1

The relationship between Frost & Wood and employees had always been described as excellent. Strikes and discrepancies between Management and staff were uncommon. The Frosts kept track of employee's birthdays as well as the day they started with the company.

In addition to the Malleable and the Canadian Pacific Railway, Frost & Wood was one of the major employers in the Smiths Falls area. Local men were often hired as teenagers and spent the next 30, 40 or 50 years working for the company. The company appreciated and honoured these men for their loyalty and often gathered together to document milestones.

Though many photos of long serving male employees exist, none have been discovered celebrating these types of milestones for female employees.

2

The Veterans of the Frost & Wood Company
1 June 1944
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

3

Residents of Smiths Falls could set their watches by the factory whistle at Frost & Wood, which blew to signal the start and finish of the day, as well as lunch hour.

In Smiths Falls, it was common that once out of high school teenagers would try to find work at places like Frost & Wood or the railway. Monday was hiring day at Frost & Wood and people could go the head office and fill out an application. Even if someone had to go back and apply a couple times, workers were virtually always needed at the plant.

4

Job Application for the Frost & Wood Company Limited
31 May 1940
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
University of Guelph Archival & Special Collections

5

Once hired, Frost & Wood gave employees a pocket sized rule book, listing the company's expectations of their staff. In a 1900 edition of the Frost & Wood Company rule book, the company laid out expectations and regulations for their workers:

"-No employee is allowed in any other department other than the one he/she works in, unless authorized.
- Conversations about the company on personal time will not to be tolerated.
- Use of tobacco in any form is forbidden during office hours.
- Avoid cliques and avoid talking about your fellow workman."

The book also listed of actions considered as "Profit Chokers". Lack of initiative, nursing the job, chronic "can't be dones," and unnecessary stair and floor travel are listed as such.

6

Office Rules Governing Employees of the Frost & Wood Company
Circa 1910
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
University of Guelph Archival & Special Collections

7

As of April 1947, the Frost & Wood Company was comprised of 30 buildings spread over 9.8 acres of land. Buildings included the main manufacturing building, dry kilns, foundry, paint vault, power house, and blacksmith shop.

Within the plant, departments ranged from Electrical Maintenance, Accounting, Paint, Time Office and Munitions Contracts.

8

Frost & Wood Company Departments
25 October 1944
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

9

Departments like Accounting, Invoice, Purchasing, Shipping, Personnel, and Time Standards worked out of the head office at Frost & Wood. Here, departments had a pool of stenographers to type out memos, work orders or correspondences.

During the 1940s, the only female Department Head at Frost & Wood was Mrs. A.M. Neill in the Invoice Department. In comparison, both the Time Office and Invoice Department were located in the head office. Neill made $175.00 a month whereas the Department Head of the Time Office, Gordon Smith, made $210.00 a month.

10

Office work
24 January 1944
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

11

In this silent video, workers at the Frost & Wood factory manufacture an Oil Bath Mower. Employees could make 52 cents an hour making the cutter boards for the mowers. By the time this video was produced in 1938, Frost & Wood had become a division of the Cockshutt Plow Company.

12

Factory Work
Circa 1938
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

13

As a result of the 1906 fire, Frost & Wood increased fire prevention training for employees in order to ensure a similar disaster would never happen again.

Around the factory was an automatic sprinkler system, as well as 'frost proof' hydrants located around the property. As per company policy, there was zero tolerance for smoking during work hours. Workers were forbidden from carrying matches in their pockets, unless held in a protective metal container. At the end of a shift, workers had to place all dirty or oily rags in the proper receptacles to avoid accidental fires on the floor.

Frost & Wood also had an organized Fire Brigade, comprised of regular employees. A list of the brigade's members' names and phone numbers were posted all around the factory in case of an emergency.

14

The Frost & Wood Fire Department
24 July 1943
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum