John D. Larkin
| John Durrant Larkin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 29, 1845 Buffalo, New York |
| Died | February 15, 1926 (aged 80) Buffalo, New York |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Bryant & Stratton College |
| Occupation | Business magnate |
| Known for | Larkin Company |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Frances Hubbard (married May 10, 1874) |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) | Levi and Mary Ann Durrant Larkin |
John Durrant Larkin (September 29 1845 - February 15, 1926) was an American business magnate who pioneered the mail-order business model, developed (with business partner and brother-in-law Elbert Hubbard) the marketing strategy of offering premiums to customers, introduced revolutionary employment innovations, and commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright's first major public work, the Larkin Administration Building.
Larkin was born in Buffalo to parents who emigrated from England to the United States in 1832. He attended public schools in Buffalo during his childhood and began working at the age of 12 at Western Union as a telegraph messenger. In 1862, he began work in the soap manufactory of Justice Weller, his sister Mary's husband. For the next eight years he worked for Weller in Buffalo, learning the business. From courses at Bryant and Stratton he took in 1865, he learned business bookkeeping and when Weller moved to Chicago in 1870, Larkin went with him. He was admitted to the partnership of J. Weller & Co. the next year. While in Chicago, Weller introduced Larkin to Frances Hubbard whom Larkin married in 1874 at her parents' home in Hudson, Illinois.
In 1875, Larkin sold out his interest in J. Weller & Co. to Mr. Weller, and he and his wife moved to Buffalo. Larkin then set up his factory "J. D. Larkin, Manufacturer of Plain and Fancy Soaps." His only product was a yellow laundry bar named Sweet Home Soap. The business grew and by 1878, the company produced nine different soap products, ranging from "Boraxine" soap powder through a variety of laundry soaps to "Jet" harness soap, "Oatmeal" toilet soap and Glycerine.
Larkin's first salesman was his wife's brother, Elbert Hubbard, who had also been working as a salesman for J. Weller & Co. in Chicago. Hubbard decided to follow his sister and Larkin to Buffalo and work as a salesman. In 1878, Darwin D. Martin was hired as a salesman in Boston. By 1880, as sales to general stores and other merchants who would buy products in large quantities increased, Martin was hired in Buffalo and became the first, and at that time the only, hired office-worker of the Larkin Company as all office work was done by Larkin himself.
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