Title and statement of responsibility area
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Edition area
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Class of material specific details area
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1957-1972 (Creation)
- Creator
- Clairtone Sound Corporation
Physical description area
Physical description
- 13 m of textual records
- 0.3 m of technical drawings
- 0.3 m of graphic material
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Archival description area
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Administrative history
Clairtone Sound Corporation was incorporated under the statutes of Ontario on 2 July 1958. Based in Toronto, the company began manufacturing high-quality sound electronics and accessories. In 1960 it established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Clairtone Sales Limited, and opened its first international sales office in New York City. In the following year Clairtone purchased Strathroy Industries Limited and the company's subsidiary, The Middlesex Furniture Company Limited, thereby establishing its own cabinet manufacturing facilities. In the early 1960s the company established an international reputation for stereo and cabinetry design. In 1964 profits decreased and the company entered into an agreement with Industrial Estates Limited to erect a modern plant in Stellarton, N.S. and move its operations to Nova Scotia. The new plant was in full operation in August 1966, producing cabinets with built-in stereo, hi-fi, and colour television sets, and employing a workforce of nearly one thousand. In subsequent years mounting financial losses led Industrial Estates Limited to approve the sale of Clairtone to the Province of Nova Scotia. The company sustained losses totalling $19 million by 1970 and in 1971, it ceased operations when the government closed all manufacturing facilities. All buildings, inventories, and assets were sold but the company was not officiallly dissolved until 1979.
Custodial history
Records were in the custody of the Province of Nova Scotia after Clairtone was dissolved in 1970. They were transferred to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia records storage centre in Dartmouth ca. 1974 where they remained until their transfer to the archives in 1984.
Scope and content
Consists of records mainly created and accumulated by the corporation during its operations in Nova Scotia. Contains extensive upper management correspondence (13 top company officers), including that of Peter Munk, the company co-founder and president, and other top officers such as the vice-president, general manager, and controller, as well as lesser officials such as the purchasing director, engineer, and marketing and sales manager. Some of these files include annual and other major reports, minutes of director's meetings, policy manuals and official financial statements. There are also separate sections consisting of financial statements and other major corporate records such as annual reports, procedural manuals, and legal agreements, as well as marketing files (including product and promotional photographs and literature), and engineering department records such as quality control manuals and product blueprints.