Early Guelph offered something many companies could use – water power. It was particularly conducive for the operation of mills – not simply grist mills but woollen and carpet mills…
The making of carpets has only been a small cottage industry in Europe since around the 1300s. Before then, the true masters of the craft were found in China, India…
Guelph has many companies that remain a footnote in its history. While Raymond Sewing Machine Company, and Bell Organ and Piano Company are names people recognize, V.H. Canham & Company…
In 1908, Robert William Gladstone (1879-1951), Henry Burton Sharman (1865-1953) and John N. Lyon of Manitoba, combined forces to form the Ontario Metal Culvert Company. The letters of patent issued for…
There have been several businesses in Guelph that a family has started. Christian Kloepfer, for example, relied on family members in the early days of his coal and carriage businesses.…
In 1872, Burr and Skinner operated a furniture factory in a newly constructed 2-storey building on the north side of Oxford. They manufactured a variety of furniture including bed frames.…
Brooms were an essential tool for Guelph’s housewives. Shopkeepers, hotel operators and other service and retail personnel also needed them to sweep floors, the sidewalks in front of their shops…
Beer and ale were important to early and even later settlers. Many innkeepers produced it on-site – small batches of a select brew they could sell in their hotels/inns. Later,…
In 1919, Live Wire, a branch of an American company, moved into the basement of a building on Metcalfe Street. At that point, it was housing FE Partridge Rubber. Charles…
Originally, making boots and shoes was a craft requiring great skill and training. Like blacksmiths, shoemakers had to go through an apprentice system. Shoemakers, who preferred not to be called…