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Labatt’s history home at Western archives

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With what will certainly become the cornerstone of its archive collection, The University of Western Ontario recently welcomed the documented history of the Labatt Brewing Company, bringing together more than 160 years of one of Canada’s most significant collections of historic corporate materials. The Labatt Brewing Company Archival Collection, valued at more than $7.6 million, is now the largest single gift housed in the Archives and Research Collection Centre at the D. B. Weldon Library, joining similar such documents from Canadian Tire in the ever-growing business-related archival records already stored at Western.

“I think it’s safe to say this has put Western in the forefront of Canadian business archives, there is no question,” says Robin Keirstead, Western archivist. “Just with the sheer amount of information, its richness and the fact that now, in some areas, people will be able to compare (with Canadian Tire) when it comes to media and print advertising, for example, and the different areas of commercial activities.”

Until four years ago, the material Labatt’s gathered since its founding – along with materials collected via acquisitions of smaller Canadian breweries over the years – resided in thousands upon thousands of boxes, drawers and filing cabinets across the country. ‘Project Dusty,’ as affectionately branded by Labatt’s, brought those disparate pieces together. The company, along with professional archivists, gathered, catalogued, itemized and organized virtually all its irreplaceable corporate documents.

“It’s partly just the sheer volume,” says Keirstead, adding the collection’s 2,600 boxes set side by side would stretch more than five TD Waterhouse football fields. Add to that another 50,000 photos and illustrations, along with thousands of audio and visual materials, and the enormity of the collection emerges. Amongst some of the collection, the artifacts include John Labatt’s personal letter book (1883-1906) containing company correspondence; a brewery book (1884-1895) providing details of daily production and yearend summaries; a stereoscopic slide viewer (1950s) used to train staff to identify aluminum can defects; draft minutes of the first Board of Directors meeting (1911); and the certificate of registration of the ‘Blue’ trademark.

The collection provides interesting details on key phases in Labatt’s corporate history, including the origins of John Labatt’s brewery in London, its growth into a national brewer and acquisition by Belgian-based Interbrew. Labatt’s also donated $200,000 to assist Western in digitizing portions of the collection, which will help preserve and make key content of the collection more accessible.

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