Employee Stories
These are stories submitted by employees describing their time at Ernest Cousins Limited
Submitted by Pierre Gauvin
Bonjure Patrick,
Indeed, as far as I can remember as a child, my dad “Emile Gauvin” was a “Milkman” working for “Cousins”. I never knew for sure at what date he was hired but I do know that he was with Cousins when I was born and that was in 1936. As a matter of fact, in this photo of dad and I in the doorway of the cart, my age is indicated to be one year old. This then ties the photo to June of 1937: You may also recognize the partial logo of the would-be “Imperial Ice cream Co.” advertising on the left panel of the cart. Notice that the wheels at this time were still wooden spoked & wooden rims with a steel tire-band over top for wear control.
Indeed, as far as I can remember as a child, my dad “Emile Gauvin” was a “Milkman” working for “Cousins”. I never knew for sure at what date he was hired but I do know that he was with Cousins when I was born and that was in 1936. As a matter of fact, in this photo of dad and I in the doorway of the cart, my age is indicated to be one year old. This then ties the photo to June of 1937: You may also recognize the partial logo of the would-be “Imperial Ice cream Co.” advertising on the left panel of the cart. Notice that the wheels at this time were still wooden spoked & wooden rims with a steel tire-band over top for wear control.
However, in this next photo, which was taken later on (maybe 1943 or 44) we can now notice that the cart had become more of a wagon with inflated tubes and rubber tires. The number of this milk wagon (#9) is clearly identified but I do not remember any of specific horses’ names.
My earliest recall of dad’s typical daily routine starts with him going to bed around nine o’clock in the evening because the next morning he would have to get up at two, to begin his day. This meant him leaving the Hochelaga district by streetcar (about 3 transfers) to get to work, (175 colborne ave. in downtown Montreal).
At the time, the idea was to get to the stable, harness up, then load up the days’ cargo at the dairy and finally ride to wherever the first client was situated, as early as possible (generally 5:30 or 6:00 am). A quick start meant that one could finish the route by approximately noon. Of course finishing the route didn’t mean one was done, it only meant you were on your way back from wherever (maybe Park Extension or Montreal east, etc) with your horse and wagon. By the time one had reached the dairy, unloaded the empty bottles and unsold goods and eventually returned the horse & wagon to the stables, it would be anywhere between one and two in the afternoon. And still there was paperwork to be completed which I remember it being called the “HOTSTANDING”. This also lasted for a while and finally, by the end of the afternoon one would be on his way home… This was a usual day be it summer, winter, hot or cold. Of course in the winter one had to protect the cargo, which meant space heaters in the wagon with the added work of alternating cases of milk bottles within the cart throughout the day, so that it wouldn’t freeze…
Adding to this the ringing of doorbells and knocking on doors to let people know to bring in the milk before it froze, made for a heck of a tough day. Of course the penalty for those who paid no heed to the doorbell was a raised cap generally sitting about 3 inches above the bottle and stuck over something that looked like a “mellow roll” popping out of the bottle.
Later, by the time dad got home, he would have supper, read the paper and sometime fall asleep recuperating as best he could so as to do it all over again the next day. And by the way, this was a six-day week love affair…
It was only later, somewhere in the early fifties if I recall well, that a bylaw was passed prohibiting deliveries before seven o’clock in the morning. By then, dad had cumulated somewhat of a seniority and had of course alternated between all of the routes in the company in the process of replacing different milkmen on yearly vacations. With his growing knowledge, both of the city and the companies’ operations, he was at this point offered a promotion called, “Routes Inspector” This was a fancy name for “troubleshooter” and it involved filling in many loopholes in addition to supervising and training milkmen on the road. (I know that I still have his badge somewhere but will have to look around for a while to find it …)
After a while, the horse and wagon era became doomed to being replaced by motor trucks. And so, once again he was called upon to participate in this evolution, undertaking many special assignments along the way. Here again, I know that I have some of his old cumulated medals, them which, were distributed at the time as incentives for those truck drivers who would succeed a one year span, without accidents.
And how come I am familiar with all of this, well because I was a dairy rat from the time my legs were long enough to hop onto the wagon-step to ride with dad. Later, when I became old enough to ride with different drivers, I would on Saturdays, be anyone’s helper for hire, (about two dollars a day then and that was good money)
Eventually, one driver adopted me as a regular helper. Charles Ayotte was his name and his itinerary was Route # 20; serving Park Extension at the time.
