The Legacy of Barber-Ellis Company: Brantford's Enveloping History
The Barber-Ellis Company is an important part of Canadian industrial history, especially in Brantford, where it became the nation’s largest envelope manufacturer. Innovation, strength and quality are what drove its evolution and were exemplified by its two founders, John F. Ellis and James Barber. The firm was founded in Toronto by John F. Ellis and James Barber in the 1870s. While Ellis had the business skills, Barber brought his knowledge of the paper industry with his family’s business, Wm. The Barber Bros. Co., in Georgetown. For decades, the firm was active on Bay Street, a pillar of Toronto commerce. Yet in 1904, a devastating fire on Toronto’s waterfront forced the firm to shift its manufacturing operations to Brantford. This was a crucial decision because the city’s central location and closeness to major rail networks made it perfect for expansion.
Barber-Ellis established its first factory in Elgin Street, and later on Marlborough Street. The company prospered in Brantford, producing envelopes, writing pads, bond paper and high-quality stationery. By the turn of the 20th century, its ability to make stationery products accurately, and innovatively cemented it in the hearts of Canadian businesses and social elites. One example of its rapid growth was the opening of a Winnipeg warehouse to serve rising demands in Western Canada which soon made up a third of their business. Barber-Ellis’s factory could make 800,000 envelopes a day. These ranged from pre-cut machine-folded envelopes to custom, hand-folded ones with workers mastering their ability to fold thousands of items individually as needed.
John F. Ellis, the grandson of the Mount Pleasant settler Henry Ellis, was central to the company’s success. Ellis fully took over from James Barber and became Barber-Ellis’s sole president. Under his guidance, the firm established itself as a market leader and in 1930, Barber-Ellis had factories in Brantford, Winnipeg and Vancouver, with warehouses in eight cities in Canada, and was the country’s largest envelope and stationery manufacturer. Ellis died in Toronto on February 19th, 1928, and his reputation for creativity and innovation lasted a lifetime. His thinking and his leadership had turned Barber-Ellis into a beacon of Canadian industrial prosperity.
The Barber-Ellis factory in Brantford was a triumph of industrial efficiency. The manufacturing cycle was about efficiency and minimizing waste. Envelopes were cut from curved pieces of paper, using steel dies, and folded and gummed by automatic machines. High-quality prints, in a multitude of colours, were printed on advanced printing presses that allowed the firm to manufacture high-quality products for business and social use.
Beyond envelopes, the firm made writing pads, ruled paper and stationery of high quality. This versatility appealed to a variety of markets, from businesses that required practical options to those that desired fashionable, made-to-order papetries. As the business grew, it kept its reputation for excellence while using advanced technology to lower costs and increase production. Its relocation to Plant Farm Road in 1990 represented a move towards modernization. But Barber-Ellis, even with its reputation, struggled to survive in the new marketplace. By 1996, when they became known as Innova Envelope, the business crumbled. Barber-Ellis’s name remains throughout Brantford’s industrial past, representing how small businesses using innovation and location can have a lasting impact across the country. As one of Canada’s biggest stationery producers, Barber-Ellis not only created jobs but also became part of the nation’s economic and cultural life. Its narrative is still an example of how we can survive and change when things don’t go our way.
References
https://history-api.brantfordlibrary.ca/Document/View/c35a2046-4306-441e-ab2f-3fade46ce2f3
Brantford Expositor. (1909, October). Greater Brantford Number. Brantford, Ontario. Public Domain.