The little Vancouver Island coffee company that became a household name.
"1889::The Jameson Trademark" Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1922)
Victoria, British Columbia
Long before Starbucks was born to Seattle, there was a small, family-owned coffee company on Vancouver Island that many West Coasters couldn't start their day without. Jameson's Coffee was the go-to pick-me-up cuppa found on breakfast tables across Western Canada for nearly a century.
"2024::754 Broughton Street" Photo: Google Earth Pro Imagery Capture: 11.2022
The company was renowned for importing only the world's best teas and coffees, ensuring every cup delighted the senses. Coffee beans were carefully selected and perfectly roasted in the family's large brick building on Broughton Street in Victoria, British Columbia, and steeped teas and freshly brewed coffees were always available to connoisseurs in the building's Tasting Room. The Jameson Trademark, a symbol of this dedication to excellence, was found on all Jameson products successfully manufactured and distributed from their Broughton Street building, which still stands today.
"1889::Robert Hamilton Jameson" Photo Clip: The Islander Magazine (1967)
Victoria, British Columbia
Robert Hamilton Jameson, a true Scot born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, home of the famous whiskey-making Jamesons of Dublin, Ireland, embarked on a journey to the West Coast in 1887, not long after the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) rolled its first train along its transcontinental rails. He had closed down his small chain of grocery stores back in Ontario and was looking to make a fresh start. After a short visit to Vancouver Island, he was taken by its natural beauty and its potential as a place for business. He knew the island was where he wanted to be. He returned to Whitby, Ontario, only to pack up his family and move them to their new South Island home on Montreal Street in Victoria's James Bay. Within his first year as an islander, Jameson purchased riverside property near the Sooke Potholes and re-established his grocery business on Fort Street in the heart of the city.
"1890::R. H. Jameson Groceries & Provisions on Fort Street, Victoria, British Columbia"
Photo Clip: (tbd)
Just days before Christmas 1889, Jameson opened his new store on the south side of Fort Street between Government and Broad Streets. He painted his storefront red to stand out among the other vendors and offered a free delivery service to his patrons. Jameson's Groceries & Provisions had quickly made a name for itself in its new home.
"1889::Jameson's Groceries & Provisions Opens For Business"
Photo Clip: The Victoria Daily Times (1889)
Victoria, British Columbia
Jameson sold fresh groceries and a few specialty teas and coffees he had arranged to import while travelling. His new store had some luck and success, being next door to Victoria's famous and well-established Scotch House, so much so that he brought in his sons to help with the family business. Within a few short years, his sons were running the store.
"1900::The Jameson Family of Vancouver Island"
Photo Clip: The Islander Magazine (1967)
Victoria, British Columbia
Seated in front: Jack Jameson and Gordon Jameson.
Second row: Luta (Austin), Robert Hamilton Jameson, Moragh (Turnbull) and Mary Cecelia Jameson.
Back row: Carron Jameson, Bertha (Powell), Robert J. Jameson, Mary (McRae) and William Alexander
Jameson referred to his children as his clan. With five boys and four girls, he often sacrificed travelling for business for more time spent at home. In 1901, however, when his oldest son, William Alexander, had completely taken over the store's operations, he resumed his travels to far-off lands. The young Jameson generation ushered in the new century, managing the store and rising among successful local businesses. While Jameson's second oldest son was busy developing a successful automobile business, his other four sons were becoming wholly immersed in the success of William Alexander's new store, the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company.
"1905::The Ames Holden Block on the Corner of Broughton and Langley Streets"
Photo: City of Vancouver Archives (Out P769)
Within its first few years, the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company had grown and expanded to new locations along Fort Street and Oak Bay Avenue. However, expansion was not enough for the ambitious young Jameson. After the tragic loss of his only child in 1908, William Alexander devised a new business plan.
He moved his company under one roof, filling space in the old Ames Holden Building on the southwest corner of Broughton and Langley Streets. He also dropped small fresh groceries from his inventory to focus more on his wholesale tea and coffee business and the manufacturing of specialty spices and baking supplies. The changes were a recipe for success. But as William forged ahead with his plan, he could see that his company would soon outgrow its new home.