By the age of thirteen, I was permitted to work in the ice cream facility of the company during my summer school break and that was also quite an experience for me. So you see, I as well, have a bit of history with Ernest Cousins Ltd.
The last I remember of Charley was that he fell sick just before the company embarked into one of the final stages of their existence. This was the, “selling out period” where all the routes were put up for sale and offered to the individual drivers (milkmen) who were interested in pursuing as individual business partners with Ernest Cousins Ltd. I do not remember what the actual package offer was, but I do remember that it resembled a concession.
In the midst of this turmoil, dad’s career was terminated as he opted not to buy into this new format. If my memory serves me well, this episode occurred somewhere in the mid fifties (1955 or 56) and this liquidating move was in fact the beginning of the end for company. Notwithstanding, dad did in fact devote to this company, some 20 years of his life…
I do hope this chapter of one man’s history will help you in your quest. The Internet is a wonderful media and I say “great” if we can use it to relate a bit of history to the world. I hope you will respond to this information, as it would be nice to know what your personal motivation is in this endeavor.
In my case it all started with me looking for information about the “Imperial Ice Cream” logo on the old family photo that I happened to be scanning. So thank you for completing my research with some of your info, and also, for inadvertently forcing these memories upon me.
À la prochaine, Pierre Gauvin
At the time, the idea was to get to the stable, harness up, then load up the days’ cargo at the dairy and finally ride to wherever the first client was situated, as early as possible (generally 5:30 or 6:00 am). A quick start meant that one could finish the route by approximately noon. Of course finishing the route didn’t mean one was done, it only meant you were on your way back from wherever (maybe Park Extension or Montreal east, etc) with your horse and wagon. By the time one had reached the dairy, unloaded the empty bottles and unsold goods and eventually returned the horse & wagon to the stables, it would be anywhere between one and two in the afternoon. And still there was paperwork to be completed which I remember it being called the “HOTSTANDING”. This also lasted for a while and finally, by the end of the afternoon one would be on his way home… This was a usual day be it summer, winter, hot or cold. Of course in the winter one had to protect the cargo, which meant space heaters in the wagon with the added work of alternating cases of milk bottles within the cart throughout the day, so that it wouldn’t freeze…
Adding to this the ringing of doorbells and knocking on doors to let people know to bring in the milk before it froze, made for a heck of a tough day. Of course the penalty for those who paid no heed to the doorbell was a raised cap generally sitting about 3 inches above the bottle and stuck over something that looked like a “mellow roll” popping out of the bottle.
Later, by the time dad got home, he would have supper, read the paper and sometime fall asleep recuperating as best he could so as to do it all over again the next day. And by the way, this was a six-day week love affair…
It was only later, somewhere in the early fifties if I recall well, that a bylaw was passed prohibiting deliveries before seven o’clock in the morning. By then, dad had cumulated somewhat of a seniority and had of course alternated between all of the routes in the company in the process of replacing different milkmen on yearly vacations. With his growing knowledge, both of the city and the companies’ operations, he was at this point offered a promotion called, “Routes Inspector” This was a fancy name for “troubleshooter” and it involved filling in many loopholes in addition to supervising and training milkmen on the road. (I know that I still have his badge somewhere but will have to look around for a while to find it …)
After a while, the horse and wagon era became doomed to being replaced by motor trucks. And so, once again he was called upon to participate in this evolution, undertaking many special assignments along the way. Here again, I know that I have some of his old cumulated medals, them which, were distributed at the time as incentives for those truck drivers who would succeed a one year span, without accidents.
And how come I am familiar with all of this, well because I was a dairy rat from the time my legs were long enough to hop onto the wagon-step to ride with dad. Later, when I became old enough to ride with different drivers, I would on Saturdays, be anyone’s helper for hire, (about two dollars a day then and that was good money)
Eventually, one driver adopted me as a regular helper. Charles Ayotte was his name and his itinerary was Route # 20; serving Park Extension at the time.
By the age of thirteen, I was permitted to work in the ice cream facility of the company during my summer school break and that was also quite an experience for me. So you see, I as well, have a bit of history with Ernest Cousins Ltd.
