A BRIEF RECORD OF A LONG HISTORY

THE ONTARIO GLOVE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LIMITED commenced business in rented premises located over the Rosedale Creamery on Benton Street in the heart of Kitchener, Ontario.

The company was registered federally in 1915 even though the first sales journal entry dates back to December 23, 1913 with total recorded sales of $13.67 during that first month of business.

ONTARIO GLOVE was founded by Robert Cornelius Diefenbacher and Charles A. Richardson as a company committed to manufacturing high quality leather glove products for the Canadian industrial and retail marketplace. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Robert Hall More became a one-third owner in the glove company. Mr Diefenbacher and Mr. Richardson both died in 1925 and Mr. More acquired full ownership of ONTARIO GLOVE at that time.

Mr. Diefenbacher obtained his glove experience while working at the Brown and Erb Glove Co. and Tannery on Gaukel Street.

Prior to joining the glove industry, Robert More was part owner of a spice milling business in Toronto until the factory was destroyed by the huge lakefront fire in April 1905. Mr. More and his family then purchased a farm in Hawkesville, Ontario that they farmed until moving to Kitchener in 1914 where Mr. More owned a small pharmacy. Subsequently he worked in a sugar beet factory located on the Grand River at the outskirts of Kitchener.

After the initial start-up on Benton Street, the company's first owned manufacturing facility was a converted two storey house at 253 King Street East in downtown Kitchener where the company moved in 1921.

By the early twenties, the company had grown significantly and was doing well financially but as the economic depression of the late twenties hit, the company fell on very difficult times and was fortunate to be able to survive the unprofitable years from 1931 through until 1937. In 1933 the company had total sales of $19,267.06 but produced a net financial loss of $1325.28. Securing new business opportunities in England, Belgium, Holland, Italy, South Africa, and Trinidad was a critical part in helping to ensure that the company survived through the tough times of the depression years.

In 1948, George Kenneth More, one of four children (two sons and two daughters) of Robert Hall More, and William Skelton, a son-in-law, each purchased a 50% ownership in Ontario Glove. Robert More maintained a personal interest in the business until his death in September 1956 at the age of 80 years.

Ken More graduated from the University of Toronto in 1938 as one of two who were the first aeronautical engineers to graduate in Canada. Upon graduation, he joined the engineering design team at Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Co. in England to work on the design of the Hurricane fighter plane used in The Battle of Britain and then went on to Vickers Supermarine Co. as one of the designers of the Spitfire fighter plane and later the Attacker and the Swift. Upon returning to Canada he helped to work on the CF-100 and the Avro Arrow.

Bill Skelton, prior to joining Ontario Glove, held a key position at the Forsyth Shirt Co. in Kitchener. Over the years ONTARIO GLOVE acquired all or portions of four other glove companies: Storey Glove Co. of Acton in 1953; The Garfield Glove Co. Ltd. of Waterloo in 1956; Wright Glove Works Limited of Pembroke in 1962; Barrie Glove & Knitting Co. of Kitchener in 1968.

By 1957, the company needed a larger and more efficient building and as a result purchased and relocated to 25 Regina Street South in Waterloo, Ontario that provided 13,000 sq. ft. of space on three levels. (Coincidentally, Ontario Glove was the 100th company to move to Waterloo in the city's 100th year.)

The building at 25 Regina Street (formerly known as Queen Street) was built in 1886 by Richard and Rudolph Roschman to operate as a button manufacturing factory until its closure in 1946. Prior to Ontario Glove acquiring the factory, the property was owned by Duffus Plywood Ltd. In 1982 the building was designated as a City of Waterloo Heritage Landmark.

William Skelton died in 1964 at the age of 51 years and G. Kenneth More and his family acquired his financial interest in the company at that time. In 1981 a new 22,000 sq. ft. facility was constructed on a 2.2 acre site at 500 Dotzert Court in Waterloo.

In 1984 Ken More's two sons each acquired a 50% financial interest in the business. Robert Gregory More (born October 14, 1952) who joined the company in 1981 graduated from the University of Guelph in 1976 and completed an MBA from McMaster in 1981. Randall Frederick More (born May 28, 1949), who joined the company in 1983, graduated from the University of Waterloo in Engineering in 1973 and completed an MASc in 1982. Ken More remained active with his sons in the business until his retirement in 1985. Ken More died in 1994 at the age of 79.

R. Gregory More died tragically in February 1992 at the age of 39. The company remains third generation family owned and operated by Randall More and his family.

Glove products even to this day are produced by skilled leatherworkers. The leather must be selected for consistency in colour, thickness, suppleness, texture, and grain. Until the late seventies, leather gloves were cut by cutters using heavy weight dies and hand mallets. Cutting is now done using light weight dies and clicker machines. During the first years, wages paid to a cutter were $3.50 per week for normal working hours of 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Some of the types of leather include cowhide, horsehide, carpincho, deerskin, goatskin, and sheepskin. Much of the product, even to this day, continues to be sewn by sewing machine operators, many of whom work in their own homes with equipment provided by the company. To a large extent the technology utilized in leather glove production remains largely unchanged over the century. For the first sixty years of the company, most leather was tanned locally but since that time the hides and leather have been procured from all parts of the world including the United States, Australia, England, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, and China.

Although ONTARIO GLOVE was originally involved in the manufacture of premium quality leather glove products, it has increasingly over time branched into many new areas including the distribution of all types and styles of glove and hand protection products. In the eighties, the company embarked on a long term program to diversify into becoming a more complete full line distributor of personal industrial safety products.

Imported commodities are for the most part now being brought in from the United States, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Macau, Sri Lanka, and others.

The company owes much of its success to its original customer base comprised of many small, yet very loyal, independent retailers across many regions of Canada established through a network of highly respected sales agents. In addition to small retail stores, the company has expanded its customer base through the years to include major national retail chain stores, major international corporations, small industrial end users, industrial distributors, hydro and telephone utilities, and municipal, provincial, and federal governments.

In the early sixties, the company was responsible for introducing the first curling glove manufactured in Canada. In addition, the company was responsible for the design of the first chain saw safety glove produced in Canada. As well, many hydro and telephone utility linesmen products presently being used across Canada are from designs originally done by Ontario Glove.

The company is proud to be able to credit much of its success to the loyalty of many long serving employees. (Twelve present or retired employees have served the company continuously for more than 40 years, with three of those individuals having served for more than 50 years.)

Through its present management team, the company today remains committed to employing skilled Canadian workers to produce excellent quality glove products and to providing a wide range of customers with the highest valued industrial safety products and service available anywhere in Canada or the United States.