Volume 101 Number 2, 2008 Issue #429

MARGARINE HAS PLAYED AN INTERESTING ROLE IN NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY. WHILE MANY THINK OF THE HARVEY OR CROSBIE NAME IN CONNECTION WITH MARGARINE, THE FIRST MANUFACTURER WAS NEITHER OF THESE. RATHER IT WAS ROBERT ALMON BREHM, A NOVA SCOTIAN WHO, ALONG WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY, WOULD BE INVOLVED IN A NUMBER OF NEWFOUNDLAND "FIRSTS", AND ALSO WITH MANY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FIGURES AND EVENTS. THESE INCLUDE: THE DIVERSIFICATION OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND ECONOMY; THE INTRODUCTION OF TROUT; THE POLITICS OF SIR ROBERT BOND; WOMEN'S CURLING; MOTORCYCLING; AND PUBLIC HEALTH REFORM.

Only in Newfoundland could an edible oil product become an issue in a political campaign. In fact margarine played a central role in the movement to make Newfoundland a part of Canada. In 1948, when confederation was being debated, the atmosphere in Newfoundland was charged with both practical and emotional rhetoric, and there was no topic more emotional than the future of margarine. Pro- and anti-confederates both rallied behind the sacredness of Newfoundland's margarine. When the anti-confederate Albert Perlin, editor of the Daily News, writing under the pen name "Wayfarer," warned that a vote for confederation would mean that Newfoundlanders would no longer be allowed to buy their favourite "spread for bread," pro-confederate Gregory Power retaliated with The Ballad of Oleo Margarine, written under the pen name "Housewife." He extolled the virtues of margarine over butter and enforced the idea that confederates also feared a future without "oleo" which:

Besides its worth in stews and juices
It has other magic uses,
Superseding every phony
Means to forward matrimony.
Now, Myrtle, Eloise, and Mabel
Don't give a damn for Betty Grable,
Since any unromantic ruffi'n
Is tamed by spreading on his muffin
That fortified, improved, delicious
Blend of cottonseed and fishes.

In 1949, when Newfoundlanders voted to enter into confederation, the Terms of Union contained the usual clauses, and one unusual clause, Term 46, which allowed for the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine, also known as margarine or butterine, but prohibited its export from the province.

By then, the Newfoundland Margarine Company was the only manufacturer of margarine in the province, but this had not always been the case. And, while the Harvey and Crosbie families were both important in the history of this industry, a family name that should also be remembered is one that no longer even appears here, that of Brehm.

Brehm, the manufacturer

In 1878, Robert Almon Brehm (1837-1922) came to Newfoundland bringing his business acumen and probably some of the equipment of his trade. Brehm had been a manufacturer of soap, candles, and washing soda in Halifax and may have come to work for Albert Soap Work, which was run by J. & W. Pitts, or Harvey and Company, who also manufactured soap, or, perhaps, to set up his own shop. In 1881, Brehm purchased candle-making equipment from William and James S. Pitts, which suggests that he had gone into business for himself. Brehm's journey into the manufacturing of butterine was undoubtedly facilitated by his background as a manufacturer, especially one adept at changing liquids into solids. The timing of his arrival in the city was particularly fortuitous as it was at the beginning of a public policy shift which would lead to a general change in the industrial nature of the province.

Robert Almon Brehm. Courtesy of Murray's Pond Country Club.

By the latter part of the 19th century, it was an accepted fact that the Newfoundland economy could not depend solely on the fishery. With this recognition, economic diversification became public policy and there was a willingness to support new industries that could be established locally, decreasing the country's dependency on imports and increasing the job market for its population. One of these industries was the production of a butter substitute, first butterine (the precursor to margarine), then margarine.

Margarine, a combination of oils and fats, had been invented in France in 1869-70. The manufacturing process, which involved heating the soluble and insoluble ingredients in a vat, then churning them to make an emulsion which was in turn cooled and hardened, was relatively simple and similar to that used in producing other solids such as candles. After the process was patented, margarine started to be manufactured in many countries. In some, including Canada, opposition by dairy farmers led to regulations which seriously restricted the sale of margarine and thus also its manufacture. However, Newfoundland did not have a strong dairy industry and the production of butter on the island had amounted only 1.25 pounds per person in 1883-84 and 1.99 pounds per person in 1890-91. During this period, the importation of butter ranged from 4.3 pounds per person in 1883-84 to 3.1 pounds per person in 1890-91. Imported butter carried with it a duty that added to its purchase price. As well, butter had a shorter shelf life than margarine and needed better refrigeration to maintain its quality. The lack of serviceable roads made transportation of goods difficult, particularly in winter, and food items often had to be stored for the whole season. Margarine, which was both cheaper than butter and less likely to spoil, became the favoured spread for bread in Newfoundland.

