Thursday, October 3, 2013

We used to (and still do) make things in this country. #126: Dominion Tack & Nail Co. Ltd., Galt, Ontario








George Hancock Junior and John Eatough started the Dominion Tack and Nail Company in 1903 in Cambridge, Ontario.  


George Hancock Jr.
It incorporated in 1909, eventually becoming a major supplier to the hardware trade and to the furniture and shoe manufacturing industries in Canada.  Its products were exported to New Zealand, Australia and Jamaica.  At some point, it came under the control of the PCI group out of New Bedford, Massassachusetts, becoming a Canadian distributor for their products.   PCI  was in turn bought by the Emhard Technologies Corporation, but was spun off by Emhart in 1975 for legal reasons (Emhart also owned the United Shoe Machinery Company, and wasn't permitted to own another fastener company under American anti-trust laws.)  When the law changed, PCI was reacquired by Emhart in 1982.  Emhart was in turn swallowed by Black and Decker, who themselves got sucked into the Stanley Tool Empire.  Emhart ultimate became
Stanley Engineered Fastening.  In the midst of all of this, Dominion Tack and Nail must have been spun off because in 2003 the company came under new management (including the descendants of the founding family) becoming Canadian Tack and Nail (2003) Ltd. 



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