Artie Lee....Old Enough To Know Better...still too young to care!...and MORE Car Club stuff!

Something I've been wanting to do for some time......Last week I had the distinct pleasure having coffee with Artie Lee, and old friend from way back. Even though I am just a couple of years younger than Art, we knew each other in the 196o's for a number of reasons, one being that he had an awesome huge slot car racing track in his basement and when we weren't supplying our need for speed on the real dirt at Riverview Raceways back then, we used up our frustrations racing 1:25 scale slot cars...there were a number of tracks around the Fort William area. Artie was gracious enough to bring his photo album for me to peruse and bring home to scan a few photos....As you will see. Artie was a typical gear head in the Fort William area along with the rest of us, who over time all became good friends.

Here's Artie's '49 Ford before it was yellow with Cruiser Skirts and '49 Mercury Grill. Hey, Art's buddy had a not too shabby '53 Plymouth custom convertible in the background. The next picture here is the interior of the '49 Ford in all its glory back in 1959. Hey Artie, you were drivin' already and I still had a year to go...had to wait until 1960 :-(
LOVE the wide whites....DUH!

Here is how the '49 Ford looked in yellow. These pictures were taken just east of Kam Motors, across the lane way and behind "The Palace" confectionery......(this is where I bought all my car magazines during this time).

You know I have to say it........be sure to click on all pictures once and twice for extra big, and if you do you will see the name painted on the rear quarter of Artie's car "The Lady Lee". We had all done that in those days, I had "Wild One" painted on the side of my '49 Chevy 2-door sedan until my dad sanded it off after a minor traffic infraction! The picture looks like it was taken on Selkirk Street next to Vickers Park(which thankfully still exists today).
More of Artie's cars NEXT!


.....................................
These photos were taken in the winter and spring of 1962 and like they say in "American Graffiti"....Where were you in '62. Anyone my age can recount tons of stories from that era.
Here is Artie's 1950 Oldsmobile with Dodge Lancer hubcaps. What a beautiful car. I believe that Artie and Tom Nesbitt were the only two guys around with these cars. Artie had the torpedo back and Tom had the 2-door Coach.....with very fast factory V8 Engines "The Oldsmobile Rockets". Love the Mooneyes on the front fenders! The coloured picture has a little sign on a garage that says "CTC Parking Lot" which means Canadian Tire Company and at that time it was actually on Simpson Street. A story about that is forthcoming!!

Here in the winter of 1963 is Artie's incredible '54 Mercury Convertible with power everything. Ford surely did make wonderful cars during this era too! BUT...even incredible cars break down at one time or another......NEXT!

Who is this??? ...under Artie's Mercury and standing beside it!!.....None other than Tom Nesbitt. In the summer of 1963 Tom and Artie decided that a trip to California in Art's car was in order....so off they went.... They found that clutches do break down occasionally and heading into mountainous areas they decided that before it got any worse, it needed changing....but in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the searing heat in a parking lot?....and holy crap Tom even had to remove the intake manifold to get the engine low enough to change the clutch. Nice Job TOM!! ....and off they went to California!

NEXT - The '34 etc..

Here's a younger Artie Lee in 1981 at the Fort William Gardens and Curling Club car show with his newly completed and first time shown 1934 Ford Coupe. The next picture shows Art's coupe and also his '68 Dodge Monaco convertible in deep lime green. Artie said the Dodge started out with only a $200. purchase.....beautiful cars Artie. The yellow coupe now belongs to Rick Stokaluk who did a complete makeover again with the car.

Here is Artie Chauffeuring around Thunder Bay's own "Elvis", Daylin James(a fantastic Elvis Presley tribute artist). I have heard him many times...and he is great. The last two pictures here are Artie in about a 30 year span......and like the title says "Old enough to know better....and still too young to care"!! Looking good pal!

NEXT - All the following except for a couple were also in Artie's photo album...WOW!

The next few photos are calling cards for a number of clubs that travelled the roads of Fort William and Port Arthur. Some of these I don't remember but these cards are living proof that they existed. Here are the "Freewheelers" with the words "Hot Rod" used more than once. We all tried to help the public realize that we were not a bunch of hoodlums, but sincere auto enthusiasts that are always willing to help someone in distress. The "Knights" auto club was started by Dave Foreman.

Here is the Twin City Road Angels card and the "Purpose" stated is pretty much what car clubs were about back then. The Lakehead Road Gents Car Club and the NOTA was already mentioned in previous posts on this website. You can click on these two links then come back to read the rest:

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/04/road-gents-car-club.html

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/04/northern-ontario-timing-association.html

The Road Gents card is courtesy of Jerry McKenzie.

NEXT - The Untouchables and why they changed their name!!!!

Here is an "Untouchables Car Club" calling card and also a picture of Artie Lee's "Untouchables" car club jacket hanging in the rear window of his '50 Olds.

