HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015 FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS - also what we read 63 years ago.....

 MAY THE PEACE AND HAPPINESS YOU EXPERIENCE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS LAST THE WHOLE YEAR THROUGH.  HAPPY "2015"  

In my vault of treasured history, I came across this old News Chronicle from January 2, 1952, and thought I might share a bit of what we were doing back when I was just a kid.

It's very interesting to read print even from the 1950's to see how we expressed ourselves....some of it almost sounds like a foreign language. ☺

Hearty, Noisy and Spirited as it was described here.
Also, remember when everyone had to renew their driver's license plates every year just after New Years day....the line-ups were horrendous.


Click on all these ads once or twice and enjoy reading the articles from 63 years ago right here in our Lakehead Cities.

The Port Arthur Harbour January 2 1952.  The Korean War was also upon us.  It lasted from June 25, 1950 until July 27, 1953.

It's also very interesting what we watched at the Famous Players Theatres and at the Odeon as well.  Most films that were shown in Port Arthur were also shown simultaneously at the same theatres in Fort William.

My all time favourites from that time frame were Laurel and Hardy and Roy Rogers.  Remember also all the active theatres back in 1952 such as the Royal, Lake, Fort, Lyceum and Colonial.  Most all the facades of these buildings still exist today.

Mahon Electric was located on Arthur Street in Port Arthur (now Red River Road) as well as on Victoria Ave in Fort William which is now inside Victoriaville Centre.  There was always a dance somewhere in town and my parents took them all in.  Roy Coran was always their favourite. (sadly many times, the newspapers misspelled Roy's name as Ray, as shown in the ad below.

There was a ton of action at the old Port Arthur Arena in 1952, such as the exhibition hockey games shown below and very affordable prices even for the day.  I don't recall the Port Arthur Spitfires at all.  The Port Arthur Arena also had the best roller skating, as the surface was wood and very smooth, not like the marble type surface of the Fort William Gardens.  The Port Arthur arena was where the Safeways Store and it's parking lot on North Court St today.  

McGolrick's Men's Wear had a store in Port Arthur and in Fort William.  Remember also Oikonen's Taxi, 191 Lorne St., with "Radio Cabs" which was next to the old New-Chronicle office in 1952.

Here is some interesting statistics from the Korean War era in '52, as well as some comics we read in our newspaper then.

"JOE PALOOKA" AND "BUGS BUNNY"

New Years January 2 1952 brought some advice about making New Years Resolutions, and again, it's very interesting to observe how the English language was written.....and a few more comics.  Again, click on all to enlarge to screen size.

"BLONDIE" AND "FRECKLES AND HIS FRIENDS"

KAM MOTORS LTD. USED TRUCK BARGAINS, January 2, 1952, as well as Lakehead Motors Limited advertising their new 1952 Plymouth vehicles.  My dad Jonnie was a very active body shop manager for Kam Motors at this time and worked for them from before WWII and after - from 1937 until 1967 when he started teaching Auto Body and Welding at Gron Morgan trade school, and did so until he retired from there when he was 65.

Here at Hot Rods and Jalopies, we want to thank everyone who faithfully follows this blog site for their support and also for their donations of photos and stories to add to the content.  

Even though there is no remuneration for any of this, I thoroughly enjoy doing the writing and stories for your pleasure.  Dave at HR&J

Fort William and Port Arthur.....more old and new!

Fort William's first town hall 1892-1903 was actually located in front courtyard of the present city hall property. In those days it was a multi purpose building and also used for live theatre until the motion picture industry started in 1912. It was constantly being updated with newer plumbing and lighting through those years, however the structure burned down on Mar 6, 1903 devastating extremely important documents of the day, such as papers between the city and the Canadian Pacific Railway. The fire was a terrible blow to the community.
The generosity of sister city Port Arthur proved very helpful with the rebuilding of a new city hall which was completed only 2 years later in 1905. This was a much more decorative and ornate structure than the first.(The original photo of this building with the tower is shown in the top right corner.)
The tower of the new city hall was removed in the 1940's as the building had deteriorated somewhat by then. Many updates and renovations took place through the years and it stood as a testimony of strength until 1966. The current city hall building was built behind the old structure and was torn down when the new one was completed. In 1970 when Fort William and Port Arthur amalgamated, the newer building became Thunder Bay's one and only city hall. The new city hall was completely renovated last year in 2009 and is shown in the bottom left corner of the photo.

