From the Windsor Daily Star December, 1935:
- Above is one of Windsor’s mammoth industries, whose products enjoy demand throughout Canada and the entire world. The plant of the Sterling Products, Limited, situated at Elliot Street West, exemplifies the diversified nature of Windsor’s manufacturing industry. In its model daylight plant a large staff is engaged the year around, in the preparation of such well known products as Aspirin, Fletcher’s Castoria, Philips’ Milk of Magnesia, Dr. Lyon’s Tooth Powder, Cascarets, Watkins’ Mulsified Cocoanut Oil, Glostora, Andrews’ Liver Salts, Danderine, Diamond Dyes, Z.B.T. Olive Oil Baby Powder and many other famous pharmaceutical preparations, which products are manufactured and distributed throughout the whole Dominion. Among its principal preparations are many familiar to at least two generations of families who have recognized, by preference, the excellence of these products for household use.
The factory is still there on Elliot Street West just west of Crawford. These photos were taken back in 2003.
Sadly most of those old windows were filled in…
There’s an ancient old barn at the rear of the property. Not sure what the story is here, but this barn has to be much older than the main building.
A view of the factory from the property to the north.
I took a look at streetview since my photos are nearly a decade old, and it looks like it’s had the silver treatment too….
Hopefully this building stays sanding for a long time, certainly a part of our industrial history.
Sorry – been mostly out of town for the last three decades. I recall prowling this area as a young lad and noting the smell of fried noodles mingling with the beery vapors from the nearby Wellington Tavern. I believe this building housed Chunking Foods back in the ’60s.(Can’t take a stroll across the tracks to confirm). They had a very impressive sign over the main entrance in the form of a serpentine dragon. Wonder what ever happened to it.
All this industry Windsor used to have and its all gone, its a wonder we have anyone living in this city now at all!!
When i was younger i used to hear alot about Chunking Foods i guess they used to hire alot of people but never knew where they were located
That’s a pretty long list of products that doesn’t include car parts. How do we ever get this city back to the manufacturing diversity it once had? Also, unrelated: why do people paint buildings gray like that? It was prettier before. Plus I always thought paint held in moisture and made brick fall apart faster; maybe I’m wrong.
We are cracking up at the breakfast table here over “Danderine”, though.
This used to be ‘Dragon Foods’ owned by the Ping Lee family. They made frozen ready made Chinese food.
name change to ‘Dragon’ after ‘Chun King’.
Look how close that old railway spur was to the front door. You can see it in both the top and bottom pictures.
My father used to work there when it was Chun King. I’ve been inside there recently. It’s now a cargo inspection station. They offload the trucks to inspect the goods. It’s also a Uhaul outlet as well. Times sure have changed. I’ve been in the same house on Wellington for over 31yrs, just down the street from the tracks. I remember when I was just a little boy, they had a small spur going to rear of the building from the ETR. I recall them using it, but no idea what for. That track is long gone now. The one in front that goes by the front door came off the ETR, and went directly to Post Cereal. Which would be the yard to the north of the old Chun King. As you can tell from the picture, it’s still embedded in the ground, and still goes through the Chun King yard, but ends before it crosses over Elm street just before it would connect to the ETR.
A branch plant of a giant US company, Sterling Products (or Sterling Drug) had several facilities in Windsor probably nurtured by “The Tariff”. A sad day for Windsor when they moved to Aurora. Frederick Tilston (phamacist and Victoria Cross recipient) was president of the company.
That barn has always mystified me as well. I’m sure it could tell some stories.
Always wondered what that building was.
The old barn looks 1910 era, but that’s just a totally wild guess.
Interesting none the less.
i always wondered what that barn was about it seems to have alot of wood rot along the foundation ,that would make for a nice house if someone moved it somewhere and put some mioney into it
Diversification? Windsor? Yes “the tariff” would be the reason many of these companies were in Canada. Sadly we continue to race after 2nd and 3rd world countries in free trade. How about fair trade??? Now wouldn’t that be nice?
It has been over 33 years since I lived in Windsor. In 1979 I worked in the lab at Chung King. I lived in the apartments on Wellington. So long ago and brings tears to my eyes.
I also remember that the machine shop was on the fourth floor
10 years after your photos, Andrew, the building is still there. There appears to be something going on inside and there is still a sign for the storage place. Although we didn’t investigate too closely, the barn is there – which I think is amazing!
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