The Butter and Egg Man

Arthur H. Bonsor

“My best memory is candling the eggs.  Uncle Charles would take me to the back room and he showed me how to hold the egg up to a bright light in this darkened room.  We would look at the shadow inside the egg to find spots, dark rings, or other abnormalities that would indicate a bad egg.  I would spend my afternoon peering at each egg, throwing the bad ones into a box and watch them explode and placing the good ones carefully into the big egg crate for the customers.”  Uncle Art told me this story last time I visited him in 2012 at the age of 87.  He reminisced about visiting his Grandfather’s business in the Reading Terminal Market as a young boy of 7 in the year 1932.  Granddad, as Art called him, was Arthur H. Bonsor and he was known as the “butter and egg man” of Philadelphia.  

Arthur H Bonsor was born on Nov 22, 1866 in Philadelphia to his parents Joseph and Emma fresh from England.  He was the firstborn son and had an older sister Emma.  His father had a produce shop on Water St. and son Arthur often helped out on Saturdays.  In 1886, when Arthur was 20 years old and still in school, he accompanied his father to collect a debt from a colleague, Mr. Isaac Esbin, at the Farmers and Butchers’ Market situated at 12^th & Market St., Philadelphia.  Mr. Esbin was a fine man, but was having a bit of financial trouble.  His stalls in the market were closed, but he was there.  Joseph and Mr. Esbin had a chat about the $40 debt and concluded their business.  Joseph turned to his son, Arthur and said, “Boy, do you want it?” referring to the two stalls Mr. Esbin owned in the Farmers Market and was using to pay his debt.  Arthur was dumfounded for the moment, but managed to say yes.  The three of them went upstairs to the superintendent’s office and signed over two market stalls to Arthur.  That was the start of his business in 1886.

Road Sign

Everyone called it his “butter and egg” business and it went from a fledgling two stall one man operation to a thriving successful enterprise.  He sold fresh butter, eggs, cream, cottage cheese, Fancy Jersey Poultry among other things.  He would contract with local farmers to purchase their goods and move it into his market.  He would then sell it retail out of his stalls.  He developed advertising in all the local newspapers and magazines.  He also had a series of road signs.

In 1890 The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company consolidated its four Philadelphia terminals to build one large terminal in downtown Philadelphia and purchased the 1100 block of the Market St.  By 1892 the Reading Terminal Market opened for business and merchants at the Butchers and Farmers’ Market such as Arthur Bonsors’ moved into the new Reading Terminal Market.  This new facility allowed him to expand by adding more stalls.  The Reading Terminal Market advertised itself as the “Source of Main Food Supply of Philadelphia and Adjacent Territory” with 250 specialized dealers and 100 farmers occupying the stalls.  The state-of-the-art refrigerated storage area in the basement opened for use in July 1893, which helped the merchants store fresh food and keep it longer.  Arthur’s stalls were piled high with tubs of butter and cottage cheese.  Large chickens, turkeys and ducks hung by their feet on the back wall with hanging scales wedged in every so often.  His employees all wore white smocks with bow ties along with caps on their heads.  Ten men attend the counter cleaning, slicing, wrapping and waiting on customers.  The large signs around the stall advertised the business as “Arthur H. Bonsor”.

Sometime during the early years his brother Herbert Bonsor joined the company, because the business name appears as A H Bonsor & Bro, Inc. in legal papers, advertising and many signs.  The city directory lists Arthur as the President and Treasurer, and Herbert Bonsor as Secretary while Francis Chapman is the Vice President.  Arthur took part in many organizations to further his business and often made sales calls to promote sales.

The first decades of the 1900’s boomed in the Terminal Market, and Arthur, with the popularity of the internal combustion engine, soon had trucks on the road delivering to all the top hotels, restaurants and homes in the tri-state area.  The Pennsylvania Highway Department lists Motor Vehicle licenses in Jan 1, 1917 issued for the Arthur H Bonsor & Bro at Reading Terminal.  He continually added stalls when he could, considering the market was at capacity.  By 1926 he had 28 stalls and he said he could have used more.  Times were good and he was a very successful business man. 

                The Great Depression of the 1930s brought hardship to the Market overall.  New competition from the introduction of supermarkets also hurt the Market business.  One of these new establishments opened across the street, directly competing with the Reading Market.  Ten of the market’s 64 merchants had been there since its founding in 1892, including Arthur Bonsor & Bro, Inc.  The last straw for Arthur in this declining economy was the increasing pressure from the AFL and CIO to join their respective labor unions.  He wanted his own employees to load and drive his delivery trucks and felt these unions were taking over his business.  In 1939 Arthur decided to give up his business.  At that time his daughters were in no position to run the business and his grandchildren were either too young or in the military service, so he sold the business and retired.    In a letter he wrote when he was 60 years old he summarized his career, “(business) it has been very pleasant and I always made money – but now I would like to quit and do the things that I have always craved – travel more and not have the care of things any more – or at least to take up some other kinds of (not of work) but to do things different.”

Postcard of Arthur H Bonsor & Bro. Stalls

                Granddad Bonsor lived out the rest of his life doing just as he wanted. He traveled, and enjoyed his grandchildren next to the ocean at 101 Harvard Ave, Ventnor, NJ.  He died there in 1944.

The Reading Terminal Market declined over the years and finally the railroad company filed for bankruptcy in 1971.  By the 1980’s people and business started revitalizing the market and currently it serves as a popular source for culinary treats and unique merchandise.  Philadelphia lists it as a tourist destination and it remains busy seven days a week.  Cousin Geoffrey stopped by there recently and found the original stalls Granddad Bonsor inhabited for all those years.  Today they house a Soul Food Café!