The old firehall 

The following information, which provides a glimpse into Stratford life in the early 1900s, is taken from Mary Jane Lennon's book, A Stratford Album. 

The two-story brick firehall with its bell tower, in the top postcard, was built in 1897. Vince Gratton pointed out that the original firehall in the top photo had just three doors facing Albert Street. Beyond the firehall in that photo is Dr. James Robertson's house and office. After the hall was enlarged, it had six large doors facing Albert Street, and its new west wall was not far from the Robertson house, at 55 Albert Street.

In the tall bell tower atop the original firehall, the fire hoses were hung to dry after each use.  The hall also featured an office for the chief and sleeping accommodations and various other facilities, including a pool table and a bathtub, for the men. And there was a loft for storing hay. 

When an alarm rang to signal a fire, everyone in town knew the location of the fire because of the ring-code.

They also knew that each morning, at 8:45, when the alarm bells would sound, the kids had 15 minutes to get to school. At the same time, the firehall doors would fly open and the horses, harnessed to the hose wagon, would come trotting out for their morning exercise, up Waterloo Street to Ontario Street, around the block and back to the firehall.

In the evening, there was harness practice. When the alarm sounded, at precisely 9 p.m., the horses would race from their stalls to be harnessed and hitched to their wagon, and the firemen would assume their positions on the engine. After a minute, the men would get down from the engine and unhitch the horses. These "exercises" often drew onlookers. The bell that kicked it all off also signalled the 9 o'clock curfew for all city children under the age of 14.

In 1967, the F. W. Woolworth Co. purchased the firehall and the adjacent market buildings. The fire department moved to new quarters at 388 Erie St., the market to the fairgrounds, and the firehall was demolished. Sources: Adelaide Leitch, Floodtides of Fortune: Wendy Lynn Dietz, If You Grew Up in Stratford . . . FB 

*    For more detailed history see Flashback  Old Stratford Fire Department History: Brian Wendy Reis, Taken from Tom Dolan 8 Part Series

The Anchor Wire & Fence Company 

The Anchor Wire  & Fence Company of Canada,manufactured farm and ornamental fences and gates It was established in Stratford in 1897 and quickly became very successful with customers across the country. The business was operated by James Esplen and Robert Frame,

This building originally sat near the north corner of Albert and Waterloo Streets where the Armoury was eventually built. The building was moved across the street behind the Queens Hotel stables as seen in the picture below.  Source Nancy Musselman   The Anchor building was for a time a part of the Silvrewoods stables next to the Queen's Hotel . Source: Vince Gratton FB

This private residence (shown of the right) originally sat on the northwest corner of the Albert and Waterloo streets intersection. From there, it was moved farther east on Albert Street, because the federal government wanted 80 Waterloo St. S., on which to build an armouries. (Waterloo Street). In this photo, the eastbound move has just cleared the Waterloo Street intersection. The owner of this building was  Robert H. Myers. In the year after the first firehall was built, he was named Stratford's first full-time fire chief.  This house was convienent because it faced the fire station right across on Albert Street. Myers then moved to 52 Daly St.  Source: Paul Wilker. The home was made into an apartment building that was sold off for parking when Loblaws/Zehrs expanded to its new location. Source:Vince Gratton FB

This photo card was produced by Mrs. Edward (Clara C. S.) Mitchell, an early local amateur photographer. Her full-time job was in the office of the Grand Trunk Railway locomotive repair shops. Her husband also worked in the shops, as a fitter.

Clara also did freelance photography work for the local newspaper. In 1904 she started to produce and sell her work, on photo postcards, to local merchants. The image on the left is a sample of those cards. This early Edwardian postcard is part of a series of cards collected by Vince Gratton. 

The collection with historical commentary can be viewed here.  Mrs. Edward (Clara C. S.) Mitchell - Stratford History  Stratford Ontario Historical Photo Postcard 057.

