Zundapp for US Export!

We used to make things in the country. #82: Canadian Mead-Morrison Co. Ltd., Welland Ontario

Part of a locomotive displayed in Sharbot Lake by the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society to commorate the old K&P (Kingston and Pembroke, colloquially known as the "Kick and Pull") railroad.

 

This machinery was manufactured by the Canadian Mead-Morrison Company.

 Mead-Morrison was established in 1904 to take over the coal machinery handling business of the John A. Mead Mfg. Co. out of New York and Chicago.  In 1920, the company, now out of East Boston, Massachusetts, decided to go into business in Canada and to that end bought  the M. Beatty & Sons plant in Welland, subsequently operating as Canadian Mead-Morrison.

Victory is Sweet!

Maurice Aron, bicycle prizewinner in "The Evening Telegram Cycle Parade" 1893

Drum brake, Auto Union

Picture taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009

Backbone frame for Dunstall Norton

Was it ever raced?

Pushers a century ago

Henry Chase Hill.  The Wonder Book of Knowledge.  Philadelphia:  The John C. Winston Co., 1917-19, 1923.

It's the Pellet That Counts!

When pellets were made in England (and Poland!) and came in metal tins with threaded tops.  BTW, someone's actually created an Air Rifle Pellet Photographic Database!  Quite remarkable variety in shapes and profiles for these seemingly simple things.

All jacked up: AUSCO

The Auto Specialties Manufacturing Company, or Ausco, began producing automotive jacks and service equipment in 1915.  They also marketed their products under the trade name "Drednaut."  At one point, the Big Three automakers used their jacks exclusively.  They were headquartered out of Benton Harbor, Michigan but also had a plant in Windsor.  The Windsor facility closed in the 1970's after a long strike.  One person wrote that his father worked there from 1953 to 1970, being paid piece work for pouring castings.  After 17 years of service, he received $14.00 per month in pension.  In 1988 the U.S. Jack Company purchased the product designs and tooling from AUSCO when they discontinued their after-market business.
   

John A. Damm & Charles H. Waugaman (Eds.), The Practical and Technical Encyclopedia.  New York:  Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc., 1948.

Below, patent for above:

Below, made in Windsor:

Below, an example of their "Drednaut" line (a name which they also used for their aftermarket shock absorbers, as their 1922 ad illustrates):

In April 2013 I received in inquiry from a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Maine about the SJ-1210 jack pictured above (the one that is minus its saddle).  I had to wonder why any one would be interested in such a thing.  The professor responded:

Hi The Duke. I am restoring a Canadian built 1930 Dodge Brothers coupe.  I know from the  master parts book of 1934 that it used a different jack to the same car built in the US.  The jack used for the US cars was an SJ1210 made in the St Joseph factory.  I have suspected that the jack used on the Canadian cars was the same model number, but made in the Windsor factory.  A good friend of mine with a very original 1930 Canadian built sedan found his jack on the weekend-and it confirmed my suspicions. Remarkably your jack is probably only 1 model off what I need (it looks identical except the writing is in the opposite orientation).

Anyway, I decided that he needed the jack more than it needed to sit on a shelf in my shop.  Below, the car that it now resides in:

I think I made the right decision!

Sing along at the B.B.C.

Stuart Miall.  World of the Children, Vol. 4.   London:  Caxton Publishing Co. Ltd., 1948, 1953.

Fill 'er up. Part 4. Gilbarco naked!

Two stripped and abandoned gas pumps I photographed today in Titchborne,  Dignity departed, their mysteries unveiled.

In 1865, Charles Gilbert and John Barker partnered to build the "Springfield Gas Machine" that converted crude petroleum distillates into a gas vapor used to light buildings, incorporating as Gilbert and Barker in 1870.  They hired Sir Hiram Maxim (inventor of the machine gun) to provide engineering drawings.  In 1910, they designed the first petroleum pump for cars, using a push-pull motion to draw gas from an underground tank.  A year later came the first measuring gasoline pump.  The company became Gilbarco in 1929 and became part of the Danaher Corporation in 2002.  

Gilbarco Veeder-Root