“I’ll meet you at Rankin’s!” was a popular invitation in late 19th and 20th centuries Stratford. Those five little words brought together generations of Stratford families and friends to enjoy good times and the many special treats at Rankin’s that included everything homemade from meals to ice cream and hand-rolled candies.

At one time, Stratford had a place in the early days of the thriving automobile manufacturing business. Reginald Cleveland (Rex) Bartlett, an imaginative Stratford engineer, successfully designed, built and marketed several of his inventions. One of those was, for a time, a revolutionary automobile, a car with air suspension and four-wheel brakes.

The founder of the Whyte Packing Co., John Whyte Sr. was born in 1822 in Ardlui, a tiny hamlet at the north end of Scotland’s famous Loch Lomond.