The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2020 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. My theme is...
Ancestor Occupations
OWNER OF COATWELL PAINT & VARNISH
Sarah Myrtle (Sadie) Mavor, nee King, my maternal grandmother, was born in 1894 in Montreal, Quebec. During the depression she and her children were living with her widowed mother while her veteran husband found work in the United States. Sadie was fortunate to have employment as the secretary-treasurer at the Coatwell Paint & Varnish Co Ltd on Nazareth Street. She had that job for many years, even after the Second World War.
Coatwell Paint & Varnish, 147 Nazareth, Montreal
In 1935 Cyril Montague Rice, early in his career as an inks expert, was issued a patent, in conjunction with the Coatwell Paint & Varnish Co, for an apparatus he invented for applying colours to silk screen.
The company sold paints, varnishes, furniture polish, wax, removers, etc and were listed in a many trade publications and directories.
In about 1950-1951 the owner, Fred Shackell became ill and decided to sell the company. Sadie had saved money from her inheritance after her father died, so she and another employee Victor Levesque, bought the Coatwell Paint & Varnish Co.
Sadie and Victor
I remember hearing my grandmother telling my mother that her company was robbed... again!
In 1965 the land where the company building stood was expropriated by the city to build a freeway before the opening of Expo 67. Sarah and Victor decided to take the money and retire, rather than move.
Aux fins de l'autoroute proprement dite, la ville exproprie les immeubles suivants:
3- dans le quadrilatere bornés par les rue Nazareth, Duke, William et Ottawa
4- dans le quadrilatere bornés par les rues Wellington, Nazareth, Ottawa and Duke
5- dans le quadrilatere bornés par les rues Nazareth, Wellington, Duke and Brennan
6- dans le quadrilatere bornés par les rues Wellington, Nazareth, Brennan and Dalhousie
For the purposes of the highway itself, the city expropriates the following buildings:
3- in the quadrilateral bounded by Nazareth, Duke, William and Ottawa streets
4- in the quadrilateral bounded by Wellington, Nazareth, Ottawa and Duke streets
5- in the quadrilateral bounded by Nazareth, Wellington, Duke and Brennan streets
6- in the quadrilateral bounded by Wellington, Nazareth, Brennan and Dalhousie streets
My grandmother retired at the age of 71 and enjoyed many years with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Great granddaughters kissing Sadie on her 90th birthday Feb 1984
Sadie died in May 1984 three months after her 90th birthday.
What a great name for a paint company! Times were tough that families had to split across places to survive financially.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the name when growing up. Only when I started painting my own house did I appreciate it!
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