The early history of the Finnish settlement in Toronto differs quite a bit from other areas of Canada, where the main occupations were forestry, mining, agriculture and railways. In Toronto, a large proportion of Finns worked in factories, as craftsmen or entrepreneurs. The proportion of women was also higher in Toronto, and Finnish women were sought-after domestic helpers in wealthy families in Toronto (Lindström-Best 1979:9).

Jaakko Lintala, born in Vähäkyrö, came to Toronto from Michigan in 1887 to work as a tailor, and in the following years invited his tailor acquaintances to share the workload of the growing city. By the turn of the century, there were already about a dozen Finnish tailors working in Toronto. Most were independent entrepreneurs who worked as subcontractors for larger shops. The tailors seem to have had a close network in Finland as well, as people came to Toronto from Savo, Ostrobothnia and Southwest Finland.

In the early years of the century, Lindala acquired a house with shared workspaces and equipment for tailors. The house also housed a shop run by Lindala’s wife and a public sauna. The tailors paid rent for the use of the “Big Shop” premises, tools and services, and this quickly formed a strong community that had a significant impact on the development of Finnish organizations in Canada. The first 6-person board of the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada in 1911 included four Toronto tailors (Lindala, Ahlqvist, Pirttinen, Lehto). Lindala himself achieved a position where he challenged the incumbent mayor as a Social Democrat in the 1908 election, and received an incredible 8,000 votes, while the winner received 14,000.

J.W Ahlqvist described the mode of operation of the Big Shop in 1936 (my translation):

This “big shop” was of great importance to us who had just arrived in the country, because due to our lack of language skills and different working methods, we would not have been able to keep our jobs in all the first-class shops. Everyone who came to the workshop was given generous help in advising on working methods etc. The old “Yanks” helped in every way possible.

Good order and cleanliness prevailed in the workshop. Everyone had to belong to the union, the same requirement was in the “little shops”. When a strike became necessary in the spring of 1912, there were 104 Finns in the union, 14 of whom were women.

This “big shop” became the center of the Finns in Toronto. From there, jobs were arranged for housemaids, ship tickets were sold, money was transferred to Finland, jobs were obtained, interpreters were provided, etc. Anyone who needed help came to the “big shop”.

When the ideological currents of socialism began to gain a greater foothold,
this “big forge” also became an everyday furnace where the fire was kept going… All kinds of social questions were subject to reflection and debate, some questions could be argued about for days, other questions were pondered over for years, emerging at the initiative of someone eager to argue. The question of religion always caused a thorough argument. If there was someone in the shop who possessed religious concepts, it did not take very long before the concepts of religion were whipped out of him. Ingersoll’s anti-religious pamphlets provided valuable sources of information for the workshop debate.

The workshop subscribed with joint funds the Finnish newspaper Työmies, and of the bourgeois party newspapers either Suometar or Päivälehti and Kurikka, as well as all the workers’ newspapers on this continent and one bourgeois newspaper. Thus there was always a new topic for debate. Some sort of order had to be kept in the debate. If the discussion started to get out of order, the shop’s old man Ranta shouted: “One at a time”, to which others joined in the cry and some kind of order was restored. Several groups always formed behind the questions, so one always helped the other when they got into trouble.

The tailors had a common trade union, the Journeyman Tailors Union, which started a long-lasting strike in 1912. After the strike ended, Lindala closed the Big Shop, and many of the tailors moved on to work elsewhere in Canada or the USA.

Genealogy of the Tailors

In the following I present the tailors found in the 1911 Canada census. Many others may have stayed in the Big Shop for shorter periods and then left before that year, but there are hardly any archival traces of them. Detailed family information, Finnish ancestry, and source references can be found in each person’s linked profile in geni.com.

Jaakko Lindala (1860-1917), spouse Irene Leineberg (1875-1944). Biography written by Varpu Lindström.

Reinhold Mikkonen (1859-1913), spouse Anna Rundell (1858-1931). The first tailor that Lindala invited. He arrived in 1889 from Michigan where they had known each other.

Johan Latva (1864-1908), spouse Sigrid Mikkonen (1877-1963). They arrived to Toronto in 1891, but returned to Kuhmo, Finland, apparently because of Johan’s illness.

Heikki Heinonen (1857-1925), spouse Greta Johanna Annala (1861-1933). The family arrived also from Michigan. Johanna kept a boarding house for bachelor tailors.

Gustaf Nyros (1853-1934), spouse Fredrika Haapasalo (1861-1939). Nyros had a tailoring business in New York for ten years before coming to Toronto. Fredrika was a well known midwife in the Finnish community of Toronto.

Johan Ranta (1864-1927), spouse Matilda Lindala (1870-1944). Matilda was Jaakko Lindala’s sister, in the words of Johan “the only girl that Jaakko would not steal away from me”.

Tuomas Rappee (1877-?), spouse Ida Krytars (1882-?). The Finnish origins of the couple remain a mystery for now.

