautiful bottle it is greenish stars around the rim and bubbles
I think it was some sort of soda or mineral water bottle
Any info will be helpful Thank you
Linda

[LLINDA24]

Hi I'm looking for the family members of Frank Latka from Hudson Co. I have one of the old bottles from his address looking for history of the bottle and info please. It has his name on the bottle AND his address. any info would be helpful.
The bottle says
Frank Latka
33-37 Hopkins Ave
Jersey City
NJ
Trademark reg
This bottle is not for sold only loaned
THE Other side of bottle
Has a pic of someone pouring
and says est 1891

top has stars around the rim
I looked up Columbia Water Co. which turned into Hudson Bottle co and no longer operating. Frank Passed away and I believe his son is larry?
Any value or worth or info please
Thank you
Linda

[Joe Law Jr.]

Grew up at 39 Hopkins, and was best friends with Joseph and Larry Latka Jr., and my favorite flavors were the cream soda, birch beer, and the root beer. Saw the bottling a lot as a kid. Found a case of 32oz bottles in the shed out back at my mom's. One of my favorite stories in when Larry and I were taking empty bottles and turning them in for the nickel deposit at Thomas' candy store on Baldwin. After the second trip, Mr. Thomas called Larry Sr. and we got in a lot of trouble! Larry Jr. inherited the business, the popularity of Hudson Rock declined, and they became a distributor for the major brands of soda until Larry Jr.'s passing....

[46StPaulsAve]

Hey, I remember the last days of Hudson Rock.  My family lived on St Pauls Ave and used to order from them all the time.  When I was really young (1990s), my great aunt Anna would walk with me around the corner and drop off her old soda cans at that big garage door right out in front.  I remember she used to ring the doorbell and a guy would throw the door open and greet her like friends.  I think they knew her well because she had been living around the corner for like 90 years!  Last name was Buccafusco and Dinardo.  Would be curious to see if some of your family elders might remember the family...Also, I've been looking for one of their bottles for years, but never came up with anything.  Got any extra for purchase, just lying around?   Would love to display one in honor of a great soda company and a great old school family business! 

[Soshin]

Thanks for the story Elg.  Back in the 70's (that's the 1970's not the 1870's Fasteddie) in the wee dark land of heather, whiskey, haggis and mutton dingling that I sprang forth from, there used to be a company called "Alpine Soft Drinks" that delivered soda to your house in converted milk carts.  Every Thursday he'd leave bottles of whatever you ordered on your doorstep and you'd have a nice bit glass of cola with your fry up.  It's no wonder the Scots lead the world in tooth decay, heart attacks and self depreciating humor.

I also remeber that you got 1 pence back from the delivery guy for every bottle you returned.  You could then take this 1 pence down to your local corner store and buy a bazooka joe gum from a Pakistani guy.  The gum had a little comic in it and if you collected enough wrappers you could send away for stuff like X-ray specs that would allow you to look through the bras of the laydeez.  Sadly, Alpine soft drinks is long gone, the x-ray specs never worked and the Pakistani guy probably wants to kill us all now.

[bdlaw]

FYI, the google image GrovePath posted AtS is NOT authentic.  

For some reason that doesn't shock me     <--------------- (I wish I could kick this smiley on the teeth)

[hpdweller]

FYI, the google image GrovePath posted AtS is NOT authentic.  

For some reason that doesn't shock me     <--------------- (I wish I could kick this smiley on the teeth)

[elgoodo]

FYI, the google image GrovePath posted AtS is NOT authentic.  There must have been another Hudson Rock Beverages somewhere.  But that is not any glass bottle from Hopkins Avenue, I can tell you that.

I'll try to go through my parents' basement and find some real examples.

[elgoodo]

Seriously, it was really nice to see that some people do recall Hudson Rock.  I have friends who grew up in Jersey City who had no idea it ever existed!

[Terhune Avenue Fan]

You're welcome! Hudson Rock was on Hopkins Avenue (35 IIRC) between Palisade Avenue and Baldwin Avenue.

[fasteddie]

You're the heir to the Hudson Rock soda fortune? You come from old soda money? Damn! I'll bet you sit around in a smoking jacket and wear a monocle all day.

[elgoodo]

Wow.  So someone AtS posted something about Hudson Rock Beverages.  I was surprised to see this, since I know a lot of JC lifers and I've always been surprised how few people knew of Hudson Rock.

Hudson Rock was a soda business which was started by my Great Grandfather sometime in the '30s or 40s, and run by his four sons.  In the early days, they used to deliver the soda by horse and wagon. As the AtS poster correctly stated, it was located on Hopkins Avenue (between Palisade and Baldwin) in the Heights.   They made their own soda right there on Hopkins - probably around 10-15 flavors at any given time.  Cola, Root Beer, Orange, Club Soda, Step-Up (a 7up copy), Grape, and many many others.  Their soda came in glass bottles - 28oz is what I remember, and I am told there was a smaller size bottle too.   It was good stuff.  I think my family may have kept a few bottles (or at least empties) for posterity in their basement.  

Anyway, they continued as a business well into the 1990s, but at some point they stopped making their own soda, I guess because it just wasn't profitable anymore.  They continued on basically as a soda distribution business for a few years, carrying the big brands.  By 2000, I think the business had shut completely.

Anyway, thanks to the poster Hudson City and the other folks AtS for remembering Hudson Rock!

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