Sweet memories of Dad's Cookies factory

By Joan Janzen

Do you remember dunking Dad's Cookies in a glass of milk? Those cookies were first produced in a factory in Regina, Saskatchewan. Production began in 1938 on Dewdney Avenue and later moved to Albert Street. Members of the Historic Saskatchewan group shared fond memories of driving through Regina on holidays, stopping at Dad's Cookies and buying two large paper bags of broken cookies for 25 cents each. Others recalled taking a tour of the Albert Street location when in grade school.

Due to high demand, in 1964 the factory moved to a larger plant in White City, located twenty km from Regina. Production increased from 23,000 cookies per hour to 100,000. A former employee described it as a "very tough job." She remembered 27 miles of cookies on a conveyor belt that needed to be packed.

Another former resident of White City remembered the aroma of baking cookies throughout the entire village, and bags of broken cookies were always available for sale at a reduced cost. By 1981, the plant was producing 1.69 million cookies per day, so it's not surprising there were a lot of broken cookies for sale.

The factory closed its doors on December 31, 1984 due to declining sales, and the company was sold to Christie's. At that time production was moved to Toronto.