About this photo
by John Cardiff

This photograph is in the collection of Mike Bonaccorso of Simcoe. Our scan of this photo was made by Bob Whitehead, who borrowed the photograph from Mike to scan, and after returning the photograph, emailed a copy of his scan to us. We massaged Bob's original scan into the banner, section, and head and shoulder photos displayed here. 

To the best of our knowledge, there is no indication on the print of who took the original photograph, which appears to have been taken with the American Can building at the corner of Queen and Robinson Streets in the background, about a year after the American Can established their facilities in Simcoe.

American Can Company, a container industry giant, was created in 1901 through the merger of dozens of plants in the United States. The American Can built a huge for Norfolk plant in Simcoe in 1929-1930, on a site that previously included the Union/Central School. It was an dominant factor in the local economy for the next 45 years, employing over 500 on round the clock shifts at its economic peak. During the final decades of the 20th century, American Can diversified, became less important as a local employer, and eventually ceased to exist. The plant was eventually demonished in 2012 to make way for new constraction.

A separate business, Canadian Canners, was a food processor located immediately east of the American Can in downtown Simcoe. The American Can came to Simcoe in part because the Canadian Canners wanted to get out of the can making business and concentrate on processing locally grown crops. This photo presumably includes members of the can making staff from the Canadian Canners who moved to the American Can when the American Can came to Simcoe.