It’s a cup of Canadiana in the spare room of a Montreal apartment— and it all started with the spur of the moment purchase of a coffee machine.
For Lorie-Anne Chamberland and Alexandre Contant, the white drip coffee maker emblazoned with the Tim Hortons logo was a practical and –considering it was found at Value Village – cost-friendly addition to their new apartment.
“We thought it was like fun to find this object that has Tim Hortons on it— which is such an iconic brand,” Chamberland recounts.
At first, the pair were planning on having a Timmies-themed kitchen, and so they began to collect a number of branded tchotchkes to fill the room. However, it was only a matter of time before their simple kitchen project became one that celebrates a cornerstone of Canadiana culture.
“We started to think maybe it was a good idea to start a gallery – a museum,” Chamberland said.
So far, the collection has amassed more than 80 items and is nearing its way to cult status with its DIY approach to “museum” culture.
Lining the walls are mugs, cups, marbles, earrings—even “Timopoly,” a themed version of the Monopoly game for coffee amateurs.
They’ve even created a map identifying the locations of Tim Hortons across Montreal, using red and green pins to distinguish locations that have sitting areas, versus locations that offer countertop services.
Part of their display includes old Tim Hortons commercials played off of a laptop.
But Chamberland says she does have a favorite among the items filling the space of her home—she calls it the “rim roller,” and it’s the remedy to a problem that many Canadians have likely faced on a coffee run: rolling up the rim to “win.”
“[people were] tired of rolling up the rim with their teeth or fingers, so they just created this object,” Chamberland explained. “It’s kind of funny.”
Each year, 31 million prizes are doled out as part of the Roll Up the Rim to Win sweepstakes. The Rimroller was invented by Paul Kind, and was featured on Canadian TV show Dragon’s Den.
However, the couple doesn’t necessarily collect because of an obsession: they do it out of curiosity, to spark conversation about arguably one of the country’s most well-known brands, one that’s become a key part of Canadian identity.
“If you want to push your reflection further, if you want to ask us questions about what this means about Canadian identity, I think maybe you’ve found the message that we are trying to convey here,” Chamberland said.
And it's been a unifying experience so far, Chamberland explains -- a chain owner even offered the museum a full-sized Tim Hortons marquis left over when the restaurant space was renovated.
The couple hopes to one day take their collection on the road as a mobile exhibit, and eventually make their pilgrimage to the chain’s flagship location in Hamilton, Ontario.
The chain— which now boasts nearly 5,000 storefronts in nine countries— first opened its doors in 1964 by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade after an initial, unsuccessful foray into hamburger restaurants.
It was originally called “Tim Horton Donuts,” before eventually being abbreviated to the current name. At the time, the chain put many mom-and-pop donut shops out of business, and Canada’s per-capita ratio of doughnut shops skyrocketed.
The first stores only offered two products: coffee and doughnuts. Now, with an expanded menu, Timmies is responsible for the sale of one out of every two bagels sold in the Canadian food service industry.
Tim Hortons now has locations globally, including a one-time installation at a military outpost in the Middle East.
For those who feel the need to do a “double-double” take of the collection, the curators can be contacted via their Facebook page to set up an appointment.
