Stock Cars in Winter...Fort William Ontario...

This is a great colour photo of Albert Massaro's "Popcorn Special" as it passes the "Peter Pan Dry Cleaners" building on Simpson Street in 1963.  Note that the number on the car is the year of the carnival, not Albert's famed #88.  This is of course the Lakehead Stock Car Club float entered in the Fort William Winter Carnival of 1963..... how we miss the old days.  Peter Pan dry cleaners was at 236 Simpson Street, just east of Bethune Street.

This is how the spot looks today, and sadly most of Simpson Street looks much like this.  I don't believe that anything could be done today to help bring this area back to what it once was.  As a child visiting both my grand parents on Dease St., and on Heron St., I could walk anywhere by myself and not worry about getting mugged....and my parents felt the same.

Here is Albert Massaro dressed as Carnival King beside his "Popcorn Special" in front of the CLE building on Northern Ave.  The CLE sign looks the same today.
Click on each photo for enlargements.

Here is the same float in front of the Canadian Pacific Railway Station on Syndicate Ave. in Fort William.  The station looks much the same today.

Here's the Popcorn Special as it was in the summer of 1962 with the correct 88 number on the side with Albert inside and his pit crew on the rail.  This photo was taken at the old CLE track in the pit area across from the old Grandstand.  The pit area would be pretty much inside where the Golf Dome stands today.

Here we have a very rare photo which was donated by Tom Dow.  It is Barry Kettering's original race car #00 sometimes fondly remembered as "The Snitch Special" taken during the Murillo Speedway days circa 1950.  If you click to enlarge it you will see Barry's name below the side window as driver and the words "Kettering Special" further back on the side.  The photo was taken late in the fall at a race in Murillo.  The car was in a ditch as the snow started to fall heavily.  A couple of young on-lookers were not deterred by the weather, and obviously neither was Barry.  There is much more on Barry and Albert further back in this blog.....you can do a search in the small box at the very top left of the main blog page above the title photo.

Thanks to Tom Dow and others who have donated photos for use on Hot Rods and Jalopies, and much thanks to all those who email photos as without them, there would be no history pages such as this.
One final note: Long before Ice Racing was started here in Thunder Bay, many of the boys of summer - stock car jockeys, would bring their cars out to the ice at various locations around town to show what their cars could do in winter conditions.

The Gentlemen who "Started Their Engines".....

With September here, it usually meant "Stock Car Championships" at the fairgrounds and later of course at Riverview Raceways.   I can't help but add a few more items from the old CLE racing days. 

 

The first ad here stated that you could buy a season ticket(a 24 race schedule) and be guaranteed 20 races for a measly sum of $20.  What a bargain even in the 1950's here in Fort William and Port Arthur.  Click on ALL the following photos to enlarge them!!!

 

 Here are The Gentlemen who "Started Their Engines" in 1953

In this last page, Merv Dove and Nick Zavaglia's photos are interchanged with their names!

...Then they took the key and opened the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Race Track gates.....



.....And let in all these people from Fort William, Port Arthur and surrounding areas......

....To watch all these great guys tool around a 1/2 mile dirt track to the glee of thousands...

 SUCH AS...

Glen Kettering, Fred Danis and Tony Massaro

Ross "Pappy" Fowler

Barry Kettering of course going by the CLE Coliseum Building.



Tony Massaro and Louis Tocheri....

left - Lorne Morin and Don Deacon
right - Malcolm Galbraith and unknown.

Don Deacon into the fence right in front of the track gate and the Coliseum Bldg.

Marvin McInnis

Louis Tocheri in the fence...

...and Louis collecting a Checkered Flag

Merv Dove's Maple Leaf Service #31

Pensive Merv.....

Merv Dove's pit crew including my old friend and Merv's brother Reg Dove on the left, with Pete Knights and Al Brimell.

Jimmy Manduca upside down.

Pete Steirlin's famous dust bowl photo.

"The Flyin' Finn", Martin Autio upside down.

The coupe's and sedan's were starting to get cut down here in the late 1950's and seem to look more like HOT RODS.  Hey, that's Sears intercity in the far background including more of the fairgrounds where the fans park their cars, as well as Memorial Avenue on the left...this view faces north/north-west!

 Oh Yes!!....and there were trophies at the end of each racing season.....now do you think that $20. was too much for a season ticket.....I think NOT!!

Left to right are Tony Massaro, Barry Kettering, Merv Dove and Albert Massaro.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES....BOYS!!!

1950's Jalopies, Demolition Derbies and Local History at Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario...