Adiel Saarimäki (1880-1946), spouse Ilmi Könni (1880-1940). Adiel was later a long time vice consul of Finland in Toronto. He happened to share Y-DNA line with myself, the patrilineal line joining in Henrik Soikkanen in Keuruu, Finland around 1700.

Väinö Paananen (1882-1955), spouse Maria Kokko (1893-?). Väinö moved to Fort William, Ontario to continue his trade there after the closing of Big Shop, and started his family there.

Julius Nyyssönen (1879-1956), spouses Mabel Little (1881-1930) and Selma Laakso (1896-1978). Julius continued his tailor trade in Toronto.

J W Ahlqvist (1876-1940), spouse Ida Syväniemi (1877-1962). Ahlqvist was General Secretary of the Finnish Organiation of Canada in 1913-26, and a long time member of the leadership after that.

Vilho Säilä (1886-?), spouse Emmi Lindberg (1887-?). Emmi”s Finnish roots remain unknown for now. Vilho Säilä was a veteran of the Finnish Organization of Canada, and gave a speech in the 60th anniversary celebrations of the society in 1973.

Karl Lehto (1878-1969), spouse Anna Liisa Sarvela (1877-?). Karl was one of the members in the first leadership of the FSOC in 1911, and a well known socialist activist in Toronto.

Aksel Hellsberg (1879-1949), spouse Astrid Taylor (1886-?). Aksel came from a family of tailors in Lapua, Finland, and continued his trade in Toronto.

Hjalmar Lahtinen (1877-1919), spouse Ida Weckman (1884-?). Hjalmar was not a tailor when he left his home i Keuruu, Finland, but he got an apprenticeship in the Big Shop since he was a cousin of Ilmi Saarimäki.

August Svensk (1874-1953), spouse Wilhelmina Rossi (1873-1956). August came from a family of tailors in Pukkila, Finland. After closing of the Big Shop he started a farm in Sudbury.

Paavo Rönkkö (1876-1933), spouse Vera Rouhiainen (1880-1955). Paavo was apprentice tailor in Iisalmi, Finland before coming to Toronto.

Vilho Lehtinen (1882-1947), spouse Selma Finnberg (1888-?). The couple arrived to Toronto in 1910, and contiued tailoring in Toronto.

Kalle Kinnunen (1884-1943), spouse Martha Linder (1879-1933). After closing of the Big Shop the family moved to Detroit where Kalle continued his trade as tailor.

Antti Kasurinen (1889-1958), spouse Bertta Manninen (1887-1980)- Antti worked as tailor in the Big Shop as a bachelor, but returned to Finland soon after marrying.

Abel Markkanen (1875-1948), spouse Ida Stolt (1880-1928). Abel had his own tailoring business in Toronto until his death.

Edvard Pirttinen (1883-1959), spouse Maria Aaltonen (1882-1974). Edvard came from a family of tailors in Multia, Finland. He was one of the members in the first leadership of the FSOC in 1911

John Toivonen (1874-1938), spouse Hildur Lindgren (1883-1959). There is a slight uncertainty about John’s identity.

Elias Rautiainen (1873-1967), spouse Amanda Leikas (1876-1966). The family arrived to Toronto from Turku, Finland in 1908. Elias continued his trade as tailor in Toronto.

Oskar Helin (1876-1947), spouse Amanda Maria Lin (1881-1936). Oskar was an apprentice tailor in Turku, and the family emigrated to Toronto in 1917. After the closing of Big Shop they moved to Columbus, Ohio to continue the trade.

Thomas Roininen (1879-1918), spouse Hilma Nyman (1883-1949). Tuomas learned his trade in his brother’s shop in Lahdenpohja, Karelia. He died of Spanish flu in 1918.

David Kasurinen (1881-1950), spouse Ida Nyros (1892-1939). David used the surname Rivers. Ida was a daughter of Gustaf and Fredrika Nyros. The couple moved to California, and David continued as tailor there.

Walter Heikkinen (1877-1930), spouse Aini Eskelinen (1896-?). Walter’s Finnish origins are unknown at this time.

Urho “Louis” Pirttinen (1889-1961). Younger broyther of Edward Pirttinen, moved to Michigan and started his family there.

Emil Maki (1891-1936), spouse not known. Emil arrived to Torontoon in 1910, and rented a room in the house of Edvard Pirttinen who was also from Multia.

Kaarlo Tarvainen (1889-?), spouse Matilda Miettinen (1891-1937). He came from the same village as Abel Markkanen and rented a room in his house. Kalle married the widow of tailor colleague Walter Heikkinen in 1940.

Sources

1. Varpu Lindström, “LINDALA, JAMES (Jaakko),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003, accessed October 17, 2024, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lindala_james_14E.html.
2. Varpu Lindström-Best, The Finnish immigrant community of Toronto, 1887–1913, Toronto 1979)
3. J.W. Ahlqvist, “Iso Paja”, in Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö 25 Vuotta, 1911–1936, Sudbury 1936 (25 years of the Finnish Organization of Canada, 1911-1936)