Showing 227 results

In Aurora, Ontario in 1859, Joseph Fleury Jr. (1832-1880) founded the Aurora Agricultural Works (AAW) to manufacture ploughs and other agricultural, home, and forest machinery. The company would eventually develop over twenty models of plough to meet different soil conditions, including the Fleury No. 21 single furrow “Dandy” plough, the firm’s most famous model. After his death in 1880, AAW was managed by the company’s manager and bookkeeper Andrew Yule until 1886 when Fleury’s son, Herbert Watson Fleury (1860-1940), was old enough to take over the business. After H.W.’s brother, William James Fleury (1865-1946), also joined the business, it was renamed J. Fleury’s Sons Company Limited.

In 1937, Fleury’s Sons Co. merged with T.E. Bissell Company of Elora, who manufactured coulters and disk harrows. The T.E. Bissell Company was founded by Torrance Edward Bissell (1855-1931) in Elora in 1901. The new firm was called Fleury-Bissell Implement Company Ltd, and they manufactured disk harrows, tractor and walking ploughs, manure spreaders, and grain grinders. Fleury’s Aurora factory became a branch plant until it closed in 1940 and all operations moved to Elora. Fleury-Bissell went defunct in 1969.

FLIP Publicity was co-founded in 1991 by Carrie Sager, Dale Curd, Debbie Rix, and Fran Hollywood--all in various streams of the PR industry. After some discussion, they decided to make good use of resources by creating a conglomerate so they could share office spaces, supplies, and technology. They called themselves FLIP standing originally for "freelance independent publicists" but later on the acronym unofficially stood for "Fabulous Ladies in Publicity."

Carrie Sager's vision for FLIP was to assist theatre companies to promote their shows. Over the 28 years of its existence, the conglomerate grew into Toronto's most active performing arts communications (public relations) agency. From its start with theatre, it branched out more generally into all performing arts and culture with a concentration on live entertainment.

FLIP's clients over the years have included Ross Petty Productions, Soulpepper Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, clown duo Mump + Smoot, Coal Mine Theatre, Cirque du Soleil, Luminato Festival, a national tour by the Kids in the Hall, Dancap, Buddies in Bad Times, Obsidian Theatre, Factory Theatre, and the Dora Awards.

Sources:
Contents of the fonds.

Sumi, Glenn. "Publicist Carrie Sager will see you on the FLIP side." NOW Magazine. Online. June 18, 2019. Accessed on November 28, 2024. Available at https://nowtoronto.com/culture/carrie-sager-flip-publicity/.

The Ford Motor Company was founded in Michigan in 1903 by Henry Ford (1863-1947). Henry Ford and Son Company began manufacturing Fordson tractors in 1907. Starting in 1939, the Ford N-series tractors, and particularly the 1947 Ford 8N, become some of the most popular tractors of all time in North America. The N-series tractors were replaced by the Ford NAA tractor in 1953. Ford purchased the Sperry-New Holland skid-steer loader and hay baler as well as other farm implements from Sperry Corporation in 1986, forming the Ford-New Holland Company, which bought out Versatile tractors in 1988. This company was bought by Fiat in 1993 and reverted back to New Holland, dropping Ford from its name.

Robert Foulis (1707-1776) and his brother, Andrew Foulis (1712-1775), started as booksellers and then printers in Glasgow, Scotland. Shortly after 1741, the brothers became the official printers to Glasgow University, and during that decade began to build their reputation for beautiful and accurate printings of Latin and Greek classics, such as Virgil and Homer. In 1752, the two established an Academy for the encouragement of fine arts, but because of their penchant for collecting paintings, eventually found themselves in ruins. As a result, both their printing enterprise and the Academy declined. After Andrew's death in 1775, Robert took control of the paintings and sold them in an attempt to revive his business. Unfortunately, the sale proved to not be enough, and Robert died in poverty the following year.

The Frost Wire Fence Company, an American company established by Henry L. Frost, opened a branch plant in Welland, Ontario in 1898. Canadian operations were moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1904. In 1915, the company merged with the Hamilton Anchor Company and by 1916 its name had changed to Frost Steel and Wire Company. Frost introduced the first chain-link fencing in Canada in 1918. In 1922, the company acquired the Banwell-Hoxie Fence Company. The Frost Steel and Wire Company was bought by the Steel Company of Canada in 1937, and by the 1950’s it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Stelco. Stelco sold Frost Fence in 1999 to Advanced Fence and Wire, which went bankrupt two years later in June 2001.

The Manchester-based Gaiety Theatre building was completely re-built in the early 1880s after a fire had destroyed the original building. The theatre re-opened as Comedy Theatre in 1884 and was named such until it was purchased by Annie Horniman (friend of W.B. Yeats and patroness of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin) in 1908, when it underwent major renovations. Once these renovations were complete, the Theatre re-opened under its original name: Gaiety Theatre. The theatre closed in 1922 but was used again from 1945-1947. It was demolished in 1959.

Source
Manchesterhistorynet.com. "The Comedy Theatre - Gaiety Theatre." Accessed October 16, 2024. Available at https://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/gone/gaiety.html.

The origins of the agricultural machinery manufacturer Gebr. Claas Maschinenfabrik, known as CLAAS, begin in 1887 when Franz Claas began producing milk centrifuges, straw binders and cutters, and other agricultural machinery. The straw binder company was officially established in 1913 by Franz’s son, August Claas (1887-1982), in Clarholz-Heerde, East Westphalia, Germany. When August’s brothers – Bernhard Claas (1885-1955), Franz Claas Jr. (1890-1965), and Theo Claas (1897-1952) – officially joined the company in 1914, it became known as Gebr. Claas (Claas Brothers).

Gebr. Claas moved their operations to a factory in Harsewinkel in 1919 and in 1921 patented the highly successful Claas knotter. The company produced Europe’s first combine harvester – the CLAAS mower-thresher-binder (MDB) – in 1936. In 1942 the company began developing the CLAAS Super all-purpose harvester, which went onto the market after the Second World War in 1946. The HERCULES, the first self-propelled combine harvester, was unveiled in 1952. New factories were established in Gütersloh-Blankenhagen, Germany in 1948, Paderborn, Germany in 1956, and in Metz, France in 1962. From the 1980s to the 2010s, production and sales locations were added in India, the United States, Russia, China, and South America.

In 1859, Louis Lucas (1820-1903) established Lucas Foundry in West Bend, Wisconsin. He manufactured plows and cultivators and repaired farm implements. Lucas was joined by Charles Siberzahn (1828-1921), a German-born blacksmith, by 1880. Together, the firm of Lucas and Siberzahn invented the Hexelbank Ensilage Cutter, which revolutionized the way farmers fed their livestock. After buying the Lucas Foundry in 1890, Siberzahn renamed the business the Siberzahn Manufacturing Company, which was in turn bought by John Gehl (1873-1951) in 1902 with partners Henry Thoma and Peter Beres.

By 1906, John was joined by three of his brothers, Nicolaus, Michael, and Henry, and the company became known as Gehl Brothers Manufacturing. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the company produced several innovative machines for farmers, including silo fillers, an auto-steering manure spreader, and a forage harvester. In 1967, Gehl Brothers Manufacturing changed its name to Gehl Company. The company manufactured their first skid steer loader in 1973 and purchased the Mustang Manufacturing Company in 1997. In 2008, Gehl became a subsidiary of Manitou.

Originally from Devonshire, England, George White (1834-1913), a blacksmith and machinist, came to London, Ontario in 1857 and entered into partnership with the Pavey brothers to manufacture wagons, carriages, and small farm machinery. The partnership was dissolved in 1864, but White carried on the business and formed the Forest City Machine Bolt and Nut Works in 1875 with Lucius George Jolliffe and William Yates. After Jolliffe and Yates left the partnership by 1878, White continued the Forest City Machine Works, specializing in boilers and stationary and portable steam engines, known as White’s Threshing Engine.

In March 1889, joined by sons Arthur, James (Harry), Hubert, and Frederick, the company was renamed George White and Sons Company. Sons Ernest and George later joined the company as well. The company was incorporated in 1897, and in 1898 it absorbed the foundry and implement works of MacPherson and Company in Fingal, Ontario and began manufacturing Challenge separators. A warehouse was later built in Brandon, Manitoba to serve customers in Western Canada.

The Gilson Manufacturing Company Limited, originally a foundry and machine works, was founded in Port Washington, Wisconsin in 1855 by Theodore Gilson and John Maas. A Canadian branch of the company was added on York Road in Guelph, Ontario in 1907, run by Edward Barelman (d. 1927). Another factory was later added on Victoria Road. Early products made in Guelph were gasoline engines (1907-1927), chair fixtures (1907-1961), the hylo-silo (1916-1926), and Gilson silo fillers (1916-1926).

In 1914, the Gilson family sold both the Port Washington and Guelph businesses. The Port Washington business was bought by longtime employee Harry W. Bolens. The Guelph operation was bought by a group of Canadian investors, including Guelphite Horace Mack (1895-1959). During the First World War, Gilson also produced farm tractors, including the Gilson Standard Tractor and the “Light Weight Dixie- Ace.” In 1921, warm air furnaces were added, and by 1925 the Gilson "Snowbird" washer was being made. The company added refrigeration equipment in 1929, and in 1937 Gilson produced the first standard production freezer ever made. By the end of the Second World War, furnaces and refrigerating equipment became the dominant product manufactured by Gilson.

The Gilson Manufacturing Company was sold to the Robert Elder Company in 1948. Following a strike in April 1953, the company was sold to A.L. Geller and several others before a group of former employees – including A. James Kendrick, Cyril M. McDonald, Edward C. Carroll, Russ F. Flanigan, and James K. Simmons – purchased the majority of company shares in 1964. In 1972, Gilson was sold for its final time to McGraw-Edison of Canada Ltd. It closed down in 1977.