HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015 FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS - also what we read 63 years ago.....

 MAY THE PEACE AND HAPPINESS YOU EXPERIENCE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS LAST THE WHOLE YEAR THROUGH.  HAPPY "2015"  

In my vault of treasured history, I came across this old News Chronicle from January 2, 1952, and thought I might share a bit of what we were doing back when I was just a kid.

It's very interesting to read print even from the 1950's to see how we expressed ourselves....some of it almost sounds like a foreign language. ☺

Hearty, Noisy and Spirited as it was described here.
Also, remember when everyone had to renew their driver's license plates every year just after New Years day....the line-ups were horrendous.


Click on all these ads once or twice and enjoy reading the articles from 63 years ago right here in our Lakehead Cities.

The Port Arthur Harbour January 2 1952.  The Korean War was also upon us.  It lasted from June 25, 1950 until July 27, 1953.

It's also very interesting what we watched at the Famous Players Theatres and at the Odeon as well.  Most films that were shown in Port Arthur were also shown simultaneously at the same theatres in Fort William.

My all time favourites from that time frame were Laurel and Hardy and Roy Rogers.  Remember also all the active theatres back in 1952 such as the Royal, Lake, Fort, Lyceum and Colonial.  Most all the facades of these buildings still exist today.

Mahon Electric was located on Arthur Street in Port Arthur (now Red River Road) as well as on Victoria Ave in Fort William which is now inside Victoriaville Centre.  There was always a dance somewhere in town and my parents took them all in.  Roy Coran was always their favourite. (sadly many times, the newspapers misspelled Roy's name as Ray, as shown in the ad below.

There was a ton of action at the old Port Arthur Arena in 1952, such as the exhibition hockey games shown below and very affordable prices even for the day.  I don't recall the Port Arthur Spitfires at all.  The Port Arthur Arena also had the best roller skating, as the surface was wood and very smooth, not like the marble type surface of the Fort William Gardens.  The Port Arthur arena was where the Safeways Store and it's parking lot on North Court St today.  

McGolrick's Men's Wear had a store in Port Arthur and in Fort William.  Remember also Oikonen's Taxi, 191 Lorne St., with "Radio Cabs" which was next to the old New-Chronicle office in 1952.

Here is some interesting statistics from the Korean War era in '52, as well as some comics we read in our newspaper then.

"JOE PALOOKA" AND "BUGS BUNNY"

New Years January 2 1952 brought some advice about making New Years Resolutions, and again, it's very interesting to observe how the English language was written.....and a few more comics.  Again, click on all to enlarge to screen size.

"BLONDIE" AND "FRECKLES AND HIS FRIENDS"

KAM MOTORS LTD. USED TRUCK BARGAINS, January 2, 1952, as well as Lakehead Motors Limited advertising their new 1952 Plymouth vehicles.  My dad Jonnie was a very active body shop manager for Kam Motors at this time and worked for them from before WWII and after - from 1937 until 1967 when he started teaching Auto Body and Welding at Gron Morgan trade school, and did so until he retired from there when he was 65.

Here at Hot Rods and Jalopies, we want to thank everyone who faithfully follows this blog site for their support and also for their donations of photos and stories to add to the content.  

Even though there is no remuneration for any of this, I thoroughly enjoy doing the writing and stories for your pleasure.  Dave at HR&J

1955 Chevrolet - The Dream, The Possibility and The Reality

If you were brought up in a General Motors family, a 1955 Chevrolet Convertible was every kids dream....well not exactly a dream, because you could build yourself a $1.98 model of one with the actual dream of possibly owning one at some point in time during your adult life.  As most of you know I became a hard nosed hot rod builder through the years, but MY dream was to own a 1955 Chevrolet...not just any '55 Chevy, but a convertible.  Read on and click all pictures to enlarge them.

 

 

This following photo is the start of the story.  By clicking on this picture, you can see a building here on the corner of Syndicate Ave. and Donald St. called Noll's Motor Company.  This is a photo of the 1939 King George Visit and motorcade as it cruised through Fort William many years before I was born, but Knoll Motors(a Studebaker dealership of the day) would be the place I would view my first 1955 Chevrolet years later.

 If you look closely at this photo and the one below, it is one and the same building.  Kam Motors, where my father was the body shop manager for 30 years had purchased this building in the early 1950s.  They later filled in the gas pump fill area to make a show room and called it Kam Motors Depot(the main business was on Leith Street)......story to continue below.

This is how the corner looks today!

