The Patrick Brothers: Tire salesmen

Here’s a fun but very little-known fact: when Frank and Lester Patrick weren’t making history on the ice in the early days of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, they were busy selling tires.

The sale of the Patrick Lumber Co. in 1911 for a reported $1 million helped finance the construction of artificial-ice rinks in Vancouver and Victoria. It’s unclear how much of that went directly to the Patricks versus other investors, but it may have been in the range of $340,000 to $440,000. The Vancouver rink cost $191,710 to build and the bill grew to $226,632, presumably with the installation of ice-making equipment, plus another $1,399.50 for furniture. The smaller Victoria rink cost a reported $110,000 to $125,000. The Patricks tried to lure other investors into the venture, but it was a huge bust. 

So having spent around $350,000 on the two rinks, how much was left to bid on the services of top players in eastern Canada? Ticket sales would have offset at least some salaries and other expenses, but it appears the Patricks had a Plan B in case things didn’t work out. Or at least another line of business to bring in some revenue during the off season.

The 1912 Victoria civic directory listed Lester Patrick as the manager of the Victoria Arena and his father Joe was retired. The 1913 directory still listed Lester as manager of the arena, but now he had a side hustle as well, as co-proprietor of Patrick Bros., “manufacturers agents.”

The other listed partner was “Fred R.” Patrick, who may have been another brother, Ted, whose full given name was Feather Robert Patrick. Fred R. Patrick was also listed as the secretary of the Victoria Arena Co Ltd. There are separate listings for Feather Patrick, occupation “real estate,” and “Ted R. Patrick” of Pacific Brokerage Co., both at the same address. The former could have been Ted’s namesake uncle, but more likely it was a duplicated listing.

In addition, we see Frank listed as working for Patrick Bros. (which is surprising, since he actually lived in Vancouver, playing for and managing the PCHA’s Millionaires). Frank and Lester’s cousin Isaac C. Patrick is listed as a bookkeeper for the same business, and there’s a J.C. Patrick listed as a clerk for Patrick Bros., but I haven’t figured out who that is. Joe Patrick is listed as a “tire salesman.”

1913 Victoria civic directory

A photograph in Lester Patrick’s album (photocopy below) shows the Patricks were the local agents for the Essenkay Co. of Chicago, which made some sort of material for filling tires in place of air. The Patrick Bros. office at 1019 Cook in Victoria was brand new when they moved in in 1912. It’s still standing and is otherwise known as the Bell Apartments, numbered 1017-23 Cook. (When the Patricks did business there, it was a two-storey building, but a third storey was added in 1944.)

What’s more, this was also the Victoria Arena Co. head office, and Aristocrats season tickets were sold from this location, at least through November 1914. While the Patricks advertised their tire shop in the newspaper, they seemed oblivious to the possibilities of celebrity endorsements: the ads failed to identify them as proprietors.

(Lester had loaned his name to a product at least once before, although that time it was hockey related. The 1907-08 ECAHA schedule, reproduced in the Official NHL Hockey Treasures book, had an endorsement for The Gales Hockey Store: “‘A light perfect fitting shoe and I heartily recommend it to all hockey players. — Mr. C. Lester Patrick, captain of the Wanderers Hockey Club, holders of the Stanley Cup and Champion of the World, 1907-08.’”)

Victoria Daily Times, Aug. 3 and Sept. 19, 1912

Victoria Daily Times, Dec. 2, 1912

The connection between the Patricks and 1019 Cook was first revealed by Victoria historian Helen Edwards in the March/April edition of the Moss Rock Review, and reprinted in her 2023 book, The Heritage Detective, Vol. 1.

In the 1914 directory, we see Patrick Bros. are still in business, but now Lester and Frank are listed as co-proprietors, although Frank’s residence is noted as Vancouver. Ted (as “Feather R. Patrick”) is listed as a student. Isaac is a bookkeeper for the Victoria Arena Co., but not the tire shop. No occupation is listed for Joe.

In 1915, Patrick Bros. are still listed at 1019 Cook, but there is nothing to indicate they were selling tires any longer. Lester is listed as manager of the arena only, with Isaac its secretary. (Also in 1915, Lester was on the board of the Island Automobile Association, which appealed for a trans-Canada highway.)

There didn’t seem to be a civic directory for Victoria in 1916. In 1917, Patrick Bros. are no longer listed, although Joe and Lester are still listed individually. 1019 Cook is now vacant. As of 1921, the location was home to a carpet cleaner called The Carpeteria Co.

(One side note: the Patrick Lumber Co. is sometimes casually referred to by people in the Kootenays as the “Patrick Bros. sawmill,” which isn’t quite right. Lester and Frank both worked for the company, but they were not part of the ownership. Their father Joe was in charge.)

1019-1021 Cook, aka the Bell Apartments, has undergone heritage restoration work and today the storefronts are occupied by Victoria Electric Bikes and, in the space where the Patricks did business, Wetcleaner, a non-toxic dry cleaner.

1019-21 Cook today

The Patrick family foray into tire sales doesn’t appear to have been mentioned in anything ever written about them. But it wasn’t the last time one family member found work in the automobile industry. More about that here.