According to the 1881 census, when Edward was 15, he was working in Galt as a cabinetmaker. In 1890, Edward married Janette Marshall. The couple moved to Woodstock where their son, Edward Marshall Brett, was born in 1894. (E. M. Brett became a Stratford Boys Band leader (see Brett Street). Edward worked in Woodstock as a cabinetmaker for the James Hay Co. and later for Anderson Furniture Co. Ltd. By 1901, Edward had returned to Galt, where he was employed as a toolmaker.

In 1904, Edward Brett moved his family to Stratford where he returned to cabinetmaking. The city's growing furniture business was centred on King, Albert and Trinity streets, the area in which George McLagan had built the first factory in what became known as Stratford's furniture district. By 1913, the district included seven large factories. Albert Street was home to the Brett family for many years. Though Edward and Janette moved to another house, they never left their first Stratford neighborhood. Marshall married Kathleen Minard in 1915 and was employed as a city fireman.

The 1921 census shows Edward and Janette living at 356 Albert St., at which time he was still a cabinetmaker, working for Globe-Wernicke at 163 King St. Marshall Brett and his young family lived down the street at 372 Albert St. Source : Historical Plaque Properties

In 2017, CJCS-AM 1240 left the air having been replaced by Juice FM (CJCS), which launched on Aug. 3. The station was branded as 107.1 Juice FM– Stratford’s Greatest Hits. Source: Gord Conroy

* For an interesting story about radio and Stratford, see Flashback article Radio is a Sound Salvation , Stratford-Perth Archives

In  2014 Matthews was the Personal Business Excellence award winner, and in 2015,  Matthews was co-chair for the Stratford Perth Humane Society’s capital campaign, helping raise more than $1 million. Interviews by Eddie Matthews are available on LinkedIn. Sources:   Beacon Herald  

By the beginning of 1885, Bell had 30 phones on the board, which handled calls from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, and from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m. on holidays. There were no assigned telephone numbers. Rather, the operators were familiar with the locals subscribers and easily connected their local calls. Connections on long-distance calls, however, were routinely troublesome. Operators would have to set up a relay system for such a call. They would forward messages to operators in Guelph, who would repeat those messages to operators in Toronto, and so on.

An inspection tour in 1897 revealed the Bell office in Stratford to be sub par. So, it was relocated to 47 Downie St. But that was a failed move because the new location had been a retail fish store. Its floors had been soaked with fish oil, which gave the office an off-putting stench.

By 1904, the exchange had 340 lines, operated by two operators. The Bell office was still on Albert Street in the 1930s and '40s, before it was moved to 145 Ontario St., former home of the Classic Theatre. In time, the office was returned to Albert Street (105 Albert), in the block east of Waterloo Street. 

The photo below, from 1934, depicts a unique moment in Stratford history. It was a trans-Atlantic phone call that linked Stratford, Ontario, with Stratford-on-Avon in England. The call was made from the Mayor's office.  Source: Brian Wendy Reis FB 

Ronald Thom, artist

Lawn bowling was a favourite sport among members of the fire city department. They played on and maintained the Robertson greens beside the first firehall until the hall required expansion and the greens were lost.

Lorne Robertson was born in 1876 in a red-brick cottage on the corner of Nile and Brunswick streets (see Nile Street). He became a medical partner with his father, James. A., in 1903. Lawn bowling was one of Lorne's hobbies, and he often played on the greens when they were beside his home.

Dr. Lorne was known as a genial person, beloved by patients. He was also an avid sports promoter and supporter, with his own money, particularly city hockey teams.

Dr. Lorne Robertson had a second home, at 342 William St., away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Stratford. When he and his father were going on vacation together, they hired young replacements, one of whom was Dr. Norman Bethune (see William Street). 

After the First World War, Lorne Robertson served as part-time coach of a senior hockey team in Stratford, and as the team's president beginning in 1917. Among the club's players in those years was a young star from Mitchell, Howie Morenz. (see Morenz Drive). Lorne Robertson was also president of the long-defunct Northern Ontario Hockey League. As well, he was a key figure in the building of the Classic City Arena in 1924. The rink has since been renamed the William Allman Arena (see Morenz Drive).

