NOW REDUCED EVEN FURTHER IN PRICE. NOT QUITE ROCK BOTTOM BUT DEFINITELY SANDY!

Now rock bottom!

WAS $1500, reduced to $999. Now reduced to $850 then $799 and finally down to $750. No offers below $750 will be accepted. Sorry. But we are still offering FREE INSURANCE & POSTAGE WITHIN AUSTRALIA AND CAPPED AT $50 WORLDWIDE!

Update: In response to a question, the latest letters appear to have been sent in 1939.

In the quick look to find the above answer I was surprised (again) by just how many QV stamps there are on the covers. Yes, it’s expensive but it is now definitely at a bargain price.

For sale is this large box (roughly 300mm x 300mm x 600mm) full of letters relating to (presumably) family members of the Aikenhead hardware business in Toronto, Canada.

We estimate there are over FIFTEEN HUNDRED letters, most of which are still in covers with their stamps, including QV, still attached. There are loose letters as well.

The value of the stamps more than offsets the cost of this lot, but the REAL VALUE lies in the lot’s unique insight into the social history of ONTARIO through the Victorian and Georgian eras.

Having briefly lived in Ontario myself, I had hoped to closely study the letters but I’ve owned them now for many years and have not been brave enough to open the box! Life keeps getting in the way. And life does not simply endlessly renew itself. Your energy levels drop.

The box weighs about 20kgs. 

I am now opening up this offer to overseas. I shall cap your tracked overseas postage and insurance costs at AUS $50.

Ideally, a social history enthusiast will buy the lot, but I’m pragmatic enough to sell to the highest bidder who thinks they can get a higher price elsewhere!

To try to reduce weight, the many individual plastic bags will be removed and replaced by a single large piece of weather-protecting bubble wrap inside the box. The paper bundles will remain.

Please note there is a wikipaedia page on Aikenhead Hardware, as good a starting point as any.

Aikenhead's Hardware.

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (December 2019)

Aikenhead's Hardware was a chain of Canadian hardware stores located in Greater Toronto, Southern Ontario and northern Ontario. The original store was founded in Toronto in 1830 as "Ridout's Hardware Store" by Joseph Ridout and was located on the corner of King Street and Yonge Street.[1]

Aikenhead's Hardware

Industry

Service

Predecessor

Ridout's Hardware Store

Founded

1830

Founder

Joseph Ridout

James T.E. Aikenhead

Alexander Crombie

Defunct

1994

Fate

acquired by The Home Depot and became its Canadian unit

Successor

Home Depot Canada

Headquarters

Ontario, Toronto, Canada

Number of locations

5

Area served

Canada

Key people

Joseph Ridout

James T.E. Aikenhead

J. Wilfred Aikenhead

Thomas E. Aikenhead

Alexander Crombie

Products

Hardware

Owner

Aikenheads family 1901-1971

Molsons 1971-1994

Parent

Aikenhead Hardware Company 1893-1901

Aikenhead Hardware Limited 1901-1971

Molsons 1971-1994

In 1868, two employees, James Aikenhead and Alexander Crombie, became partners in the company and renamed it "Ridout, Aikenhead, & Crombie". It became Aikenhead's in 1893, when Aikenhead bought out Ridout and Crombie.[2]

In 1971 the Aikenhead family sold their chain to Molson, which later started a warehouse in 1991 to head off American chain The Home Depot. Molson sold their 75% stake to Home Depot in 1994, and it became the Canadian unit.[3] (Molson exited the hardware business with the sale of Beaver Lumber in 1999 to Home Hardware, which they had acquired a year after the purchase of Aikenhead's.)