By 1883, Harvey's had initiated the manufacture of butterine, using fish and seal oils and a small amount of milk. Brehm was in charge of production. In 1894 Brehm left Harvey and Company and joined with the partners of Hearn and Company, John Harris, John Kavanagh, and John Henderson, to set up a second butterine enterprise, the Saint John Butterine Company Limited. Once again Brehm managed the factory that became a section of Hearn and Company. When the last of the partners, John Henderson, died in January 1916, Brehm decided to form his own company. On February 15, 1916, he registered the Brehm Manufacturing Company, Limited, whose purpose was to manufacture butterine. On that same day he joined forces with some prominent merchants of Water Street, Marmaduke G. Winter and Bowring Bros. Ltd., to purchase the land, building, and machinery of Hearn and Company on Forest Road, and also to acquire the goodwill and existing contracts of Hearn and Company. In 1919, the list of shareholders grew when ownership was opened to the public, albeit a limited public.

The Brehm Manufacturing Company and Harvey and Company both operated in the east end of St. John's. The Brehm factory was located on the corner of Forest Road and Empire Avenue, near the old railroad track, while the Harvey factory was a little farther east, also along the railroad track. In 1925 Sir John C. Crosbie, head of a fish exporting company and colonial Minister of Finance, set up a third margarine manufacturing company, the Newfoundland Butter Company. The addition of this company, along with the economic difficulties of the Depression, caused problems for the original two firms and, in 1932, they formed a joint company, Harvey-Brehm Ltd. By the end of 1937 Harvey-Brehm Ltd., which had changed its name to Harvey Creamery Ltd., had sold its plant to Lever Brothers and Unilever Ltd. That same year Lever Brothers also came to an agreement with the Newfoundland Butter Company, effectively bringing all the margarine companies under the same banner. Harvey-Brehm Ltd. continued to operate, on paper at least, until it officially liquidated on October 30, 1945. In July 2003, Unilever Canada announced that the company would close its St. John's margarine plant, thus bringing an end to the manufacturing of margarine in this province.

Brehm, the sportsman

Robert Almon Brehm's association with the margarine industry was significant but it was not his only contribution to Newfoundland life. In addition to being known as a prominent manufacturer, he was also known as an excellent equestrian and judge of horses, an accomplished gardener, and an avid trouter. It was in pursuit of his interest in trout fishing that Brehm became involved with the Game Fish Protection Association that had been formed around 1884. The sportsmen who founded the Association, many of them leading business and political figures, felt that the government of the day did not appreciate the value of the game and inland fisheries and were not taking sufficient measures to protect these resources. In their 1887 Articles of Constitution the Association stated its objective to be the encouragement of sport angling and the propagation and protection of freshwater game fish on the Island. The Association paid the Government a rental fee of 10,000 fry per year in return for permission to operate a hatchery, and for the exclusive right to fish in a couple of lakes. The fish hatchery operated by the Association was first located at Upper Long Pond (possibly where the Fluvarium is now located), and later at Murray's Pond on Portugal Cove Road. Brehm was President of the Association from 1892-99 during which time the Association acquired the land where the Murray's Pond Fishing and Country Club was later built. He was also instrumental in the move to build the Association's first clubhouse and is credited as one of the people who introduced rainbow trout from California into Newfoundland in 1887 and the German Brown trout in 1892. Brehm's enjoyment of the sport is best expressed in a bit of poetry that is attributed to him:

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Manuscripts Division, Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University.

Be ours the blissful task to cast the feathered hook
Across the rippling stream or down the flowing brook.

Brehm and Sir Robert Bond

During his years in St. John's, Brehm did quite well professionally, financially, and socially as witnessed by his increasingly responsible business positions, his civic addresses, and by his will. In business, Brehm went from managing a factory to owning one. Whether through luck or planning, Brehm's business managed to survive the Fire of 1892 and the Bank Crash of 1894. His civic addresses also show an upwardly mobile direction. In 1890 Brehm was listed as living on Military Road, from there he moved to Cochrane Street, and finally in 1898 he bought a house on Circular Road, which would be the family home until 1945. In 1922, Brehm's probated will valued his estate at $254,736.47.