Dr. Lorne's father, James Robertson, determined his son would have an excellent education and he did.  The younger Robertson earned a bachelor of arts degree (BA) at the University of Toronto, and his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal. Then he went to Britain and the United States for postgraduate work. He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of London (England); a member of  the  Royal College of Surgeons of England; a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Scotland; and a Fellow of American College of Surgeons in the United States; and a specialist in surgery in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. During his lengthy practice, from which he retired in 1947, he also served as physician to the Canadian National Railways operation in the city. Sources: Stratford-Perth Archives; Find a Grave Stratford Ontario.  

* See Flashback Article Dr. Robertson and his Dogs by Leslie Belland, Stratford-Perth Archives

1881 Construction: The Windsor Hotel Block and The Merchants Bank (see article below). 

The Albert Street building was vacant for 1923 and 1924. In 1925, Stratford Gas moved in, but only for a year. in 1926, British Mortgage and Trust moved into 10 Albert. Walter H. Gregory (1886-1969) who had been manager of British Mortgage and Loan now was president of the new company. His brother, William Herbert Gregory (1872-1950) became managing director. In 1957, Walter's son, Wilfred P. Gregory, ( 1912-2010) was general manager and later became president. Wilfred P.  Gregory would hold the position of president until 1965 when he returned to the practice of law. ( see Stratford's Dark Day ). In 1962, British Mortgage moved to a new building at One Ontario Street. (see Ontario Street). The modern award-winning building was designed by Bob Fairfield (see Fairfield Drive)  who also designed the Festival Theatre. (see Queen Street). Walter H. Gregory was mayor of Stratford in 1921-1922; his son Wilfred P. Gregory, in 1955-1956.  Sources: Stratford City Directories; Find a Grave Stratford;  Wilfrid P Gregory | Obituary | Stratford Beacon Herald (remembering.ca) 

In about 1960, the beautiful building built for the Merchants Bank of Canada in 1881 at 10 Albert Street became a parking lot. The Old Post Office built in 1882 was demolished in 1961. (see Ontario Street). 

Further Early History of The Merchants Bank in Stratford. William Johnston in his History of Perth County 1825-1902, published in 1903, mentioned the Merchants Bank in this way: The bank has "contributed to developing trade, by supplying capital to business men, enabling them to carry on those enterprises so essential to progress."

In the Stratford City Directory for 1876, The Merchants Bank is listed on Albert near Market Street (Downie). Charles H. Ransom was the agent. In 1880-1881, Edward F. Hebden was the manager.  By 1896, W. Pringle was manager and that was still his position in 1900.   

Addendum:  An article in Canada's History provided more background to the purchase of The Merchants Bank of Canada by the Bank of Montreal in 1921. 

Canadian banking was going through an important transformation that had started just before WW1 and that the war had accelerated. Canada’s banking industry was consolidating. Unenterprising institutions were, with government approval, being merged with stronger competitors, making the country’s banking system more stable in the process. One merger, the 1921 deal that joined two of the country’s largest banks — Merchants Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal — ensured stability, but at the same time it chipped away at the faith Canadians had in their banks. 

The merger was not one of equals. The 400-branch Merchants Bank of Canada was badly mismanaged and faced $8 million in losses, equal to nearly $80 million today. The Merchants’ shareholders saw a large portion of their capital wiped out. The Bank Act, 1871, fiddled with over the years but still largely intact, had proven inadequate to the task of protecting bank investors and customers. The only good news was that Merchants Bank was not too far gone for the Bank of Montreal to save. Source: Canada,s History  For a history of Merchant Banks, see  Merchant Banking: Origin, Meaning and Evolution   

Memories of Waddell's Stables.

