Photo Record
Images
![[Smiles n' Chuckles employees]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/pastperfectonline/images/museum_44/058/thumbs/2013067001018.jpg)
Metadata
Collection |
Waterloo Region Museum |
Object ID |
2013.067.001.018 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Title |
[Smiles n' Chuckles employees] |
Description |
Sepia tone photograph with a wide white border. Group of six female employees posed outside in front of an automobile. The automobile is parked in front of the Smiles n' Chuckles building. All of the women are wearing street clothes - skirts and blouses. There is a second automobile parked in front of the car they are leaning on. There is a house and two sheds in the background on the left. The portico and entrance to the building are behind the automobile. There is a large tree to the right of the portico. Jenny Koebel is standing third from the left with Helen Stahle on her right. Marie Hummel is seated on the front fender of the automobile. The photograph is slightly out of focus and the upper right corner is black and white instead of sepia. 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 |