The family's house, at the junction of Empire Avenue and Circular Road, had been the home of Elizabeth Bond, widow of John Bond and mother of Sir Robert Bond and the Rev. George Bond, and was one touchstone of his lifelong relationship with Sir Robert Bond (1857-1927; Prime Minister 1900-09). A letter in Brehm's handwriting, offering congratulations after Bond's 1894 electoral victory, suggests a camaraderie that was certainly personal. In it, Brehm congratulates Bond, and Bond alone, who had "wiped out the Tory faction and shown them that you are a whole team in yourself." Brehm inquires about the state of Bond's liver now that the campaigning is over. In rather flowery prose he goes on to relate that:

There is weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth in the Tory camp from the old Governor to the vile judges down to the scum that compose the party of friends.
They said our party was dead. You have shown them that there is life in the old dog yet.
When you took to the field & unfurled the old flag to the breeze I knew it meant to conquer or die.
I trust you may long be spared to bear it in the right aloft to victory.

An article in the Daily News gives the following account of Bond leaving for Whitbourne on his way to the coronation of Edward VII:

Robert Bond Papers. Coll 237: 3.13.012 Letters and telegrams re: election, 1894. Transcription: Linda White.

Those supposed to be immediately attendant upon the Prime Minister were, J. S. Pitts, E. M. Jackman, Eli Dawe, J. A. Clift, H. Gear, G. W. Gushue, R. A. Brehm, Dr. McKenzie (the last two being wigwamers), and P. T. McGrath. Two members of his Executive, four small fry members of the 'great Liberal Party', a Tory traitor, and two 'aliens' was a rather poor tribute to the popularity or worth of the Prime Minister. The 'brainless backboneless booby' has lost caste, and, it is said, will travel without a 'shoe horn' this time.

In this short paragraph, the Daily News deftly manages to leave no doubt of its political affiliation while leaving an interesting footnote to the politics of the time. Brehm is referred to as an "alien" and a "wigwamer," an allusion to New York's Tammany Hall with the attendant inference of patronage. When Brehm died, one obituary noted that while he had been leading a retiring life in recent years:

he formerly took a deep interest in public affairs, and though never venturing into active politics his views and opinions commanded the attention and regard of the leaders to whose policies and principles he gave consistent support.

This was undoubtedly a reference to Bond, who had journeyed from Whitbourne to St. John's to attend Brehm's funeral. While Brehm and Bond were politically simpatico, their relationship was also deeply personal, as further evidenced by a letter Bond wrote to his nephew Fraser Bond shortly after Brehm's death. In a Christmas greeting to Fraser, Bond mentions that cards are beginning to arrive and that he will greatly miss receiving greetings from his "oldest and dearest companions" Brehm and Richard H. O'Dwyer who had died in the past year:

They were the only two who were left in whose houses I always felt at home, and they were the only two homes in St. John's that, for many years, I have entered. I made it a rule to drop in when I went to town for a pipe and a chat. I have missed that sorely during the past three months, and now I shall miss their annual greetings. The other friends are different. You will understand. But enough of this.

The Brehm Family

Brehm's connection to the margarine industry, to the introduction of trout into Newfoundland, and his friendship with Bond should be enough to earn him a place in the chronicles of the province, but the contributions of Brehm and his family did not stop there. While his family was not large, some of its members were prominent in their own and varied ways.

In 1879, Brehm's wife Emma Theresa, and their three sons Balthazar Creamer (1866-1921), Frank Tremaine (1868-1944), and Robert Almon (1870-1942), joined him in St. John's. In 1880, Brehm transferred to James S. Pitts, after receipt of $1.00, a substantial array of household goods and furniture to be held for the sole use of his wife as a token of his "natural love and affection." While this was surely an indication of his regard for his wife, it was also a cushion against bankruptcy as he started off fresh in a new city. If he should fail, they would, at least, still have their belongings. Little is known of Emma Theresa other than that she was a member of the first executive of the Gower Street Methodist Church (now Gower Street United Church) Women's Missionary Society. She was corresponding secretary from April 19, 1883 until September 1888 and a member until at least 1892. Emma Theresa died September 10, 1893, aged 49 years.

Brehm's second wife, Mary Chisholm Raymond (1863-1934) was the widow of a prominent Sussex, NB physician, George H. Raymond, and the daughter of Charles M. Gove, the Collector of Customs in St. Andrews, NB. Their wedding took place at the bride's home in St. Andrews on September 18, 1902.

The marriage of Brehm and Mary Chisholm poses some questions. How did Brehm, a 65-year-old Methodist from Newfoundland, manage to meet, woo, and wed, Mary Chisholm, a 39-year-old Anglican from New Brunswick? Whatever the story, after her arrival in St. John's Mary Chisholm was to become involved in a variety of activities including the Dorcas Society, the Old Ladies Home, and the Women's Patriotic Association (WPA). Mary Chisholm was also prominent during the formative years of ladies' curling in Newfoundland as the first president of the Avalon Club, an association of lady curlers that came into being in January 1906. There was a Brehm medal that was named in her honour and was awarded to a first or second year curler.

Formal portrait of first women's curling club in Newfoundland and Labrador. Back row l-r: Annie Hayward, Mrs. Adeline [John] Browning, Mrs. Armine [William S.] Gosling, Isabel Prowse, Miss Bremner. Middle row l-r: Mrs. Henrietta [John] Harvey, Mrs. Kenneth Prowse, Mrs. [Mary Chisholm] Brehm, Mrs. William Duder, Violette Macpherson. First row l-r: Minnie Goodridge, Mrs. Eleanora [Cluny] Macpherson. Photo courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives, SANL 1/13/02/002.

The WPA had been formed in September 1914 during a meeting called by Lady Margaret Davidson, wife of the governor, and attended by 700 women. Its objective was to help the men of Newfoundland in the defence of the British Empire by providing the necessities needed by soldiers at the front. Although the membership the WPA extended beyond the ranks of the elite, the organizing committee was a who's who of St. John's society and included many women who were undoubtedly close friends of Mary Chisholm.

The services provided by the WPA were many and varied. Although best known for the thousands of woolen socks that they knitted, the women of the WPA also sewed clothing to be used by the hospitalized soldiers, collected sphagnum moss to be used for medical purposes, and rolled bandages. They ran dances, curling matches, and other forms of entertainment, which brought in much needed cash used to purchase supplies and for other activities including assistance for Belgian refugees and outfitting Waterford Hall, the convalescent home for soldiers and sailors. According to the records of the WPA, Mary Chisholm served on the purchasing committee for Waterford Hall. But it was her work as the convener of the Cutting Committee that occupied most of her efforts in the WPA.

In the beginning, the cutting of material for nightshirts, bed jackets, pajamas, and dressing gowns had been done by employees of the Royal Stores and of the Newfoundland Clothing Factory. On October 6, 1914, this work was taken over by the Cutting Committee under the leadership of Mary Chisholm. Within the first week the members of the committee had cut out 221 garments that were sent to individuals for sewing. Over the course of the war this committee, whose work was described as "most heavy and tiring," would keep as many as 40 or 50 sewers busy. As well, the ever-frugal women sold the scraps left after cutting in order to make money to buy additional material.

One incident, though, suggests that no matter how much a part of St. John's society one might appear to be, if that person was "from away", they were considered different. Until 1916, Mrs. John [Henrietta] Harvey was the convener of the Committee of Committees. That year she stepped down from that position to head the Red Cross Committee. Mary Chisholm's name was put forth as a suitable replacement for the position of the chief overseer of all the committees. Lady Davidson, WPA President, in a letter to Lady Horwood, WPA Vice President, concurred that Mrs. Brehm was the best choice, but acknowledged there was "concern that members of the committee might resent Mrs. Brehm ("a Canadian" [emphasis original]) being brought in from another committee and put over their heads."

Whether considered a Canadian or a Newfoundlander, in 1918 Mary Chisholm was appointed an officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O. B. E.) by George V for her work with the WPA. The O. B. E. had been established in 1917 as a way to honour people in the British Isles and other parts of the Empire who were helping in the war effort. It was the first order of chivalry to include women.

Brehm's eldest son, Balthazar, was a man of action. In his early years he worked in the butterine factory with his father; then, on July 2, 1902, he, and his friend George Tessier, set sail for South Africa on the SS Corean. The Boer War had ended the previous month and the country held the promise of adventure and economic success for enterprising young men. When they applied for permits to land in South Africa, both Balthazar and Tessier listed their occupation as "accountant" and indicated a desire "to establish [themselves] in business." They found work with the railway. Tessier, and probably Balthazar as well, left South Africa in 1910. Tessier returned to Newfoundland, but Balthazar moved to western Canada where he again worked for the railway. Balthazar was fondly remembered in the Daily News obituary of November 28, 1921 as a "man's man" who was loyal to friend and country. And, while it acknowledged his enlistment in the 61st Winnipeg Battalion and his service during World War I, the obituary failed to give him full credit for his extreme commitment. In 1915, when he enlisted, Balthazar was almost 50 years old. However, on his attestation paper he declared his birth year as 1874 — eight years after the actual year, 1866. One can only wonder how much the stress of war contributed to his death just three years after the Armistice.

Brehm's second son, Frank, worked with his father as an accountant and later as assistant manager. He seems to have enjoyed an active outdoor and sporting life with involvement in the Game Protection Society as well as the Game Fish Protection Society. He was a member of the Terra Nova Club curling team that represented Newfoundland at various matches in Halifax and Montreal in 1907. There was only a brief notice in the Evening Telegram when Frank died at the age of 76 for, by then, he was the last of the Brehm men still in the province as both his brothers had predeceased him. It is interesting to note that Frank's funeral notice included the information that the funeral would take place by motor hearse. It was normal practice to indicate the starting and end point of a funeral procession, but not necessarily the means of transport. The inclusion of this information would have pleased a man who was one of the first people in Newfoundland, as early as 1908, to have a motorbike.

The Brehm headstone in the General Protestant Cemetery, St. John's. Photo: Don Hustins.

The best known of the Brehm brothers, Dr. Robert Almon Brehm, was the youngest and his father's namesake. As a young man Robert worked for McMurdo Pharmacy before going to Dalhousie University where he received his medical degree in 1898. He received diplomas from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and did post graduate work at St. Thomas' Hospital, London before returning to St. John's. After a few years in private practice, Robert was appointed the Medical Health Officer for Newfoundland on January 10, 1903. Following an outbreak of smallpox in St. John's, in May 1903, the government of Sir Robert Bond appointed a Board of Health consisting of colonial and municipal politicians and medical doctors to deal with the crisis. In October 1903, this Board requested that the government increase the salary of the Medical Health Officer and broaden the responsibilities of the position in regard to the public health of St. John's. The Board felt that the town needed the services of a medical officer who could regularly examine the town's drainage and water systems and its food supply and who could quarantine houses where communicable diseases were known to exist. As well, the duties of this officer were to include that of pathologist, bacteriologist, and the registrar of deaths. Bond eventually accepted the recommendations of the Board and, in January 1905, asked the Municipal Council to appoint a medical health officer for the town and to pay his salary and define his duties. On January 10, 1905 Robert was appointed to this position while maintaining his overall responsibilities as Newfoundland's medical health officer. He would retain both positions, except for a brief period during World War I, until 1936 and remain as town health officer until his death in 1942.

In 1917, Robert joined the Royal Army Medical Corp (R. A. M. C.) and served as a lieutenant, probably in a hospital in England. On March 26, 1919, he married Alice Carey in Brighton, England. Alice was the daughter of another Newfoundland doctor, Robert Carey of Trepassey. After her graduation in 1909 from the General Hospital School of Nursing, Alice served at the Fever Hospital in St. John's. During World War I, she served as a staff nurse with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve in Brighton. The couple had a daughter, Mary Emma, who died shortly after her birth in 1925 and a son, Robert Almon, who was born around 1927.

Upon returning to St. John's, Robert resumed the duties of colonial and municipal health officer. In order to accomplish the work of bacteriologist, he organized the first public health laboratory and diagnostic services for water analysis and bacteriological diagnosis and established a system for mailing specimens to the laboratory from all parts of Newfoundland. Robert was also credited as being an activist in the encouragement of public involvement in health reform. He raised public awareness of health issues by distributing pamphlets through doctors and clergy. His funeral was well attended and is further evidence of his involvement with the community. There was a guard of honour from the St. John's Lodge of the A. F. & A. M. (Ancient Free and Accepted Masons), of which he was a past master, and the Great War Veterans Association participated at the cemetery service.

With Frank's death in 1944, Robert's widow Alice, and her son Robert Almon, were the only members of the Brehm family left in Newfoundland. After selling the house on Circular Road, she lived for a short while in a house on First Avenue before moving to Montreal. Some time before her death on April 3, 1971, Alice returned to St. John's. At the time of her death, her son, Robert Almon, was living in Timagami, Ontario. With her passing, the Brehm family name, a family whose members made substantial contributions to the fabric of the city and who had been engaged in an industry that proved to be of significant political importance to the province, ceased to exist in Newfoundland.

Suzanne Sexty is Honorary Research Librarian, Memorial University of Newfoundland Libraries.