In the early 1940s when wartime Japan threatened the supply of natural rubber, a chemist at General Electric Company’s laboratory in Connecticut was tasked with finding a new synthetic rubber compound. Extensive experiments did not improve on the products already available, however, a lab accident proved interesting. Spilling boric acid into silicone oil, James Wright […]
The average toy chest is a bit too small to hold the big toys. Instead, the Tonka® trucks loved by boys and girls of all ages get parked elsewhere for quick return to play. The yellow-and-black trucks with catchy black lettering were introduced in 1947, and instant recognition for sturdy construction that ignites imaginations and […]
Claiming the title of the birthplace of hockey, Montreal, Kingston, and Windsor, Nova Scotia each has a long history with the sport. The invention of table hockey is much easier to narrow down. There is only one birthplace of the indoor hockey game in 1932: the Toronto basement of Donald Hill Munro Sr. In the […]
In the early 1900s, the air in many homes was not clean. Circulating particles of coal soot and wood smoke from heaters left wallpaper with dark, grubby smudges. Homemakers made their own compound to roll up and down on the wall to remove the dirt. Kutol Products filled the need with a handy pre-made substance […]
Everyone has a favourite way to start. Some begin with a central section, joining a tab and a blank to work outward on the jigsaw puzzle image. Others begin with flat-edged corner pieces and interlock from the perimeter inward. Regarded as the first to produce jigsaw puzzles in the mid-1700s, British cartographer and publisher John […]
Understanding the needs and desires of customers was a crucial business advantage for Edwin Binney and Harold Smith. Establishing a partnership in 1885, the Binney & Smith firm transformed from producing dull charcoal and lampblack paints to wax sticks in a burst of vibrant hues. Stacked on shelves, tucked in toy boxes, strewn across the […]
The elegance of mathematics wasn’t a passing thought when I was a youngster. A drawing set introduced the graceful orderliness without my even knowing it. Securing the larger ring with cut-out centre on paper with small red-domed tacks, I poked my pen tip through one of the many small holes on the small plastic wheel, […]
Away from the limelight, a small company opened in Montreal, Quebec in 1967 to distribute toys manufactured outside of Canada, and to act as intermediary between international and Canadian toy firms. Ritvik Holdings branched out to designing and manufacturing toys, and by the early 1980s, developed a new building block toy. Exhibited at trade shows […]
Following the mechanical inclinations instilled by their father, John Dodge and his younger brother Horace honed their plans in the early 1900s, Sharpening their invention muscles, they established a factory that gave even Henry Ford a run for his money. Devising new engines and vehicles, the brothers climbed to success through precision and excellence. Six […]
Building Anglican churches and congregations throughout southern Ontario, Featherstone Lake Osler participated in the growth of the Church of England in Canada. A wilderness of forests, rocky regions and waterways, Upper Canada was sparsely populated in the early to mid-1800s. Those who came to southern Ontario were looking for a fresh start, hoping through […]
Married to a man over twice her age, Frances Simpson came to Canada by ship and to Manitoba’s Red River by canoe. Her life in Canada was lonely and difficult. George Simpson was looking for a wife. The busy Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fur-trading business centred in Canada’s wilderness, George was respected and […]
The flashing, searing bolt of lightning is a direct threat to life and buildings. Passing through a conductive channel from the cloud on its way to the ground, lightning’s electrical charge develops heat, close to 28,000° Celsius. Trees and buildings can ignite from direct hits, causing disastrous fires. Atop a building or other structure, a […]