Canada Decalcomania Company Limited was a Toronto-based manufacturer of decals and transfers, active from the early 20th century until the early 1990s. The company opened its Toronto office in 1911 and produced decals for major Canadian companies including Canadian National, Massey-Harris and Consumer’s Gas. It ceased operations in the early 1990s and destroyed its records and stock. [1]
Design and History
Documented visual evidence of Canada Decalcomania’s own branding is limited to surviving product packaging and decal specimens held in museum collections. A circa 1940 cardboard package in the Wellington County Museum and Archives shows the company name printed in light yellow lettering on a blue rectangular package, reading “Canada / Decalcomania Co. Ltd. / Decal / Transfers.” The package also carries the company address at 507-511 King Street East, Toronto. [2]
Another package in the Ingenium collection, also from the company’s King Street East era, features white lettering reading “CANADA / DECALCOMANIA CO. LTD. / ‘Decal’ [in script] / registered trade mark / TRANSFERS.” [3] A related object in the same collection shows red lettering on the back of a decal reading “CANADA DECALCOMANIA CO. LIMITED / TORONTO MONTREAL / A GENUINE / DECAL / TRANSFER.” [4]
The company’s own decal products included a “registered trade mark” label featuring the words “A Genuine Decal Transfer” in blue lettering, as documented on the back of a decal in the Wellington County collection. [2]
Meaning and Symbolism
No documented symbolism, color meaning or design intent has been verified for Canada Decalcomania’s own corporate mark. The company’s primary business was producing decals for other brands, and surviving evidence shows its own packaging used straightforward typographic treatments of the company name rather than a pictorial emblem. The “registered trade mark” wording on its packaging indicates the company protected its decal product branding, but no official description of the mark’s design or meaning has been located in available sources.
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
