Today we have a handful of pieces of ephemera from 1926-1934.
When Mr. Wright received his premium receipt in 1926, The Mutual Life Assurance Co. of Canada had been in operation for 56 years—30 of them as The Ontario Mutual Life Assurance Company. During this time period, they moved between several head offices within Waterloo, Ontario.
If you aren’t familiar with The Mutual Life Assurance Company, then you might be familiar with the Mutual Group (1988), Clarica (1999), or Sun Life (2002). The building they moved into in 1912/1913 is still standing and considered to be a significant historic site!
An official premium receipt from 1934. Note the really cool border and fancy text logo.
A threatening-looking Notice to Policyholders, which is just a statement to say that the policy-holder has to pay their bill on time.
This is a dividend receipt from 1926. The general manager at the time was a W.H. Somerville.
Gilbert J. Wright’s premium receipt. Gilbert lived in Bonarlaw, north of Belleville, which was a railway community for many years. The town had several names during its time, from Big Springs to Bell View. It gained the name Bonarlaw after a successful petition to change it to honour the Canadian-born British prime minister in 1921/1922—the only British PM born outside the isles, by the way.
The Bonarlaw railway station was quite busy, serving Canadian Pacific Havelock and Canadian National Maynooth lines, with daily trips into and out of Toronto. Both railways are now recreational trails that pass through the area: the Hastings Heritage Trail and the Trans-Canada Trail.
Another dividend notice, this time from 1934—which would be $580.95 today.
And here’s another policyholder notice.
The Mutual Life Assurance Company and Sun Life were both founded in Canada, with Sun Life starting out in Montreal, Quebec in 1865.
I’ll be back soon with another batch of vintage ephemera for you, so stay tuned!