This first "Jalopy" picture is none other than the Rice Lake, Wisconsin's own Dean Harrington #U2.  This picture was taken in front of 297 North Cumberland St., in Port Arthur Ontario(now Thunder Bay).  There were plenty of businesses at this address during the 1950's and later years such as:  Stan's Auto Electric in 1957/58, McEwen Station #2 in 1959/60, Kallio's Husky Service in at least 1961/62, and North Cumberland Service in the 1970's.  It is presently called Mike's Main Service today as shown in the photo below.  Many local businesses sponsored the American Cars when they came here to race in those years.

 Here you can see the similarity of the building top in the 1957 photo and the 2011 photo.

Dean Harrington raced his 1934 Ford 3 window and 5 window coupes from 1955 until 1962 during the "Glory Days" with sponsors such as "Stinn Motor Company", "WJMC AM-FM Radio", and Rice Lake Auto Salvage.  Dean still runs to this day.  In recent years, Jim Hinsperger of Thunder Bay did a complete restoration of one of Dean's older Super Modified cars, which I will do a separate post in coming months.
Click on all photos for enlargements!

 Here is a great team shot of Al Cruikshank's car(Al is top left) driven by none other than a very young Albert Massaro(crouching with his number #36 jacket on).  Above Albert is Arny Untinen, and sitting on the running board is Al Cruikshank's son, Tom.  This is of course before Al Massaro drove his famed #88 for many years back then.

 Driving here is Fran "Junior" Speer.  Junior is driving the Wes Inkster car after Wes had received serious injuries in this same car back in the 1950's.  The car is about a 1934 Plymouth coupe.  Check out the masses of people in the old grandstand building. 
FOOTNOTE:  For those of you that can't remember, the grandstand in these photos is located in approximately the same spot as the Silver City Movie Theatre, and the track was located in the same spot as the present day Golf Dome!

     

Click on either of these two photos and you may see me in the midst of all the kids watching this demolition derby, held just in front of the grandstand at the CLE track.  I vividly remember being there and where I was standing.  Too bad they are wrecking a very nice 1947 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery and a similar year Plymouth.....but they were just old used cars and we all loved it then!!

This final photo taken at the CLE track is an old I believe 1950 Ford sedan driven all the way from Proctor Minnesota to advertise their races on Wednesday and Sunday nights.  Proctor Speedway still runs their races to this very day.....Lots to say for smaller communities that support what is historically important from the 1950's well into the next millennium.
You can still see the present day Dorothy Dove building on the left, the old Mahon's Memorial Store sign on the right and that old elevator in the background that still stands to this day behind the Mahon's sign.  I really enjoy seeing the hand lettering done in those days and the wonderful fonts they used.....and as usual, I hope you enjoyed these photos.

Albert Massaro and his "Popcorn Special".....1962

Here is Albert Massaro in his famed "Popcorn Special" with his pit crew standing on the sissy bar behind(no sissy here)....Malcolm MacAuley standing on the left built this car for Albert, and Albert of course is one of the Massaro brothers talked about many times in this blog.  These photos were taken in 1962....slowly edging towards the end of racing at the CLE track.  

By this time many of the Stock Car Jockeys were making cut up vehicles called modifieds and later more sophisticated cars called super modifieds, and then eventually sprint cars.  The "Popcorn Special" was no exception, as it kind of resembled a popcorn box.

Below is Albert himself in his little modified....they used to call him "Little Al".  He was little but sure packed a punch at the old CLE racetrack.

The coloured picture from a fan's view inside the grandstand shows Albert in his little Popcorn Special along with an American Driver, Dick Wilhelm, #10, Don Marsh, and Norm Hogan bringing up the rear...the other two photos here are of the same car taken during the 1962 racing summer.  Another post about the Massaro brothers can be seen on this blog at this link....click to read the story then come back. http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2010/04/massaro-brothersmasters-of-mischief-and.html  ....also be sure to click on all photos to enlarge them.

The last two pictures here are taken during the winter following the  above ones at the 1963 Fort William Winter Carnival.  The #63 on the car depicts the year of the winter carnival, not the famed 88 that Al drove for many years.  The CLE(Canadian Lakehead Exhibition) sign can be seen in the last photo above Albert's car.
Sorry for not posting in the last while.....I'm not in town and have to access these photos from home on my laptop....quite a tedious thing....will be home soon and will get back at it.....Many more photos to come.
PLEASE RESPECT THE OWNER OF THESE PHOTOS AND THEIR REQUEST NOT TO COPY THESE TO ANY OTHER POSTED SITE....Thank You!
Thanks for the anonymous donation of these photos.