Clicking to enlarge these two 1964 clippings will help you understand how the Untouchables became the Northwestern Ontario Timing Association. I myself joined the N.O.T.A. shortly after this photo was taken when I owned my '57 Chevy. We used to have our meetings at the Blue Swan Inn on Kingsway Street then at the Emergency Measures building which used to be on the corner of Waterloo and Victoria Avenue on the north/west corner of that intersection near Friendship Gardens.

This first NOTA calling card is Artie's card and the last one here was a later card and was my own.

Many thanks to Artie Lee, a great guy and for his input along with the photos. Artie did own a few other cars such as a '56 Ford Wagon, a '69 Gran Torino GT, a'74 Pontiac Ventura, a '33 Dodge plus many others that we can't add at this time.

A final note to click on all the photos to enlarge!

May 1976 Fort William Gardens I.S.C.A. Car Show....

I just recently purchased a slide converter...you know...to convert slides to digital images. Look what I found in my archives of Lakehead photos. Here are 7 photos of the International Show Car Association car show that came to the Fort William Gardens in May of 1976. The pictures aren't perfect but locals should recognize the cars here as well as maybe their own. The pictures are very "warm" as most slide photos ended up this way. I did take these with my 35mm camera in the day but was not a pro by any means.

I recognize a few cars but I would like some input from the local guys and gals to try put names with the cars...please email me at dcan@tbaytel.net to fill me in!



Here is Fonzie's motorcycle from the "Happy Days" TV show in front of the cool Merc. That puts these photos right on at 1976. Check out the wild custom here and the fast "Cop Rod" below! The local Fuzz could probably use one of these today too...LOL!

On the right here is a vintage I.S.C.A. decal from the earlier years.


Here is a current I.S.C.A. logo and also the Fort William Gardens logo! I.S.C.A. is still around but most people will recognize the "World of Wheels" car show circuit.


Here is how the Fort William Gardens looks today and if you click on the story to the right, thanks to Wikipedia....they spelled out some Fort William Gardens history as well as what may happen to this historic place as time goes on.....Here we go again Thunder Bay...tear down those historic buildings!!!
Click on photos to enlarge...some twice to get higher definition...Thanks!

1960 MacDonald Brier Fort William, and Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, Ontario...short must see film at the end!!

Thanks to my brother Corey for requesting this post and suggesting the great film below. Also before we start, YES there will be more jalopy and hot rod stuff coming up soon! The above photo was taken on the corner of May Street and Miles Street. The corner building(south/west corner) housed my friend Des' dad's barber shop....and finally dig those big white-wall tires on the float...very cool!
Wondering where the Curling Rock at the front of the Fort William Gardens came from?
Well wonder no more as it all started way back in 1960 when Fort William and Port Arthur hosted the MacDonald Brier Tankard, emblematic of Canadian men's curling supremacy.
A parade started off this national championship from the event headquarters at the Royal Edward Hotel and ending at the Fort William Gardens on March 7, 1960(believe it or not, there was not a drop of snow on the ground as you can see from the photo above).
One of the most impressive floats in the parade was entered by the Fort William Curling and Athletic Club which carried eleven individuals, and a curling rock reported to weigh well over 3000 pounds.
The rock had been built at the former Canada Car plant in Fort William(now Thunder Bay), and after the parade it was moved off the float and placed in front of the Fort William Gardens, welcoming the over 26,000 spectators who attended the Brier that week.
After the championships the curling rock became the property of the Westfort Kiwanis Club whose president was a strong curling supporter. A decision was made to display the now famous rock at the Totem Tourist Court on the old highway 17 near Mount McKay to let tourists know about the importance of curling to the Lakehead community.
The rock remained at the Totem until work began to re-route highway 17 which would actually draw traffic away from the monument. Not wanting the rock to lose its significance as a tourist attraction, members of the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association took up the challenge of having it returned to its place of origin. So with the permission of the City of Thunder Bay, it returned to its present resting place in front of the Fort William Gardens.
Local curlers restored the rock at that time and added an historic element to it by adding the names of curlers from Thunder Bay who had claimed national championships and the winners of national events held here in Thunder Bay.
The rock was officially re-dedicated in 1975(after amalgamation) being christened with a bottle of Chivas Regal by the President of Scotland's Royal Caledonian Curling Club, Mr. Allan Johnston, who was in Thunder Bay at the time.
Since then the famous rock has deteriorated somewhat and could use a face-lift...how 'bout it local curlers!!

Below is an incredible 1960's film(the original was too long to place here....over a half hour long). The beginning of this film is a wonderful 1960 tribute to the Lakehead region, showing the Royal Edward Hotel at its peak of splendour. Highlighting excerpts from the parade is next, showing the above float, many other folks from Fort William, as well as store fronts at the corner of Brodie Street and Victoria Avenue including Kresge's, Metropolitan Stores, Woolworth's, Gerry's Hardware and the Lorna Doone. It also shows the front of the Fort William Gardens and a little of how the interior looked then including a shot of the mayors of Fort William and Port Arthur. The Port Arthur Mayor at the time was Norman Wilson, and the Fort William Mayor was Catherine Seppala. She was my great aunt and sister-in-law of my grand mother. She was a great lady. Click on the little arrow at the bottom left of the picture below to view film!!
If you want to see this complete film or other vintage film of famous curling events in other cities, go to the Canadian Curling Association's website here: http://www.curling.ca/content/Multimedia/HistoricalBrierVideos.asp
Thanks to the Canadian Curling Association for the local film clip, and also thanks to the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame as well.
Click on all other photos to enlarge!

