Over 20 years ago I came across a plywood sign in an antique market in Elora, Ontario that read: “GLENGARRY CHINCHILLA RANCH ALEXENDRIA.” My interest piqued, I bought it as I just “had to have it,” but it wasn’t until recently that I learned about the Ranch’s origins, which began near Montreal after World War II.
The story starts when former banker and Alexandria native Ronald E.R. MacDonald, (1909-89, from the “Sandfield Branch of the Family), opened the Cormac Chinchilla Ranch in Ile Bizzard, just northwest of Montreal, in 1946. A Director of the National Chinchilla Breeders of Canada, “Ronnie” Macdonald was well positioned to invest in chinchillas, when the 40 year ban on auctioning their pelts expired in 1954.
Macdonald returned to Alexandria to start construction of a 100 x 30 foot cement block “Ranch,” on Catherine St. W. “The Glengarry News,” for April 15th, 1955 reported that the facility under Macdonald’s management would be ready in May, to receive “600 little animals that bear the world’s richest fur.”
“The News” continued that since 1946, Macdonald’s original pair of chinchillas had produced a herd and:
“…Since then he has been buying and selling breeding stock and the industry has expanded to the point where the first pelting was done last fall for the New York market. Some garments have already been made-up and have been well received under the name Empress Chinchilla, “the precious fur for the precious few.”
In 1958, the sale of breeding chinchillas to Britain took-off. “The Glengarry News,” for September 11th breathlessly reported: “Plane after plane flying out of Dorval these weeks are carrying a cargo of Glengarry chinchillas to a British market that is suddenly insatiable. “
The “News” reporter stated that Macdonald had exported 600 “fine fur breeding chinchies,” over a six week period on a 16 hours voyage without any fatalities.”
When questioned about the sudden interest, Macdonald speculated that the recent craze was caused by British breeders who wanted to get on the ground floor of a fashion trend, ignited after Princess Margaret was presented with a chinchilla stole by the City of Ottawa, that summer. He added that a chinchilla coat could retail for as much as $30,000 or a whopping $320,000 today!
Despite the good years, the Ranch closed in 1963 and was demolished. In partnership with grocer and future mayor, Jean-Paul Touchette, the ranch’s concrete consruction blocks, were said to have been used to build Alexandria’s first motel, “The Glen,” today’s “White Rock.”
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