Sales and office staff, Macdonald Manufacturing Company, 1900s. Courtesy of 401 Richmond
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Original JPEG File | 1500 × 550 pixels (0.83 MP) 12.7 cm × 4.7 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Screen | 1400 × 513 pixels (0.72 MP) 11.9 cm × 4.3 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Resource ID
8080
Access
Open
Award Status
Winner
Credit Line
401 Richmond
Date of Creation
1900
Keywords
restoration, Industrial Heritage, architecture, redevelopement, richmond, warehouse
Program Category
Tours
Rights
public domain
Caption
Sales and office staff, Macdonald Manufacturing Company, 1900s. Courtesy of 401 Richmond
Description
The building complex at 401 Richmond Street West was once the home for the MacDonald Manufacturing Company, makers of colourful lithographed tins, printing tea tins, baked bean tins, biscuit tins, fancy hand-decorated special edition tins, and more of the decorative packaging popular in the early 20th century.
In their original location on King Street East they were the first Canadian factory to lithograph on to tin. Business flourished, and they soon moved to King and Simcoe. When that building was destroyed by a fire, they started construction on a new building at the site of the McLean homestead at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. which, when Richmond St. was extended to Spadina Ave., became 401 Richmond St. West.
Unfortunately, the factory took a financial hit after the 1929 crash. The MacDonald Manufacturing Company was purchased by the Continental Can Company, a United States packaging company, in 1944.