Brantford’s Brief Automotive Boom: The Legacy of Keeton Motors

Early during the 20th century, in Brantford, Ontario, a centre of manufacturing and a producer of agricultural machines became an unlikely source for the growing automotive industry in Canada. This city was first introduced to automotive manufacturing by Keeton Motors, Limited, a partnership between local industry and two US shareholders belonging to the Detroit-based Keeton Engineering Company in 1912. Keeton Motors started out in a Barber-Ellis Company building on Elgin Street, hoping to build quality cars that could compete with the big European models. Their best-selling model was the "Keeton 4-35," a 50 horsepower engine, slick build, wire-spoke wheels and V-shaped radiator. It was already popular at $1,390, attracting orders from Montreal and Ottawa dealers. Local newspapers hailed the company as a good match for Brantford’s industrial assets, and the city hoped Keeton would go national, maybe even international.

However, the First World War, beginning in 1914, had other plans for this new car manufacturer. Production stopped because of the demand for military trucks, and Keeton Motor’s US parent company halted operations the same year. Disconnected from Detroit, Brantford’s Keeton Motors formed a new Canadian company and carried on to make a few automobiles into 1915. However, a change in demand and economic depression in the war left the firm unable to keep up and was forced to convert to war production. Another company named Motor Trucks, Limited was founded in 1915 by some of the same Brantford factories that made Keeton Motors and was redesigned to build military trucks.

Motor Trucks Limited, a less publicized venture than Keeton Motors, were given contracts during the war and even made a few vehicles for the Canadian army. In 1918, to handle increased US demand, the company built a larger production line on Murray Street. But the war was over in November of 1918 and the new factory never went into full munitions production. Its following financial woes culminated in a long legal battle over the ownership of the factory and eventually taken by the United States government after a long legal process before the Supreme Court of Ontario and the British Privy Council.

Motor Trucks evolved again by 1920 and became the Blue Bird Corporation, Limited. Blue Bird focused on making electric washing machines, shifting to a hopelessly domestic shift. That being said, Blue Bird also struggled financially, further hurt by Motor Truck’s legal bills, and eventually crumbled in 1923. It is this contant rebranding and reorganization that make Brantford’s industrial past short and dramatic, pointing to the flexibility and strength of the city’s manufacturing community. The automobile visions of Keeton Motors and its successors showcased Brantford’s ability to adopt new industries, and its business smarts and steely spirit continued to define its industrial culture well into the following decades.

References

https://history-api.brantfordlibrary.ca/Document/View/c35a2046-4306-441e-ab2f-3fade46ce2f3

Brantford Expositor. (1923, September). Greater Brantford Number. Brantford, Ontario. Public Domain.

DeBoer, R. L. (1986). From automobiles to washing machines: A combined history of Keeton Motors Limited, Motor Trucks Limited, Blue Bird Corporation, Limited, Brantford, Ontario.