Photo Record
Images
![[Smiles n' Chuckles employees]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/pastperfectonline/images/museum_44/058/thumbs/2013067001016.jpg)
Metadata
Collection |
Waterloo Region Museum |
Object ID |
2013.067.001.016 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Title |
[Smiles n' Chuckles employees] |
Description |
Black and white photograph with a wide white border. Eight employees - seven women and one man - are posed outside in front of the Smiles n' Chuckles building. All are wearing street clothes - skirts and blouses for the women and a suit and tie for the man. The group is standing in the portico of the building and there are columns on either side. There is a large crack in the cement steps. Vines are growing up the sides of the building. Marie Hummel is standing on the far left in the middle row; Helen Stahle is on the far left in the front row; Jenny Koebel is in the centre of the front row. The photograph is out of focus. The reverse of the photograph is blank. No photographer's mark. |
Date |
1947 |
Date |
1953 |
Copyright |
Expired |
History |
Edna (Stahle) Johnston (1918-2021) and Helen Stahle (1924-1964) were sisters of Bernice Stahle (1926-2017), who married Milton DeMeuleneare (1923-2013) in 1949. All three sisters were daughters of George H. Stahle (1873-1949) and Caroline Ruppel (1880-1950). Both Edna and Helen worked at the Smiles n' Chuckles factory in the 1940s and 1950s. Smiles 'n Chuckles candies/chocolates were made in Berlin/Kitchener beginning in 1916. The company was originally called the Metcalfe Candy Company, and it was founded by George R. Metcalfe (1865-1936). The company was located at 164 Weber Street East. George was a son of William Metcalfe (1823-1895) and Isabella Roy (1824-1903) who owned Wm. Metcalfe and Company, a grocery store at 43 King Street West in Berlin. William Henry Hamblin (1871-1953) began working for the candy company around 1918. By the early 1920s, William is listed as the president of the company. The company name was changed to Hamblin-Metcalfe Limited around 1927. William's son, Gordon Hamblin (1896-1979), joined the company in the late 1920s. He later becomes president of the company, followed by his son, Robert "Bob" Hamblin (1927-2010). The company was renamed Smiles 'n Chuckles around 1947, after their popular brand of chocolates. Smiles 'n Chuckles was purchased by Laura Secord in 1972 and production ceased in Kitchener. The factory at Cameron and Weber Street East in Kitchener was demolished in 1976. |
Search Terms |
Smiles 'n Chuckles Limited Hamblin-Metcalfe Limited |
People |
Hummel, Marie Koebel, Jenny Stahle, Helen |