Sunday, December 20, 2015

2015 Merry Christmas Post #3 ... My FB Caption Winner plus Christmas & Winter Tidbits from Near and Far.....

Merry Christmas post #3.  We had a little contest on my facebook page where we added the photo art below and asked friends to caption it.  The impartial judges were my wife and my grand-daughter shown here in a festive spirit.  The facebook acknowledgement and the winning caption are shown below.  All the captions were all very funny and clever, and the judges said that it was very difficult to pick the winner....but as promised....here it is.
Tony Heinicke won and it is all posted here.  Thanks to everyone who participated, and Merry Christmas.  (What made this one win was the use of the word recreation instead of resuscitation).       Great stuff Tony!!
Be sure to scroll down, click on all the photos here to enlarge them and enjoy a fairly lengthy Christmas post #3.
Look, Mommy fainted....Santa is giving her mouth
to mouth "recreation".
The Judges...




Here's another tongue in cheek Hot Rods and Jalopies phantom magazine cover.  I thoroughly enjoy doing these and the email response has been great.  As the Dr. Scholl's foot-happy ad shows here....you all must have Christmas Shopping feet by now....




One of my all time favourite photos in my archives is this one taken in the late 1960's and near the end of the fabulous downtown Fort William shopping days on the old Victoria Ave strip.  I never get tired of seeing this photo taken on the corner of May and Victoria ave.

The next few photos are not local but they convey the Christmas and winter feeling and could have been taken "anywhere in North America". Included in this picture is a 1955 Ford in the foreground followed by a 1953 Chevy Belair, followed by a '51 Chevrolet.  They are all likely sitting in "Hensler's Bar and Grill". Also in those days it didn't much matter what side of the street you parked on.

The three cars....well...former cars with snowmobile type conversion kits from the 1930s are as follows.  Left to right are a 1928 Chevrolet landau coupe, a 1928/29 Ford Model "A" roadster pickup, and finally a 1930/31 Ford Model "A" closed car (sedan).  A very nice photo from theoldmotor.com.

This is your typical used car salesman at Howard Ford working just prior to the Christmas holidays, trying to get the last few cars sold before the freezing cold winter ahead.

Come out to your Dominion Tire Warehouse in the late 1930s on Park Street in Port Arthur Ont. to get your Dodge radiator protected with Shell products supplied by them......note.... It says "No Charge".


A very wintry seasonal theatre picture which again could have been taken anywhere in North America, but was actually taken the evening of the huge Blizzard in New York City from December 1947. 
In the picture are many marquis famous names from 1947....look at the photo then scroll down for related photos and stories.


Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was a pianistcomposer, and arranger who led an innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was active as an educator.  Thanks to Wikipedia.

June Christy (November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990), born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool. After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time."  Another Wikipedia thank you.


Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, radio and television presenter and entertainer, of Italian descent, best known for his song's, including number #1 hit You're Breaking my Heart and My Heart Cries for You (number #4) and On the Street Where You Live (Number #4 ) from My Fair Lady.  Wikipedia...

On the Theatre Marquis this film was playing as well "Where There's Life" with Bob Hope, Signe Hasso and William Bendix.  It was a 1947 film about "The American son of an Eastern European monarch wounded in an assassination attempt becomes a target for a terrorist organization".  Geez...sounds like something that could easily fit into a "today" story.

In the large B&W photo above you can see the ad for the "FADA" radio...and here's one to see up close.  These old Bakelite radios demand huge dollars in today's antique market.

Two typical winter photographs...the first from the same storm mentioned above...the December 1947 New York City blizzard.  It's funny how they make a big deal about 15-20 inch snowstorms when we here in Canada experience this quite often and sluff it off as "just being winter".  I'm not too sure where the 1940 Ford trucks and snowblower are, but it was a very typical scene in our home towns of Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario.


Christmas Comic Books were always found in my Christmas morning stocking when I was a kid...some of them below, especially the super hero ones.  Some are worth thousands of dollars in the comic book market today.  Click on both of these collages to have a better look.  Do you have any still lying around in your attic??





Seeing a huge model railroad layout in a store window or inside was another typical pre Christmas sales pitch.  Here in Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario, the layouts would have been seen in Chapples Basement, Bryan's Limited on Victoria Ave., Eatons in Fort William and Port Arthur, and many other larger department stores.


Kresge's (later to become K-Mart) and F. W. Woolworth were places your parents(or Santa) would purchase Christmas presents.  The word "TOYLAND" or just waiting for the Simpson's Sears or Eaton's Christmas catalogs would excite any kid to start writing his letter to Santa.




"Galaxy" was an odd Science Fiction magazine of the day.  I don't think I ever purchased this as a kid, however this cover in 1960 was already showing signs of the times when Santa may actually be out of business due to to high tech computer generated Santa Robots.

....and finally....we mustn't forget the popular, important and very significant Christmas Cookie.....as in the day, without a wood cook stove at your disposal....you would have to rely on the local Kam Power Generating Plant at Kakabeka Falls to power up your new General Electric range and oven....then lovingly bake them and leave them out with a glass of Dairybest milk for Santa Claus......Oh for the day.  Merry Christmas, thanks for watching...check back with us often, and use us for research.  Dave and family at HR&J..... 

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