Accession 2002.016 and 2014.021 (Oversize area)
Title and Physical Description
Coaldale Cheese Factory fonds. — 1966-1973. — 20 cm of textual records
Administrative History
The Coaldale Cheese Factory began operations in 1937 as a cooperative from a committee comprised of: P. Kornelson, Jacob Schmidt, Jacob J. Klassen, Gerhard Reimer and Isaak Regehr. It was based on a Mennonite mutual aid tradition started in the early 1800s by the Van Bergen family in Old Samara, Russia.
The cheese factory provided a market for the milk and cream produced on numerous small mixed farms, producing high quality cheeses which won awards in several provincial and national exhibitions.
An egg grading station was added in 1943 and a cold storage locker plant in 1944. A new and larger building was erected in 1945 and the cheese factory was renamed The New Coaldale Cheese Factory Co-op Ltd. Subsequently a German lending library and offices for a mutual aid fire protection plan, a Mennonite Health Society, a Credit Union and a Funeral Aid Society were accommodated on the cheese factory premises although most of these later agencies were later spun off.
The New Coaldale Cheese Factory continued in operation until 1972 when it was sold to the Alpha Milk Company in Red Deer, Alberta.
Custodial History
The fonds was transferred to the office of the Conference of Mennonites in Alberta which, in turn, donated it to the Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta.
Scope & Content
The fonds consists of one book of minutes covering the years from 1966-1972, and several legal, financial and patronage records, including a record of the sale of the property.
Source of Supplied Title
Title based on informal name of the organization.
Source of Acquisition
Gift by Conference of Mennonites in Alberta through Henry Goerzen, CMA Archivist, 2002.
Finding Aids
See Files Inventory
Related Materials
- Regehr, P.H. (aft 1958). Er fuehret …: Geschichte der Coaldale Mennonitischen Kaeseri – 1928-1958 – available in MHSA Library (BX 8103 COA REG).
- Regehr, J.M. (Jack) (translated 2007). He Leads … History of the Coaldale Mennonite Cheese Factory – 1928-1958 – available in MHSA Library (BX 8103 COA REG).
Notes
Accession 2002.016 and 2014.021 (Oversized)
Language – German
Last updated 7 Jul 2009
Files Inventory
Accession 2002.016
1-1 Minutes of Directors’ Meetings. – 1966-1973
Accession 2014.021 (Oversize)
1-1 Memorandum of Agreement. – 1939.
1-2 Patronage payments. – 1942-1972.
1-3 Share book. – 1967-1972. – Bound volume.
1-4 Record of milk deliveries and payments. – 1967-1972.
1-5 Personal ledger. – 1971.
1-6 Personal ledger. – 1971.
1-7 Cash book. – 1972.
1-8 Trial balance. – 1972.
1-9 Sale of the property.