I saw this at a Gallery 15 auction and fell in love with this.
This nursery chair was chosen from page 370 of a Sears Roebuck Catalogue in 1908 and was made from ‘selected reeds’. They had previously purchased one made from willow reeds at 69 cents but it was not up to the job. So they upped their quality, and this one was exceptionally strong and durable. It was a convenient article for the home and was appreciated by most mothers at a fine price of 98 cents.
The chair was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lavery of the Palgrave General store and used by their son Roy born in 1902 who later founded the Woodbridge Advertiser in 1935 His brother Ivan was born in 1906. The Palgrave General Store was operated by Lizzie McMahon before the Laverys owned and operated it as a general store.
James McCauley built the first store in 1877 in partnership with Charles Brown. It was later purchased by R. J. Lavery, whose son, Roy, turned it from a general store to a printing shop, where he published the Wood- bridge Advertiser each week. Roy Lavery died in 1966 and now the editor and publisher of the weekly paper is his younger brother, Ivan, a well known Peel County journalist. Strange as it may seem, Roy Lavery did not change the store in any way when he decided to go into the printing business, and even today, two long shop counters run from end to end in the front office and the shelves that line the walls behind them are still there. They are no longer loaded with merchandise, but are packed tightly with old copies of The Advertiser and instead of the smell of freshly ground coffee greeting you, the pungent, exciting odor of printers’ ink assails the nostrils as one pushes through the old door where a small shop-keeper’s bell warns of your entrance. F. Morrow ran another general store at the same time Mr. McCauley did, and D. Walker was the first black- smith who was followed later by Nathan Henderson. George Lavery was the local weaver and Richard St. John was a wheelwright who used to make beautifully wrought hand sleighs for the village children
On the afternoon of January 7, a Tuesday, Norm Barton was busy as usual at his general store on the west side of Highway 50. Also as usual, his customers were chatting about the weather, but on this day there was more than the usual to discuss.
Over the weekend a huge snow storm had closed roads everywhere, shutting down churches and social gatherings, even train service. Now it was bitterly cold, with freezing temperatures made worse by gale force winds. Barton was serving a customer that afternoon when, passing a door, he felt the instant stab of fear that comes with the smell of smoke where it’s not supposed to be. There was fire in the basement.
Handheld extinguishers abounded in Palgrave – for good reason – but at Barton’s store it was already too late for them. So an immediate call for help went to Bolton’s fire brigade. That’s when Barton got a second shock. Bolton refused to send its brigade. A desperate second call went out to Caledon East. This time the response was positive, but there was to be no hope for the Barton store – or its neighbours.
Roads blocked by snow meant Caledon East’s willing brigade, instead of rushing due east and then north, had to go south to Sandhill to find an open road to Highway 50. It took them over an hour to reach Palgrave. The forced detour did have a side benefit, though. When they turned north in downtown Bolton with siren wailing, the Bolton brigade changed its mind and soon followed– read more here..
lindaseccaspina 