Consolidated Optical
by Victoria JL Fisher
Consolidated Optical formed out of several Canadian local optical firms in 1907 under Lionel Amsden, formerly the secretary of The Cohen Bros. Ltd., a highly-successful Toronto spectacles and ophthalmic instruments company active since 1894. Amsden seems to have been involved in many of the Cohen Bros. Ltd.’s forays into more scientific activities, including an ophthalmic training college. Around 1909, Consolidated Optical hired a British instrument maker, Thomas Pocklington, a relative of Amsden’s, and added a survey instrument manufacturing business to the portfolio.
During at least 1913-1924, the company made a range of surveying instruments with optical components: transits (theodolites), levels, mekometers (range finders) and clinometers. They also appear to have made instruments connected with lens grinding. Some instruments by Consolidated Optical are also marked “Tycos”, the trade mark of American compnay Taylor Instrument Co., but the company was definitely manufacturing from scratch. From 1910 to 1924, the company boasted a large factory on Richmond Street West.
As the company's most experienced instrument maker, Thomas Pocklington was in charge of instrument manufacture. He kept notebooks that offer insight on the components necessary to construct the instruments the company sold, their costs (either from purchase or supplies), and the costs involved in the assembly of the instrument. The company's offerings included five types of Wye levels--an instrument designed for measuring horizontal angles. The "Consol" brand Wye Level is listed as requiring 19 3/4 hours of final assembly work on top of the construction of sub-components, hinting at the complexity of these instruments.
The company was likely buoyed by sales during the First World War where items such as clinometers were in use by the military. However, it is not clear to what extent such instruments were manufactured on site. Following the war, Consolidated Optical seems to have had an important presence in Toronto in the early 1920s. In 1921 or 1922, they were contracted to manufacture the camera for the 1922 Eclipse trip to test Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, suggesting they were known to be at a university standard for precision.
This surveying instrument section of the business survived until 1924, when it was bought by J. Frank Raw Ltd., another Toronto company. The company continued selling spectacles and doing a retail business in various instruments, and was either purchased or became associated with American Optical Company of Canada, a large and similar American company with manufacturing operations in Nicolet, QC and Belleville, ON. Between 1933 and 1947, these sites operated under the name Consolidated Optical. After that, the name reverted to American Optical Company of Canada (later AOCO).
The demise of the company's foray into survey instruments resulted in Thomas Pocklington beginning his own instrument-making business, one that was continued by his son and grandson throughout the 20th century as Thomas Pocklington Ltd..
Wye Level
Consolidated Optical Co. Ltd.Timeline
- 1894 – L.G. Amsden joins Cohen Brothers Ltd. (Moses M. Cohen and ?? Cohen), Toronto, an ophthalmic instrument and jewellery company, as secretary. (“Lionel George Amsden”)
- 1900 – Company active as The Cohen Brothers Ltd. recently having moved to a new larger factory space at 24 Adelaide St. West, Toronto, ON. L.G. Amsden is working as Secretary of the business as well as principal of the ongoing courses at the “Canadian Ophthalmic College”, The company has large numbers of sales people travelling through Canada selling spectacles. ("Editorial Notes": 27, 41)
- 1907 - Cohen Brothers Ltd., Toronto purchased by Lionel G. Amsden; Amsden becomes Vice-President and Managing Director. With other companies, including the Montreal Optical Company, the Dominion Optical Company (Toronto) and the Western Optical Company (Winnipeg), the Consolidated Optical Company is formed. (Fisher, “Early Canadian Optometry”: 44)
- 1910 - Consolidated Optical Co. Ltd. active at 61 Simcoe St., Toronto, ON. President is Charles B. McNaught; secretary John W. Huntzberger. (Toronto City Directory 1910: 501)
- 1910 - The company opens a large factory at 400 Richmond Street West, Toronto. From early 1911, this space is shared with other manufacturers, including the Auto Strop Safety Razor Co. Ltd.. ("Another Business Has Chosen Toronto As Its Home")
- c.1913 - Thomas Pocklington, an instrument maker, is employed by Consolidated Optical.
