Current River Park's Casino Dine and Dance.....

Here is the Casino Dine and Dance Hall sponsored car driven by D. Ridley back in the mid 1950's, and next to it is the Casino Dine and Dance Hall which was located in Current River Park just south of and adjacent to the Current River just below the dam near Boulevard Lake(a man made lake here in Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, Ontario) on North Cumberland Street. It was never a gambling hall, just a dance hall.
An outdoor dance floor only was built there in about 1904 and proved to be so popular that the city constructed a dance pavilion that opened in 1907. It was not until 1923 that the structure shown here known as The Casino was built. It's proper name was Palais de Danse and a sign within proclaimed that there would be dancing every night.
It was a very popular nightspot before WWII and my parents frequented the hall many times. My dad in his 90th year still recalls many fun memories there.
During the war the building was used by the federal government, and eventually became a large dining hall for the Algonquin Regiment, located nearby.
At the end of the war it was refurbished and returned to the city as a dance hall once again and for years was the site of many weddings, banquets and bingo's.
When it was destroyed by fire on January 12, 1958 no plans were made to rebuild and all that remains is the unofficial name of the site, "the casino field" in Current River Park.

Here is another picture of it with what looks like a Model "A" Ford sedan in front and also a commercial advertisement from the 1950's.

The green circles in all these pictures is the Casino Dance Hall. The light blue is Boulevard Lake. The dark blue is the Current River Dam, and the red line is Cumberland Street.

These pictures were shown before on my blog showing Current River Park. In the more recent coloured photo the Casino Hall would just be out of the picture at the far left.
Some of you may remember your parents talking about the many local big bands that played there such as Ted Goodsell, Stan Onski, Hugh Paxton and Joe Turner. I can't imagine how wonderful it must have been!!
Click on pictures to enlarge!

Submarine Races..... :-)

No, not really....but if you're my age or maybe even a little younger, you would have watched many (tongue in cheek) submarine races around Boulevard Lake Park back in the late 1950's and into the 1960's.

This is a postcard photo(sorry about the black mark) taken in 1957, and pretty much shows the eastern end of Boulevard Lake, only a few years before I had my driver's license. Note the peninsula on the left. You could actually drive your car around the total perimeter of the lake. Now, the north side of the lake is mainly hiking or walking paths. Click on the historical data on the right. Off in the distance in the first photo, you can see The Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay's major Landmark.

These two photos were taken from THE BLUFFS. A very well known Submarine Race vantage point. The black and white photo on the left was also taken in 1957 and the coloured one was taken recently showing the beautiful fall colours. These both photos also show the Black Bay Bridge which is now designated as an Ontario Heritage Property. The bridge is on Arundel St near Lyon Blvd. It spans the Current River. It was designated heritage on Dec 18/1989.

The "Black Bay Bridge" was constructed in 1912 by Seaman and Penniman. It was a single span bridge designed by Joachim Antonisen to harmonize with the beauty and grandeur of the landscape. It features arch ribs and open spandrels. Its unadorned functionalism and use of reinforced concrete were usual for this early period. In 1963 the bridge was doubled in width with only minor design alterations.

Here is a lower west facing view of the "Black Bay Bridge" and an aerial view of Boulevard Lake facing west also. At the top of the blue line at the top of the picture would be this bridge, and the red circle above it is THE BLUFFS. Now the bluffs are renowned for its many parking spots and there was even a streaker or two through the years, but as said before...its fame is due to the many couples including myself checking out the Submarine Races.....If you are too young or haven't figured it out by now....email me for an uncensored explanation!

As mentioned in the Boulevard Lake history above, here are two views of the Current River Dam. The smooth green space in the last photo was the site of the famed "Casino Dine and Dance" which was written about in this blog some time ago. You can click here to read about the "Casino Dine and Dance"

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/search?q=Casino+dine

Click on photos to enlarge! .... and thanks to the photographers!

More of the 1950's at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Race Track in our home towns of Fort William and Port Arthur

It's difficult to believe that fully organized racing began here in our Lakehead cities as far back as the 1920s, but the Hotrods and Jalopies Generation in my mind started in 1952 with a race held in Murillo in August and the first race of the Lakehead Stock Car Racing assoc. started at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition in the late fall of 1952.
So as we start a brand new blog post months overdue, we have donated photos from Glen Kettering's album, Cindy Patton's album (Wally Prokosh's daughter) and Glenn McKinnon's photos.  Thanks to all those who have taken the time to donate photos for our use.  This fall and into winter we have numerous more photos and news clippings that I will share with you, both on early racing and Fort William and Port Arthur history.
To start off, the first photos are mementos of the very first Lakehead Stock Car Racing Association's program and race day which took place on October 6, 1952.

