The "Coffee With A Bit Of A Twist: Part II" Story

Newspaper advertisement from
Thursday, July 25, 1912.

It was an ordinary day.  Staring back at me from my computer screen is an advertisement from "The Daily New Era" (Lancaster Pennsylvania) that appeared on Thursday, July 25, 1912.  It declared "Have you tried Mack's Pennsylvania Special" and featured a steaming cup of coffee.  So, just who is this Mack and how good is his coffee.  "Mack, the Coffee Man" was founded by Horace Mack in 1895 when he opened a coffee firm with a roasting and blending operation on N. Mary Street in downtown Lancaster.  The original business sold coffee and tea from horse-drawn wagons distributed from its 617-619 N. Jefferson Street warehouse.  In 1904 the company moved to larger quarters at 617-619 N. Jefferson Street on the other side of town.  It is the same warehouse I had a chance to visit a few days ago and talk to David and his wife who now live in the stable part of the old "Mack, the Coffee Man" warehouse.  

An old newspaper photograph showing "Mack's, the
Coffee Man" business at 617-619 N. Jefferson Street. 

In 1929 Horace's son J. Edward Mack took over the business and turned it into a larger enterprise that supplied coffee, teak, spices and hot chocolate to restaurants and hotels along the East Coast.  The business remained in that location until 1950 when it moved it's headquarters to 42 N. Water Street.  In 1967 the company was sold to the Brooke Bond Tea Co. of London, England, but Mack continued to serve as the general manager of the new firm.  

Recent photo I took of the location on North Water Street.

That location finally closed on June 1, 1972.  The large painted sign on the building still tells the story of where the business was located at one time on Water Street.  The property was donated to Lancaster's Fulton Opera House and is used to construct and store stage equipment and sets.  It is hard to find information about the now defunct business unless you access Lancaster Newspaper's Archives pages.  To do so you must subscribe to either the online edition or print edition of LNP.  

One of the "Penn Dutch Girl" menu
signs.  My host David owns this sign.

Well, it was about 20 years ago that a cache of advertising placards were discovered which were known as the "Penn Dutch Girl" menu signs.  These signs were from the early 1930's and were framed and hung in some of Lancaster County's restaurants.  My recent visit with David gave me a chance to see one of the signs.  The art-deco sign features a waitress in the center of the sign which lists offerings from the restaurant or diner.  "Mack, the Coffee Man" reached its peak during WWII when the company processed as much as a million pounds of coffee a year such as the Commonwealth, the Old State Capitol, Mack's Hit the Spot and the Pennsylvania Special.  Most sold for 25 to 35 cents a pound.  The blend known as The Pennsylvania Special was served on the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Big signs on the back of the train declared "Pennsylvania coffee by Mack, the Coffee Man."  

The sign telling of the J. Edward Mack Scout Reservation.

J. Edward Mack was also the co-owner and secretary-treasurer of the Lancaster Stockyard Inn which still exists today, serving some of the finest steaks in South-eastern Pennsylvania.  Edward had been a Boy Scout since 1910 and was the first Eagle Scout in Lancaster County.  

This is what the site at 617-619 N. Jefferson Street
looks like today.  The stable I visited is to the left.

In later life he purchased a 1,040 acre plot of woodland to the north of Lititz, PA in Brickerville which he donated to the Boy Scouts.  Today it is known as the J. Edward Mack Scout Reservation.  The "Mack, the Coffee Man" may not be a part of life today in Lancaster, but a piece of it lives on in the ephemera that remains.  The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal published the obituary of J. Edward Mack on August 26, 1985.  He died at the age of 84.  You can read part of the obituary from the newspaper below.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The founder of the "Mack, the Coffee Man" coffee business in Lancaster, PA on left.

Another neat sign owned by David.

Newspaper clippings from the collection of David.

Hope you can read this obituary from J. Edward Mack.