The Art of Clairtone: The Making of a Design Icon, 1958–1971.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

In 1958 two young Canadian entrepreneurs started a hi-fi stereo manufacturing business. They started small, but their dreams and ambitions were huge, and soon Peter Munk and David Gilmour had their company on the path to skyrocketing growth, international fame and, equally quickly, total collapse.

With an emphasis on design, they quickly built Clairtone into a “powerful brand that stood for style and innovation and optimism.”

Clairtone stereos, blending technology with Scandinavian design, were a perfect fit for the 1960s lifestyle. It was a time when stereo equipment looked like furniture—or coffins on legs. Clairtone, too, built lots of those cabinets then broke free from the expected with a totally new design. Their Project G stereos had a space-age look, with “aggressive” black spun aluminum spheres for speakers attached to a sleek rosewood module. They took North American markets by storm. Then, after growing too quickly and suffering major production problems at their enormous factory in Nova Scotia, Clairtone faced near-instant failure. By 1972 the once-famous Clairtone business was closed.

The Clairtone story is told by Munk’s daughter in a very readable text supported by an extensive album of strong visuals. These include product photos and archival material such as memos, press releases, ads, brochures, pages from annual reports, designers’ sketches, and shots of department store and trade show displays. There’s information on key employees, product placements in movies, celebrity endorsements, and marketing campaigns, including some run by Dalton Camp.

The work is a history of a Canadian business, a tribute to a great Canadian design, and a memorial to both. It is a fun read about a piece of Canadiana and will be welcomed by Clairtone collectors and students of design. It documents an early chapter in the career of Peter Munk, Canada’s “serial entrepreneur.”