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Clinton News-Record, 1987-01-28, Page 2Page 2—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1987 New Mews and featares book tells the piano factory. story By,Shelley McPhee Heist CLINTON - Many are familiar with bits of history from the local piano factory story. Now the complete 111 year history of Clin- ton's landmark industry has been recounted in a book written by D. Murray Draper. Mr. Draper can' consider himself an ex- pert on the story telling of the piano - company. In 1936 his father Caryl Draper purchased the business. Murray and his brother Bob were involved in the piano fac- tory from the beginning, aid as Murray wrote, ".... we shared the ups and downs of running a business." Murray earned 25 cents an hour in those early days on the job. He had just finished secondary school and was set to work dismantling old player pianos. He also recalled, "During the first years, there was no money for much needed repairs. Another one of my jobs was to place pails under the leaks in the roof. They had to be continually moved about as the roof was flat and the water made little rivers that headed for dif- ferent passages, and would end up dripping from new spots." In their 50 year association with the piano factory, the Draper family worked to carry on the successful tradition of quality craft- smanship that W.D. Doherty initiated when he first set up business in 1875. W.D. Doherty was a large man with a white beard. He was known for his "strength of character," an attribute which helped to make him one of the most suc- cessful businessmen of his time. He built the first organ factories, and, rebuilt them some 20 years later after fire destroyed the massive buildings. Before the devastating fire of 1898, the Doherty Company had the facilities to pro- duce 200 to 300 -organs per month. Business was booming, as Mr. Doherty reported in an interview with The Clinton News Era ' Newspaper."in 1886 we sent a large order of organs to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in London, England. There our organs were compared with others, and recognized as high class goods. This gave us a prestige not only in Great Britain but on the Conti- nent as well. Our celebrated salesman Mr. Clarry, remained in Liverpool and still has charge of our immense European trade." On February 1, 1898 the fire struck. Later, The New Era reported, "Had Mr. Doherty in the course of his business career swerved from this principle of producing on- ly goods of the highest excellence, or had he a courage that in any sense faltered, the fire which swept away his property on the first of February, 1898 would have destroyed his business and his aspirations. No flag would have been flying on the new building by the following May 14, 1898. The impressive rebuilding of the organ factory made the headlines in most newspapers across the nation. Mr. Draper wrote, "The old factory on Raglan Street burned down on February 1, 1898. Starting from there, Doherty had to get the land and make contracts for buildings and machinery. February and March are winter months, so all work was cold and miserable. The planning alone must have been im- mense as actually there were two wings and boiler room and engine room and dry kilns. Wells had to be dug to supply water for mor- tar etc. All materials had to come in by sreighs and wagons, and be handled by hand. There were no bulldozers or front-end loaders. The bricks came from a brick kiln north of Clinton. By the end of May, 1898, the buildings were finished in the space of 30 ac- tual working days. Then the machines were installed. Organ work must have started again by June as they were shipping by "August." By 1900 the Doherty Company was pro- ducing some 74 different kinds of organs. The company had an extensive European and Canadian market and retail outlets were established in Winnipeg, Calgary and London. The Encyclopedia Of Music In Canada noted, "In 1913 a grand piano was introduc- ed, and also a new standard design, the Clin- ton line. In 1915 the firm advertised that over 70,000 Doherty instruments were in use "throughout the civilized world." The same year Doherty closed its retail operations, planning to extend its wholesale trade. With Doherty's retirement in 1917, the firm was reorganized as Doherty Pianos Ltd. under the control of a group of businessmen, and thenceforth it manufactured, Doherty and Clinton pianos, reed organs, benches and stools. Bought in 1920 by "Sherlock Mann- ing" (Sherlock and Manning were former Doherty employees), it continued to operate under its own name. Though head offices were moved to London, Ontario, factories remained in Clinton and increased produc- tion to 2,500 instruments a year." Murray Draper's account of the history of the piano and organ factory is filled with in- teresting facts and stories gleaned from countless sources. There are newspaper ac- counts, excerpts from factory record books, work outlines and factory rule books, let- ters, photographs, catalogues and journals. The remarkable story of the piano and organ industry in, Clinton is told in the tragedies and triumphs that were en- countered by the business. There was a second fire in 1901, and another in 1905, both resulting in major losses. There were the boom years from 1925-1928 SOLID PINE AND OAK COLLECTION FACTORY SALE JANUARY 1ST TO 31ST ONMO HE MAIN STREET OF DUBLIN 345°2250 OPEN DAY TO SATURDAY 9:30.6:030 THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT 1 1NTIL 9:00 1 when player pianos were the major item. Then came the depression years, "... in 1929 sales plummeted. Caryl Draper (my father) was the superintendent. The men were near- ly all laid off and only two or three remained to do minimum maintenance and continue making players from the materials on hand... I was going to school at the time and if my dad wanted a person to work for a day or so, I would go on my bike to tell the man when to report. Even if there was work for half a day, no worker.ever refused me." The business survived, while some 14 other piano factories in Canada were put out of business by the depression. Sherlock Manning was one of the five that remained. In