The Fort William Times Journal.....and we deliver,,,

Read the Daily Times-Journal, Fort William, Ontario.  This is an old sign I was very fortunate to photograph lately as I had never seen one of these before....believing its from around 1950. 

The Daily Times-Journal was created in 1899 when the Fort William Journal merged with the Fort William Times.  In 1902 the Daily Times-Journal became the second newspaper in Canada to adopt a weekly payment plan for paper carriers, and I was one of them but not until 1955.

This 1953 Times-Journal coverage of local Stock Car Racing in the day was phenomenal as each story was published like a mini-novel with photos included.  Ross "Pappy" Fowler was a fan favourite of the day and the fact that the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grandstand could hold over 5000 spectators.  Both of these photos advertised the above two important advertising components needed for the CLE to keep local racing rolling along for 13 more years after this coverage.  Be sure to click on all photos and clippings once or twice to read.

 In 1963, the Daily Times-Journal covered one of the most momentous stories of our time.....The Assassination of President Kennedy to the finest detail.

......and of course we delivered these newspapers either as a newsie on the street corner or door to door.  In 1955, if you nailed a newspaper route your were known as a very tough kid.....you had to ride your old CCM down to the Times Journal building here in Fort William to pick up your papers....they didn't deliver them to your doorstep as they do now, and you had to fight off the tougher kids to find your place in line.  Once you got your papers, you'd have to load them into your bicycle as shown below without it falling over, then off to your route which could be quite a distance from downtown....then fold them all (a very special way so they wouldn't come apart on a toss)...then deliver them.  You would then try to collect your money from your customers weekly who invariably would likely not pay for weeks or maybe not at all.  It was a tough job, but a pretty good job for a kid.  You learned responsibility and entrepreneurship to maybe start a business of your own one day.  The CCM with a large carrier was the bicycle of choice of the time here in Canada anyway.

 In this picture the paper boy would get a kick in the butt from a customer because he folded the paper wrong and it would come apart on a toss.

 

IT WAS A TOUGH JOB....

....NOW THIS IS THE WAY AND ONLY WAY TO FOLD NEWSPAPERS

 CCM was the bicycle of choice in Canada, and the Daily Times Journal in Fort William was my employer..........

My actual paper bag...still have it.

The Times Journal building on May Street in Fort William still exists, but it has changed a ton over time from a beautiful structure in the 1920's to a fairly modern uninteresting building, however they still circulated and shared world and local news for many years until the amalgamation of Fort William and Port Arthur into Thunder Bay in 1970.  The new newspaper, The Chronicle-Journal was a combination of the Daily Times-Journal and the Port Arthur News Chronicle....a fitting name for two tremendous newspapers.

 This door and alleyway on the side of the Times Journal building was the pickup point for all the Fort William newspaper delivery boys.....I was a little skinny kid back in 1955 and usually was one of the last kids to pick up my papers....I was a lover not a fighter...LOL ...........they were great times😊

This is not an actual local photo, but a delivery truck bringing newspapers to all the corner stores and there were literally 100s of corner stores in the day, would likely look like this in the late 1920s.

Above is a super photo donated by Richard Houston showing May St. in Fort William facing North and the old Times Journal building in the bottom left hand corner.  There are many landmarks in this photo that are long gone....Circa mid 1950's.

This is how the entrance of the old Times Journal building looks today decorated to the 9's by Victoria's Cupboard who now inhabits the building.  They maintain its unique architecture and continues to look like a very strong and important edifice.

If you were lucky enough to have given your paper boy a tip at Christmastime you might have received a card something like this back in 1952.

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