Tanton’s Locker Service: Early Frozen Foods by Libby McLachlan
The mention of 'locker service' often prompts a puzzled look. But for a few brief decades, between the commercial development of refrigeration and the advent of home deep freezers, it offered homeowners a unique food storage alternative. George Tanton of London recently recalled his family's business in Strathroy during this period. By the l940s, thanks to electricity, refrigerators had replaced icebox - es in many homes, although hydro was still not always available in rural areas. While food could now be easily kept cool, the next step was to freeze it for longer storage. New businesses sprouted up in the 1940s to provide such freezer service, often in butcher shops. A large room behind the retail area would be equipped with a refrig- eration unit that kept the temperature below freezing. Stacked rows of wooden or wire mesh 'lockers', each with its own padlock, filled the room. Families could rent a locker to store frozen food, usually meat, to be picked up and taken home as needed. In Strathroy, locker service was provided by Cyril “Charlie” Tanton for some 21 years. At age 16 Charlie emigrated on his own from England to Port Arthur (Thunder Bay). At 18 he joined the army and served overseas in World War I; he was wounded in three different battles, including Vimy Ridge. His son, George, remembers seeing the scars on his chest and back from a bullet that went through his body. After the War Charlie returned to northern Ontario, where he met and married Myrtle Scott, a nurse. Like his father, Charlie was a butcher by trade, and the couple opened a butcher shop in Sundridge, northern Ontario. A year later they moved to Exeter and operated the “Ideal Meat Market” for ten years. In 1942 the family moved to Strathroy and opened Tanton's Locker Service at 14 Front Street W, with refrigeration and lockers installed by E J Wright Ltd. Charlie and Myrtle, with sons George and Jim, lived above the shop, not an unusual arrangement for the time. Tanton's became the largest locker service in southwestern On - tario, with 535 lockers. For $8 per year, you could rent one large enough to hold 250 pounds of meat. Most of the time, all the lockers were full and there was a waiting list of customers. The main freez - er room was kept at 0 degrees F; there was also a 'sharp freezer' at -16F, and a cooler for hanging sides of beef or pork (or sometimes even venison). Tanton's was not a butcher shop (the McCandless Butcher Shop was across the street); they sold only sides or quar - ters of meat. Sides of beef were purchased from Canada Packers in Toronto and sides of pork from Coleman's in London. The meat had been inspected and graded as red, blue or commercial. Af - ter hanging in the cooler for several days, the sides would be cut into roasts, steaks, etc. as the customer wished, then wrapped,
Myrtle and Charlie Tanton with grandson Steve. Photo courtesy of George Tanton
labelled, "sharp frozen" and placed in the customer's locker. The meat was always wrapped in two layers of white waxed paper, with a red label for beef or a yellow label for pork inserted between the layers so it could be seen. Often, customers chose to keep their padlock key on a board in the store, for convenience. Tanton's also sold milk, frozen ('frosted') fruits and vegetables, and fish, including B.C. salmon which arrived in wooden boxes. Another big seller was ice cubes, at 50 cents a bag, made using regular ice cube trays. In 1963 Charlie Tanton died after a massive heart attack while working in his store. His wife continued to run the business. Son George, who was living in London, came out to Strathroy each Saturday to cut meat for the lockers. After a year, his mother sold the store to Ovation Shoes. By this time, home freezers had ap - peared; as they became more popular, locker service gradually dis - appeared. But it had met a growing consumer need and provided business opportunities in the years between the coming of freezer refrigeration and the availability of the home chest freezer.
Tanton’s Locker Service located at 14 Front St. W. Photo courtesy of George Tanton.
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