KAWARTHA LAKES-Up to the mid twentieth century most families made the majority of their own clothing. Mothers and grandmothers lovingly knitted socks and mittens to keep their loved ones warms. As a youth, practically every girl learned how to sew. Fabric might be purchased or recycled from older garments. Many people did not have closets—they might only have their Sunday best and one or two outfits of work clothes. There was a social expectation that men would have a suit—often professionally tailored—but it would be cared for, and typically lasted years—then the material might well be recycled. For many people, buying ready-made clothing was a special occasion.
Many villages had multiple stores, which sold similar goods and most retail operations involved a clerk waiting on customers. For instance, a customer would go to the counter with a list of groceries that they wanted to purchase and wait for the order to be prepared. Similarly, when buying fabric, shoes or boots, the purchaser would be waited on, though the goods were typically displayed. Purchases were often charged to account, which might be paid with bartered goods, like wheat, chickens, eggs, butter, milk or cream. Shopkeepers would then resell some of the goods to other customers.
By the 1860s, after decades of hard labour, many farms had been chopped from the forests along the Trent Watershed and the district began to export agricultural commodities. Peterborough’s William Cluxton became one of the region’s best-known merchants as he purchased produce from smaller businesses, while operating a notable Peterborough store. Cluxton sent Joseph Rutherford (J.R.) Dundas to Lindsay to work in his store, located on the northeast corner of Kent and William Streets in 1856. It sold dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, operating as both a wholesaler and retailer.
Four years later, Dundas became a partner, as the business rebranded as Cluxton & Dundas—only to be consumed in Lindsay’s Great Fire of 1861. Dundas’ nephews, John Dundas (J.D.) and William Flavelle came to work for him in the Lindsay business. In 1870, Cluxton retired, selling his share to J.R. Dundas, who would subsequently bring his nephews into a partnership in 1877 that would last until he died in 1896. By then Dundas and Flavelle Brothers was well established as buyers of farm produce in the region. These businessmen travelled to smaller stores and cheese factories in the surrounding area purchasing their excess produce, which they then arranged to export to Great Britain and the United States, as they were importing goods to be sold through their store—similarly to how Cluxton had operated his Peterborough business. When miller William Needler was looking to retire from his partnership with Thomas Sadler, they joined to create another partnership, the Sadler, Dundas and Flavelle Milling Company. Initially this was both a saw and grist mill, but by the turn of the century, lumber production was becoming history.
Another of Dundas’ nephews, Joseph Flavelle, became a leading Peterborough merchant, before moving on to Toronto where he became one of the wealthiest businessmen in Canada, serving William Davies Company (later merged into Canada Packers, then Maple Leaf), the Bank of Commerce, National Trust and Simpson’s Department Stores.
By the turn of the century, the Flavelle brothers were handling enormous quantities of goods. Their buyers travelled all over the region purchasing eggs, some of which were pickled for export to Britian. They bought the full produce of many local cheese factories. Surrounding villages would hold poultry days, where farmers were encouraged to bring in their chickens and turkeys to sell through Dundas and Flavelles. In 1902, the company was advertising “We want, delivered alive at your nearest G.T.R. Station, every chicken you can raise,” as they were looking to buy 100,000 chickens for export. The company had about eight men employed to kill the birds. Crews of workers cleaned and plucked them for export. The feathers were sold to mattress companies, while the carcasses were arranged in crates for shipment. At times, the company rented the Russell Street skating rink to use as a makeshift processing facility, as their rate of production exceeded 1000 birds a day.
In 1904, the brothers incorporated Dundas and Flavelles Limited, as they expanded to create a three-storey and 10,000 square foot store that was on a scale that Lindsay had not seen before. By then, their brother Joseph Flavelle was one of the owners of the Robert Simpson Company and its famous Toronto store. Like Simpson’s or Eaton’s it was organized as a department store, with a men’s department, a silks department and so forth. As was common in stores in that era, the produce was carefully arranged, displayed on tables and dark wooden display cases. In its presentation, it looked a lot like contemporary village stores, but it was set apart by the tremendous selection of inventory on offer.
