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Clarence Street
Between King Street and Dundas Street.
Cigar Factory J. McNee & Company, manufacturers
Reid Brothers & Company
John McNee ran a cigar factory out of 381-383 Clarence St. from 1888-1935. The company manufactured cigars out the location during those years. McNee, J. & Sons are still listed in the City of London Directories as owning the building after 1935 but information about the cigar factory is no longer included in 1940 and after. Below is a website that contains information about Cigar Factories that have been in Canada over the years. There is a list of Canadian factories from 1883-1920 and divisions organize them. The Cigar Factory run by H. McNee is listed under division 32 for London, Ontario. From this website it easy to see which places in Canada had the most cigar factories.
This shoe manufacturer began at 389 Clarence St. in 1935 and continued to operate from there until 1950.
Stevens Clarke & Stevens, Shoemakers
Manufacturers
Before the 1880s, until during the 1940s-1960s downtown London, Ontario contained a large amount of manufacturers. Between the 1940s-1960s the area changed and retail shops and services began to operate out of the buildings. Continue to the next page titled 'Retail' for information on the different shops and services. Below, provides names, years and websites about the manufacturing businesses that operated out of buildings in the area.
Jones C. F. & Company
Reid Brothers & Company was a stationary manufacturing company that operated out of London, Ontario during the 1800s into the early 1900s. Over the years, the company operated out of a variety of buildings in the downtown London area. In 1881 the company operated out of 389 Clarence St. Fire Insurance Plans of the City of London show that the factory was a blank book factory and paper bag makers. The company moved and expanded in 1888 to 391-393 Clarence St. and later, in 1892 the company expanded further to 395 Clarence St. During the period where the company operated out of 391-395 Clarence St. the first floor was used for company operations, the second for binders, third making paper boxes and the fourth for storage. This information can be found the Fire Insurance Plans from 1892-1922. The company continued to operate on this street until 1923. Unfortunately the main building for this company's operations, 391 Clarence St. burned down in 1923.
Robinson Corset Company
Robinson Corset Company operated out of 375 Clarence St. from 1897-1905. Close to the same time period, three other corset manufacturing companies operated of 387 Clarence St. The names and years they were in operation are Canada Featherbone Corset Company 1892-1905, Reid Featherbone Manufacturing Company 1910-1915, and Warren Featherbone Company 1915-1923. In the early 1900s, it was common to make the boning for corsets from turkey and chicken bones. If you are interested in learning more about corset manufacturing in the early 1900s continue to the timeline on the page 'Featherbone Place.'
London Shoe Company Limited
Jones C. F. & Company manufactured jewelry out of 380 Clarence St. from 1915-1930. Depending on the year either whol jewelers or manufacturers is written next to this company in the City of London Directories.
The London Shoe Company Limited manufactured shoes out of 387-389 Clarence St. from 1935-1960. E. & R. Shoe Stores operated out of the same addresses from 1945-1955. Another business dealing with shoes that was on Clarence St. was Savoy Shoe Repair. This business worked out of 404 Clarence St. from 1925-1930 and again from 1950-1955. Another shoe repair business was run by Serratore, J. from 1935-1945 in the same building. Serratore Shoe Repair is still in operation in a different location not too far Clarence St., 355 Wellington St., here is the website.
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