02/27/2025
An antique tale of TARIFFS...
Back in the 1910s and 1920s, The Toronto Pottery Company was located in the Bloor and Avenue Rd. area of Toronto....But, none of the product they sold was made in Canada. The Toronto Pottery Company distributed its crocks and housewares via hundreds of smaller stores snd vendors throughout Ontario and Eastern Canada but they were a wholly owned subsidiary of the Robinson Clay Product Company of Akron, Ohio.
All of the products sold by the Toronto Pottery Company were made in Akron Ohio and shipped to Toronto by the railroad car load. Their product was decently made, basic stoneware....the kitchen storage Tupperware of their day with a few decorative items thrown in for good measure.
The Canadian Government had placed a high tariff on these imported American housewares, but still the Toronto Pottery Company was able to undercut the pricing of the local producers of kitchen stoneware. Only four larger potteries remained in Ontario, mostly in the Hamilton area and they had a hard time competing with the Akron based company. Petitions to raise the tariffs fell on deaf ears in Ottawa and most of our local potteries closed their doors.
Built on a site with cheap local coal and clay, the Akron Ohio company had every advantage, including scale of operation, to flood our market and thrive, despite Canadian tariffs.
In the mid 1920s The Toronto Pottery Company rebranded itself locally as the Robinson Clay Company of Canada and it still exists today, importing clay building products for the construction trade.
Is there a moral to this bit of history?? Buying Canadian will be our mantra for a long road ahead but are we willing to sustain the inflation that could result?....let's hope we can navigate the complexities of neighborly trade and local production!!
