The Dorchester Beacon, October 26, 1907
Drake Brothers Company
The famous bakers of Roxbury—they have created a large business in Dorchester and vicinity—is an enterprising concern
Drake Brothers Company, bakers, of Blue Hill Avenue and Savin Street, Roxbury, have a reputation as cake bakers which is spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, for “Drake’s cake” is known and eaten everywhere on this continent where civilized people live. The company was incorporated under the laws of the states of Massachusetts and New York in 1905 and is Blue Hill Avenue establishment was opened in February 1905. Its Roxbury premises are 50 by 100 feet in dimensions and are fully equipped with the latest machinery and mechanical devices known to the modern bakery business. There is a large ware house attached to the plant which is constantly filed with cake, for that is the only product of the works, in which all varieties of macaroons and pound cake are manufactured.
The establishment at present gives employment to 50 skilled bands, and 10 wagons are in constant commission attending to the company’s outside business. The company does a wholesale business only. The main headquarters of the concern is located at Nos. 1005-1007 Wallabout Market, borough of Brooklyn, New York City, and the works there are four times as large as those in Roxbury. Their delicious products are for sale at all the best grocery and delicatessen stores throughout Greater Boston.
At present, Drake Brothers Co. are outlaying no small amount of money in Dorchester, in the form of a new plant. In the short time that they have been established in Boston, they have outgrown their present facilities and their new plant promises to eclipse anything yet constructed for the baking business. When finished, it will be the largest factory devoted exclusively to cake-making in the world. The output is estimated at six tons of cale a day, equal to that of the mother plant Brooklyn, N. Y. The opening of the new’ factory will occur about Nov. 1, at which time a general invitation will be extended to the public for an inspection of the new home. Their motto is “cleanliness and quality in all things.”
The local office and business is in charge of John Harold Drake. All of the members of the firm are members of the Masonic fraternity and of the Odd Fellows. J. JI. Drake is personally very popular in Roxbury and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know him.