Employees' Children's
Christmas Party
The 1949 Christmas party for employees' children held in Con!1aug-ht
Hall, Mimico Oil December 22nd WIll long
be remembered by those who attended.
It was one of the best and one of thp
happiest that the Company have ever
sponsored.
Over 200 attended and it was a pleasure to see the look of expectancy on the
faces of all the children as they were
greeted by Peter the Clown who met them
as they entered the hall. Peter worked
hard and in a few minutes the children
were with, him and helping him in his
entertainment. Grownups and children
alike enjoyed it when four small boys
and slightly bigger girls played the part
of Mother and children and the way
those young lads emptied their bottles
proved that it was not long since they
themselves were babies.
The highlight in the entertainment
part of the evening was the excellent
performance of the Marionettes under
the capable hands of the Marquettes.
The four dancing girls, the skeleton
whose limbs seemed to come apart at
will and the ostl'ich leaving its shell
brought forth great applause. This was
truly top entertainment as the Marquettes came betwen acts from Massey
Hall and left the following day to entertain at the Governor General's Christmas
party in Rideau Hall, Ottawa.
By the time "Jingle Bells" rang
throughout the hall the children knew
that Santa was on his way. The 130
children ranging in ages from infants to
12 years old who received their present;;
from Santa we,re more than delighted.
It was a real picture to see the expression on the faces of the 2, 3 and 4 year
olds.
To Mr. Allan representing the Continental Can Company the employees
wish to say thanks for the excellent entertainment. wonderful presents and for
the true spirit of Christmas shown in
making possible this Christmas party.
The winners of the turkey draw which
anuually take;; place at this party were
as follows: John Fitzpatl'ick, Machine
Shop; Michael Bobak, Shipping; Walt('I'
Hi;wot t. 1\IbchilH' Shop; Vil'gini<l Tholll]):'''Il,
Shipping'; H(lllald Scott, PI"'S';;
Hownl'd Cousins, Draughtsman.
Down the Line Maintenance Training~
The above group of Continental Can
Company employees are just a few of
the more experienced employees who are
receiving- training, at the expense of the
Company, to make their work more effective, more uniform and more enjoyable to themselves.
The new manuels recently distributed
from the director of training in Chicago
outline in detail the .Company procedure
to be followed in operating- and maintaining- Company machines.
Instead of one man proficient on the
slitters, another on the bodies, another
on the sean:.ers, etc. we are training men
to understand and maintain all machines
on the line-this is called "down the line
maint.enance." Each maintenance man
will understand the slitters, bodymakers,
flangers. ~eamer~ and t.esters. In other
words. :1]] down the line' inslf':1d of :wross
llt.} department.
The course is designed to take out an~'
"V ·
guesswork there may be ill our work.
will be much happier because we wil!
not have to ask a dozen different people
how a job is done, we will have the authority, i.e. the manuel. We will make a
better can because we have available
the experience of all the can plants in
the COI111)any to draw upon. IVe will be
more proficient because we will have the
know how of the tried and tested experts.
This, course is costing a lot of money,
time and effort. Those who take the
course will be given training they could
not buy anywhere at any cost. Onl~'
those who show genuine interest in the
course will be allowed to continue, we
cannot carry dead wood. If you do complete the course you will be a valuable
man to the company and yourself.
Picture Descrilltioll
A rl:lss of down lh,~ !inC' m:till( C II:lII ... •
liIen reeeivjng' instl'1ldioTl from J~d Ch:1P delaine.
FIFTYFORUM
Page 2
II
The FIFTYFORUM
Published monthly by and for
the eml)loyees of Plant No. 54, The
Continental Can Company of Canad::!, Limited, at New Toronto,
Ontario.
T. Proudfoot - EditO?·
Ed. Newton-A.~s oci(~te Edito?·.
Hoy Essex - Photogmphy
Merely a Marker
"Wishing you a happy and prosperou s
New Year."
Millions of cards and personal greetings carried and conveyed this wish to
millions of people as the year 195q dawned. Sincere? Many people take It as a
C::.:t:; a mn~t. Samcthing one aug-.ht. to
s ay and do. Yet everyone is really Sll?ce~'e for the y realize that unless theIr
neighbours and your neighbours are
pros'Perous neither you, no!" I, no!" they ,
can enjoy either Peace, P rospellty or
True Happiness.
The half way mark of the century has
been reached. Fifty years that have
brought for t h all the emotions known to
man yet given to the peoples of the world
in spite of their trials and troubles,.
greater prosperity a ,hig:her stand<l;l'<l ot
living, a happier, healthIer way of hfe,
than man has known before.
