An Interesting Photo to Examine....from Chippewa Park in our home towns of Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario

Scrutinizing old photos is much simpler in modern times then back in the 1950s or earlier, as we are able to use modern technology at a reasonable cost to enlarge old photos to see more of the detail.  I totally enjoy doing this as you have seen from some of the Christmas photo stories we have done.

Even though the gentleman on the left doesn't seem to approve of his picture being taken, I don't know a soul in this circa 1940's/50's but it has some very interesting background items that I was compelled to examine ....scroll down to read much more and click on all photos to enlarge them then return.

You may realize right away that this is some type of business persons picnic and yes it is taken near the cabins depicted below in a local Chippewa Park postcard.

CHIPPEWA PARK - FORT WILLIAM, ONTARIO

BUT - What I really want you to notice is what is on the picnic table in the lower centre of the original photo shown as a close-up .  Firstly you see a loaf of Parnell's Butter-Nut bread and behind it you can see a quart of Kellough's Dairy milk.

Parnell's was a local Bakery that had been running in Fort William and Port Arthur since the 1920's.... The word Butter-Nut with the little character holding a loaf of bread under his arm shown on the left was their logo that lasted for years.

The pictures in the collage below were donated by my friend Roger Rickards whom you've seen many times as a child in vintage Christmas posts here on HR&J in the last few years.  There is a caption at the bottom of the collage but there is a little more to the photos than that.  Firstly the Roger Rickards in the photos is my friend Roger's father.  Next, the driver of the Parnell truck was Ed McIntyre who would later marry(in 1939) Roger's father's sister Rose also shown in the photo(Got that??) ...so in essence Ed would later become Roger's uncle... ☺....well..uh after Roger was born of course...did you get that too??

Roger Jr. says these photos were likely taken near where Roger Sr. lived on E. Mary St. in Fort William.

Here are a few telephone book ads, the first from 1942, and the other two from a 1953/54 book.            Mr. J.P. Parnell lived at 330 Archibald St. in the beautiful brownstone shown below.  The building is now a business called "Bloomers and the Brown House", and well worth a visit to view this beautiful old home.  I was once in this house while in grade school, as I knew one of Mr. Parnell's daughters.

The next two photos show only empty lots in Fort William and in Port Arthur where the Parnell's Bread businesses were as noted in the phone book clipping above.

Fort William office at 411 Donald Street where the
parking lot for the museum is today.
.

Port Arthur office at 226 Bay St. just east of Vi's
Tavern.

Here is one more oldie from the late 1920's showing a Parnell's Bread sign above the vintage buses on the Canadian side at the original Pigeon River border crossing.

 Here is a list of all the Bakers in the 1953/54 local phone book.

The next thing in the original photo at the top of this post is a Kellough's Dairy milk bottle.  As shown in the then and now photo below, Kellough's was located on the north/west corner of Victoria Ave and Selkirk Street.

You can tell in the original photo above that is was a Kellough's bottle because of the tall L's shown, and in the bottles below when you scroll down.

There were many dairies through the years in Fort William and Port Arthur, however, these are the only ones shown in the 1953/54 phone book.

The last ...not too clear photo here shows a number of pop or beer bottles further down the table, and I'm only guessing that they could possibly be 2-way bottles or Kakabeka beer bottles as noted below.

Thanks to Roger Rickards for the loan of the wonderful Parnell's Bakery truck photos, and to all our ancestors who took these great photos of our past that we can pass on to our grand-children and great grand-children to remember what life was like in the Hot Rods and Jalopy era.....

I always try to include something with 2 or 4 wheels in all my posts for your enjoyment.

Thank You, D.