On November 11, 1916 after a number of name changes and ownerships, the Port Arthur "News Chronicle" came into existence. It was originally located on Lorne Street in Port Arthur for 39 years and in 1955 was moved into the former Customs Building which was built in 1914, shown above behind the Pagota. This location is Water and Red River Road(formerly Arthur Street). It continued there and in 1972, 2 years after the cities amalgamated the Port Arthur News Chronicle merged with the Fort William Times Journal to become the present day Thunder Bay "Chronicle Journal". The paper continued in this location until 1977 to 75 S. Cumberland Street and continues there to this day. The colour photo in the top corner shows the relatively new government building in its place. A Pagota story will be coming soon.

Ten acres of land was donated to the Parks and Cemetery Committee of 1902 by Catherine Vickers, with the stipulation that the park be a memoriam for her late husband John Joseph Vickers. In 1912, four large boulders were placed on the corners of the property and inscribed with the names John Vickers, Catherine Vickers, John McKellar and John McIntyre as a memorial of Catherine, her husband and their friends. The careers of these gentlemen were pivotal in the early years of the City of Fort William's development. Vickers Park remains one of the oldest parks in the former city of Fort William and the boulders are in place to this day.

No fewer than 8 people have claimed they are the mother and daughter in this photo, but in fact they are Verlie(child) and Sally Umpherson. Sally was a close friend of my mother and father in the 1930's and 1940's and still lives a healthy life to this day. I knew Verlie in high school and Sally's son Ken and his wife Sue are old friends of ours as well.

This first photo here shows a photo of Boulevard Lake from the bluffs extracted from a 1960 Ontario Travel brochure and the fall shot on the right was taken in the last couple of years. We are very fortunate to have wonderful scenery around our city as long as these parks and views are kept up and not forgotten by our city fathers.
Click on photos once or twice to enlarge!

The Times Journal, Fort William,Ontario...with a cool Model "T" Ford in front!

The Times Journal building and original business was owned by T.W. Rutledge and Dave Smith and located here at 115 North May Street. In November 1899 the company purchased the presses and assets of the recently defunct Fort William Journal and combined the two papers together known as "The Daily Times-Journal". In 1906 a new building was constructed on the original site in the Queen Anne Style. The new building was two storeys high, and the front was originally rented to J. W. Crooks & Co. for a drug store and in later years was a series of cafes called the T&H, Palace, Boulevard and Superior. The Times-Journal business office was at the rear of the building with entry from the lane and the second floor was the editorial office, typecasting machines and the book and job printing departments, with the large new presses being in the basement. This building housed the first power driven freight elevator in the entire city of Fort William. Later a more northerly addition was built and although owned by Superior Printing for years was not occupied by newspaper staff until 1960.
In 1972 the Times-Journal and News-Chronicle amalgamated(two years after the two cities did), and the operation became one at the Port Arthur ward plant. After 73 years as a printing establishment the building was converted to an office block replacing the entire facade with a stone commercial design featuring art deco design. The building now houses the popular "Victoria's Cupboard" featuring elegant home decor and gifts.


Here is an original paper bag in my collection as well as a front and inside copy of a Paper Boy's greeting to his customers for the Christmas season.

The following is an example of how the paper looked in the beginning(not too clear...sorry) and also some of the incredible headlines that were printed there. I was a paper boy for the Times-Journal in about 1952 and it was actually my first money making job. I remember that I had a small 20 paper route and made about $1.00 a week doing it....that money went a long way in those days, but you worked very hard for it.


Thanks for looking and be sure to click on each photo for a larger image.