At th is chang-ing point in the century
the ave ra g e Canadian is placing emphasis on the need for securIty- securIty,
which, of cou n e, is vital to a man and t o
his family in Ollr complex economIc s ociety. A basi c human ~:notiv ~ is the (!es irc
to possess . Without fl!lanc'W.I secuntythat is, job securitY-It IS ImpossIble to
satisfy thi s desire.
Do' not, however, be misiled. by th os e
who t e ll you that if you do thI S or th~t ,
if you join this or that, if you know .l1l111
or them, that you hav e bought 01' gamed
security. One or all of th em may help.
You cannot turn your back on any do.or
that may let you through to the staIrway of succ ess, bc;t r emember succe~s
depends on only one factor and that IS
YOU.
Job security could lead to tranquillity
and tranquillity is the quickest f01'm of
ruin. If all of 'us wele Sure of employment until we reached whatever age is
set for retiring , what pe rcentage do you
think would daily strive to reach the top
of the ladder of efficiency '! In fac t s ecurity is, anti ... Canadian. Our forefathers ,
our fath e l's and in many instances we
ourselves came to this new land not to
seek secu rity but in order to enjoy a
g reatel' fr eedom, to improve our standal'd
of living a ccording to the way we Judge
these s tandards .
The ra pid growth of Canada dur ing th e
2Uth century can be credited to the fa ct
that the door to success was, and still
is, open to a nyone with ability and the
forcefuln ess of character to enter. Let u s
leave it th at w a ~' . For there is 110 grea t el'
securi ty th a t Ib ei ng m aster of YOlL' own
vocation.
Accf' pt t he n ~e cul'ity but beware t.hat
~ ('('\lri l V du t's IlO aCl'<,pt you and I<:a \,('
\ ·<>ll'sl;ltldill .l" as iJ!I' ~ig-IIP"S t.-; ,,/' "ld " 11
iim(" .... 111(' I'(' ly 01 malkt' r .
Don't Fall
For This One
Sometimes it looks pretty silly when
a perSOll trips or falls. The chances are
you can think of any number of such
s ituations which have caused a chuckle.
But did you ever stop to think of the
serious side of the picture?
Do you know that falls account for one
out of every five accidents on the job?
All 1.00 frequently these falls result from
poor housekeeping in the plant or office.
A file drawer left open, for instance,
may appear quite harmless. It migh t ,
however, cause someone to suffer a
serious injury. That's why it is important
t o practice good housekeeping on the job.
Kgep your working place orderly and
aisles and passageways free from obs ta cles. After all, g00d h~usekeeping on
t he job is just as important as it is in
your home, and for the same reasonsl1Iore comfort and safety.
January, 1950
"Sam Scrap
takes
a beating"
There is always conside rable doubt in
the minds of anyone who uses words only, as a medium of expression as to their
effectiveness.
The only way a person can tell how
effective his words have been is by viewing the results in actual performance.
'W hen I spoke to you about spoilage, our
record was 16-3 °/c, in exces'S, today the
figure is 7% in excess, a most gratifying
change. I asked you to k eep a careful
watch on your work haibits, ·a s Our housekeeping was far from good. When 'Mr.
Egeres, our President, and Mr. Rapely~
visited our plant last week they complImented us on the condition of our plant.
In those two items alone you have proved to me that you are a co-operative
group of people willing to listen to reason and anxious as> I to make our plant
a good place to work in and a good place
to see.
Mark 'of Efficiency
III the Plant
Keep stairways and aisles cl ear.
Keep floors clean and dry.
PlIt your tools back in place.
Clean up before you leave.
In the Office
Keep all file and desk drawers closed.
Don't let things pile up.
Put waste papers in the basket.
Keep your locker orderly.
Adualiy, most of these hints apply
bot h in the office and in the plant.
The.re's nothing very difficult about any
of them. They are just an expression of
common sense. Good housekeeping means
a place for everything, and everything
in its place; consideration for the other
fe llow; and an interest in your own safet y a nd comfort.
Good HOllsekeeping Hints
Good housekeeping means a safer, a
bet tel', a more satisfying place in which
to work. Furthermore. it is a mark of
efficiency at your job. Very often you
are judged on the appearance of your
desk or the bench where you work. The
fo ll owing "housekeeping hints" supplied
by t he Metropolitan Life Insurance Compa ny will, if followed, be a direct benefit
to ~'(Jll in your work-will help you take
pI'iJe in your work and in a job well dont'o
/'l'tlk1bl.l' y,.u (;:111 add a few hiltt" of yonI'
OWll to I.hi~ I is!'..
