It started out as a winning Mardi Gras costume; now the tin man is the sheet metal shop's popular trademark

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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — These days, John Puddicombe of Jenkins and Puddicombe Sheet Metal Ltd. in St. John’s shares his office with a crowd. They’re a boisterous bunch, always causing a stir — especially at Christmas — and getting up to shenanigans right beside his desk.

“They’re taking over my space, just look,” John says with a smile, opening a little door in the front-facing wall of his office to reveal a miniature porch party of tin men in full swing.

Against a backdrop of coloured row houses, there’s about a dozen tin men: some with guitars, one with a bodhran and one with an ugly stick, complete with a Barbie sneaker base instead of a rubber boot. Some are dancing, more are singing at a mic, and a fiddle-playing man of metal holds his bow aloft at the front, in a pose and expression that’s clearly asking, Shanneyganock-style, if there are any Newfoundlanders here tonight.

It’s Jenkins and Puddicombe’s famous tin man window display, created this time around in celebration of Come Home Year, to the delight of customers, social media followers and passersby who have been wondering for weeks what the scene would include once the paper curtain was peeled back.

“There are people who might not know the name of the company — you say Jenkins and Puddicombe and they say, ‘Where’s that?' But if you say the tin man shop, they say, ‘Oh! I know that one,’” says Jan Puddicombe, John’s sister-in-law and coworker, and creator of the window displays.

The sheet metal company was established in 1983 by Jan’s father, Arthur Jenkins, and Robert Puddicombe, and today counts 12 employees and a reputation in the commercial sector for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and stainless steel work. They’re one of the only tinsmiths in the province, but the tin man wasn’t part of their company logo until Bert Puddicombe — Jan’s husband and John’s brother — came up with the idea to create a costume for the George Street Halloween Mardi Gras, winning first place. Since then, he’s walked miles in the St. John’s Santa Claus parade in the suit and worn it participating in charity relay races.

“You sweat, you get some cuts,” Bert says.

The life-size tin man’s real claim to fame, however, came after it was put in the Hamilton Avenue shop's window as part of a Christmas display. “My dad was always putting sheet metal and elbow fittings in the window (until that point),” Jan says. “I was like, ‘This is boring. We’ve got to do something about it.’”

Bert soon made three mini tin men; John later made nine more. Jan incorporates them into window displays for Christmas, summer and fall, and some special occasions in between, creating detailed scenes. She comes up with the concept, Bert sketches and scales it, and Jenkins and Puddicombe employees, under John’s direction, bring it to life as much as possible. Arts and Crafts Day is what they jokingly call it, and they’re happy to put aside their regular steady work to do it.

“Yes, there’s an eye roll when we’re busy,” John jokingly says.

The employees put their creativity with sheet metal to work, making everything from a miniature guitar amp to tiny loonies, silver coins and pennies for the fiddle player’s open case. Jan is happy to accept suggestions and ideas for the scenes.

Over the years, the shop’s display has seen the tin men camping, barbecuing, swimming, supporting the Growlers hockey team, baking cookies, picking apples, wrapping presents and working in Santa’s workshop. They’ve dressed in green bow ties for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas vests, and tuxedos for Millennium New Year’s Eve — painted on by staff and removed later. They’ve been reworked and rebuilt and repositioned. The original full-size costume still makes the scattered appearance.

“I fell in love with this one,” Bert says of the current Come Home Year display. “For me, this one blows the others away.”

People often ask if they can purchase their own Jenkins and Puddicombe tin man, but the company isn’t looking to sell them. For one thing, they’re not cheap to make; for another, they’ve become the business’s trademark. Fans will have to be content with admiring the shop window instead.

The newest display will probably stay in place until next spring, Jan says, and at that point she’ll come up with a new theme.

People have already been popping in to say how much they love the Come Home Year scene and that they can’t wait for the next one. Given 2023 will mark the company’s 40th anniversary, another party might be in order. At this point, there’s not much the sheet metal workers won’t build.

“A 40th birthday cake? Sure,” John says. “That’s an easy one.”

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