Pittsburgh Stock Brokers: George L. McFarlane

 

GEO. L. McFARLANE,

APR

14

1902

P'GH, PA.

George L. McFarlane, a member of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange,  kept his offices in Pittsburgh's Times building (pictured at right), located at 336 Fourth Avenue in Pittsburgh's financial district.  Unlike many of his colleagues, he appears not to have advertised in the publications for which we currently have access.  He did leave a a documented trail however, and appeared to have been one of Pittsburgh's more successful and wealthy brokers.  In 1902, the President of the exchange, W. I. Mustin, underwrote the costs of 30 exchange seats at $10,000 each to guarantee the purchase of Pittsburgh's Mechanics National Bank building for a permanent home for the stock exchange.  Mr. Mustin was consequently celebrated at a banquet that included George McFarlane as a guest; the banquet was documented in Pittsburgh's financial newspaper Money.  The article provides the menu for the banquet, which was in French, an apparent attempt by the gentlemen of Pittsburgh to be above the city's coal and coke smog.

My personal preference would be for the blue point oysters.  Maybe serve a dozen on the half-shell raw, followed by stew, then a half dozen Rockefeller and a half dozen Bienville, and then finally, oysters en brochette served with New Orleans made baguettes.  In French, oysters are known as huitres.

Picture from the September 27, 1902 edition of Money showing the former Mechanics National Bank and future Pittsburgh Stock Exchange building.