This huge, colourful ad was rescued from the old hardware store at 216 6th Ave. (Block 13, Lot 6) in New Denver before it was was torn down in July 2018 along with a former warehouse a few lots east. The following originally appeared in the Summer 2018 issue of The Silver Standard, the Silvery Slocan Historical Society newsletter.
Long covered up with wallpaper, the ad was discovered during preparation to tear the building down. Owner Vern Gustafson saved it and gave it to the Silvery Slocan Museum. Historical society president Paula Cravens cleaned and stabilized the fragile remaining image before it was moved to the museum’s second floor where it is now being exhibited. However, this required cutting it in half and then re-assembling it.
The exact date of the ad, which says “Geo. Trickett & Son” at bottom is unknown, but it would be between 1912 and 1931. Martin-Senour Paint was founded in Chicago in 1878 and is still in business as a subsidiary of the Sherwin-Williams Co.
Although it didn’t look like much in the end, it was a very significant building in New Denver’s history, for it was home to The Ledge, Robert T. Lowery’s newspaper, from 1894-1904 — a fact that was long forgotten until the picture below turned up in the 2000s.
The Ledge office is seen in 1898 with employees Hiram L. Walker, Robert T. Lowery, and Charles E. Smitheringale. The two-storey section, added in 1897, housed the printing plant. (Courtesy Janice Wilkin)
The building was also home to J.J. Atherton’s Slocan Mining Review from 1907-09.
George Trickett then established the G.T. Furniture Exchange there, as reported in the Slocan Record on Aug. 29, 1912: “Geo. Trickett has purchased the old Ledge office, and is filling up the gimlet holes.” The building doubled as a funeral parlour.
The company name was G. Trickett & Son — the son being Alex Trickett, who was New Denver’s mayor in 1938-39 and 1941-42. George operated the store until his death in 1931 at age 62. His widow assumed management for a year, followed by Alex, who continued to run it at least through 1948. He died of a brain tumor in 1953, age 46.
N.F. Brookes was proprietor of what was by then called Slocan Lake Hardware from 1953-55. Subsequent owners or proprietors included Gilroy (1968), Nunn (1969-74), M. Bouillet (1975-80), Charlie Kuzmic (1981-88), and Brian McCoy (1989-2015). The building was vacant for its final three years.
The buildings as they appeared ca. 1920s, which an enclosed balcony and an addition on the right. (Greg Nesteroff collection)
The building as it appeared in 2009.
After being reduced to a pile of sticks, July 2018. The lot remains vacant.
Updated on Aug. 3, 2022 to add the photos and text that originally appeared in the newsletter.
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