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International Harvester Canada Ltd. fonds

International Harvester became a major agricultural machinery manufacturer in 1902 when J.P. Morgan purchased the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company to form a larger corporation. Shortly afterwards, a site along the Hamilton waterfront was selected for IHC’s Canadian operations. Within a few years, it was touted to be the largest agricultural implement works in the British Empire: it employed about 4,000 workers. In 1910, IHC purchased a second assembly plant in southwestern Ontario at Chatham.

The American company expanded into many countries and diversified by manufacturing industrial construction equipment and vehicles; light and heavy-duty commercial trucks; as well as household and commercial products, such as refrigerators. During World War II, the Hamilton plant engaged in wartime production of specialized military equipment. Three years after the war, in 1948, IHC enlarged its facility at Chatham to better service the Canadian truck market. A decade later, the company began building heavy-duty diesel trucks at its greatly expanded Hamilton site.

Beginning in the 1960s, International Harvester encountered fierce competition from its rivals and the company's profit margins declined over ensuing decades. In 1986, the company was renamed Navistar International Corp. and it underwent various restructuring schemes. However, by 2000, the once busy Hamilton facility was closed and production at Chatham dwindled after this time.

The Library’s received IHC records from the Ontario Agricultural Museum in 1998. The fonds is comprised of three main series—publications, images, and posters gathered from IHC files in Hamilton after Navistar operations ceased there in 1992.

Monograph materials include catalogues (e.g., Oliver, Deering, and McCormick-Deering), advertising brochures, and flyers; as well as almanacs, magazine articles, historical files, and information on IHC facilities, especially Hamilton and Chatham.

Photographs and negatives depict farm equipment and machinery, vehicles, dealerships across Canada, customers using IHC products, and staff at Hamilton and Canadian locations.

Posters, advertisements, and some calendars show farm machinery (e.g., Farmall), implements, engines, trucks, heavy equipment, twine, and advertisements for other companies, such as White Farm Equipment.

About 20 percent of the IHC photographs can be searched through the Library’s ongoing partnership with Our Ontario. To search and view images please link to the Guelph digital archive search site or go to the Our Ontario portal where a search on “International Harvester” will offer more than 1,000 images.

University of Guelph Library

International Harvester Canada Ltd. fonds