The "Universal Favorite" was manufactured by the Findlay Brothers Company in Carleton Place, Ontario.
David Findlay was trained as a moulder in Paisley, Scotland and emigrated to Perth, Ontario in 1858. He soon relocated to Carleton Place and started a small foundry. For the next 20 years he made ploughs and custom castings, but in 1876 he tried his hand at stoves. That made his fortune. The company prospered and at its peak employed 400 people. It was purchased by his two sons, David and William, one year before his death in 1890. The company became Findlay Brothers until 1932, when it was changed to Findlays Limited. The company remained in family hands until 1956, when it was acquired by Corporation D'Expansion Financier of Montreal, or Corpex. Under their ownership, the Findlay company widened production to such items as electric and gas ranges, refrigerators, space heaters and cast iron hollow ware.
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| 1956 |
Production ceased in 1974 and the factory buildings now house condominiums and some high-tech industries. Today Michigan-based AGA Marvel still produces a unit based on the original Findlay Oval design and sells it under the Heartland brand.
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| Western Libraries |
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