The first LSCRA program with thanks to Glen and Miriam Kettering

 This next piece is the 1952 Roster.  Do you recognize any of your friends or relatives that raced that first race?  Be sure to click on all the photos and brochures to view screen size.


























The next two are Times Journal clippings of the historic event.  You can vividly see the old animal barns that were at the south end of the track in turn 1 & 2.

 

Here is an interesting photo of the #34 Kam Motors car driven by Onorio(Canary) Trevisan and Bill Chepil.  This then and now photo was taken from the original Kam Motors used car lot on Leith st facing towards the garage.  It is now a taxi business.

With much thanks to Glenn McKinnon we have this full color slide to share with you.  This is a circa 1956 photo taken from the Grandstand towards the judges stand and I believe during fair week.  The old wooden fence circling the track is visual as well as a few elevators along the waterfront.  The track would encircle what was also once the golf dome with is now gone as well.  Wouldn't it be great to build the track in its original place again.....not likely.

As I drove by Current River and Current River park the other day, I was remembering The Casino Dine and Dance which was just adjacent (south of) the Current River dam which eventually burned to the ground.  It was a favorite of my parents to have a nice dinner together and spend a night on the dance floor.  Oddly enough it was never a real Casino.  As you can see they even sponsored a stock car in about 1953.

I always like to show the close proximity of the track to where the Coliseum Building is today, and this one is no exception.  With thanks to Wally Prokosh's daughter Cindy Patton we have a number of new clippings and photos which will be brought out over the coming months.  In front and possibly in the last lap is #49 Conrad Trombelli just ahead of #87 Tony Massaro as they pass the gate and the Coliseum building.

The next photo is of Conrad Trombelli taking the checkered flag in front of a packed grandstand and off to the right, the mezzanine area which was the uncovered portion of the grandstand to the north.  Yours truly is somewhere in the crowd selling cokes to get into the races for free.

This is a a very interesting photo of my hero Barry Kettering with a seriously damaged #47 car circa 1953.  Barry's #47 cars were sponsored by Bud Heidrick.  One day when Bud was at the shop and Barry wasn't around, roller skates were welded to the top of his car.  Bud had told Barry that he would have to leave the roller skates on his car until he stopped rolling over.  Obviously Barry did, lost the roller skates and went on to much bigger and better things until his very sad and untimely death years later.  The red rectangle shows the roller skate on his car.

 Here's a typical photo clipping from our newspapers in the day.  We always had great racing coverage which made for record crowds on race days.

 Another clipping from Cindy Patton to enjoy.

In 1957 Barry and Glen Kettering had built a brand new car and was dubbed #57 for the year of change.  Here is Glen and Barry with their horseshoed 34 Ford coupe named Poopsie.  This car went on to numerous wins for the Kettering brothers.

 The last clip on this post is from Cindy as well.  It was a 1958 notification that Wally Prokosh, her dad was back in the lineup with a vengeance and would also see many successful race days at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition race track.

 Hope you enjoyed this post.  I've been busy working on my new hot rod project and recovering from some health issues, so if you liked this, let me know and I will get back on track on the blog and slow down somewhat on my Facebook page.  Thanks, Dave

Streetcars and Advertising from The Civic/Electric Railway era in our hometowns of Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario

Yes....I'm still here with the Hot Rods and Jalopies Facebook page.  Many apologies for being so preoccupied with other things that I have been negligent in my writings here on my blog.  Myself and my family have had a very busy summer....but no more excuses...I have a new post for today which I have been working on on and off during the summer months.

My good friend Des Stolz is also an eclectic collector and like myself was lucky enough through the years to find some very interesting and valuable items that stimulate the mind and the memory.
If you are old enough to remember, many buses and streetcars through the years used advertising which were displayed inside to help with the cost of running bus and streetcar services.  Fort William and Port Arthur Ontario was no exception.  The colorful streetcar generation and I mean the rail type, not the trolley Brill bus generation with rubber tires, had the most diverse and and vivid advertising considering that the printing press and lithograph were the only means to reproduce colored advertising in that era.  The rubber tired electric trolley buses were introduced in our home towns in 1947 and sadly the electric rail streetcars stopped carrying passengers in 1948.  Both Fort William and Port Arthur until amalgamation ran their own civic/electric railway independently of each other.

