Today, Canada Post issued a stamp honouring Robert Samuel McLaughlin, informally known as Sam, the founder of General Motors of Canada. Two million units of the 52-cent stamp will be put into circulation. Stamp collectors with a soft spot for all things automotive can also get their hands on a 16-stamp commemorative leaflet, as well as an Official First Day Cover envelope.
The new stamp was designed by Tiit Telmet of Telmet Design in Toronto. A two-tone effect recalls the familiar sepia hue of early 20th-century photographs.
Featured on the left is a 1912 test vehicle driven by one of McLaughlin's employees, Joseph Mills. On the right is the reproduction of a portrait taken of Sam when he received his honorary doctorate from the York University in Ontario. He was 95 years old.
It also features the brand's emblem as well as the slogan that represented it for a long time: "One Grade Only and that the Best."
In 1993, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating Sam McLaughlin's career. The 86-cent stamp displayed a 1928 McLaughlin-Buick 28-496 and was part of a series dedicated to historic vehicles. Extremely popular, the series was reissued three years later for the CAPEX 96 International Stamp Exhibition held in Toronto.
The father of our automotive industry
Many consider Sam McLaughlin to be the father of the Canadian automobile industry.
Born in 1871 in Enniskillen, a small Ontarian village located between Sarnia and London, Robert Samuel McLaughlin was to become an important Canadian businessman and philanthropist. In 1876, his father, Robert McLaughlin, decided to move his car and horse-drawn sleigh factory, the McLaughlin Carriage Workers, to a newly-bustling city: Oshawa.
In 1887, Sam, 16, became an apprentice upholsterer in his father's company, where he quickly climbed the corporate ladder.
In 1904, he was fascinated by his first ride in a horseless carriage. That's when he realized that this was the machine of the future. He founded the McLaughlin Motor Car Company three years later and, with the help of William Crapo Durant, the GM founder who supplied him with Buick engines, built his first automobiles. The first McLaughlin, a 1908 model year, was introduced in December 1907. McLaughlin manufactured 154 units during his first year of production.
In 1910, Sam McLaughlin became a member of General Motor's management. In 1915, Durant founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. of Canada. Then in 1918, McLaughlin's company merged with Chevrolet's Canadian subsidiary to form General Motors of Canada, with McLaughlin at the reins, where he remained in until 1942. That year, the name McLaughlin, up till then used to describe the Buicks sold in Canada, disappeared for good.
Sam McLaughlin continued acting as CEO of GM Canada until 1967. He died in 1972 at the venerable age of 101. At that time, certain historians considered Oshawa to be the Canadian automotive capital.
photo:Postes Canada
The new stamp was designed by Tiit Telmet of Telmet Design in Toronto. A two-tone effect recalls the familiar sepia hue of early 20th-century photographs.
Featured on the left is a 1912 test vehicle driven by one of McLaughlin's employees, Joseph Mills. On the right is the reproduction of a portrait taken of Sam when he received his honorary doctorate from the York University in Ontario. He was 95 years old.
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| Stamp collectors with a soft spot for the history of the automobile will want to get their hands on this 16-stamp set. |
It also features the brand's emblem as well as the slogan that represented it for a long time: "One Grade Only and that the Best."
In 1993, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating Sam McLaughlin's career. The 86-cent stamp displayed a 1928 McLaughlin-Buick 28-496 and was part of a series dedicated to historic vehicles. Extremely popular, the series was reissued three years later for the CAPEX 96 International Stamp Exhibition held in Toronto.
The father of our automotive industry
Many consider Sam McLaughlin to be the father of the Canadian automobile industry.
Born in 1871 in Enniskillen, a small Ontarian village located between Sarnia and London, Robert Samuel McLaughlin was to become an important Canadian businessman and philanthropist. In 1876, his father, Robert McLaughlin, decided to move his car and horse-drawn sleigh factory, the McLaughlin Carriage Workers, to a newly-bustling city: Oshawa.
In 1887, Sam, 16, became an apprentice upholsterer in his father's company, where he quickly climbed the corporate ladder.
In 1904, he was fascinated by his first ride in a horseless carriage. That's when he realized that this was the machine of the future. He founded the McLaughlin Motor Car Company three years later and, with the help of William Crapo Durant, the GM founder who supplied him with Buick engines, built his first automobiles. The first McLaughlin, a 1908 model year, was introduced in December 1907. McLaughlin manufactured 154 units during his first year of production.
In 1910, Sam McLaughlin became a member of General Motor's management. In 1915, Durant founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. of Canada. Then in 1918, McLaughlin's company merged with Chevrolet's Canadian subsidiary to form General Motors of Canada, with McLaughlin at the reins, where he remained in until 1942. That year, the name McLaughlin, up till then used to describe the Buicks sold in Canada, disappeared for good.
Sam McLaughlin continued acting as CEO of GM Canada until 1967. He died in 1972 at the venerable age of 101. At that time, certain historians considered Oshawa to be the Canadian automotive capital.
photo:Postes Canada
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