George Washington (inventor)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Constant Louis Washington (May 20, 1871 – March 29, 1946) was an American
inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
and businessman. He is best remembered for his improvement of an early
instant coffee Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. Instant coffee solids (also called sol ...
process and for the company he founded to mass-produce it, the G. Washington Coffee Company. An emigrant from his native Belgium, he arrived in the New York area in 1897. He dabbled in several technical fields before hitting upon manufacturing an adapted version of the nascent instant coffee, during a sojourn in
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
in 1906 or 1907. He began selling his coffee in 1909 and founded a company to manufacture it in 1910. Based in New York and
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, his company prospered and became an important military supplier during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The company's products were also advertised in New York newspapers and on the radio. The success of his company made Washington wealthy, and he lived in a mansion in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and then moved to a country estate in New Jersey in 1927. In that same year, he lost a dispute with the tax authorities. Washington was married and had three children. Washington's company was sold to
American Home Products Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...
in 1943, shortly before his death. Though the coffee brand was discontinued by 1961, Washington's name is still used today in the product G. Washington's Seasoning & Broth.


Early life

George Washington was born in
Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...
, Belgium to Jean Guillaume Washington (John William Washington) of England and Marie Louise Tant of Belgium, on May 20, 1871. Image of census page containing George Washington; 1900 US Census;
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
;
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
"G. Washington Is Dead, Made Instant Coffee", ''
The New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'', March 29, 1946.
Following then-current
nationality law Nationality law is the law of a sovereign state, and of each of its jurisdictions, that defines the legal manner in which a national identity is acquired and how it may be lost. In international law, the legal means to acquire nationality and for ...
, which considered fatherhood primary, Washington was a British subject until he was naturalized as an American in May 1918. At least six siblings in the family also settled in different parts of the United States and Central America. A number of accounts claim a relation to U.S. President
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, but this is not clearly explained. Washington came to reside in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and also attained a degree in chemistry at the
University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
in Germany. In December 1895, Washington married Angeline Céline Virginie (later, just "Lina") Van Nieuwenhuyse (born 1876), also from Belgium. The US Census of 1900 records that Lina, like her husband, had English and Belgian ancestry (a Belgian father and an English mother). The Washingtons' arrival in the United States on a ship from
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, Belgium, on October 6, 1896, was recorded at Ellis Island, though the 1900 US Census states that they emigrated to the United States in 1897. The Washingtons settled in the New York area, where they had three children: Louisa Washington (born May 1897), Irene Washington (born May 1898), and George Washington Jr. (born August 1899). After arriving in the New York area, Washington founded a company producing kerosene gas mantles. At this time, they lived in New Brighton on
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
, but his company, George Washington Lighting Company, was based in nearby
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...
technology. Washington also had a camera company for a time. By the time of the 1900 US Census, Washington, recorded in the census as an inventor, was 29 years old and living in a rented house in Brooklyn with his 23-year-old wife, their three young children, his younger sister (age 25), three servants, and a child of two of the servants. Washington tried his hand at cattle
ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
ing in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
in 1906 or 1907 while, in the meantime, developed his instant coffee process. Washington returned to New York City after only a period of about a year in Guatemala, and then began pursuing the main part of his career in coffee manufacture. His father remained in Guatemala and died there in 1912.


