Storyboards

In 1901, tailoring and the manufacturing of clothes was the second largest industry in Berlin, Ontario, after furniture and upholstered goods. Star Whitewear Manufacturing Co. manufactured bathing clothes, lingerie, bridal sets, and a variety of other clothes. The John Forsyth Company Ltd specialized in men’s shirts, as did the Williams, Greene & Rome Company.

Samuel James Williams established the Williams, Greene & Rome Company in 1881. In 1886, the company moved its plant from Toronto to Berlin when the company was officially incorporated. In the summer of 1914, Williams, Greene, & Rome was the first company to be contracted in the Waterloo Region to manufacture 10, 000 military service shirts.

(Waterloo Region Generations. “Charles August Ahrens.” www.generations.regionofwaterloo.ca; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912.; “Busy Berlin Jubilee Souvenir 1879,” published by the Berlin News-Record, https://ia600303.us.archive.org/24/items/cihm_02113/cihm_02113.pdf)

Waterloo Region developed initially as an agricultural center. While the region as a whole never lost this feature, by the outbreak of the First World War, key industrial centers had developed, particularly in Galt and Berlin. These two centers developed at a relatively similar pace between 1870 and 1900. Galt, in Waterloo South, was industrially dominant until the turn of the 20th century, when Berlin superseded Galt’s industrial capacity, power, and population. By 1901, there were 2,360 employees in Waterloo South, and 2,993 in Waterloo North in the industrial sectors.

Waterloo South continued to produce flour, dairy products, wood products, woolen goods, and machine parts, amongst other manufacturing. Waterloo North, particularly Berlin, began producing goods of another nature, including furniture, men’s and women’s clothes, gloves, leather, buttons, shoes and boots, as well as trunks. By 1911, Waterloo South had 5,899 employees working in their 116 manufacturing establishments; Waterloo North had 5,785 employees working in their 147 establishments – 120 of which were factories. Many of Berlin’s factories were granted contracts to produce goods for the war effort in the summer of 1914. Here are a few examples of businesses in “Busy Berlin.”

(Hayes, Geoffrey. Waterloo County: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Waterloo Historical Society, 1997,; McLaughlin, Ken. Made in Berlin. Kitchener: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum, 1989.; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume II and III. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912.; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume II and III. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902.; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91, Volume II and III. S.E.Dawson, 1893.; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81, Volume II and III. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883.; First Census of Canada, 1870-71 Volume II and III. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)