W.A. Drummond Dairy Supply Company, 1911
The four-storey building at 214 King Street East was completed in 1911 and first occupied by the W. A. Drummond & Co. Dairy Supply Warehouse.
William A. Drummond was born in Thorold, Ontario but grew up in Toronto. He worked as a buyer for a few companies including Simpsons and then became general manager for the J.C. Woods department store. In 1903, he joined the business of William J. Whitten at 173 King Street East. Whitten had established his hardware store in 1869 and had “as an incidental sideline, to meet the needs of a small group of customers, carried a limited stock of dairy supplies”.
By the 1910s, dairy farming was transitioning from mostly manual labor to more mechanized processes. Drummond expanded the dairy supplies line taking over the Whitten business. The company stocked “Everything for the Dairy”, that is, dairy, cheese and ice cream businesses including refrigerating machinery, motorized ice cream churns, Babcock milk testers (a bottle designed to test fat content in milk), milk cans or vats, and even steam engines, boilers and pasteurizing equipment.
After five years, the company moved its showroom, offices, and warehouse to 77-79 Jarvis (where the Vu Condominium stands). The vacated 214 King Street East building became home for the McLaren (now Imperial) Cheese Company and several other small businesses for a short period before Peerless Carbon & Ribbon Co. Ltd took over some space in 1921, quickly expanding to all floors of the building.
Owner John Joseph Seitz had worked his way up to become a partner in Creelman Bros. Typewriter Company. In 1903, he reorganized the business as the United Typewriter Co. Limited which sold the popular Underwood typewriter. Diversifying, he started the Peerless typewriter ribbon company and acquired another ribbon outfit named Newsome and Gilbert. Peerless remained at 214 King Street East for 35 years, leaving in 1956 when the Safety Supply Company moved in. After the Safety Supply company left in 1992, the building underwent renovations and became a retail building. Furniture stores Up Country Canada, then InDesign, were the building’s first retail tenants. Currently it houses a contemporary furniture design store, Design Within Reach or DWR.
The four-storey building at 214 King Street East was completed in 1911 and first occupied by the W. A. Drummond & Co. Dairy Supply Warehouse.
William A. Drummond was born in Thorold, Ontario but grew up in Toronto. He worked as a buyer for a few companies including Simpsons and then became general manager for the J.C. Woods department store. In 1903, he joined the business of William J. Whitten at 173 King Street East. Whitten had established his hardware store in 1869 and had “as an incidental sideline, to meet the needs of a small group of customers, carried a limited stock of dairy supplies”.
By the 1910s, dairy farming was transitioning from mostly manual labor to more mechanized processes. Drummond expanded the dairy supplies line taking over the Whitten business. The company stocked “Everything for the Dairy”, that is, dairy, cheese and ice cream businesses including refrigerating machinery, motorized ice cream churns, Babcock milk testers (a bottle designed to test fat content in milk), milk cans or vats, and even steam engines, boilers and pasteurizing equipment.
After five years, the company moved its showroom, offices, and warehouse to 77-79 Jarvis (where the Vu Condominium stands). The vacated 214 King Street East building became home for the McLaren (now Imperial) Cheese Company and several other small businesses for a short period before Peerless Carbon & Ribbon Co. Ltd took over some space in 1921, quickly expanding to all floors of the building.
Owner John Joseph Seitz had worked his way up to become a partner in Creelman Bros. Typewriter Company. In 1903, he reorganized the business as the United Typewriter Co. Limited which sold the popular Underwood typewriter. Diversifying, he started the Peerless typewriter ribbon company and acquired another ribbon outfit named Newsome and Gilbert. Peerless remained at 214 King Street East for 35 years, leaving in 1956 when the Safety Supply Company moved in. After the Safety Supply company left in 1992, the building underwent renovations and became a retail building. Furniture stores Up Country Canada, then InDesign, were the building’s first retail tenants. Currently it houses a contemporary furniture design store, Design Within Reach or DWR.
