| The Canadian firm of Jacques & Hay was in business for fifty years, during which the company, if The Globe (Toronto) is to be believed, furnished the Province of Canada. This was a stunning and largely undocumented success. Jacques & Hay was one of the largest employers in the province and dominated the cabinet-making trade from 1835 to 1885. In 1871, Jacques & Hay employed 430 men and 50 women in a vertically-integrated operation that included a sawmill, two factories and a showroom. Jacques & Hay produced abundant furniture at reasonable prices. The availability of such household furnishings greatly enhanced domestic life in nineteenth-century Canada, providing scope for a more elaborate social life and allowing more people to achieve a greater sense of comfort and decency in their living arrangements. In addition, Jacques & Hay created the wood interiors for St. James' Cathedral, the Toronto Normal School, University College and Osgoode Hall. The company also supplied the majority of the furnishings for Rideau Hall, Ottawa and Government House, Toronto. While the story of the Jacques & Hay firm throws light on the opportunities Victorian craftsmen had to become manufacturers, it also explains the company's role in making furniture more accessible and contributing to nineteenth-century notions of progress and civility. |
