MADE IN HAMILTON
20TH CENTURY
INDUSTRIAL TRAIL

SITE 3
COFFIELD WASHER COMPANY LTD., c. 1920
BARTONAIR FABRICATIONS INC.

Notice the brick on the eastern end of this modern blue metal-sided building. This part of the plant was built around the 1920s by the Coffield Motor Washer Company of Dayton, Ohio.

With electricity came the growth of the home appliance market in the early 20th century. Electric wringer-washers were the main product made by workers at Coffield's Hamilton plant. At its height, the company's 75 employees produced 90 units a week. The last washing machine rolled off the line in April 1963, when the company declared bankruptcy.

Hamilton-based BartonAir Fabrications Inc. bought the rundown remains of the Coffield building in 1993. Instead of leveling it, the company incorporated the building into their new large modern plant. BartonAir is a custom steel fabrication and industrial machine shop supplier.

Women greeted new electric appliances like washing machines, vacuum cleaners and floor polishers with enthusiasm. But few Hamilton families could afford such luxuries until after the Second World War. It is also questionable whether these new appliances lived up to their reputation as "labour-saving". The time saved by new home appliances was often offset by higher housekeeping expectations.

Workers at this plant were organized as United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 520.