Spinning Wheels From Sifton Manitoba
I have a real affection for rare spinning wheels, like my Cowichan Spinner. That might explain why I couldn't resist doing another painting of Barb's Spins Well wheel. I feel I should apologize for not painting it with all it's hippy-dippy artwork decorative paint job (as she calls it) but I like the simplicity of the lines and felt that in a painting it would take away from the unique nature of the wheel itself.
9 x 12 watercolor I call this one "Hi Gran!". Barb was so thoughtful - she sent me this article on the history of this wheel and of the Canadian company Mary Maxim - I think many of you may be familiar with it??
The Sifton Wheel, Mary Maxim, and the Wool Industry in Manitoba
By Brigitte de March
The “Sifton Wheel” is a valued item in many collections. It is named for the small town of Sifton, 30 kms north of Dauphin, Manitoba. In the early 1930s John Weslowski, a blacksmith who was having trouble making ends meet, saw that many farmers could not afford to buy woolen garments. He decided to manufacture spinning wheels so that people could produce yarn to make their own warm clothing. He ordered a wheel from Ukraine and made his own modifications. The wheels were advertised in the Dauphin Herald, and demand increased quickly. By May 1933, he had sold 150 wheels, and all wool in the area was exhausted.
The local railway station agent, Willard McPhedrain, saw the wheels and wool being shipped, and became Weslowski's partner and main financier of the Spin-Well Woolen Mill in 1937. McPhedrain imported wool from other to parts of Canada and promoted the company’s products. Industrial wool-processing equipment was purchased and more was manufactured thanks to the creative minds of John and his brother, George Weslowski. By 1938 the company was not only producing 20 wheels a day but also hand and drum carders. The company employed up to 40 people to manufacture comforters, parkas, and other woolens. During World War II they also brought used woolen items in by rail, re-carded them and turned them into products such as blankets, socks, sweaters and quilts.
John Weslowski and Willard McPhedrain parted ways in 1942. John started his own mill, “Custom Woolen Mills”. In 1943 he sold the wood-working equipment and patterns to Metro Lozinski, who renovated the factory, and opened the “Made-Well Manufacturing Co.” in 1946.
John Weslowski continued to be the creative force in his new company. He invented dusters, dryers, carding machines, a quilt stretcher, and a machine for punching staples through leather to make carding cloth. The company continued to import and process large quantities of wool, and manufactured quilts, parkas, and sweaters.
In the late 1940s, after seeing a Cowichan sweater pattern graph, McPhedrain decided to produce uniquely Canadian sweaters and patterns to be used with heavy 4-ply yarn. He founded Mary Maxim Co. Ltd., named after Mary Maximchuk, a domestic in his house who designed and sold wool socks. The “Mary Maxim” sweaters with bold Canadian images were knitted and worn all over Canada for decades, and are now collectors’ items. Largely due to the popularity of these sweaters in the 1950s, the Spin-Well Woolen Mill greatly increased its output. When more space was needed, the Mary Maxim Company briefly moved to Dauphin in 1954, then to Brandon. When Spinrite Yarns of Listowel, Ontario, became the major supplier of “Northland Yarn”, the company was moved to Paris, Ontario, in 1959. Some of the equipment stayed in Brandon, changed hands several times, and produced the well-known “Elena” and “White Buffalo” yarns. The Mary Maxim wool and pattern company still thrives today as a mail-order business run by Willard’s son, Larry.
John Weslowski died in 1973. In 1975 Bill and Fen Purves-Smith bought the equipment from “Custom Woolen Mills” from John’s widow Anna and her son Lawrence Rospad. They relocated it to Carstairs, Alberta. Bill and Fen kept the company name, “Custom Woolen Mills”. With about half of its equipment from Sifton, it is a now a working museum. The oldest machinery from Sifton is a carding machine built in about 1875. Three sock machines from about 1900 were combined to make one working one. The quilting machines and carding machines are still running. Yarn similar to the "Northland" and "White Buffalo" are still produced as "Prairie Wool".
Made-Well Manufacturing also thrived. Their wheels and carders were marketed throughout Canada and beyond. Simpler but functional models of these items are still produced by Metro’s son, Don Lozinski.
In 2000, the community of Sifton celebrated “Mary Maxim” with a reunion and by erecting a roadside monument celebrating William McPhedrain. Unfortunately the wheel on the monument is a walking wheel and not Weslowski's wheel.
Thanks to these people and the wool industry, Sifton thrived in the 1930s and 1940s, with a flour mill, a lumber yard, and many other businesses. Unfortunately the fortunes of the town changed and today Sifton, like so many other prairie towns, is only a shadow of what it used to be.
Many thanks to Fen Roessingh, president of Custom Woolen Mills; Don Lozinski; and Dot Connoly of the Sifton Historical Society, who helped me get the facts in order. The pictured Sifton Wheel is the property of the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library, and is described in its 75th Anniversary book. To obtain a pdf of this article, contact Brigitte de March at demarchb@mts.net.
References:
1. Judith Buxton. 1992. Selected Canadian Spinning Wheels in Perspective. Canadian Museum of Civilization.
2. The Dauphin Herald. Nov. 19, 1975. Custom Woolen mill built a cozy Sifton
3. The Dauphin Herald. Nov. 26, 1975. How a man built an industry. Hard work and ingenuity of Weslowski.
4. Shirley A. Scott. 1990. Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
9 x 12 watercolor I call this one "Hi Gran!". Barb was so thoughtful - she sent me this article on the history of this wheel and of the Canadian company Mary Maxim - I think many of you may be familiar with it??
