There is a scene in the 1979 film An American Christmas Carol (found at 8:25 of this linked segment) that is prophetic, especially as the manufacturing economy in Ontario towns continues to disappear. After apprenticing with the owner of a small town furniture maker, ambitious young Ben Slade unveils a new manufacturing concept, mass production, to his employer and adoptive father Mr. Brewster at the staff Christmas party. Mr. Brewster cannot accept that the assembly line will revolutionize the furniture business, and states, "When the day of quality ends in this country we'll all be in trouble indeed."This depression era interpretation of the Dickens classic was filmed in Elora, roughly an hour from the small towns of Hanover and Durham. As a kid, I remember the sign at the edge of Hanover proclaiming the town as "Canada's furniture capital" It has probably been 30 years since furniture has been made there. East on Highway 4 is Durham, which just this year lost the town's major employer, Interforest, a veneer production factory for nearly fifty years.
Mr. Brewster was right. In the new year we should all make an effort to seek out quality, local made goods. They cost a little more, but last a whole lot longer, and our support may just help to ensure the sustainability of our small Ontario communities.
