The Mount Forest hardware store owner advertised cheap goods and value for money. But he didn’t set out to please all his customers – only the deserving ones
by CAMPBELL CORK
In 1993, Ron Linseman of Arthur Township, Wellington County, brought me a little catalogue which was published in 1915 by the Hendershot Hardware store of Mount Forest.
Every one of the 500 items listed in Hendershot’s catalogue has one thing in common besides carrying a cheap price. They were all “Armstrong” models – human-powered. Not a single one of the 500 items has an electric cord or a rechargeable battery pack. Not the drills, not the vacuum cleaners nor the stoves, the grinders nor even the wringer washers.