Canadian Furniture World and the Undertaker, November 1919, p42: "GRAMOPHONE FACTORY FOR ST. THOMAS. - Announcement has been made that another manufacturing company will be established in St. Thomas, Ont., in the near future. This industry will be known as "The St. Thomas Cabinets, Limited," and will manufacture gramophone cabinets, for which it is stated there is an unlimited market. The capital stock of $100,000 was subscribed in St. Thomas and it is expected they will employ 150 hands."
Talking Machine World, June 15, 1920, p. 183: "The announcement is made from the office of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association that many American firms are contemplating locating branch plants in the province. Among the industries that are seeking factory homes, preferably in the vicinity of Montreal, for shipping purposes, is that of Thos. A. Edison, Inc., of Orange, N. J. The company is considering the building of an extensive plant there and has sent a series of questionnaires to the Canadian Manufacturers' Association to secure information as to taxation, prices, duties, preferentials, etc."
Windsor Star, October 4, 1920, p. 5: "It is announced here that a new corporation, the Canadian Edison Phonographs, Limited, a branch of the great parent concern in West Orange, N.J., has been incorporated under provincial charter and will commence the manufacture of talking machines in the old Thomas Bros. plant here, at present occupied by St. Thomas Cabinets, Limited. It is expected that the first Canadian-made Edison phonograph will be turned out by June 1, 1921. Thomas A. Edison is president of the company and his son, Charles A. Edison, is chairman of the board of directors."
The Globe, October 12, 1920, p. 4: "EDISON'S SON AT ST. THOMAS - NEW PLANT THERE GIVES BANQUET TO THE CITY'S LEADERS
"The members of the City Council, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trade and a number of prominent city and county citizens and officials were the guests of the Canadian Edison Phonographs, Limited, at a banquet and entertainment given in the auditorium of the Engineers' building this evening, at which Charles Edison, son of Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Corporation, William Maxwell of Orange, N.J., Vice-President of the local concern and head of all the Edison phonograph industries, and several other officials, presided as hosts. Addresses were delivered by several of the visitors, the outstanding speeches being made by Mr. Edison and Mr. Maxwell, both of whom expressed themselves as seeing Canada as one of the most important sections of the globe. "It is because we believe in the future development of Canada and desire to get in on the ground floor that we have established our Canadian plant here," said Mr. Edison."
Talking Machine World, November 15, 1920, p. 121: "CANADIAN PLANT FOR THE EDISON - Canadian Edison Phonograph, Ltd., Just Organized, Purchases Large Cabinet Factory Building in St. Thomas, Ont., for Cabinet Manufacturing and Assembling Purposes
Edison dealers throughout Canada have expressed keen satisfaction as the result of an announcement, made by the Edison Laboratories, to the effect that the manufacture of Edison
phonographs in Canada will soon be a reality. A newly organized concern, known as the Canadian Edison Phonograph, Ltd., has concluded the purchase of a large factory building in St. Thomas, Ontario, known as the Thomas Bros. plant and occupied by the St. Thomas Cabinets, Ltd. It has arranged to purchase also the entire equipment of the latter concern and to install additional machinery with the expectation of making deliveries of some phonograph models as early as June 1. For the present, the new plant will be devoted entirely to the manufacture of phonograph cabinets and to assembling cabinets and phonograph mechanisms for the Canadian trade and possibly, at some future time, for the export trade for all parts of the British Empire. According to a statement made by the Edison Laboratories, it is not as yet possible to state what reductions in prices can be accomplished, and it is probable that it will be several months after production has begun before a new schedule of prices can be established, based on Canadian manufacture."
Canadian Furniture World and the Undertaker, November 1920, p. 52.
Talking Machine World, November 15, 1920, p. 121.
Thomas Brothers Ltd. Broom Factory, St. Thomas, Ontario, ca. 1905. Source: Elgin County Archives. From ca. 1920 to 1923, the complex was used by the Thomas Edison Co. as a phonograph factory.
Undated view of the old Edison plant in St. Thomas. Glass-plate negative. Source: Elgin County Archives.
Canadian Edison Phonographs, Limited - Stock Certificate No. 3, dated Nov. 20, 1920, signed by Thomas Edison.
Toronto Daily Star, December 23, 1920, p. 9. Image digitally enhanced by Hopkin Design.
The Globe, August 31, 1922, p. 14. This flagship store for Edison in Canada was eventually abandoned, but the painted wall sign for the Edison Shop remained on the building for several years after. Image digitally enhanced by Hopkin Design.