Andrew F. Waddell, who lived at 110 John St. North, Stratford, son of the Andrew Waddell who ran the livery business, recalls that two Stratford doctors used to keep their horses in the stable. One, the late Dr. S. T. Rutherford (1864-1930) didn't bother driving his horse to the stable. He merely stopped long enough to climb out of his buggy or cutter at his uptown office and let the horse find its own way to the place, where it knew feed and bedding were waiting.

May 24, the Victoria Day holiday celebrating Queen Victoria, was a busy day for the livery stable in Stratford. There were several of them back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Mitchell horse races were usually the centre of attraction on the holiday bill, and the only way people could get to Mitchell was by horse and buggy. Andrew Waddell remembers visiting the Collison House in Mitchell and paying 25 cents for his dinner, 15 cents for the horse's oats and hay, and getting a good five-cent cigar on the house The cigars were made in Stratford.

Most of the old livery stables and blacksmith shops in Stratford are now replaced by garages [by 1950] but Mr. Waddell remembers when there were almost as many “tying posts” as there are now parking meters on uptown streets; and when most hotels at least had stepping stones for their customers to descend from their high buggies to street level.

There was no burdensome traffic problem in days when oats, at 15 cents a bushel, and hay, at $8 a ton, provided the fuel to keep vehicles moving.  Horses didn't collide head-on at intersections even if the drivers were not keeping their eyes on the road, and policemen didn’t have to keep an eye on traffic movement. Even with the 17 hotels serving “strong drink” there was no drunk driving problem. The horses drank only water.

A wrecking crew, tearing down the old Albert Street building which has been in turn a livery stable and cartage company’s garage, and has housed a radio repair shop and provided storage space for furniture, discovered that the structure was well built. A cement floor, all the concrete mixed by hand, was heavier than the crew expected to find, and it was still in good condition.

Mr. Waddell doesn't recall the original building cost but he’s hazarding a guess that it’s much less than the contractor would pay his men to wreck the building in 1950.” Source: Stratford & District Historical Society FB. 

Richard McNamara was one of the founders of Stratford Dairy in 1912. The company is listed in the 1913 Vernon's City of Stratford Directory for 1913 with Michael Ballantyne as president. The dairy was sold to Silverwood's Dairy in the late 1920s.

What follows is a memory from Brian Reis from If You Grew Up in Stratford . . . FB site.

“You'd think, judging by all the dairies and bakeries in Stratford, that all we did back in those days was sit around eating bread and drinking milk, not to mention our contribution to the local agriculture industry by buying all that hay and oats, and of course the tons of garden fertilizer as a by-product of it all. Surely, we quaffed the occasional beer? This photo from the mid-1920s is Stratford Dairies Ltd. at 116 Albert St. It was sold to Silverwoods in the late '20s. The photo was loaned to the Beacon-Herald by Anna McNamara, whose grandfather, Richard McNamara, was one of the company's founders in 1912.

The photo shows the "rigs" and the employees of the Stratford Dairy Co., at 116 Albert St. I worked with Anna McNamara for a few years. Her father, John McNamara, was the dairy manager. In the photo, he is sixth from the left (wearing a jacket, tie and hat). His father, Richard McNamara, founded Stratford Dairy in 1912. The dairy was sold to Silverwood's Dairy in the late 1920s. This building in the picture was beside the Albert Street end of what would be the Silverwood's barn, where they stabled their horses, and stored the rigs.

This photo seems to have been taken on a warm summer's day, but can you imagine what it would have been like on a -27 Celsius day, to be harnessing a horse to its rig in the wee hours of the morning, and then spending most of the day delivering milk around town? Many of the milkmen had a kerosene heater in their rig for warmth, but it would still have been mighty cold. This building was later turned into apartments.” Sources: Brian Wendy Reis, FB; Vernon's City of Stratford directories. 

Parker. Schaeffer. Waterman. Montblanc. Pelikan, Sailor. We know the names of famous fountain pen manufacturers. But do we know  the invention was made by Duncan MacKinnon, a druggist living here in Stratford in 1873.  

