WHAT’S IN A NAME?
– By Randy Ray and Mark Kearney
I f you have rugs on your floors, a washer and dryer in the
laundry room, if you use the internet or have bought, sold
or renovated a home, you’ve likely crossed paths with people
named LePage, Rogers, Inglis, Leon and Alexanian.
Their names are familiar and many homeowners use their
products and services but how much do we know about the
people behind them?
Join us for a walk through your home to learn about
innovative Canadians who are a bigger part of your home
life than you might think!
• If you purchased your abode through Royal LePage Real
Estate Services, you’ve dealt with the company started by
A.E. LePage. The Charlottetown native set himself apart
from other agents by paying close attention to his clients’
needs. He called himself a “bungalow specialist” and claimed
to be the first agent to place descriptive ads in newspapers.
He died in 1968 and 16 years later, his company and Royal
Trust merged their real estate brokerages to become Royal
LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.
• Your rug and other flooring might have come from
Alexanian’s Carpet and Flooring, a company started
by Aris Alexanian. A native of Turkey, he learned rug
weaving from family members and in 1922 settled in
Georgetown, Ontario. Eventually, he began working in
the carpet and rug industry and in 1925 opened his first
store in Hamilton under the name Alexanian’s Oriental
Rug Company. Alexanian remained active in carpeting
until he died at age 60, when his company ran retail outlets
in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Kitchener. Three of his sons
became involved in the company and a third generation
later joined. Today, Alexanian’s has 20 locations.
• Much of your furniture could be from Leon’s, a company
launched in the early 1900s by Ablan Leon, a native of
Lebanon who settled near Welland, where he worked in a
factory and later sold clothing door-to-door. After squirreling
away his profits, he opened The A. Leon Company dry goods
business in 1909 to sell pants, blankets, shoes and linens.
One story says he got into the furniture business after
purchasing a mattress as a wedding gift for a son; another
has him buying a mattress for his wife’s birthday. Whatever
the case, the mattress was outside his store when a passerby
offered to buy it for more than Leon had paid, convincing
him that there was money to be made in furniture.
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Lots more online! www.silvergoldmagazine.ca
• If you’ve done laundry or cooked a meal, you’ve heard of
John Inglis. Since the end of World War II, his surname has
been a fixture on washing machines, clothes dryers, stoves,
refrigerators and dishwashers built by a later version of the
company he founded in 1859. Armed with metalworking
and patternmaking skills learned in England and Scotland,
Inglis moved to Guelph, and started Mair, Inglis & Evatt,
which built machinery for grist and flour mills. The
company moved to Toronto in 1881 but in 1899, with
the enterprise growing madly, Inglis died. His son William
took over and the firm began manufacturing marine steam
engines and waterworks pumping engines.
When William Inglis died in 1935, an American purchased
the company and eventually began manufacturing consumer
products, including home appliances. When the firm later
affiliated with a company that evolved into American-
owned Whirlpool Corporation, the product line changed
to wringer washers, and later, automatic washers, dryers,
dishwashers and fridges. In 2001, Inglis became known as
Whirlpool Canada Ltd.
• Next, take a look in your toolbox. That square-headed
Robertson screwdriver is the brainchild of Peter L.
Robertson, who dreamed up the idea in Milton. Apparently
Robertson cut his hand using a slotted screwdriver and
in 1908 created a screwdriver that gripped square-holed
screws better and prevented damage to work surfaces and
fingers. Robertson initially had trouble receiving financing
and turned down money from auto maker Henry Ford.
Instead, he set up a manufacturing plant in Milton, and by
the end of World War II, had 500 employees and screws
and screwdrivers that were popular worldwide.
That’s it for the tour,
so why not relax and
reach into the fridge
for a cool Molson’s ale
or some Kraft cheese?
Canadians are behind
these products too – but
that’s another story. •
Randy Ray and Mark
Kearney are the authors of
ten books about Canada,
including their latest release
“As the Years Go By:
Conversations with Canada’s
Folk, Pop, & Rock Pioneers”.
For more information, see:
www.triviaguys.com