Waterloo Public Library Digital Collections

Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Office Staff and Excise Officers, 1929

Description

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

Group photograph of the office staff and excise officers of the Seagram company in 1929.

Front row, left to right: Jim Cheseldene; Irvin (Jigger) Brown; Nash MacDonald; William Birch; (?); Lillian Struke; Beulah Beese; Hilda Schmidt; Phil Henrich; Mr. Elger; Charles F. Thiele; Wilf Rutsch.

Back row, left to right: (?); William Weichel; Dan Elger.

Notes

In 1857 William Hespeler, a merchant, and George Randall, a contractor, built what was known as Granite Mills in Waterloo, Ontario. A subsidiary to the mill was a small distillery known as the Waterloo Distillery. The business also included a dry goods store near the corner of King and Erb St. in Waterloo.

In 1863 Hespeler and Randall took in William Roos, and in 1864 William Hespeler hired young Joseph Emm Seagram. By 1870 Seagram had bought out Hespeler's interests and the company name became "George Randall and Company." In 1878 Seagram bought out Randall, and Seagram and Roos operated as "Randall and Company" until 1881 when they changed the name to "Seagram and Roos."

In 1883 Seagram bought out Roos and became the sole proprietor, using the names "Joseph Seagram Flour Mill and Distillery Company" and "Joseph E. Seagram, Miller, Distiller". Seagram incorporated the company in 1911, changing the name to "Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Limited." By 1919 when Seagram died, he had built his Waterloo distillery into a major exporting company and his brand names were widely known. In 1928 the Bronfman family acquired the distillery and amalgamated it with their company, Distillers Corporation Limited. The Waterloo distillery was shut down in 1990.

Date of Original