Submitted by the staff of the Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH)
R.W. Phelps, an industrial engineer, was successful at building generators.
He was often called upon to help problem-solve other companies’ business challenges in the United States and Canada. In 1927, he was invited to help out in Orillia and give his professional opinion on a factory here that was failing and advise what the Royal Bank could do about it.
That factory was the Tudhope Anderson Company (TACO) owned by J.B. Tudhope and Harry Anderson. The plant was built in 1905-06. There were many foundries in Orillia at the time, but this one had a fabricating shop and a woodworking shop and was producing a multitude of products.
TACO Ltd. was established on West Street South in 1910 and started manufacturing equipment for the farming industry, including a major product line focused on wagon wheels. It became the largest commercial wheel manufacturer in the country.
In 1936, the Tudhope Anderson Company was renamed the Orillia Tudhope Anderson Company (Otaco) and switched to producing consumer goods. Before the Second World War, Otaco Ltd. was known far and wide as a manufacturer of farm implements and mining and haulage equipment.
By 1941, at the height of the war effort, there were 1,600 workers at the plant — more than half of them women — working around the clock over three shifts, with the facility consisting of 250,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
After the decline of war production in 1946, Otaco switched focus and produced thousands of quality toys, including bulldozers, transport trucks and gas tankers. The steam shovel was the first toy made at Otaco in 1946 and, after a few design changes, it became one of the best sellers for the Minnitoy line. With the availability of low-priced plastic toys by the mid-1960s, production of the Minnitoy came to an end.
Next week, we will feature another object from the OMAH collection that showcases our local history.