Personal life

After his coffee business was established in 1910, Washington resided at a Park Slope mansion, occupying half of a
city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...
, at 47 Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, and also at an 18-bedroom country home, later known as "Washington Lodge", on a 40-acre waterfront estate at 287 South Country Road in Brookhaven, New York, near Bellport in Suffolk County, which included the largest concrete
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
in New York at the time.Principe, Victor (2002). ''Bellport Village & Brookhaven Hamlet, NY''. Arcadia Publishing. . Two attempted sales of the property, one in May 1926 for $150,000 and another in 1927, fell through."Big Bellport Sale", ''The New York Times'', May 23, 1926. In 1938, Washington's younger sister, Mrs. Kenneth Merkel, along with her husband and son, moved to the estate on South Country Road. George Washington continued to own his estate until January 1943 when it was sold to Nathan Edelstein. The Washington Lodge was then operated as a hotel and restaurant, and large wedding receptions were held there. Washington Lodge was sold to Murray Wunderlich in 1950 and after 1952 was operated as a children's camp. In 1959, there was an attempt to have the estate rezoned so that it could again be used for a hotel. The Washington Lodge was sold to the Catholic Marist Brothers of the Schools as a summer retreat in 1960, and beginning in September 1970 was leased to the Bay Community School during the school year. Recently, the Washington Lodge estate was divided, and there have been conservation projects by local nonprofits and Bellport resident Isabella Rossellini. The Washington Lodge still stands, and is being used and restored by th
Center for Environmental Education and Discovery
a nature center. With his company's relocation to New Jersey, following the purchase of land there in 1927, he moved to the former estate of Governor Franklin Murphy at "Franklin Farms" in Mendham."Coffee Company Builds New Plant", ''The New York Times'', May 26, 1927. Washington was a lover of exotic animals, as well as gardening. He maintained extensive
menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...
s on his country properties, first at Bellport, and later at Mendham. On Long Island, it is reported that he was often seen with a bird or monkey on his shoulder. At both his menageries, Washington specialized in rare birds, but such animals as
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
,
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
,
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s, and
antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
are also recorded at Bellport, and deer, llamas, and zebras are recorded among the hundreds of animals in the larger space at Mendham. Socially, he was an active member of the
Lotos Club The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs". ...
, a literary gentlemen's club in New York City. Washington's name was briefly put forward for the 1920 presidential election in
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
's preference primary for the "American Party", although papers were filed too late to be valid."Presidency Candidate Found in Brooklyn", ''The New York Times'', January 4, 1920. There is no indication, however, that the nomination was serious. George Washington would not have been eligible for that office, in any case, as he was foreign-born. There have been several "American Party"s in history—it is unclear if the nomination was a particular satire on any so-named movement at the time.


Invention and business

George Washington held over two dozen
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s, in the fields of hydrocarbon lamps,
camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
s, and
food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
. He was not the first to invent an instant coffee process, David Strang in New Zealand had the first patent in 1890 (Number 3518) for instant or soluble coffee and was sold under the name Strangs Coffee, another was chemist
Satori Kato Satori Kato was a Japanese chemist. Kato was initially thought to be the inventor of the first soluble instant coffee whilst working in Chicago, after filing a patent in 1901 and exhibiting the product at the Pan-American Exposition until it w ...
's work was a precursor, among others, but Washington's invention was the first effort that led to large scale commercial manufacture. There is some suggestion that he was inspired by seeing dried powder on the edge of a silver
coffee pot A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee gr ...
while in Guatemala. Federico Lehnhoff Wyld, a German-Guatemalan doctor, along with Eduardo T. Cabarrus, also developed an instant coffee process about this time, which he later marketed in Europe; as Wyld was Washington's personal physician, there is some suggestion that their discoveries were not independent. Washington's product was first marketed as Red E Coffee (a pun on "ready") in 1909, and the G. Washington Coffee Refining Company was founded in 1910. Washington's first production plant was at 147 41st Street in Brooklyn's
Bush Terminal Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly cal ...
industrial complex. The company later moved operations to New Jersey, acquiring the land for the new plant at 45 East Hanover Avenue in
Morris Plains Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,532, Advertising for the company's product often emphasized its supposed convenience, modernity, and purity. It was claimed to be better for digestion, and even that the "pure" coffee did not have the wakefulness effect of coffee from ground beans (a direct effect of
caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...
content, present in both forms). After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
ended, the American military's use of the coffee became another selling point. A different avenue for promotion came when the company sponsored ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' radio series on NBC and its
Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...
from 1930 to 1935, which started with
Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle fe ...
welcoming listeners to his recollections told by "a blazing fire and a cup of G Washington brewing." Other radio sponsorships were for '' O'Henry Stories'' (1932, NBC Blue), ''
Professor Quiz ''Professor Quiz'' was radio's first true quiz program, broadcast with many different sponsors from 1936 to 1948 on CBS and ABC. The program featured Professor Quiz, his wife Betty, and his son, Professor Quiz Jr. The program's announcer was Rober ...
'' (1936, CBS), ''
Uncle Jim's Question Bee ''Uncle Jim's Question Bee'' was a radio quiz program, hosted by Jim McWilliams, which began on the Blue Network in 1936 and continued until 1941. After the success of ''Professor Quiz'', radio's first quiz show which began four months earlier, ...
'' (1936–39, NBC Blue), and ''Surprise Party'' (1946–47, CBS). But the early instant coffee was also often considered of poor quality, of disagreeable taste, and little more than a novelty product.Talbot, John M. (1997). "The Struggle for Control of a Commodity Chain: Instant Coffee from Latin America". ''Latin American Research Review'' 32 (2), 117–135. Washington experienced some tax trouble with federal authorities, concerning the financial relationship between himself and his company. In November 1918, he contracted with the company for the use of his
trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily asc ...
s in the manufacture of the coffee, and a month later gave a four-fifths stake in this to his immediate family. The Washingtons insisted that taxes needn't be paid on the family members' income, and the case went first to the Board of Tax Appeals, and then to the
Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, which in 1927 ruled against the Washingtons by a two-to-one decision. A petition to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
was not accepted. Washington's son, George Washington, Jr., served for a time as treasurer of his father's company, and, like his father, dabbled in invention, patenting a widely used photoengraving process for newspapers that was introduced by
Fairchild Camera and Instrument Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation was a company founded by Sherman Fairchild. It was based on the East Coast of the United States, and provided research and development for flash photography equipment. The technology was primarily use ...
in 1948.


