It was amazing what was available during the dirty 30's. These ads from the 1934/35 Canadian Eaton's Catalog show us what was available even during the depression. Toys and Christmas decor such as these were likely not affordable to the average person, however were all still available for sale in this Eaton's mail order catalog of that era and at incredibly cheap prices in today's standards. Be sure to click on these ads twice to enlarge them to full screen size.
Tires and Batteries were also quite reasonable, but many of the early car owners drove their cars until the tire cords were showing through before they would buy a new tire. These also tell you that some people were still driving their cars during those tough years. The Eaton's stores here were on the corner of Arthur Street(Red River Road) and Court Street in Port Arthur, and on 130 S. Syndicate Ave directly across from the Income Tax building in Fort William, long before the Victoriaville Parkade was built.
Who can forget the .29 cent package of blown glass tree ornaments from Woolworth's and the incredible Santa Claus art of Haddon Sunblom. Haddon and Coca Cola created this Santa and still stands today as a childs vision of the true Santa Claus.......but with those rosy cheeks there may have been a little rum in that Coca Cola. :-)
A favourite on many kids Christmas wish list was a Radio Flyer wagon(click on this and all pictures to view clearer)...a toy which is still available to this day.......and if you want to know anything about "Batman", you can ask my brother. He is an expert on this subject and has an incredible collection, not just of Batman but many other subjects in the toy world.....and baseball too!!
If you want to get on the bad side of your wife....be sure to buy her a "Hoover" vacuum cleaner to put under the tree this Christmas, or maybe a washing machine, or and new kitchen range.
The next ad here is a little tongue in cheek as I think Santa is peeking in the upward direction to catch a glimpse of those wonderful legs in "Mojud" nylons....LOL
I am ending this Christmas time post(More to come) with a couple of good cartoons I recently received in an email, and couldn't resist posting them here!!!
Be sure to click on all the pictures(some will enlarge bigger than others) especially the old ads above.
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1 comment:
Wow, it's amazing how much things have changed just in the last 70 years. I wish I could still get tires at that price for my hot rod! What a deal!
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