'Ye want to keep as many people as
we possibly can on the payroll twelve
months a year. We realize ,t he disappointment you feel when there is a lay
off. Believe it or not we feel as distressed about it as you do. It is the considered judgement of your plant manager
that economy of operation p lus quality
of our product combined is the sures,t
way of meeting the needs of our customers and ensuring a continuous flow
of ol'del'S which will result in steady employment for us all.
I take this opportunity of thanking
you for your co-operation, and earnestly
urge you to ('ontinue t.he good work ' .0
thaI. ID5() may be a 1110S!. prot'it.abk" .\'(':11'
fol' us all.
R. M. Allan.
January,
•
1950
FIFTYFORUM
Page 3
Here and There Throughout th~ Plant
With · Helell Holl
ENGAGEMENTS
Stella Sitarski and Lillian Ferri are
sporting- diamond rings signifying their
engagements OVe1' the Christmas season.
We do not know who the lucky young
men are but we hope a new life blessed
with health, happiness and pl"Osperity
lie ahead for them ,
Joe Fournier and Bill Schumann were
among- those from 54 who travelled to
Montreal for the Christmas season. The
trip to our largest city was also undertaken by Alex Howett of C.E.S.D. They,
like those of us who stayed at home, had
to make the best of a black Christmas
and "boy how it rained."
'Other travellers over the festive season were Cliff Andrews who went north
to ,Massey and Jack Davis who journcyed
to Simcoe to spend Christmas with his
parents.
We were sorry to learn that Ivan Macey of C.E.lS.D. had to suend Christmas
in bed due to illness,
Very much alive during the Yuletide
Season was our old hish friend Dave
Doherty, who entertained quite a few
guests with his ,Irish wit and the rendering of many old Irish songs and one of
the lates·t popular ones, "Galoway Bay."
Jack Evans and family were Christma:;
guests of 'Mr. and 1\1rs. Fred Fryer.
An unexpected and very welcome
;Christmas gift· was thc new telephone
installed in the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Ed Chapdelaine. They have waited a long
time for it.
The annual ,Christmas get together for
employees took place on F{iday, December 23rd and as usual everyone had
a grand time, good food and enough good
cheer to drown out old man "dull care."
Inter-vi siting between Plants 54, 55 and
Mono 10 indicates the good fellowship
and harmony that exis,ts between the
Continental family in New Toronto.
Before starting the Plant Christmas
festiviti es, Art Bumiston. presented to
Roy Essex on behalf of the Staff a phonograph for his daughter Sheila. at present confined to Hospital with poliomy elitis.
In the absence of Miss Ida Cameron,
Ml'. A. Baker, presented a large selection
of records and also informed Roy that
tl1e factory employees who contributed
towards this part of the gift had sufficient money left ovel' to purchase as
many more whenever Sheila would let
them know her choice.
Dad told me hote difficult he
fou11cl it to say "Thanks /" f01' the
wonclerhtl Ch'ristmas p1'esent you
so lc1:ndly gave me.
'
It' s als o d"ifficult f01" me to say
what I l'ecdly mean. but the hOU'I '8
of lJleaSU1'e the plwnogmph and
you'r splendid selection of 'records
/La 'lle .g'i1i«n me, has caused me to
say "Tho.nlcs!" 'nuwy, lnan1f, times.
God Bless You, all of you,
Sheila E sse:!:
Bab Rankine is to be congratulated 011
his promotion to Plant Accountant. Bob
can be sure of th e co-operation of all in
the Plant. Anot.her to be congratulated
is Bill Dutward who has taken over
Bob's former duties. To both of you the
very best of luck and our earnest hope
that this is only t he beginning of greater
triumphs within the framework of our
Company.
Alverda A J"ln~lrong now l\'I1'5. .lames
Cook .. bas l"P1uI'lIc'd Lu 1]('1' d,'~l; all<'!" h,.. ill);· ab ~(' 111 ;;(1))<" lln·,·t· 111<1111 1", r,dlf,wiw'.
hel' marriage . Welcome back Alve rda.
