Editing Hiram Walker (section)

===Early  years===
[[File:Aged Canadian Whisky.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Canadian Club]] whisky, originally made by Hiram Walker & Sons, today a property of Suntory Global Spirits]]
Walker was not new to the world of business. Since his migration to Detroit he had been involved in several different projects. In his earlier days he worked as a grocery clerk from 1838 until 1845 for several different employers. Eventually, after being involved in the grocery business for several years, he took it upon himself to begin operating a grocery store of his own in 1846 which did not last.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc=Chapter 7. Page 3}} Following his work as a clerk, Walker was employed at the firm of Ingersoll and Kirby, a leather and leather goods business.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|p=3}} Through this, he gained his first knowledge into the business world. By 1845, Walker saved enough money as a clerk to invest in a business, the firm of Walker and Parker, which specialized in tanning and leather sales.{{sfn|Fraser|1992|p={{page needed|date=April 2017}} }} However, this partnership dissolved in 1846, and Walker returned to the grocery business.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|p=3}} Eventually, the same tannery business that he invested in was burned down in 1848.{{sfn|Fraser|1992|p=3}}

Walker was well-regarded as a proficient businessman, noted for his involvement in a wide range of different businesses and industries. Some associate his success with his ability to dabble in multiple business opportunities as well as jump quickly on prospective businesses. This can be seen, for example, during his grocery business between 1849 and 1858 when Walker had the idea to produce his own vinegar.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc=Chapter 7. Page 4}} His beginnings in the distillery business have been traced to January 1849, where an advertisement in a Detroit newspaper publicized Walker's "barrels of cider vinegar" and "wheat whisky".<ref name="Legacy of Hiram Walker"/> It was advertised for 10 cents per gallon.{{sfn|Fraser|1992|p=3}}  Through this business, he began to distill his own vinegar, which became popular in the area because of its consistency, low price, and high quality.{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=30}} He then sold it at his grocery store, to other grocers as well as across the River in Windsor via door-to-door sales. Thus, the vinegar factory became another successful business venture for Walker which, after years of success in Detroit, he sold in 1858.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc=Chapter 7. Page 5}}

It is true that it was the manufacturing of vinegar led to Walker's eventual shift to the manufacturing of whisky. However, he had been selling alcohol since 1849 and continued to at the time he actually began to distill.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc=Chapter 7. Page 5}} He also was involved in the grain business, through serving as a supplier to the local flour mills in the Detroit area.{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=30}}