[7] John attended public schools in Buffalo during his childhood and began working at the age of 12 at Western Union as a telegraph messenger.

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.

Martin, who had risen to Treasurer and Corporate Secretary, and William Heath, Larkin's brother-in-law and the head of the Legal Department, suggested Frank Lloyd Wright.

[8] By 1925, the Larkin Company manufactured most of the 900 catalog items in factories covering sixteen-and-a-half acres on Seneca Street in Buffalo.

In addition to their own soaps, cleansers, cosmetics, perfume, pharmaceuticals and food, Larkin offered everything from furniture and clothing to utensils and radios.

Changing its name to Buffalo China, Inc. in 1956, the company was one of the largest manufacturers of commercial chinaware in the United States.

[18] But following the stock market crash, the company foundered, and in 1933, was taken over by the New York State Insurance department for rehabilitation.