Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Big Bear Run 1958

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.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Adams & Wilson Hobbycopter, 1958

For sale on Craigslist in the Detroit area Oct 1 2013
From the copy;
" It is a real flying helicopter,
-was a kit offered by Adams & Wilson in 1958.
-made to house a triumph powerplant and does run.
-also comes with a n.o.s set of alloy blades.
-is a true museum piece."

More at Wikipedia

Looks like the perfect toy for someone who wants to crash in three dimensions.

Welcome to Canada: Customs patrol boat Margaret, 1927

David McIntosh. The Collectors. A History of Canadian Customs and Excise.
Published by NC Press Ltd in association with Revenue Canada, Customs and
Excise and the Canadian Government Publishing Centre, 1984.

Broadcasting 1922 and 1962

Canada 1962. The official handbook of present conditions and recent progress.
Ottawa: Information Services Division, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1962.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Locomotive #30 of the Camden and Amboy Rlwy

George Abdill, A Locomotive Enginers Album Bonanza Books, 1965

Possibly one of the most bizarre-looking locomotives made.
In Britain in 1843 Thomas Russell Crampton designed a high speed locomotive with a low center of gravity for a Belgian railway. This locomotive had a four wheel leading truck with single pair of 7 foot drivers located behind the low mounted boiler. The locomotive lacked traction on startup but ran very well at speed and several more were built for various other roads in England and Scotland.
The president of the Camden and Amboy railway saw these in operation and back home, with the help of Issac Dripps, designed their own version with even larger drivers and a 6 wheel leading truck. Though it too was fast, it did not track well and was known for a habit of derailing. Nonetheless, several more were built and one of them is shown above, displaying its strange and inelegant proportions. Below, other images found online.