Military contracts

Washington's at-that-time unique product saw major use as
combat ration A field ration (combat ration, ration pack, or food packet) is a type of prepackaged or canned military ration. Field rations are distinguished from garrison rations by virtue of being designed for minimal preparation in the field, as well ...
s in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Coffee consumption on the battlefield was seen as valuable since it gave soldiers a caffeine boost. E.F. Holbrook, the head of the coffee section of the
U.S. War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
at the time, also considered it an important aid in recovery from
mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...
.Ukers, William H. (1922). ''All about Coffee''. The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Co. It was employed by the
Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...
from 1914 until the
American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
entered the war in 1917, and all production was shifted toward American military use. New, smaller producers also sprung up to meet the incredible level of demand from the Army, which in the final period of the war was six times the national supply. The instant coffee achieved some popularity with the soldiers, who nicknamed it a "cup of George." As the prime attraction was the caffeine boost, rather than the flavor, it was sometimes drunk cold. Pendergrast, Mark (1999). ''Uncommon Grounds: The history of coffee and how it transformed our world''. Basic Books. . American emergency rations in World War I consisted of a quarter ounce (7 grams) packet of double-strength instant coffee, packed one per man in containers with multiple types of foods meant for twenty-four men. Instant coffee was also used in reserve rations and
trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...
rations. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
again relied on Washington, but this time on an equal footing with the other major instant coffee brands that had emerged in the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, most notably Nescafé, as well as the new companies formed to meet a renewed military demand.


Final years

The G. Washington Coffee Refining Company was purchased by
American Home Products Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...
in 1943, and George Washington retired. The purchase of the company, which was mostly held by the family, was in exchange for 29,860
shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...
(approx. $1.7 million) of American Home Products
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
, at a time when American Home Products was in a period of intense buying, purchasing 34 companies in eight years."To Buy Coffee Company", ''The New York Times'', April 8, 1943. Clarence Mark, general manager of ''G. Washington'', succeeded Washington in running the merged unit. In Washington's final years, he sold the "Franklin Farms" property, and lived in a home on New Vernon Road in Mendham. He died three years after his company was sold, on March 29, 1946, in Mendham, New Jersey, after an illness, at the age of 74. His funeral was held three days later.


Legacy

G. Washington coffee was discontinued as a brand by 1961, when Washington's New Jersey plant was sold to Tenco, by then a division of
The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
. The last remnant of the brand survives in G. Washington's Seasoning & Broth, a sideline developed in 1938. This brand was sold by American Home Products in 2000, and, after passing through a couple of intermediaries, has been run by Homestat Farm, Ltd. since 2001.


Patents

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Notes

:I: He does not appear to have used his full name while in the United States—it is absent from census and immigration records, his patent applications, and contemporary news articles about him. :II: The New York Times gives the place of birth as Kortrijk, while The New York Herald Tribune gives Brussels. It is presumed that the more obscure city would be the less likely error. Belgian birth records clearly indicate that he was born on May 20, 1871 in Kortrijk, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. :III: In 1920, former Texas governor
James E. Ferguson James Edward Ferguson Jr. (August 31, 1871 – September 21, 1944), known as Pa Ferguson, was an American Democratic politician and the 26th Governor of Texas, in office from 1915 to 1917. He was indicted and impeached during his second term, ...
actually ran under an "American Party" label. :IV: The Morris Plains address at ''45'' Hanover Avenue is given in a 1928 ad; the plant is described in the ''New York Times'' as adjoining the Morristown Line, so the address must be 45 ''East'' Hanover Avenue.


References


External links


Coffee on the Instant
- chapter in ''The Story of a Pantry Shelf: An Outline History of Grocery Specialties''
Official site of G. Washington's Seasoning & Broth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, George 1871 births 1946 deaths American inventors Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian people of English descent American drink industry businesspeople Military food of Canada Military food of the United States Businesspeople in coffee University of Bonn alumni People from Kortrijk People from Park Slope People from Bellport, New York