Operating in an era when most people did not have a car, being located in the downtown made it convenient for Lindsay residents to walk over and shop. Nearby farmers might bring the team into town and those living further away could take the train. For some of the people riding the rails, going all the way to Lindsay would be a special occasion, as would visiting Dundas and Flavelles’ store. It was much larger than contemporary shops in many of the surrounding villages. Maybe they could make the journey once a year to go Christmas shopping.
In 1917 Dundas and Flavelles Limited published Christmas shopping suggestions:
For Her:
Pretty Neckwear 25 cents to $3 each
Boudoir Capes 50 cents to $3 each
Toilet Requisites: Perfumes, toilet waters, sachet powders, manicure sets, boxed soap: 20 cents to $1 each
Handsome Underskirts in Silk, moire satin, moreen, sateen in shades of black, navy, grey, purple, green, maise, pink gold, rose, Copenhagen, brown, tan and cream $1.50 to $10.
Silk Underwear: $1 to $12.
Fur Coats: Muskrat, French Seal and Hudson Seal: Muskrat $60 to $120. French Seal $100. Hudson Seal Coats $150 to $300.
Comforters: Handsome comforters in Kopak filled and down filled. $2.75 to $18.
Blankets: A cotton and wool union in grey, fawn and white with pink or blue borders. $1.75 to $25 pair.
Brass and Nickelware: Fern pots, jardinières, casseroles, vases, pie plates, ash trays, butter dishes, lamps, trays, paper weights: 25 cents to $10.
Story Books 5 cents to $1 each.
For Grandfather: A Warm Pair of Sox: 25 cents to $1.50.
For Father: A Dozen Linen Collars: $2.
For Uncle: A Silk Tie 50 cents to $2.50
For Big Brother: A Vox of Holeproof Sox $1.75, $2.25 and $2.50.
For Little Brother: Fancy Excelda Handkerchiefs: 5 cents and 10 cents.
For Baby Brother: A Jack Tar Blue Serge Suit: $6 to $8.50
In that era, Christmas presents were often very practical, and a pair of warm socks was a common present, but a Hudson Seal Coat at $150 to $300 was something that many people could not afford. In comparison, a 1917 Model T cost about $400-700. But that fur coat certainly would distinguish a lady. For many children, to receive a book would be special indeed.
Rather than making the journey to Lindsay, some families from surrounding communities browsed an Eaton’s catalogue—seeing a remarkable variety of products that general stores could not match. By the 1920s, the Flavelle’s business had evolved. The mill was sold to the Canadian Cereal Company in 1912. Having purchased the Victoria Creamery that year, they rebuilt after a 1916 fire, becoming the Lindsay Creamery Limited (sold to Silverwood’s Dairy in 1943). In 1925, J.D. Flavelle passed away and the store was sold to Canadian Department Stores Limited, marketed as the largest chain of department stores in Canada with 13 locations. Shortly afterwards the company went bankrupt and was taken over by Eaton’s, though it continued to operate under the Canadian Department Stores name for many years, eventually rebranding as Eaton’s. In 1948, the CDS motto was “Goods Satisfactory or Money Refunded.”
In the second half of the twentieth century, the novelty of shopping in a department store began to wear off. Once practically every family had a car, a shopping trip to Lindsay or the stores on the outskirts of town became commonplace. Lindsay became home to multiple department stores: Claxton & Co. (Just across Kent Street from CDS/Eaton’s), Simpson-Sears, Woolworth’s and Zellers. Zellers would be the last of these to close, becoming a Target in 2013, then closing two years later. A century ago, kids would be amazed to look at everything that was for sale in an Eaton’s catalogue. Today’s youth take for granted so much more selection on the world wide web.
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
