Payne Manufacturing begins in Canada
Founded in Canada in 1952, Payne Manufacturing grew from metal giftware into aerospace, telecommunications and precision metalworking before reviving selected mid-century housewares made with its original tooling.
A working history
Part One
1952 to 1959
1952
The company website dates the start of Payne Manufacturing Canada Limited to 1952, when it manufactured metal giftware. The souvenir line grew into giftware and then into components for office equipment; IBM became an early customer that the heritage profile says remained with Payne for 35 years.
1950s
Payne says it manufactured the original copper Moscow Mule mug in the 1950s for Smirnoff and Cock ’n Bull ginger beer. The company continues to manufacture the mug using the same tooling.
1950s
Payne made undercarriage parts for the CF-100 and CF-105 for Dowty Equipment, an Avro subcontractor. The heritage profile says this work opened the door to Avro Aircraft and Orenda Engines, brought an award for workmanship, and included the outer shell of Canada’s first satellite, Alouette 1.
Feb 20, 1959
A Canadian National Telegraphs message from Orenda Engines ordered Payne to stop all work, including manufacturing and material procurement, and to notify suppliers and subcontractors. The telegram does not name the Arrow, but it was sent on the day the federal government terminated the CF-105 Arrow program.
Principal text, with routing codes omitted: “Payne Metal Enterprises Ltd., Attn A. King, 252 Bering Ave., Islington, Ont. Pending further instructions stop work including manufacture and/or procuring materials for the fulfillment of all commitments authorized by Orenda Engines Limited. Notify your suppliers and sub-contractors likewise. Orenda Engines Ltd., J. W. MacDonald.”
Part Two
1960s to 1984
1960s
Payne produced parabolic dishes for the DEW Line and Pinetree Line early-warning systems, solid dishes for Andrew Antenna’s trans-Canada telecommunications system, six dishes for the CN Tower, and a dish for a National Research Council satellite-tracking station.
1970
After at least five expansions, the Bering Avenue plant reached about 50,000 square feet on two and a half acres. The growth marked the transformation of Payne’s small postwar shop into a substantial precision-manufacturing operation.
1970s–1980s
Harold Payne designed and built a metal-spinning machine capable of forming dishes as large as 32 feet in diameter. The company reported producing dishes up to 27 feet across, among the largest made in North America at the time.
1984
The heritage profile described a business pursuing high-technology markets and international expansion. It noted a recent contract to produce a large range of office-equipment components for Xerox’s multinational network.
Part Three
1997 to today
1997
The company says it began seeing its original barware in antique stores. Because the original tooling remained on the die racks, Payne chose to reintroduce selected products from its 1950s giftware line using those same tools.
2023
The company brochure presents a broad line of solid-copper and aluminum products, including Moscow Mule mugs, bells, cocktail glasses, ice buckets, mint julep cups, mugs, shot glasses, tumblers and wine goblets. It also highlights the company’s metalworking capabilities.
Today
Payne’s current website centres on copper and aluminum housewares, barware and giftware, while the company continues metal manufacturing in aluminum, copper, brass and steel. Its history remains visible in the original-tooling story and in designs that echo the 1950s line.
The next chapter
The history matters most when these pieces stay in use. Find the form that belongs in your home, on your bar, or in someone else’s hands.