Q & A

C.D. of North Vancouver, B.C. writes:

I have been trying to get some information about my Royal Winton souvenir china collection. I have emailed Royal Winton, but they are unable to assist. Of most interest to me is how and why were the subjects chosen and who supplied the photos. Also, who was the target market? The scenes are not all of interest to the standard tourist. i.e. Flin Flon Manitoba's smelter, Squamish BC's Mount Garibaldi, Espanola Ontario's K.V.P .Company. Any information will be appreciated.

We asked Bill Kime to respond:

I'm sorry that it has taken so long for me to answer your question, but I wanted first to consult with a colleague, who coincidentally was planning a trip to England, where she was to interview an elderly former employee of Royal Winton, who had served as secretary to the Export Director there.

Susan Scott is a researcher and writer and a genuine fountain of knowledge on a myriad of subjects, Royal Winton being one. She said:

"I spoke to Ivy Mayer who was the secretary to the Export Director Fred Seabridge briefly in 1938-1940. She left to do war work and came back after 1945 when she worked for Royal Winton for a number of years. She is now 83 but she vividly remembered the view-ware. She said that the customer supplied the views often in the form of photographs. Royal Winton then had these views engraved on copper plates and then into transfers. She said: “There were so many views that I feel as though I have been across Canada through all the views. I had to enter the order and the name of the view into the book before they went to the factory and one week we had so many orders that I had to take the lists home and work all weekend to get them all entered by Monday…Cassidy’s of Canada were huge customers of view ware and so was Enterprise Sales.

In the United States, John Roth started Jonroth Importers in 1909 and he was a huge importer of souvenir ware. He used a number of Staffordshire factories including Royal Winton.

Much of the souvenir ware sold in Canada was black and white transfers although there were certainly a number of colour transfers produced in the late 1940s and through the 1950s. In the 1953 Cassidy’s wholesale catalogue they offer a page of souvenir ware. “When ordering please provide a glossy photograph of the view you wish reproduced. Minimum order was 12 dozen assorted pieces.””

In addition to the seemingly endless variety of Canadian views (you have more than ninety different views your own collection) there are many American, Australian and New Zealand scenes also to be found. A noted American collection even includes three views from Bermuda. Ivy Meyer's recollections provide considerable insight into the scale of the operation, which relied upon orders, large and small, from all across the country, made largely through traveling salesmen or representatives. George Coales was one of these, coming to Canada around the turn of the century, when he became Grimwade's representative in 1903. His first trips were to Toronto, Quebec and St. John's, Newfoundland and in 1910, he finally ventured to Western Canada. He would go east every January and then west, and then repeat the journey again every summer. By the time he retired he had crossed the Atlantic more than sixty times and Grimwades was well-known throughout Canada.

As you have observed, alongside the several views of Niagara Falls, many of the scenes seem somewhat obscure. But for a large part of the population, unable to travel the world at the time, a view of the smelter at Kapuskasing might just have held a certain interest or appeal. Someone must have thought so. The minimum order of “12 dozen assorted pieces” required in 1953 would have allowed even a small store to get into the local souvenir business without making a large investment. Subjects such as Espanola's K.V.P Company and Flin Flon's H.B.M. & S. Co. Ltd., I can only assume, represent local businesses celebrating their success. Today, we do it all with tee-shirts.

Each piece would range in price between 10-20 dollars, although the value could jump if someone’s Inn was featured on an item and they wanted to purchase it.