PART THREE - Taking Care of Business
There were two main areas of business conducted by the fledgling Scott Bonnar
Company in the first three years. The main one was brassware, a trade Scott
learnt as an apprentice, and it would have involved foundry, machining and
finishing. This was conducted as a wholesale trade, with Scott Bonnar being
the manufacturer and supplier to the retail hardware trade.

At least, that's my guess; given the evidence and the lack of available
advertising associating the new company with this line in the first three
years of business - between 1920 and 1922. I assert this, too, on the basis
of Malcom Bonnar's Memoir, written in his later years ... that brassware
sustained the company in its early years.

ELECTRIC ARC WELDING
It was a surprise to discover, however, that the vast majority of newsprint
advertising at Chapel Street - in the first three years - concerned the
emerging use of electric arc welding!

Out of the sixty-odd newsprint ads I have found between 1920 and 1922 - and
if we exclude job ads and sundry - then every ad was about welding: oxy and
electric. This was the engineering sensation of the day. I include here two
representative ads from each year. 1920 YEAR:-

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]

THE 1921 YEAR
An interesting observation is the Company's early use of the telephone
for business. Central 330 was Scott Bonnar's number for the first years
of operation. Perhaps this shows Brother Malcolm's influence; given his
training in telephony and his use of it in the First World War. Also note
the early use of the slogan in their advertising - Scott Bonnar was a
progressive and modern company.

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]

... But I stop this part at the end of the 1921 year.
At the start of the third year, 1922, the Scott Bonnar Company gained
some notoriety - and free publicity - in 1922, when Malcolm Bonnar
successfully repaired a famous speed boat engine of the day, an imported
200hp Van Blerck. It is a story worth recording.

TO BE CONTINUED ...