Corset factory in Quebec City named national historic site of Canada
QUEBEC CITY, - A Quebec City building where corsets were manufactured for almost a century has been added to Canada's official roster of national historic sites.
Known as La Fabrique, the four-storey red-brick building in the downtown Saint Roch district was the site of Dominion Corset from 1897 to 1988. The company was among the city's main employers and one of Canada's largest manufacturers of corsets and undergarments.
Its products were sold as far away as South Africa, England, France, Australia and New Zealand.
"The building is a testimony to the thousands of women who worked here, and, by extension, all the women who formed a labour force essential to the 20th-century clothing industry in Canada," said Parks Canada, which manages national historic sites. It called Dominion Corset, founded by businessman Georges-Elie Amyot, "a Canadian pioneer in stylish women's undergarments" and said the restored building is "a solid reminder of (Saint Roch's) industrial age."
The edifice at the corner of Dorchester and Charest was bought by Laval University in 1993 and now houses the institution's School of Visual Arts. Where bras were once made (Montreal's McCord Museum shows samples on its website bit.ly/z4qtiN) students now use computers to experiment with digital sound and video.