Early Life. Duncan MacKinnon was born in Unionville, Ont. in the family homestead in either 1838 or 1839. His early years were spent in Markham & Vaughan and the 1861 Census for Vaughan lists him at age 22 as a school teacher. A short time later he took up pharmacy and practiced in several communities in Southwestern Ontario. The 1871 Census found him in Sarnia working as a druggist and living with his brother Dr. Angus MacKinnon & family. 

Stratford Years. By 1873 he was the proprietor of MacKinnon and Company, Drugs and Medicines, a drug store in Stratford located at the corner of Albert and Market Street. In the Stratford City Directory for 1876, MacKinnon is mentioned as holding patents for the MacKinnon pen. His residence was located between Market and Waterloo Streets.  He left Stratford that same year for New York to establish his company. . 

Market Street becomes Downie Street. In case you are wondering about the name Market Street, it ran for one block only from Ontario Street to the corner of Wellington and Albert Streets. It ended at the Market Building and Town Hall...hence the Market Street name. That block was renamed Downie Street in 1907.  

MacKinnon's Invention of the "fluid pencil." About this time, MacKinnon read a paragraph in The Scientific American asking some inventive genius of the world to produce a “fluid pencil”, that is, a writing instrument much like a lead pencil, substituting ink for the lead. Stylographic pens, often referred to as "stylos", have a writing tip consisting of a metal tube with a fine wire inside to regulate ink flow.  Mr. MacKinnon was at once seized with the importance of the suggestion and was soon at work but many difficulties were encountered before the invention was put on the market. 

Patents. MacKinnon initially patented his design in Canada and Great Britain in 1875 and also applied for and received a U.S. patent in 1876. MacKinnon left Stratford in 1876 and founded D. MacKinnon & Co. in New York City that year to manufacture what he called “ink pencils” rather than stylographs. The fountain pen term came slightly later. He patented his pen in Canada on June 5, 1875, patent no. 4,809, and then in the UK later in 1875, no. 2,497, and in the US in 1876, no. 174,965, although he didn’t refer to it as a “stylograph” in his patents.  In his first ads for the pen, he referred to it as a “fluid pencil”, or “ink pencil”, since in appearance it closely resembled a sharpened wooden pencil.  D. MacKinnon & Co. later became The MacKinnon Pen Co. in 1878 under different management. 

The Pen Wars. Unfortunately, MacKinnon laid the groundwork for his company’s demise very early on, when he showed his pen to Alonzo T. Cross. MacKinnon worked with Cross in developing the spring idea, so he felt betrayed when Cross patented it without MacKinnon as co-patentee, and felt vindicated in adding the spring to his own pen. He then was promptly sued by Cross. There was a lengthy series of letters by both parties to the editor of the New York newspaper The Stationer. One letter is included below.  All can be read here. Fountain Pen History: MacKinnon v. Cross! 

Final Years. MacKinnon returned to Canada where he died in Alvinston, Ontario on March 18, 1882. His brother Angus was listed as his Physician and Informant on the death certificate. Death was due to Chronic Pneumonia from which he had been suffering for six years.

Obituary. His obituary appeared in the Watford & Alvinston Guide-News on March 24, 1882 p.5. “Mr. Duncan MacKinnon, brother of Dr. MacKinnon, who has been ill for some time, died on Saturday last, and his remains were interred on Monday of this week. Mr. MacKinnon was not very extensively known in this neighbourhood. He was a gentleman of culture and refinement.”

Addendum: Following the publishing of the article in 1914, his brother, Angus, wrote to the Globe newspaper saying “I thank you for the article on the invention of the fountain pen. It is excellent and gives a just presentiment of my brother’s claim to be the inventor. I am glad to think that, after having been forgotten so many years, his great accomplishment should be recognized and his memory honored. He was a man who in his life was liked and respected for his social qualities and business ability, and in death he is remembered for the good he did. Had Had he entered into a partnership with Cross & Son he would likely have had a greater return for his labor and expense. Several years of impaired health preceding his death were possibly not without influence on the outcome.” Sources: