Print, Photographic

Black and white photographic print depicting the Hiram Walker & Sons distillery in Walkerville, ON as seen from across the Detroit River. An illuminated sign on the riverfront reads "Distillery of 'Canadian Club' Walkerville."
Caption reads: Hiram Walker & Sons. This sign is reputed to be the oldest electric spectacular on the North American Continent and the first of its kind to employ structural steel.
The big sign, 120 feet wide by 76 feet high, has gleamed nightly on the Canadian Shore of the Detroit River opposite Detroit for more than 34 years. It was erected for Hiram Walker & Sons, Ltd., by the Whitehead & Kales company of Detroit and its 3,984 carbon filament, four candle power bulbs first flashed across the river on April 11, 1900. The electrical work was done by the Michigan Electric company, since gone out of business. T.E. Lowe, who as a young man was a member of the electrical construction crew, is secretary of an electrical company in Detroit.
Construction of the sign required 22 tons of steel and the cost was $15,000. Five years ago a careless switching crew rammed a freight car through the base supports at one corner of the sign, causing it to fall backward against one of the distillery structures.
An interesting photographic technic was employed in obtaining the accompanying picture. A camera equipped with a telescope lens was placed on the American shore nearly a mile away. A time exposure was made at dusk to obtain the skyline, then lens being closed whenever necessary to avoid frequently passing ships of the heavy Detroit river traffic. Without moving the camera, the photographer waited an hour until the lights were turned on and then followed the same routine to complete the picture.
The Canadian distillery, founded in 1858, is the parent company of the new $5,000,000 plant of Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc., which was placed in operation at Peoria, Ill., on July 4.