Hardware Companies and Jobbers

A common practice in business is ‘jobbing’.  A Jobber basically acts as a middle man, Jobbers buy products in bulk from manufactures, and sell them to retailers. This is still a common practice today and is quite important in the supply chain of products. Sometimes Jobbers would have their names put on products. This was extremely common in the hardware business, including lanterns.

Some big names in the lantern trade in Canada didn’t produce their own lanterns, such as the McClary Mfg. Co.

 

Below on this page are my Canadian Jobber items, including lanterns and globes.

Globes

Bull Dog Brand Cold Blast

The Bull Dog Brand belongs to either the J.B. Paine Co. of Toronto which made and sold cleaning supplies and housewares in the early 1900s, under the Bull Dog Brand name. Or it belonged to the McFarlane Mfg. Co. also of Toronto. McFarlane made wooden supplies like ladders, washboards, etc. They also used the Bull Dog Brand name. I have seen a Kemp lantern that was marked Bull Dog Brand, so these globes were likely sold inside lanterns, and not by themselves.

Walter Woods & Co.

Walter Woods & Co. was a wholesaler and manufacturer of wooden products. Walter Woods started in Hamilton but in the 1900s, with the boom of the west, opened a warehouse in Winnipeg. I’m not sure if Walter Woods had lanterns made and marked, or just globes.

Samson Best Elastic

Samson was the trade name of H.S. Howland, Sons & Co., started in 1867 by Henry Stark Howland. Howland was a major wholesaler in the Canadian hardware trade. The company lasted at least until the 1950s.

Lanterns

Lanterns were common items for jobbers, quite a large number of them were jobbed, making for quite a few interesting variations on lanterns. Sometimes Jobbers had special logos or design changes they had the manufacturer do.

The McClary Manufacturing Co

For Canadian lantern collectors, it may seem surprising but McClary Mfg. Co. didn’t make their own lanterns, at least not post 1900. There are a lot of McClary lanterns out there, from all the Canadian makers, it appears that McClary made one yearly order for lanterns, and switched who they bought from based off new innovations, design changes, etc. Below are my McClary lanterns

1914-1920s McClary's No.3 (E.T. Wright)

Hobb's Hardware Co.

Hobb’s Hardware of London, Ontario was a large wholesaler and dealer in hardware. Their line of products went under the ‘Gold Medal’ trade name. I have seen a number of different lanterns marked gold medal and Hobb’s hardware, but I only have one. It is listed below.

W.J. Reid & Co.

W.J. Reid & Co. was a London, Ontario dealer in crystal glassware, tinware, lamps, and china. They also ordered and sold the Defiance lantern made by W.W. Chown & Co. Reid has quite an interesting history as well, and unfortunately best remembered for a terrible accident in 1907. Read more by clicking below.