- 1920 - September. Consolidated Optical opens a factory in Nicolet, QB. (“La Consolidated Optical est établie à Nicolet depuis vingt-cinq ans”)
- 1921-1922 - Consolidated Optical's Toronto factory is engaged to construct the camera frame and tube for the University of Toronto's "Einstein Camera", used for photographing the 1922 solar eclipse in Western Australia and testing Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. ("Lens Assembly for Einstein Camera")
- 1922 - American Optical, an American company based in Southbridge, Mass., investigates begins constructing factory in Belleville, ON. (“Large Factory to be Erected in Belleville”)
- 1924 - Consolidated Optical's survey instrument business is sold to Toronto drawing instrument company, J. Frank Raw Ltd.. The factory at 400 Richmond Street West, Toronto, is closed. Consolidated Optical operations begin at 257 Coleman Street, Belleville ON.
- 1933 – Active and producing glass goods. Plant is Located at 257 Coleman St., Belleville, ON. ("The Ophthalmic Products Industry 1933") - 1945 - Consolidated Optical has 25 stores across Canada selling mainly spectacles. (“La Consolidated Optical est établie à Nicolet depuis vingt-cinq ans”)
- 1947, April - The company continues its activities under the name American Optical Company of Canada. (“American optical…”)
- 1949 - The company moves its Belleville operations to an 87 000 sq ft factory on Bridge Street West, Belleville, ON. (Sangma, “American Optical Company Ltd” )
- 1969 - Company renamed AOCO Ltd., with plants in Belleville, ON and Nicolet, QB. Advertising scientific instruments and medical equipment among their offerings. (Sangma, “American Optical Company Ltd” )
- 1976 - Company active in Belleville, ON, largely importing from American Optical plant in Buffalo. Mainly producing spectacles but "does sell some laboratory tools and supplies." ("The Ophthalmic Products Industry in Canada")
- 1986 - The company's factory in Belleville, ON is taken over by Northern Telecom. (Sangma, “American Optical Company Ltd” )
- 1987 - The company's factory in Nicolet, QC ceases operations. (“Nicolet Inventaire du patrimoine bâti Rapport synthèse”)
- by 2023 - AOCO Ltd. ceases to have operations independent from American Optical.
Sources
“American optical…” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), April 1, 1947: 21.
"Another Business Has Chosen Toronto As Its Home" The Globe (Toronto), May 16, 1911: 9
Canada, Department of Trade and Commerce Dominion Bureau of Statistics. "The Glass Industry in Canada, 1933. (Minister of Trade and Commerce, 1935): 9 (https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/44-207/CS44-207-1933-eng.pdf)
The Consolidated Optical Co. Ltd. “Consol Optical Specialties Catalogue Number 37” Catalogue. Ingenium Library & Archives Trade Lit: PHYS C7555 3001 D1930
“La Consolidated Optical est établie à Nicolet depuis vingt-cinq ans” Le nouvelliste, Mecredi 19 décembre, 1945. (https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3214250)
Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Canada. "The Ophthalmic Products Industry in Canada" (1976) (https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2022/isde-ised/rg54-4/RG54-4-56-1978-eng.pdf )
"Editorial Notes" The Trader & Canadian Jeweller (February 1900): 27, 41 (https://ia601609.us.archive.org/30/items/canadianjewel1900cana/canadianjewel1900cana.pdf)
Fisher, E.J. “Early Canadian Optometry” Newsletter of the Optometric Historical Society 20, No. 4 (October 1989): 44
“Large Factory to be Erected in Belleville” The Globe (Toronto) April 12, 1922: 5
"Lens Assembly for Einstein Camera" John A. Brashear Co., 1922. University of Toronto Scientific Instrument Collection (UTSIC), 2019.ast.241 (https://utsic.utoronto.ca/wpm_instrument/lens-assembly/)
“Lionel George Amsden” Who’s Who in Canada: A Biographical Directory of Men and Women, Vol 6-7 (International Press, Ltd., 1915-1916): 20
“Nicolet Inventaire du patrimoine bâti Rapport synthèse” Culture et Communications, Quebec. (13 février 2015): 82 (https://nicolet.ca/upload/final-rapportsynthese.pdf)
Sangma, Benzie. “American Optical Company Ltd” May 21, 2005 (http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/BelPL/BelPL002769769pf_0001.pdf;http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/BelPL/BelPL002769769pf_0002.pdf)