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28th St. CC SA-BY Our Oakland

The Union Pacific Laundry Linen and Towel Supply was a long-time West Oakland business run by the Bouhaben family.

The laundry was founded in 1896 by French immigrant Joseph Bouhaben. He died at age 48 in 1918, and his wife Anna and son Emil Henry took over. The company was in business until at least 1962. 1 In 1902, the business was at 1911 West St. By 1912, they had moved around the corner to 830-834 - 28th St. A new building (which still stands at 830 - 28th St.) was constructed after the original building was destroyed by a fire in 1926. 2

The company provided clean linens, towels, and uniforms to various Bay Area restaurants, including Topsy's Roost in Richmond, as well as Pete's Fashion Grill and the Caliente Night Club in Oakland. 3,4,5

They didn't advertise much in the Oakland Tribune, but like many other businesses, faced a labor shortage during WWII and posted numerous classified ads during the war years. 6,7

 From 1962-1964, the former laundry building housed International Motor Cars, manufacturers of the exotic Apollo automobile. 8

1918 ad 91928 ad

1902 Sanborn1912 Sanborn1951 Sanborn

Links and References

  1. Kirby's Merritt Coffee Shop re-opening ad Oakland Tribune June 5, 1962
  2. Families Flee $50,000 Blaze; Firemen Hurt Oakland Tribune September 22, 1926
  3. Topsy's Roost ad Oakland Tribune February 24, 1928
  4. Pete's Fashion Grill ad Oakland Tribune October 21, 1932
  5. Caliente Night Club ad Oakland Tribune July 7, 1933
  6. classified ad Oakland Tribune November 22, 1942
  7. classified ad Oakland Tribune October 3, 1943
  8. Apollo discussion in the Oakland History Facebook group
  9. advertisement in the 1918 Official Year Book and State Labor Manual of the California Federation of Labor 
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