Friday, October 6, 2017

We used to make things in this country. #272: A.R. Lite Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Montreal, Quebec



I photographed this kitchen scale in the ReStore in Brockville, Ontario.  The company sold it under the "Kitchen Queen" brand.  Below, a similar scale being offered for sale on Kijiji, this time under the "Perfecto" brand.




The only online information I can find is that the company was located at 1300 Valleyfield Avenue, St. Vincent de Paul, Laval, Quebec.  It had registered the "Sani Queen" trademark in Canada in 1959, and "Mini-Mates" in 1971.  Interestingly, the Sani-Queen trademark got sold to World Kitchen Canada (EHI) Inc. out of Niagara Falls, and Mini-Mates went to EKCO Canada Inc. in Scarborough.  So, it looks like the company's interests were broken up and sold off.

4 comments:

  1. This is cool! Anton Ralph Lite (formerly Leitenberger) was my grandfather. My uncle and my dad (his two sons-in-law) worked for him as sales manager and plant manager, respectively. We all lived near each other in Laval, Quebec, but when he retired and sold A.R. Lite Manufacturing to Ecko Canada, my uncle and his family moved to Toronto. Both men eventually went into business for themselves. My childhood home was full of his locally made pots, pans, bread boxes and step-on trash cans (Sani-Queens). Thanks for posting this.

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  2. The previous comment was posted by Audrey Wolitarsky

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  3. Thank you very much for the first hand family information. I'm grateful for any information we can find to preserve the stories from these long gone companies. Again, much appreciated; Gerald

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  4. As I write this I am looking at a Perfecto identical to your picture. My wife used it while making preserves this morning. Originally it was my mother's. It dates back to the early 1950s or possibly 1940s.

    Bill in Moncton

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