The last I remember of Charley was that he fell sick just before the company embarked into one of the final stages of their existence. This was the, “selling out period” where all the routes were put up for sale and offered to the individual drivers (milkmen) who were interested in pursuing as individual business partners with Ernest Cousins Ltd. I do not remember what the actual package offer was, but I do remember that it resembled a concession.
In the midst of this turmoil, dad’s career was terminated as he opted not to buy into this new format. If my memory serves me well, this episode occurred somewhere in the mid fifties (1955 or 56) and this liquidating move was in fact the beginning of the end for company. Notwithstanding, dad did in fact devote to this company, some 20 years of his life…
I do hope this chapter of one man’s history will help you in your quest. The Internet is a wonderful media and I say “great” if we can use it to relate a bit of history to the world. I hope you will respond to this information, as it would be nice to know what your personal motivation is in this endeavor.
In my case it all started with me looking for information about the “Imperial Ice Cream” logo on the old family photo that I happened to be scanning. So thank you for completing my research with some of your info, and also, for inadvertently forcing these memories upon me.
À la prochaine, Pierre Gauvin
Submitted by Pierre Gauvin
I have once again, let my mind do its thing and galore this morning I finally remembered where I had stored dad’s badge. Considering the size of this house and the amount of stuff and collections accumulated throughout the years, I deem this to be a feat. Anyway, what you really want to see is the photo so here it is
I have also included this second photo with added information so that you can visualize its actual size. I would think this badge was originally nickel plated on brass as you can see a spot that is worn and the brass is actually showing through. If my memory serves me well, I think he use to wear it over his left chest pocket… The other type (accident free driver) he wore on his cap. By the way I haven’t located those yet but I hope to, eventually.
In my first narrative I did tell you about the perils of winter where space heaters had to be used but then it occurred on me a couple of days ago, that we also had to protect the load in the summer, otherwise, products would have gone sour. And so, as you can well imagine, we were still a long way from refrigerated vehicles. So right you are, it was the ice age, well not really, but it we did in fact use ice to keep the products from overheating. During the morning load-up, we would be supplied with blocks of ice, which were then chopped with an ice pick and spread over the cases of milk and other goods. As the day wore on, of course the ice would melt and on very hot day it was not uncommon to buy more ice along the way for added protection. Since everyone needed ice in their household icebox, there was always an iceman or depot somewhere along the way. Them were the good old day, well not really but that’s the way it was…
So, as a special bonus I am including the “tool of the trade” which I suddenly remembered I had in my tool shop.
Notice how sturdy and comfortable the handle is. The metal cap atop insured that the actual pick would never split the wooden handle, thus injuring the user. It also has a finger grip around the perimeter to insure a steady grip.
One could smack away at the ice (which was always slippery) with this thing, without the fear of side swiping the ice and injuring oneself.
Indeed, it has done many jobs since, and it is still as sturdy as it was 60 years ago.
So then, go ahead and enjoy. Hopefully these bits of information will help you appreciate what the job was all about back then…
Notice how sturdy and comfortable the handle is. The metal cap atop insured that the actual pick would never split the wooden handle, thus injuring the user. It also has a finger grip around the perimeter to insure a steady grip.
One could smack away at the ice (which was always slippery) with this thing, without the fear of side swiping the ice and injuring oneself.
Indeed, it has done many jobs since, and it is still as sturdy as it was 60 years ago.
So then, go ahead and enjoy. Hopefully these bits of information will help you appreciate what the job was all about back then…
Submitted by Pierre Gauvin
Bonjour Patrick,
Well, here I am once again and yes, this time I have found the long lost missing treasure. As you can see, I managed to find the medal I had been talking about. The only difference being I was under the impression that it was an annual affair where in fact it was a four year deal as you can well see written right on the face of the medal.
Well, here I am once again and yes, this time I have found the long lost missing treasure. As you can see, I managed to find the medal I had been talking about. The only difference being I was under the impression that it was an annual affair where in fact it was a four year deal as you can well see written right on the face of the medal.
This view gives you an idea of it’s size as it measures approximately 1 ¼ inches across
On the backside you can clearly read the name and the year in which it was awarded. The die stamp actually shows it is made of sterling.
