J.J. Deal And Son Carriage Factory /Kiddie Brush And Toy Company

Around 1865 blacksmith Jacob J. Deal began to build and repair carriages, wagons, sleighs and carts in Jonesville. He had a manufacturing complex on this site by 1884. Jacob’s son, George, became a partner and manager in 1891, and the company was renamed J. J. Deal and Son. Using fire-resistant construction techniques, they built this factory in three phases between 1892 and 1909. When Jacob retired in 1908, George renamed the business Deal Buggy Company. During this time, the business began making automobiles under the name Deal Motor Vehicle Company. Its models included the Deal Model “R,” which sold for $1,250 and featured a thirty-horsepower engine, speedometer and wind shield. Jacob Deal died in 1914; the company closed the next year. Kiddie Brush And Toy Company From 1918 to 1928 the Universal Body Company built automotive bodies for such companies as Ford and Arrow Line in this factory. In the 1930s, Jonesville Sheet Metal Products and Jonesville Screw Products Company used portions of the building. In 1937 Paul A. Jones bought the factory for his Kiddie Brush and Toy Company. Workers made all kinds of toys: board games, dolls, furniture and Susy Goose housekeeping sets, which included a mop, carpet sweeper, apron, broom and dust pan. In 1961 the company began making accessories for Barbie dolls. When Kiddie Toy relocated in 1970, the factory closed. After listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, the building was rehabilitated and reopened in 2016 as an apartment building.