"1910::W.A. Jameson Coffee Co. Receiving 12 Tons of Tea at the Corner of Langley and Broughton Streets"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1910)
Victoria, British Columbia
In February 1910, the CPR Steamship Empress of China arrived in Victoria from the Orient with a staggering 24,000 lbs of tea on board. That's one-quarter of the tea dumped into Boston's harbour in 1773. It was the largest shipment of tea ever received in the capital city, and it was all for the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company. Teas from Ceylon and India, the best in the world, were carefully stacked along the southwest corner of Langley and Broughton Streets, waiting for Jameson's men to fit it all into the company's new warehouse. The large shipment presented a challenge as they had just unpacked 35,000 lbs of coffee from New York the previous week. They had moved into the Ames Holden building just a few months earlier, but the company had already outgrown its 6,500-square-foot space. Calling on the help of local architects, young William Alexander began designing and constructing his company's new building at 754 Broughton Street, which still stands today.
"1911::W.A. Jameson Coffee Co.'s New Home at 754 Broughton Street"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1910)
Victoria, British Columbia
Weeks before Christmas 1911, the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company finally moved into its newly built factory and warehouse at 754 Broughton Street. William had spent nearly 20,000 dollars on his custom-designed building and all the modern equipment that money and brains could provide. The company's output was set to increase exponentially. By the end of its first year in the new building, Jameson brand products were being packaged and shipped to stores throughout Vancouver Island, the lower mainland, and all of Canada's Western provinces as far east as Winnipeg.
"1911::Third Floor Roasting Room of the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company at 754 Broughton Street"
Photo Clip: (tbd)
The W.A. Jameson building on Broughton Street was designed to ease the flow of business and protect the company's inventory. Hot water heating was piped throughout, keeping teas and coffees dry. William's brother Robert, employed by Victoria's leading electrical contractor, Hinton Electric, installed a freight elevator with a 3,500 lb lifting capacity designed to connect the building's activities on all three floors. The company's administrative offices shared the first floor with its official Tasting Room and storage for its manufactured goods. The second floor stored all the raw materials used to manufacture and package Jameson brand products. The third floor was where all the action took place. It housed the company's commercial coffee mixers and two cutting-edge coffee bean roasters with a capacity to turn out 800 lbs of roasted coffee per hour. Coffee grinders with an output of 1,000 lbs per hour made it an impressive setup, even by today's standards. It was a successful local business that Victorians were proud of.
"1912::The W.A. Jameson Company Stand at Victoria's Fall Agricultural Fair"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1912)
Victoria, British Columbia
After the company had settled into its new home, it began appearing at fairs and exhibitions around the province. On display was its Jameson brand Featherlight Baking Powder, second to none on the market, and its Persian Sherbet, a local favourite. The fairs were an opportunity to introduce the company's lesser-known products, like ice cream powder, flavouring extracts, and specialty spices. But what brought the crowds to the exhibit was its special coffee drink. Five cents bought a Jameson's Latte made with rich cream from Salt Spring Island. All proceeds were donated to Victoria's YWCA building fund.
"1948::Celebrating Home Industry and the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company"
Photo: (tbd)
After 60 years of business, the Jameson brothers and their company had weathered a few storms. Two World Wars had brought about significant worldwide material restrictions and forced the company to change its packaging from its signature tin cans to vacuum-sealed paper bags within boxes of heavy cardboard—whatever it took to keep its products fresh for its customers.
"1924::Mr. Robert H. Jameson Sr."
Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1924)
Victoria, British Columbia
In August 1924, Robert Jameson Sr. travelled to Victoria to have his photo taken for the first time since he was a young man. He had been living on the Jameson Ranch in Sooke since his wife passed away in 1910 and continued to work the family's riverside property until his own death in 1929. Many said that there was never a day that he was seen without wearing his traditional Highland kilt and Balmoral bonnet. A few years after his death, in 1937, his son Robert, now a successful automobile salesman, shocked the city when he suddenly passed away after a short illness. He was 57 years old. In 1942, William Alexander, pioneer businessman and founder of the well-known coffee firm which bore his name, died after a long illness and after forty years of building the family business with his brothers to become the most successful coffee and tea merchant house on Vancouver Island.
"1959::The Demolition of the Ames Holden Building at the Corner of Langley and Broughton Streets"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1959)
Victoria, British Columbia
In 1959, the Ames Holden Building, the first home of the independent W.A. Jameson Coffee Company at the corner of Langley and Broughton Streets, was torn down to make way for city parking that would block and disconnect the Broughton to Courtney Street connection. It was an event that marked the beginning of the company's end. Two years later, the W.A. Jameson Coffee Company merged with a Vancouver company and left its home at 754 Broughton Street after nearly 50 years of business. It operated from a warehouse on Burnside Road until 1978 when it closed its doors for good.
Comments