The Perfection Stove Company
An American Branch Factory
Sarnia, Ontario
By Lorne Barnes FCNRSThe first official mention regarding the intent to build a branch factory of the Cleveland
Metal Products Company was September 3, 1913. The company produced the Perfection Stoveand had previously marketed its stoves through the Montreal Branch of Imperial Oil. Thecompany marketed its products through Standard Oil in the United States, so it only made sense
to use Imperial Oil in Canada as Standard Oil was the parent company. The postal cover pictured
below shows the Perfection was marketed as early as March 13, 1909 in Canada.

Mr. Ramsay, a representative of the Cleveland Metal Products Company was introduced
to the Councillors of the Town of Sarnia at a meeting held on September 3, 1913, to discuss thepossibility of a branch factory in Sarnia. Ramsay mentioned theMueller Company had given his company valuable informationand terms to purchase a portion of its property. The parcel ofland was approximately nine to ten acres and situated on thesouth side of Clifford Street, extending west of the Christina
Street intersection to the eastern rail allowance of the Pere
Marquette Railway.
The terms of the stove company were simple, it would
locate in Sarnia only if a sewer line was constructed and an
adequate fresh water supply to meet the needs of the plant fromthe town’s water works were also constructed. If these
conditions could be met the company would begin construction
as soon as possible to have the manufacturing capability by thespring of 1914.
The Town of Sarnia and the Perfection Stove Company
Limited came to terms on September 8, 1913 and signed anagreement. The company purchased the land and began to construct a 14,000 square-foot facility.
Above left is documentation of William Edwin Beresford stating his role as Secretary-Treasurerof the newly built Perfection Stove Company facility in Sarnia.

Beresford was not only the Secretary-Treasurer he was also the General Manager andoverseer of the day-to-day business of the plant. Below is a letterhead showing his position asGeneral Manager.

Sometime after opening the new facility the company issued a “good for one cup ofcoffee” token for the production facility cafeteria, pictured below.

Perfection/ Stove/ Co.
904-I-A
Good For/ One/ Cup Of Coffee

Mueller/ Sarnia/ Canada (counterstamped 1527) L.I.
4 (Counterstamped 5301)

A-R-25½

B-R-29½

The information the Mueller Company would have passed on to the Perfection Stove
Company would have been the deal struck with Alderman Joseph B. Dagan, a token issuer
himself. The goal of Dagan was to reach a population of more than 10,000; this would enable
Sarnia to have city status and collect more benefits from the province.
Dagan was elected mayor and took office in January 1914. He was the last mayor for theTown of Sarnia and the first mayor for the City of Sarnia. His goal had been realized with theopening of the Mueller Company and the positive view of Sarnia projected to the Perfection
Stove Company. Between the two companies more than eight hundred jobs would be created,
more than enough to gain Sarnia city status. This new standing as a city would attract morecompanies to the City of Sarnia over the next forty years, creating thousands of jobs andprosperity for the rest of the 20th century.
Before Dagan, pictured below right, was involved in local politics he was a tailor inSarnia, as well as a numismatist, belonging to the American Numismatic Association as member
number 351.

J.B. Dagan/ A.N.A. 351/ Sarnia
McColl 822 J.B. Dagan/ High Class/ Tailor/ Sarnia, Ont.

A-R-28On February 23, 1914, the town council met. Mr. LeSueur proposed a motion on behalfof the Sarnia Street Railway company which was eager to extend its
Christina Street line from its present southerly termination southward toClifford Street and the Pere Marquette Railway tracks. The intention wasto construct the line on the west side of Christina Street and north side ofClifford Street. Stating this would be a great convenience to the employeesof the Mueller Company, Perfection Stove Company and Imperial Oil. TheMotion carried.
There was no difference that
distinguished the Canadian from theAmerican stoves as they both had a trade
mark triangle placed on the front. The
1916 postal cover to the left shows thetriangle just above the handle. This cover also shows the stoves were still being distributed by
the Imperial Oil Company.
By 1918, the Perfection Stove Company was distributing its stoves in Ontario, as seen on
the cover below. The company of Wood, Alexander & James was advertising the stoves on theback of its covers. The postal cover shows the plate below the handle states “Made in Canada”.

Above is the cover plate on the author’s Perfection 525. Notice the “Made In Canada” left and right ofrivets. Below right is a picture of the Perfection 525, circa 1915.

Above left is a 1920 pamphlet showing the stoves were made and distributed by thePerfection Stove Company of Sarnia, Ontario. By 1920, we now know the company had offices
in Sarnia and Montreal, as well as warehouses in Sarnia, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
A 1922 deed of the Perfection Stove Company shows Thomas C.
McCobb as Vice-President. According to an American passport application
filed by Thomas C. Mc Cobb in February 1925, he was born in Pennsylvania
and was an accountant for Imperial Oil in Toronto from August 1915 toAugust 1917, and Sarnia from August 1917 to the date he filed for an
American passport in 1925. It appears Imperial Oil had much influence overthe day-to-day affairs of the Perfection Stove Company. Thomas C. Mc Cobb
is pictured to left.
Things were winding down for the Perfection Stove Company by 1925. The last listing ina Sarnia directory for the Perfection Stove Company is 1927. In 1926, its equipment wasauctioned off and in 1927 the John Goodison Thresher Company purchased the property onClifford Street.
The 1930 USA census shows William Beresford living in Georgia, USA and stillworking for the Perfection Stove Company.

Pictured above is a 1920 Imperial Oil Limited cover posted from Saint John, NB. This
cover shows Imperial Oil stating it had branches in all cities and was still marketing anddistributing the Perfection Stove Company products in October 1920.

Pictured above is a 1911 Imperial Oil Co. Limited Wholesale Only cover from Montreal.
This is a nice example of an advertising cover marketing the “Perfection” as the best oil stove on
the market and giving the reasons way.
At this time I’m not able to ascertain if the Perfection Stove Company continued tomaintain a warehouse or warehouses in Canada after the plant closure. In all likelihood Imperial
Oil continued to market the stove in Canada after the Perfection Stove closed and sold its
Canadian assets.
Sources:ancestry.ca
Canada Census 1921
Lambton County Archives. Wyoming, Ontario
Sarnia Historical Society Web Page
USA Census 1910 - 1930
Vernon, Henry & Son. Various years 1916-1927. Vernon’s Sarnia and Point Edward Directories.
Various editions of the Sarnia Observer.

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