This is a photo of the Sun Tube factory at 145 Spruce Street in Ottawa in the 60s courtesy of the Ottawa Journal.
I worked there on the midnight shift during the summer of 1968. My friend Steve was working there and told me about a summer job opportunity. As “box boy” I was responsible for ensuring shipping boxes were at the end of each line for packing empty Crest tooth paste tubes into that they produced there. I was paid $1.40/hr I recall.
It was a ball!
They had 2 or 3 production lines. Starting with a sheet of lead coated tin or perhaps aluminum about .25” thick, a punch stamped out circular discs. The discs would then be punched into the tube shape, narrow at one end and open at the other. It must have been loud. The tubes would then be painted with the Crest logo, wording and colours and then placed open end up in the boxes. I would move the loaded boxes onto a skid and move them to the shipping room. They were shipped by truck to a factory in Hamilton where they were filled. Can’t remember how the threaded end was made and if caps were installed there but I think so.
Pretty cool.
There would be frequent equipment breakdowns and the line would stop while the male mechanic fixed something. I recall the rest of the line workers were women of various ages. Some were French speaking or people of colour. We used to have two 15 min smoke breaks and a 30 min lunch break that were timed.
I remember sitting out on the open dock behind the blue door you can see in the photo and puffing away with a few women in the middle of the warm night. I remember too the solvent room where they stored enamel and paint solvents. You could not breathe in there due to the extremely strong solvent smell – very unhealthy for the individuals who had to go in there frequently.
Not sure how I got to work. Probably took the 52 bus route which got me close and then I had to walk a few blocks. Met a nice guy named Tom who had a car. Well didn’t we befriend a couple of nice girls also working there for the summer who we tried to visit in Hull where they were staying. Could not find their place I recall. After the summer we visited them in Cornwall once or twice and probably took them to Massena, NY to The Club for a drink.
Sadly the factory closed in the 70s or 80s as everything moved to plastic. Still have fond memories that were triggered yesterday by hearing BJ Thomas’s Hooked on a Feeling. Also playing on the radio that summer was the Bee Gees hit I’ve Got to get a message to you. Enjoy the memories too if you’re old enough lol!
mattersofthemoment 