The Sifton Wheel, Mary Maxim, and the Wool Industry in Manitoba
By Brigitte de March
The “Sifton Wheel” is a valued item in many collections. It is named for the small town of Sifton, 30 kms north of Dauphin, Manitoba. In the early 1930s John Weslowski, a blacksmith who was having trouble making ends meet, saw that many farmers could not afford to buy woolen garments. He decided to manufacture spinning wheels so that people could produce yarn to make their own warm clothing. He ordered a wheel from Ukraine and made his own modifications. The wheels were advertised in the Dauphin Herald, and demand increased quickly. By May 1933, he had sold 150 wheels, and all wool in the area was exhausted.
The local railway station agent, Willard McPhedrain, saw the wheels and wool being shipped, and became Weslowski's partner and main financier of the Spin-Well Woolen Mill in 1937. McPhedrain imported wool from other to parts of Canada and promoted the company’s products. Industrial wool-processing equipment was purchased and more was manufactured thanks to the creative minds of John and his brother, George Weslowski. By 1938 the company was not only producing 20 wheels a day but also hand and drum carders. The company employed up to 40 people to manufacture comforters, parkas, and other woolens. During World War II they also brought used woolen items in by rail, re-carded them and turned them into products such as blankets, socks, sweaters and quilts.
John Weslowski and Willard McPhedrain parted ways in 1942. John started his own mill, “Custom Woolen Mills”. In 1943 he sold the wood-working equipment and patterns to Metro Lozinski, who renovated the factory, and opened the “Made-Well Manufacturing Co.” in 1946.
John Weslowski continued to be the creative force in his new company. He invented dusters, dryers, carding machines, a quilt stretcher, and a machine for punching staples through leather to make carding cloth. The company continued to import and process large quantities of wool, and manufactured quilts, parkas, and sweaters.
In the late 1940s, after seeing a Cowichan sweater pattern graph, McPhedrain decided to produce uniquely Canadian sweaters and patterns to be used with heavy 4-ply yarn. He founded Mary Maxim Co. Ltd., named after Mary Maximchuk, a domestic in his house who designed and sold wool socks. The “Mary Maxim” sweaters with bold Canadian images were knitted and worn all over Canada for decades, and are now collectors’ items. Largely due to the popularity of these sweaters in the 1950s, the Spin-Well Woolen Mill greatly increased its output. When more space was needed, the Mary Maxim Company briefly moved to Dauphin in 1954, then to Brandon. When Spinrite Yarns of Listowel, Ontario, became the major supplier of “Northland Yarn”, the company was moved to Paris, Ontario, in 1959. Some of the equipment stayed in Brandon, changed hands several times, and produced the well-known “Elena” and “White Buffalo” yarns. The Mary Maxim wool and pattern company still thrives today as a mail-order business run by Willard’s son, Larry.
John Weslowski died in 1973. In 1975 Bill and Fen Purves-Smith bought the equipment from “Custom Woolen Mills” from John’s widow Anna and her son Lawrence Rospad. They relocated it to Carstairs, Alberta. Bill and Fen kept the company name, “Custom Woolen Mills”. With about half of its equipment from Sifton, it is a now a working museum. The oldest machinery from Sifton is a carding machine built in about 1875. Three sock machines from about 1900 were combined to make one working one. The quilting machines and carding machines are still running. Yarn similar to the "Northland" and "White Buffalo" are still produced as "Prairie Wool".
Made-Well Manufacturing also thrived. Their wheels and carders were marketed throughout Canada and beyond. Simpler but functional models of these items are still produced by Metro’s son, Don Lozinski.
In 2000, the community of Sifton celebrated “Mary Maxim” with a reunion and by erecting a roadside monument celebrating William McPhedrain. Unfortunately the wheel on the monument is a walking wheel and not Weslowski's wheel.
Thanks to these people and the wool industry, Sifton thrived in the 1930s and 1940s, with a flour mill, a lumber yard, and many other businesses. Unfortunately the fortunes of the town changed and today Sifton, like so many other prairie towns, is only a shadow of what it used to be.
Many thanks to Fen Roessingh, president of Custom Woolen Mills; Don Lozinski; and Dot Connoly of the Sifton Historical Society, who helped me get the facts in order. The pictured Sifton Wheel is the property of the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library, and is described in its 75th Anniversary book. To obtain a pdf of this article, contact Brigitte de March at demarchb@mts.net.
References:
1. Judith Buxton. 1992. Selected Canadian Spinning Wheels in Perspective. Canadian Museum of Civilization.
2. The Dauphin Herald. Nov. 19, 1975. Custom Woolen mill built a cozy Sifton
3. The Dauphin Herald. Nov. 26, 1975. How a man built an industry. Hard work and ingenuity of Weslowski.
4. Shirley A. Scott. 1990. Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Posted by Gloria Patre at 8/16/2009 7:30 AM 
Categories: Spinning, My Artwork
Tags: rare spinning wheels spinning artwork watercolors sifton wheels mary maxim
Categories: Spinning, My Artwork
Tags: rare spinning wheels spinning artwork watercolors sifton wheels mary maxim
I am very sorry to hear that people have stolen your work. You do beautiful watercolors that always bring a smile to my face. It is outrageous behavior and you are justified in your comments. I hope that it never happens again.
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Take legal action!
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Sorry to hear that. I would be miffed too.
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