time, the organ business dwindled. Mr. Draper wrote, "...the organ became plainer in style as in truth the fancy ones were ex- cellent dust collectors and the housewife got tired of dusting them." The last style of organ was called the suitcase -organ, a four octave, (49 key) in- strument that could be folded up and carried like a suitcase. It was used primarily by missionaries. "Many of the smaller boats used during the 1939 war had such an organ. We would get orders from Africa and I remember the organs had to be treated for termites. The last shipments for some reason went to Trinidad. Even these soon were discon- tinued as the market was small and supplies were hard to get in small amounts. I regard myself as the last of the reed -organ builders as I built and tuned the last 30 that were made. "During the war, of course, there was no dealing with Germany so getting reeds was a problem. The company advertised for old reed organs and over 200 were bought. The reeds were cleaned and used and sometimes the keys would also be rebuilt and, put into new organs. Today there is a big demand for the old organs and it seems a pity that those 200 lovely old cases were destroyed." The original Doherty home too suffered its share of blows. In 1939 the beautiful red brick home was turned into apartments. However, since that time owners have endeavored to restore the home to its original magnificence. Changing times and new innovations also plagued the piano manufacturing business. There was less money available to buy pianos, the popularity of the gramophone reduced sales. "... As time passed, each year seemed to bring out something that gobbled up the available money. There were stereos and hi-fis and tape recorders; sound systems flooded the market. Cars, of course were big competitors for the dollars. In more modern times are videos and home movies, and even such unconnected pro- ducts as snowmobiles and swimming pools. " Still, the W.D. Doherty legacy carried on. The Draper family played an integral role in the piano factory for well over half a century. Caryl Draper bought the business in 1936. He died in 1968 after'56 yearsin the business. He left IN shares to his sons, Murray and Bob. As well, the Heintzmarr piano name was now associated with the Clinton in- dustry, William Heintzman having purchas- ed interests from Dudley Pegg in 1967. A story of the piano factory in Clinton can- not be completely recounted without men- tioning the name of Joe Reid. "After the war, another man came on the scene who turned out to be a tower of strength for the company. He was Joe Reid, a Scotsman. who had served in the Far East. He was hired as office manager, and from day one until he died, he ran a proper office and put everything he could into the business, as if he owned it. Over the years he earned the respect of all who dealt with him." The 1970s proved to be tumultuous years for the piano factory. In 1970 sales were good and staff totalled about 40. By 1978 the Clinton factory closed as the Heintzman Company went into receivership. In an ef- fort to save the struggling business, the Sherlock -Manning manufacturing line was moved to the Heintzman factory in Hanover and the 36 employees at the Clinton plant were laid off. Murray and Bob Draper and Joe Reid were not to be defeated. They formed a new company, Draper Brothers and Reid and bought all the Clinton buildings, and started producing parts for the Heintzman pianos. "The factory never really quit the piano, business. We started off by rehiring five of our old staff. Then we sold the long building, as it was too big to maintain and we needed mqney badly?. The year 1979 was good for business, but by 1980 Heintzman was .in receivership. Draper Brothers and Reid bought back all - the the Sherlock Manning equipment and stock, and the rights to make Sherlock Manning pianos. Despite serious financial limitations, Murray and Bob Draper and' Joe Reid persevered in their efforts to keep the Sherlock Manning Piano name alive. "Our applications for an Ontario govern- ment loan were turned down mainly because of our ages - in our early 60s, they thought we were too old to tackle such a ven- ture. Later the government came up with an offer, so tough that we rejected it with no hesitation. I often think of those days when the government was throwing money away, and preaching the benefits of encouraging small t usiness. We were after a loan, others were getting gifts." By 1983, Draper Brothers and Reid had produced its 1,000th piano, however, again success seemed to be followed by upheaval. A Toronto company proposed to purchase the business. The three partners seriously considered the offer. Still, despite concerns about their age, their poor health and no heirs to carry on the business, the three men turned down the deal. "They made an offer so full of deals and confusing legal propositions that we just gave them a flat no." Another deal was proposed in 1984, by another group headed by Grant Clark of Toronto. The business was sold, and Murray and Bob Draper and Joe Reid continued to operate the business for the Toronto corporation. Joe Reid died in January 1985. Murray and Bob Draper retired from the business in November 1985. "I go over to the factory once in a while, for after 50 years it had become a habit. Our dad started in 1911 so that at least one of us was always there for a period of 74 years. I don't miss the work too much, but I do miss the old members of the staff who are gradually leaving and being replaced by strangers, who are unaware of what we all went through." Murray Draper's story of the Clinton piano factory tells of the men and women, who for more than a century put their heart and soul into a business that saw both the best of successes and the greatest of defeats. It is a history, Mr. Draper writes, that was based on the philosophy of W.D. Doherty, "whose perseverance kept it going in the face of great difficulties." W.D. The Story of Doherty and Sherlock Manning By D. Murray Draper. Printed by Clinton Commercial Printers. $9 per copy. Available at the Clinton Com- mercial Printers and the Clinton News - Record. 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