The shabby exterior of the Symons Oil Can Factory in Rocanville belies the fact that therein lies a jewel—a rich and precious slice of Saskatchewan heritage.

When Dennis and Joan Hack purchased the Symons Oil Can Factory in Rocanville in 2003, they acquired a piece of the town's history intact, just as the previous owner, John Ruston, had left it at the close of a business day in 1989 with full intentions of returning the next day to resume production. But Rushton did not return. Nor did the press operator, nor the four workers who would have sat at the rotating soldering table, nor May Shaw who would have taken her post in the spray room as she had for so many years.

In a dark and drafty space under the remnants of a set of simple line shaft and pulleys sits a press with a band of tin approximately six-inches wide and eight-feet long. Across the room, there's a round work table that looks like a potter's wheel, caked in beads of solder and rust, with four stools made of what looks suspiciously like discarded machine parts of one sort or another, and there is a lever assembly clamped in place ready for soldering.

In the back room, an oil can sits in front of a makeshift spray booth, ready for a coat of bronzing ink. And tucked away in a drawer, a hand-written record of the most recent shipments of Symons oil cans: date shipped, purchaser's name and address, and quantity shipped.

In 1974, after a legendary career as an inventor, a machinist and a successful businessman, Ernie Symons, sold the Symons Oil Can Factory to Rushton who continued to manufacture the world-acclaimed Symons pump oiler until one day, in1989, Rushton took ill and production stopped....