Jack Isadore Cole (businessman)

Carl and Jack Cole were two brothers who created the successful bookstore chain Coles bookstore as well as the world famous publication of Coles Notes. Jack (May 4, 1920 – January 22, 1997) and Carl (d.1994) were born Isadore and Carl Collofsky. Carl and Jack were very successful, making Coles the largest bookstore chain in Canada in the mid to late 20th century.

Jack and Carl were born in Detroit, but the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when Jack was quite young. They had two sisters. Due to family circumstances, Jack and Carl had a very tough childhood.

Jack attended Harbord Collegiate; however he dropped out of High School after completing grade 10 in order to help provide for his family. Carl attended Oakwood Collegiate in Toronto.

At the age of 15, Jack and his Brother Carl opened their first bookstore in 1935 under the name The Book Exchange.

The bookstore was located at Bloor and Spadina and specialized in second hand books for the University of Toronto.

Jack Cole immediately joined the Royal Canadian Air Force when the Canadian Army joined the War. Due to his limited formal education, Jack Cole started as a Private however within 6 months he had been promoted to a Captain and stationed in England. At the same time, Carl ran the bookstore which was thriving in Canada.

Jack and Carl first published Coles Notes in 1948. The first Coles Note published was for the French novel Colomba by Prosper Mérimée.

Today there have been over 80,000,000 copies of Coles Notes sold worldwide. Coles Notes can be found in over 70 countries worldwide. Coles Notes is currently owned by Indigo Books in Canada.

In 1958, Jack and Carl sold the American Rights to Coles Notes to Cliff Hillegas who published the books under Cliff Notes.

By 1960, Coles Notes sales peaked when baby boomers were beginning to attend high school. They had over 120 titles mostly dealing with English novels however they had numerous other subjects including math, languages, physics etc.

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