Christmas...the best days of our lives in the '50's and '60's...

Chapples Limited Home Store.....(sorry no winter shot), which is now in Victoriaville(more about that, click here http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/07/syndicate-and-victoria-aveunder-glass.html or scroll down on my blog) downtown Fort William..... which recently housed local government during the current City Hall renovation..... had the most incredible toy department during the 1950's, and here is me, a bit too big to sit on Santa's knee in about 1951 in Chapples Basement toy department(I'm sure everyone has a photo just like this one).
Chapples founded in 1915 as a family dry goods and ladies fashion store soon expanded to becoming Fort William's(now Thunder Bay) premier department store with branches throughout NW Ontario communities. They later built the "home store" shown above. Sadly Chapples closed for business in 1981 after an incredible run of business for almost 70 years.
.....The script of a radio program in 1950 sponsored by Chapples Stores Ltd in Nov and Dec 1950 entitled "The Santa Claus Show" was broadcast over the CKPR Radio airwaves in installments at 6:15 - 6:30 pm nightly except Sundays and had also been put on at the Orpheum Theatre as a stage show. However, on Dec 1, 1951 a much larger show was to be played out at the Fort William Gardens featuring such characters as "George the Porter" and "Suzie Snowflake". A single show at 10:15 am that day attracted about 4000 people as well as hundreds of performers from the Sylvia Horne School of Dancing.
This show continued annually at the Gardens until about 1962, however, the 44th annual Chapples Christmas Santa Claus Show in 1954 had attracted over 12,000 kids over two shows at 9 and 11 am.
....The letter and envelope below(an answer to my letter to Santa) was actually received just before the last Chapples show that was held at the Orpheum Theatre in 1950. My dear mother and I had saved the Chapples Santa picture above plus this wonderful(oh yes...pure advertising) letter from Chapples Limited in 1950 for nearly 60 years especially to share with you!(now that's really pure advertising...LOL)

I love the postmark........SNOW PALACE 1950 NORTH POLE!

Now here are a couple of old fuzzy pictures...the one on the left being Chapples Dept. Store (The Grain Exchange building as it was called as well), on the corner of Victoria Ave and Syndicate Ave(now mostly inside Victoriaville) was there many years before the home store was built.

The one on the right is the Orpheum Theatre(where about 40 some years of the Chapples Santa Claus show was held before being moved to the FW Gardens) which was on the corner of Victoria Ave and Archibald Street(now the parking lot for Centennial Square). The left end of the theatre(two story building) would be about where the doors are located for the west end of the present day Victoriaville Mall.
Please click on all photos to enlarge.

The Fort WIlliam Gardens and the Canadian National Railway Station 1956...

Here are some great photos of The Fort William Gardens(in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario), and the Canadian National Railway Station(do you recognize anyone?) which was very close to the Gardens(actually right in the middle of Vickers Street) and across Miles Street. The vintage colour photos were taken during the 1956 Winter Carnival(note - button and wooden nickel from our collection) which I remember very well at 12 years of age. The station photo would be taken by standing right in the middle of the front of the Gardens and pointing your camera south/west towards Breeny's Auto Body. The then and now photos give you an idea of how things look now.

The Fort William Gardens was designed by local renouned architect L. Y. McIntosh, and was opened to the public on March 6th, 1951. Since then the Fort William Gardens has paid it's dues an incredible amount of times over by hosting stars and events such as Bob Hope, Gene Autry, The Everly Brothers, Sha Na Na and other stellar attractions and performers to name a few. Our local car clubs hosted many shows bringing in stars of movie and television, as well as a few Playboy bunnies. There were the Sportsman Shows, the Great Lakes Paper Company Christmas Parties, the Shrine Circuses, figure skating with world class stars, the annual Chapples Store Christmas Shows, with "George the Porter" and "Suzie Snowflake"....DO YOU REMEMBER....I sure do! I can barely begin to recall all the events held here at our Fort William Gardens through the years, and that doesn't even touch on the sporting events.

The Gardens to this day is constantly striving to keep up and improve, as evidence of the huge renovation that took place in the 1994/1995 season. This building through the years has become second to none in the country and was and still is a credit to Fort William, Port Arthur and Thunder Bay. Some day however we will give her up to a larger and more modern facility, hopefully near the water front, but in the meantime The Fort William Gardens stands up to what was represented back in 1951 as a place for world class entertainment and outstanding sports events in the small twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur.

Click on this link http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/10/old-canadian-national-railway-spur-in.html or scroll down to it to read more about the CN Station and tracks.

Thanks again for the great old photos Brian! The after pictures were actually taken today on a bit of a rainy day. Click on photos to enlarge.