1907 - Spec Man (Part 1)

At the time when Hamilton was served with three daily newspaper, the Hamilton Herald, the Hamilton Times and the Hamilton Spectator marketers went to great efforts to come up with innovative schemes to outsell their competitors.

          In May, 1907, the Spectator was being tirelessly promoted by an individual on the paper’s staff known only as the Spec Man.

       Spec Man would wander through various neighborhoods in the city, knock on doors randomly and ask whether the occupant had the latest edition of the Spectator on hand. If it could be shown, there were prizes to be won. 

        The prizes were gift certificates from various Hamilton businesses – the householder who properly could show the latest issue of the Spectator would pull a certificate from a yellow envelope carried by the Spec Man.

          In addition the Spec Man would interview the winners. Those interviews and descriptions of the parts of the city visited would form the basis of articles written by the representative of the Great Family Journal (the marketing nickname of the Hamilton Spectator at the time.)

          On May 4 and May 5, 1907, the Spec Man wrote up the details of his visits to neighbourhoods in the east and west ends of Hamilton as the city was comprised at the time.

          First the east end report, which began by the Spec Man describing the welcomes he had become used to receiving on his jaunts about the city:

          “The Spec Man has never had cause to complain of the reception he was accorded any place he visited, for it has at all times been of the most cordial, and it would be hard for him to imagine that he would receive other than the best of treatment wherever he went. In no place has his reception been more cordial than among the homes of the working men in the east end of the city.”¹

                ¹ “Visited the Homes of Some New Comers : Spec Man in the Far East Welcomed Heartily by New Citizens : One of Them Compares Conditions in England and Canada” Hamilton Spectator . May 4, 1907.

          As well as recounting the visits he made with people in the areas visited, the Spec Man also took pains to describe the neighbourhoods as they were in the spring of 1907.

          The following is a description of the beginnings of his evening in the east end :

          “That he might be in his chosen district in time, he boarded a Barton street car, and soon found himself at Sherman avenue, and as he walked along the street, he could not help but notice the improvement which almost each day marks. On every hand is seen evidences of building operations. In many cases these are new houses, in others enlargements or improvements, but all the time there is unquestionable indications of prosperity.

          “In a very large number of cases, the ladies are busy with their spring house cleaning, while the men devote their spare time to beautifying the yards by the making of flower beds, etc., all of which gives one an unmistakable feeling that there is contentment and happiness all about him.”¹

                The first call of the Spec Man that evening was at 71 Sherman Avenue North. Mrs. John Flewelling answered the knock on the door, said that she indeed had the evening edition of the current Spectator and produced it. She drew from the yellow envelopes a $2.50 certificate which could be used at Finch Brothers.

          Mrs. Flewelling stated that her husband, who was not at home at the moment, worked at the D. Moore foundry. The couple had moved to Hamilton seven years before from the rural community of Rymal south of the city limits on the mountain:

          “The good wife assured the Spec Man that they were much better pleased with life in the city than in the country. She said that they had taken the Great Family Journal ever since they had started housekeeping. Her father had also been a reader and admirer of the Spectator for many years.”¹

                Then it was time for the Spec Man to be off to find another home to approach:

          “Continuing his walk along Sherman avenue, the Spec Man soon found himself on Cannon street, and had not gone far before a neat little brick cottage attracted his attention and as he rang the bell at 756 he heard the voice of one of the inmates call to another, ‘Here is the Spec Man!’ and straight way the Spec Man heard sounds of merriment.”¹

                The Spec Man was at first taken aback somewhat by the laughter which greeted his ringing of the bell on the door, but soon found out the reason for it:

          “Frederick Bellamy, whose home it was answered the bell, and when the Spec Man asked the usual question: ‘Have you a copy of this evening’s Spectator?’ a queer expression passed over his face. Smilingly he assured the Spec Man that he had and invited him in. The paper was found, but not before the inmates of the house had gathered in the room. Mrs. Bellamy drew the envelope containing the $2.50 order on Stanley Mills & Co., and then the cause of all the merriment was made known, for here it was that the bogus Spec Man had been playing a joke, and, fearing that he would be caught in the act, had made his escape just in time to make way for the regular one.”¹

                In speaking with Mr. Bellamy, the Spec Man learned that he had emigrated from England to Hamilton just 7 months previously with his wife and two young children. He was employed as a cutter in the Lyons Tailoring company.

          Mr. Bellamy said that he was pleased with Canada:

          “Rents were higher than in England, but otherwise the cost of living was much the same there as here. Wages, however, were much better here than there. He assured the Spec Man that some queer ideas of Canada were entertained by many English people. Some had an idea that such a city as Hamilton would be a long, straggling place.”¹

                Mrs. Bellamy told the Spec Man that when she was preparing to come to Canada, her friends and relatives did their best to convince her to stay in England :

          “ ' For,' said she, they have an idea that when you open your door each morning, you are forced to dig your way out through ice and snow.'

          “Mr. Bellamy said he was persuaded to procure a heavy cap to protect his ears, and he was assured that in Canada he would come to have his hands, face and feet frozen.

          “Mr. and Mrs. Bellamy have been readers of the Spectator ever since coming to this country, and frequently send copies of the paper to their friends at Plymouth, that they might gain a better idea of this country, and what is going on here.”¹

The Spec Man was told by the Bellamys that they enjoyed his accounts of his travels throughout the city, and invited the Spec Man to drop by their home whenever he might return to the district.

On the move once more, the Spec Man described the route to his next place to visit:

“From Cannon street east, the Spec Man strolled into Kinrade avenue, and as he sauntered along, the spirit moved him to stop at No. 35, the home of James Bamford, another enthusiastic subscriber of the Spectaor.”¹

Mr. and Mrs. Bamford were very, very pleased that their home had been chosen by the Spec Man. Mrs. Bamford was even happier when the certificate she chose was for $5 worth of goods from the R. McKay and Co. department store.

The Bamfords, like the Bellamys, had been recent arrivals in Hamilton from England:

“Mr. Bamford expressed himself delighted in more ways than one that he made the change. Foremost among these is the health of his children, the youngest of whom they feared they would lose before coming to Hamilton.”

Mr. Bamford formerly worked as a machinist with the British Westinghouse company and came to Canada to do the same task with the Canadian division of the Westinghouse firm.

Bamford observed that the working conditions were very different in Canada than in England:

“Here the workman is treated like a man, and he takes an interest in his work that assists the foreman very materially in the amount accomplished. He expressed the opinion that it would hardly be well for some of those English foremen to have many Canadians working under them, for their chances of having their facial beauty spoiled would be very great.”

The Spec Man’s stay at the Bellamy’s home concluded in the same way as at the previous place he had visited. He was given a cordial invitation to return.

The Spec Man’s last call of the evening was on Gibson avenue, No. 181, from which the sound of a well-played piano coming out of its window attracted him.

It was the home of Mr. William Donahue, also a Westinghouse employee, but who was not at home when the Spec Man called. William’s son was the accomplished piano player, and it was the son who answered the door, and who then called out for his mother to come quickly:

“She (Mrs. Donahue) informed the visitor that she only a short time before had told her son to light up the house for the Spec Man, although she had not the slightest idea he would come.

There was only one gift certificate left, but Mrs. Donahue was pleased to receive $2 worth of goods from the James Shea shoe store. Mrs. Donahue is a reader of the Spectator of long-standing and expressed herself as being delighted with it in every way and hoped that the Spec Man might come again.”¹

And so ended the Spec Man’s work for the evening. He was already thinking of his visit for the next day – to the west end district in which he grew up.