Throughout the length and breadth of
countl·y indeed throughout the world
parties were held to welcome in the New
Year and uSiher out the Old Year, perhaps the largest of our Continental parties in the New Toronto area was held
at the home of Bill Laffrade. The 32
guests who attended were unanimous in
agreeing that it was one of the best parti es that they had ever been to and some
felt that the New Year should be celebrated more often,
Jeff Komy on his return from his recent illness went back to his first love
namely the Shipping department and of
course he is still boasting of the recent
addition to his family,
0\;1'
Service Awards
The following were presented with
Service Award pins during 1949;
Five Years
R. M. Allan, Albert Beacock, Michael
Meroz, John Moreton, William Szoldra,
Ronald Scott, Donald Scott, Donald Dunstan, Everett O'Brien, Mary Elaschuk
Rode1'ick Knott, Edward Brack, J oh~
Chavnel', ,June Cadieux, Elsie Robinson
Stella Sitarski, Margaret Wells Ival~
Cowl, Eudille Booth, Vera Foster, 'Frank
Bates.
Ten Years
Ken Wanen, Robert Rankine.
Fifteen Years
Herb Schumann,
Editor's Note.
Your pleasure is all the thanks we
need Sheila. We all hope that you will
soon be able to come along to the Plant
to see us.
ES-SPLITS
EveIY'body IVas glad to see Bob royd
of Machine Shop and F(3nces Garbutt
of Can Assembly l'etm'n to work following their recent illnesses.
We understand that Our Plant Manag<'r
is going to have a double celebration
to mark his 24th Wedding Anniversary.
First on·J anatll y 23rd and then at the
Fiftyforum Club dance a t the Club
Kingsway. The staff wishe3 both Mr.
and Mrs. AJian many years of continu('d
happiness.
•
PIN
PATTER
Ed Chapdelaine
What a finish! Until the last frame
the top position in our bowling league
was in doubt. ·Going into the final game
of the first series the Tigers were out
in front by 4 points. The Zebras were
not t o be denied. Combined with the fine
efforts of the Rabbits under Art Burniston, Cliff Andrews' team went into th e
top slot with a total of 53 poins. The
Tige r.' . under captain Ivan Cowie fini s hed with 53 points and we know now the
playoff teams for the big night in April. Tigers and Zebras vs.-could the Hyenas, Lions or Leopards who finished up
at th e bottom of the heap
The ;;ilyer spoons were won on Januelr" 2nci by;
L ,<l il·S' ili g h ::;ingl(' F!al Aurura (;('n dl '<III,
~U ·l;
Lat"lit's' I-li g"h Sing'l£-' CIO ~ S
Steib Sita l'ski,
2~ S
& 50-278;
M e n' ~
High Single Flat-Cliff Andrews, ,ns;
Men's High Single Gross'-Leslie White,
304 & 29-333.
Now that the second series is started
the t cams that dragged heavily in the
first lap of our league will have a chance
to get in there and dispose of our .present leaders. Don't forget last year at
the finish of the first series Aurora
Gendron's Leopards finished at the bottom then in the s'e cond series tied for
fir,;t place and finally beat out the Zebpas, who finished on top each time.
\Ve are still short of substitute lady
bowlers, so come on gals get out and join
the other lads and lassies and have a
gooo night's fun plus a lot of healthy ex,orr'i.,,·. I~vl'ryb()<ly·s wekollw, ('vel"ybo<ly
""/II c: a"d y lm will ,Ill agl'('f' Lh:H .j[';.; :t
lot of fUll.
Page 4
January, 1950
FIFTYFORUM
This Month
The f ollowing taken from th e November issue of the "Ninety News" will give
thought to many.
"H. Gordon Selfridge built up one of
the world's largest department stores in
London, England. He has achieved success by being a leader, not a boss. Here
is his own comparison of the two types
of executives:
The boss drives his men;
The leader coaches them.
The boss depends upon authority;
The leader on good will.
The boss inspires fear;
The leader inspires enthusiasm .
The boss says: '1';
The leader says: 'we'.
The boss says: 'get here on time';
The leader gets there ahead of time.
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown;
The leader fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done;
The leader shows how.
The boss says: 'go';
The leader says: 'let's go'."
HIS LAST REQUEST
"Pat," said the priest, "you're drunk,
and I'm going to make you stop th::tt
right here. If you ever get drunk agam
I'll turn you into a rat - dl) you mind
that? If I don't see you I'll know about
it just the same, and into a rat you go.
N ow you mind that."
Pat was very docile that night, but
the next evening he came home even
worse drunk than ever, kicked in th e
door, a nd Biddy dodged behind the table
to defend herself.