This post is not a transportation history but mainly about our street railway era.  It begins with a series of electric railway photos from my own collection which I purchased on-line quite a few years ago now (a few of which have been on this site before).  These photos were all taken in 1941, and edited for this blog.  Following that will be photos from Des Stolz electric railway advertising days collection for you to enjoy.  Be sure to click on each photo for a nice screen size view then return to the photos and continue right to the end.
All the streetcar photos are titled and all photos are copyright.

This one also shows the J.M. McCartney store with the very famous clock below it, Mahon Electric, the Woolworth's and Kresge's five and dime stores, as well as a number of era motor vehicles in what used to be Fort William's bustling downtown.

Port Arthur and Fort William painted their trolley's different colors in the day, but many ran in both cities, so both colors of Trolley's were seen everywhere.   Vividly in view was Quinlan's and the F.W. Woolworth five and dime store, the Prince Arthur Hotel, the Pagoda and the head and chest of our famous Sleeping Giant, as well as what looks like a Lincoln beside the streetcar and a Model A Ford sedan waiting for the light.

 The Chapples Store (Grain Exchange Building) was the anchor store for the Fort William downtown area.  The building does still exist today, but inside a mall called Victoriaville.

Many a family excursion headed out across the swing bridge and down Mission road to Chippewa Park for a picnic, kids rides and the zoo, for many who couldn't afford a car in the day.

If anyone can tell me the exact spot for this next photo...it would help.  Note the Orange Crush advertising sign on the front of the store, and the new home or business being constructed.

Other family excursions also headed north on Memorial Avenue in Port Arthur to go to Boulevard Lake for a swim and/or picnic or to Current River Park for a family day or the Casino Dine and Dance near the Current River Dam.

The Car Barns or Transit sheds in Port Arthur were located at the foot of Van Horne Street on Water Street where the recycle depot is today.  The next three photos were all taken at the Port Arthur Sheds.  

There are no photos of the Fort William transit building here, but it was located on the south side of Walsh Street between Franklin and Selkirk Streets.

 The advertising was viewed by passengers while riding the Trolleys....some as shown here.

The first group of advertising cards are likely from the 1920's and show a few companies that are still in business today such as Wrigley's and Buckley's.  The Chevrolet dealership was handled by the Badanai family for many years in Fort William and Port Arthur, but in the 1920's, Roach and Irwin ran the dealership in Fort William and Ernest Parker in Port Arthur.

 Just by looking at some of these advertising cards, you can guess that most were from the 1920's and 1930's

 In this group as well as just above some of the same companies as mentioned are still in business almost 100 years later.  Also there are two more beautiful Roach & Irwin and Ernest Parker Chevrolet ads.  The art work is spectacular.

 Another local one is shown in this group.  The Scollie's Ice Cream ad with the phone number of S.128.  Scollies had a few different locations in Fort William....the first being "Scollie's Locker Service" which was located on Catherine Street in Fort William.  I remember my parents sending me there to pick up some fresh meat back in the day.

My favourite poster of the lot is this Sellers & Jones Limited.  This poster brought back a huge memory of my father telling me that the Kam Motors building which was on Leith Street(the building is still there) was once called Sellers and Jones.  Up until I started this blog and communicating with other historians from our area I had never seen an advertisement or photo of Sellers and Jones until this advertisement in Des Stolz collection turned up and also a photo below which was on the Facebook page Thunder Bay Then and Now.  Obviously this was very exciting for me to see.

Thanks to Richard Mark...Thunder Bay Then and Now for finding this great photo of the main portion of the original Kam Motors Limited building.  This photo is looking east down Leith St towards the corner of Leith and Simpson St.  At the lake end of Leith Street and Hardisty stood a huge Elevator which I can't recall the name of.

This is Kam Motors as it looked in and Advertisement in it's prime.

 ...and this is how the building looks today as Ace Automotive and Diamond-Lacey's Taxi.  Both the words "Diamond" and "Lacey's" were always icons in the taxi business back in the day as well as now.

 Many thanks of Des Stolz for letting me photograph his Streetcar Advertising Posters, to the original photographer of the Streetcar photos and to Richard Mark of Thunder Bay Then and Now.
I hope you have taken the time to read the attached stories and view all the photos.  Thanks for being loyal fans of The Hot Rods and Jalopies generation blog pages.