C.O.C.A. Times

dividend paid in the past 2 years. At the time there
were 6,000 shares outstanding, but it is not known
exactly how many shareholders this represented.
In his report to the stockholders, George Clark notes
that "there is now in the courts a suit for infringe-
ment of a patent granted to a former officer of the
company, but we are confident that this suit will be
decided in our favor." Court documents for this par-
ticular suit have yet to be located, but we certainly
can speculate on the "former officer" in-
volved. While it would be easy to guess
the colorful Frank, in this case it was
most likely his brother Henry or a more
enigmatic member of the family Walter B.
of Jersey City, New Jersey (though it is
H
not clear that he was ever an offi-
cer of the company). Only the
.''T ~~l/· I.
first patent by Frank (which as
., , assigned to Henry) was not
assigned to the company (in
its various forms over the
years). Unless the patent rights
reverted to either Frank or
Henry during one or more of
the Pulver Company's reorgani-
Patent by Walter B. Pul ver
zations, the only patent owned
by an individual would be that
original one, and the owner was Henry. The outcome
of this suit is not known.
Regardless of these corporate bumps in the road,
and a change in the capital structure of the company
in 1925, the pulver company was clearly on solid
ground. It chose to retain ownership of all of its
vending machines despite their national distribution.
It did this through
a network of
representatives
who placed and
serviced the
vendors. New
laws, regulations
and growing
taxation had re-
sulted in the
.....
company discon-
tinuing the vend-
~•T•h■e'1P 111 u 111 1v 111 e•r 11 pliiaint•w•a•s•1o•clilaflilite•d•a•t •6•0111c•a•na111-~ i ng business in
Street in this 1935 map.
some locations.
New directions for Henry
While Henry Pulver had disappeared from the Roch-
ester City Directory in 1 91 5, he reappears in the di-
rectory in 1 922. He is listed as a watchmaker with a
spouse, Libbie H. Pulver. (There are entries from
191 9 to 1921 for a Henry G. Pulver who was also
listed as a watchmaker, but the business and home
addresses for this person do no match up with the
later entry for Henry H. Pulver in 1 922. Despite this,
there is reason to believe that this represents a ty-
pographical error and this should have been Henry H.
himself.)
In 1 922, Henry flied what would be his last vending
patent (granted in 1 928) for a
three column vendor that is very
different from his previous ma-
I
chines. Interestingly, this patent
had a quarter of the patent rights
assigned to Henry's wife, Libbie
and a quarter assigned to Edward
Allen Pulver. Edward appears to
have been Henry and Libbie's son,
who joined his father in the
watchmaking trade, having of-
fices at 1 58 East Main, room
224. This working relationship con-
tinued
while Edward continued to live at home with his par-
ents from 1 921 to at least until the last City Direc-
tory in 1929.
Henry Harris Pulver died on July 5, 1 949, one day
short of his 58 th wedding anniversary.
j
Flamboyant Frank strikes again
In the 1 5-20 years after Henry Morrison Flagler
opened up the East coast of Florida, spending the
winter at a Florida resort became the fashionable way
for the affluent to escape the cold and doldrums of a
Northern winter. Frank Pulver was one of those who
escaped the cold of Rochester in this way. Sometime
around 1915, Frank visited the town of St. Peters-
burg Florida and fell in love with the city. In 1917, he
set up a home there, though he would maintain his
Rochester home for another 2 years.
In 191 9, Pulver bought the Detroit Hotel in St. Pe-
tersburg and later, for about $20,000, the McAdoo
Bridge that connected St. Petersburg with Pass-a-
Grille. Frank went on to buy the Elk's Club property
8