"Don't be afraid, darlint," said Pat,
as he steadied himself before dropping
into a chair .. "I'm not going to bate
yeo I won't lay the weight of me finger
on ye o I want ye to be kind to me tonight
darlint, and to remem'ber the days when
we \\'as sWfltehea,·ts and wh!"n ye loved
me. You know his riverince said last
night if I got drunk again he'd turn me
into a rat. He didn't see me, but he knows
I'm drunk, and this night into a l'at I
go. But I want ye to be kind to me,
darlint, and watch me, and when ye see
me gettin' little, and the hail' gl'oin' out
on me, and me whiskers g ettin' long, if
ye ever loved me, darlint, for God's sake
keep yer eye on the cat."
A Little A little more 'we',
And a little less'!'.
A little more laugh,
And a little less cry.
A little more smiling,
And a little less frown.
A little less kicking
A man when he's down.
A little more flowers,
On the pathway of life,
And few " r Oll graves
At the e nd of the strife.
----
,
-~
FRED OGLE
T.he di stinction of being our youngest
and oldest employee has always been held
by Fred Ogle, who on December 31st,
1949, retired from the Company. Fred
was born in IB elfast, Ireland, on ,F ebru a ry
29th, 1872 and has enjoyed in suite of
his 78 years, only 19 birthdays and at
the turn of this century had to wait 8
years before he could say "this is my
birthday."
After serving a seven year apprenticeship as a ship's carpenter, Fred travelled
the world as a "chipp"" and the tales
he has to t e ll of that oeriod of his life
leave no doubt in anyone's' mind that if
he did not kiss the Blarney Stone at lea st
he inherited the "blarney" long associated with his countrymen.
In 1901 Fred made his first tl ip to
North America and at that tim e stayed
two years in the U.S.A., returning to his
native land in 1903. It was not until 1918
that he again started out to make his
fortune, this time he made his permanent hom e in 'Canada.
Even now OUI' grand old man f eels that
he can do a bette r day's \\'ork than man y
younger men and he used to jocularly say
that if the war would only keep on till
his 18th birthday he would have been
eligible to join up and help clean up the
enemy.
He worked a number of years at the
Baltimore plant both when it belonged to
the Southern Can Company and also after it was taken over by our own Company in 1928. He joined Plant 54 when
it opened in 193 6 and was for many years
Building Maintenance Foreman. Prior to
hi s r etirement he was one of our 'Watchmen.
Fond of a good time himself, Fred
spent many long hours working t o build
UD the "Triple <G" recreation club of
\\llich he was Secretarv-TreasU! er. He
was also [\ Illemb"l' or (h~' Masonic Lodg'c
311d was :1 Past i'>las[<:1' or IIH' M;)sonic
Ord er in hi s native Ircland.
Fred Ogle and Dave Maclaughlin
Oll Friday, December 30th, the staff
had an infolmal luncheon ill the cafet e ria to bid Au Revoir t o our friend,
Dave MacLaughlin, who has taken ,over
the duti es of accountant at Plant ',90.
ML Allan in making- a presentation on
behalf of the assembled gathering, used
the right word" to express th e loss of a
good friend and an efficie nt co-onerative
Plan accountant.
Dave was born in Waupaca, Wisconsin,
U.S.A. and after passing through the
local high school ente r ed the University
of Wisconsin in 1930. After graduating
Dave retired to one of the smaller Michig an towns where he opened, ran or controlled a night club. What wel'e the
dancing girls like Dave?
At a later date while working iJl Milwaukee, ~r isconsin, he met a Toronto
girl who so captured his heart that on
her retll1'n to Toronto she found Dave
close behind and whil e employed in the
accounts division of the Robert Simpson
Company Dave took unto himself a Canadian wife.
After spending the war years with
Curtis Wright of Buffalo and Research
Enterp rises here in Ca nada, ·Mac joined
the staff of Plant 90 in June, 1945 and in
April, 1948. came to Plant 54 as Plant
accountant.
We have had a lot of laughs at his
stoTies but perhaps Dave will best be ' remembered by his valiant attempt to
reach first base wh en the salary staff
played shipping at softbalI last year.
Be"'t of luck to you Dave.
The Y'i1'l w ho slaps you. may not
want to hu?'t yom' f eeling:; .~o
much as sh e wants to s top them.
AlI he re at ·54 wi ~h you, Fred , th e
longest, h ea lth iest and happiest of retirements and hope that their appreciation of your se rvices and ~ood fellowship
was amply e xpress(, el in (111' PI'('sl'lIlatioll
,'oU
l'cc: e ivl:d.
Again good luck Fred from all of us.