KAWARTHA LAKES-In local villages like Fenelon Falls, the first stores were often informal, operated by prominent gentlemen, who unlike their neighbours frequently made the arduous journey by foot, scow or canoe to attend to business in other centres. Their friends and neighbours often asked them to pick up something for them when they were travelling. By the 1870s, the community had grown sufficiently that it was home to multiple stores. For that era, when a strong majority of adults were housewives, farmers or worked in the lumber industry, storekeeping was a good profession. Shopkeepers were often perceived to be among the wealthy families in the village. It might have been true, given the wages paid in the lumber industry and families scrimping to get by: Waste not, want not!
In 1873, Joseph McFarland purchased the stock of Joseph Littleton to open a store. Having grown up in nearby Verulam Township, twenty-three year old McFarland had previously worked for R.C. Smith, who owned saw and grist mills at Fenelon Falls. As he was starting out, the village was already home to several stores. In early years, McFarland’s grocery store shared a building with Finn’s Boots and Shoes and M.H.J. Cochrane’s residence. In March 1877, he partnered with John Moffatt, which lasted for six years. By 1883, he had moved to a new location and expanded his business to offer groceries, glassware, crockery, tea, sugar, boots, shoes and ready-made fabric. Up to the mid twentieth century, it was more economical to buy fabric and sew rather than opting for finished garments. As was customary at the time, he delivered goods by horse and wagon. In July 1894, Joseph installed electric lights in his store, just as electricity was coming to the village.
Joseph McFarland would operate the business until he passed away in 1911, when it transferred to his nephew Andrew and his son Clifford. Cousin Wellington “Welly/Willy” McFarland also worked in the business. McFarland’s would become one of several Fenelon Falls stores from the Victorian era that would last generations—others included William Campbell’s and William Burgoyne’s. At one point, Fenelon Falls had seven general or grocery stores, each of which catered to its own unique clientele. By the mid twentieth century, McFarland’s had developed a reputation for looking after the farming community. It was the place that many Fenelon Falls residents went to buy boots and shoes.
Many stores were built upon the friendships that their proprietors had with their customers. Where Burgoyne’s had a reputation for selling the finest of everything, McFarland’s was remembered as a place for “ordinary working folk.” Welly married Alice Green, a farm girl who had grown up near Bury’s Green. Many of her old neighbours would faithfully shop at McFarland’s store. It was customary for farm families to make the trip into town on Saturday night. Many congregated on the main street, or in their favourite store. Playing horseshoes just to the north of Vanatters (now Kawartha North Family Health Team) was a popular activity, as was visiting the pool hall—a place where most women would not be caught dead! By the late 1940s, families might even catch a movie like Bambi or Ma and Pa Kettle at the new theatre in town.
By the mid twentieth century, local families’ shopping habits were changing. Eaton’s had operated a mail order catalogue since the nineteenth century. For many rural children who grew up shopping at the local general store, it was amazing to pick up a catalogue and see everything that could be ordered. The former Burgoyne Store, carried on as Watson’s Village Shop, handled deliveries for Sears. In contrast to the chain stores which relied on centralized distribution networks, traditional shopkeepers spent a lot of time finding suppliers for everything they dealt. Much of the merchandise was purchased from local families, hence the need for an egg grading station in McFarland’s basement. Keeping a general store had once seemed like a good job, but by the second half of the twentieth century, many were specializing or becoming variety stores.
Alice McFarland carried on the business after her husband died in 1948, but it was becoming evident that times were changing, as she continued selling clothing in the dark hardwood display cases characteristic of Victorian Ontario. For decades, McFarland’s store had been on the northeast corner of Francis and Colborne Streets, but in 1955 she sold the building to John Coburn who opened a drug store (later Stinson’s). One half of the store had been groceries and the other dry goods like men’s clothing, work clothes, shorts, pants, coats, vests and socks. After selling the building, Alice carried on dealing boots, shoes and clothing in the north half. Shortly after Glen Godier took this photo in December 1969, Alice sold the business to Brian Devan, who renamed it Devan the Pant Man. By then, an era had ended as ordinary working families were no longer producing butter and eggs to barter for cloth so they could sew their own clothing. The era of supermarkets and department stores had come. Not many local businesses lasted as long as McFarland’s Store—which served the everyday needs of ordinary working families for almost a century.
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
