Baribeau & Fils (Sons) Inc, Levis, Quebec, Canada - 13th in Canadiana Series
Definitely worth a revist, the gorgeous woodenware of Baribeau & Fils (Sons) Inc! Founded by Mr. Herve Baribeau in 1922, under the company's woodenware accessories divisions, Baribeau became the largest manufacturer in Canada with the trademarks Baribocraft and Baribo-Maid. Baribocraft was produced for the retail market, being sold in specialty shops including such items as salad bowls, cheese boards, salt shakers & pepper grinders, spice rack with jars, meat carving boards, etc; and Baribo-Maid was produced for the wholesale and service/restaurant industry including clothes hangers, hockey sticks, clothes pegs, salad servers, etc.
Using Canadian woods and employing the skills of Canadian artisans, the quality and style of Baribocraft woodenware items are still unrivalled today and are highly sought after. Most Canadians will find they have at least one Baribocraft item in their household even though the company ceased production/business in the 1970's.
Maple was Baribeau's Canadian wood of choice, either remaining in its lighter natural colouring or being stained to a teak appearance. Very popular in the mid-century household was the Danish teak modern look and Baribocraft provided a local trendy alternative with their stylish "teak-look" accessories.
A superb Baribocraft "space age" design using contrasting maple and teak, here is an example of a Baribocraft footed salad serving bowl and matching individual salad bowls (even the serving fork is by Baribocraft!).
For more details on these items, please click HERE
The serving bowl with its unique contrasting maple thumbprint pattern.
Incised on the base "Baribocraft" in script, and "CANADA". Note the three wonderful little maple feet!
The matching individual salad bowls in one of Baribocraft's signature shapes of being slightly oval. The wall thickness of the wood turning process proves these bowls are meant to LAST!
Besides signing their items, Baribocraft and Baribo-Maid had a variety of labels and hang tags that were applied. Today it is rare to find an actual label since these would end up being washed off after the item was used.
A Baribocraft Nut Bowl in natural maple.
Made by wood turning, the centre area that would hold a nutcracker and picks, is all one piece with the bowl.
For more info, please click HERE
The base of the nut bowl shows both the incised signature (with "Made in Canada") and an original Baribocraft red foil label. Labels also came in blue foil.
A view inside the hang tag.
In English and French, the tag explains peppercorns and the use of the grinder as a tool.
For more info on this lovely set, please click HERE
The stainless steel grinder mechanism is incised with "Baribo-Maid". A sturdy red rubber stopper is present on the salt shaker.
A note on care of woodenware items. NEVER soak in water. This will ultimately dry out the wood! Wash quickly with water and dry immediately. Occasionally coat with a thin layer of canola oil to help feed the wood and keep it vibrant and moisturized! My website (link below) has a great tip on cleaning woodenware that needs extensive cleaning!
The Baribocraft and Baribo-Maid tradenames are now owned by the Vachon Business Group of Quebec Canada. Plans are in process for the famous quality and tradition of Baribocraft to return to the world in a limited launch of carefully selected designs and items. As with the original Baribocraft and Baribo-Maid names, only Canadian hardwoods will be used by Canadian artisans to offer a line of woodenware tentatively named ENCORE.
Stay tuned for more information on this launch and be sure to check out my link below for the Baribocraft website offered in English and French.
Look out for these trademarks!
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Thank you so much; this really helped! I recently came into some Barbio-Maid items, and I was looking into the history of the products. I greatly appreciated your blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments! Glad it was useful to you!
ReplyDeleteMandy
Mandicrafts
Thanks for this information, Mandicrafts. I just purchased a set of four small bowls plus a large wooden bowl from the Salvation Army for $7.99! What a find - and they're in great condition too!
ReplyDeleteI have 4 sets of wood bases and on these one puts cast iron steak plates that you cook the steaks on in the oven. I got them when my Dad passed on and we don't know where he brought them. Any suggestions. They have the Barbio-Maid logo on the back of the wood platter serving board.
ReplyDeleteHello Baribocraft was sold in many Canadian department stores when they were producing back in the 1960s & 1970s. Since they closed production, Baribocraft and Baribo-Maid can only be found in the secondary markets. If you wish to sell them, there are many local venues you could explore. Their quality is such that with proper care, they last for years!
DeleteI love your info!! I was hoping to find more info on a set of Salad bowls I just purchased labelled only 'Baribo' ... no craft or maid following it ... wondering if you had any thoughts on them?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! I appreciate it. The bowls marked simply Baribo are not true Baribocraft produced bowls. I had come across some and had the new owners of the Baribocraft trademark take a look at them and they confirmed that though they resembled the style, they were not genuine. Regards Mandy, Mandicrafts
DeleteI have 2 sets of B & F checkers (Baribeau & Son). I have been trying to research them & get more information but the Baribocraft site doesn't list the wooden checkers anywhere. Do you have any info on them?
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have a set of checkers by Baribocraft! I have never seen one. So many household items were produced by the company, that many are uncatalogued. The new owners of the trademark are constantly amazed with some of the vintage items that surface and have no further historical information to offer. Only a small selection of plans and products were captured under their trademark purchase. Baribocraft also produced items for special orders and as advertising promotions, so your checker set could very well be one-of-a-kind.
DeleteI have just found 6 small salad / cereal sized bowls in a thrift store $8 for all.
ReplyDeleteThese are incredible bowls. I bought them for my cats to eat out of originally but now have decided to keep them for me. The feel of the wood and depth is fantastic.
They all say baribocraft on the bottom. Which took me ages to read and decipher what it said. I love these bowls.
Thank you Mandy as we found Baribocraft hangars and wanted the history on them. Hardware from West Germany and maple
ReplyDeleteI found the large salad bowl that I had bought for my parents. When the house was sold a few years ago, it was one of the pieces I decided to take for my own. Today I decided to bring it back into my kitchen. Thanks for the history. I love the bowl.
ReplyDelete