July 03, 2010

Found Treasure



Riding back from the grocery store, a shinny glimmer in a pile of yellow rolls caught my eye. Loaded with groceries, I kept going until a block later, when instinct made me turn back. The ripped and aged rolls turned out to be vintage wallpaper. Five rolls of beautifully, patterned paper. I felt like I had just struck gold!

Along the trim of one of the papers is printed "Made in Canada by CWM" (Canadian Wallpaper Manufacturer's Limited). Looks like it operated in Toronto (The Boxer Building at 222 Islington Ave) from 1927-1978 until they relocated to Brampton and became Sunworthy. Which means my paper is at least 32 years old. I've posted more photos of the paper here.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:33 pm

    Very cool. I worked at Sunworthy's for a while. They have gone through many incarnations.

    I am also trying to contact you, Pam, to see if you are interested in publishing some of your work with a local Toronto company. Where I now work. Please give me a call at 416-252-9693 ext. 216.


    Debbie deLaPlante - Banks

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just came across your blog googling "Made in Canada by CWM" as we bought an old metal trunk and the inside has been lined with a faux wooden style paper with that exact marking. Your bit of info helps a lot! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's exciting! Are you going to keep it / is it a cool design?

    ReplyDelete