In late September of 1954, Kam Motors was having their annual new car showing and 1955 was a banner year for Chevrolet as they were introducing their revolutionary new design and new V8 engine that became the iconic V8 that most hot rodders used until this very day.  My father had taken myself and a couple of friends to the depot a few days before the showing to give us a teaser of what we were to see in the show-room a few days later.  The cars were all covered up and when he took the cover off one of the cars, it was the very one shown in the brochure page below.  It was a two-tone Tahiti Coral and Charcoal Grey Iridescent 2-door hardtop with which I instantly fell in love with and still feel the same about to this day.

 

 Here is the RM page 1 and 2 colour charts  showing both colours on the second page.  I was only 10 years old, but I knew from that time forward that I would love the '55 Chevrolet.  The following portions of a mint brochure and these colour charts are in my collection.



Before we continue, check out this cool 1955 Chevrolet commercial, and if you had a colour television at the time, this is what it would look like.  If any ads appear while watching this, just "X" them out, and click on the arrow to view.

 I made many drawings from this brochure and had it tucked into a school book or two to admire it back in the day!

 



 

THE DREAM -

So here I was 10 years old....6 years to go to drive and wanted one of these.....Now that was a huge DREAM for sure.

 

THE POSSIBILITY -
 Well....this is what I found so many years later right here in Fort William, well actually rural Port Arthur.  A wonderful friend of my dads and my own who just passed away earlier this year, Ed Maybee had this great but rough '55 Chevy Convertible.....and of course I had to bring it home.  WOW...look at that '57 Chevy more-door hardtop up on the hill...It looked just like the one I owned in 1964.

 I did bring it home to find that the exterior was in fairly good condition, but the chassis was terribly rusted out as well as the floor boards and trunk.  It also had a ton of bondo(body filler) all over, with chunks actually falling off.  This was the mid 1970's and there wasn't much in after-market components....just a few patch panels and that was it.  Today you can purchase every single individual part on this car if you could afford it.   Well...Yes, I did purchase it for only $100., but however, spent about $600. on it and turned a hundred dollar profit and sold it for $800.  I wish I had it today as it would have been a lot easier to restore, but alas, I didn't keep it and went on to build some hot rods.


THE REALITY -
The only 1955 Chevrolet I owned was a sedan delivery, back in the late 1960's while I was still dreaming of my convertible.  My wife and I loved this car.  We used it for camping and also for hauling my stock car to Riverview Raceways

Well here I am...still a gearhead at heart and would still like to own a 1955 Chevrolet Convertible......which is pretty much out of reach now, but not for trying.
I hope I didn't bore you with this little story but it does fit nicely into the title of "Hot Rods and Jalopies"

Thanks to all of you that send emails from near and far....I always read them all, enjoy them immensely and answer what I can.....Dave

More Port Arthur and Fort William then's, now's and Tidbits....

This is one of my favourite photos from the early Port Arthur days.  It shows Port Arthur Motors used Car lot, a great Coca Cola painted ad sign and further down you can see the Paramount Theatre sign. The era would be early to mid 1940's in the winter and during the WWII years.

The same spot today across from the old Port Arthur Motors Garage and Show

Room which is now "Tony and Adams" restaurant and bar.

J. H. McLennan Lumber Co.
Below is a very old blotter(you remember blotters, don't you?....when you used a real ink straight pen, there would be excess ink still on the page and you would blot out the excess ink.....geez, I guess I'm really dating myself).....anyway a blotter from before dial phones when you would pick up your phone and tell the operator,"North 2157, please", and she would connect you without any dial....1930's.  The address for all of these J. H. McLennan Lumber ads is 80 North Cumberland Street

Operator assisted phone number here at "North 2157".

This is a dial phone era ad from a 1957
Fort William phone book.

Here's another ad from a 1962 phone book with DI(meaning

Diamond) in front of the number.  Diamond on your phone

is 34, hence the following year they dropped the DI and said

345-5453 in the phone books.

Well, here is a 1974 ad for the same address as McLennan Lumber at 80 N Cumberland street.  It's none other than the famed local Stan's Pizza.  The "Closed" building at the same address today still sports the "Stan's Pizza" sign.

Bobby Curtola

Here is a great photo of none other than Bobby Curtola being interviewed by CKPR 580 radio personality Larry Christie.  Larry was giving first spin to Bobby's new release "Hitchhiker"...coloured shot of the album below.

I hope you were one of the lucky ones who's seen Bobby locally and in person, backed up by our own Sensational Hot Rods rock and roll tribute band.  They always put on a great show together.  WOW...Bobby still entertaining today after all these years......Good Job Bobby!!

The Flamingo Club

There's always been a soft spot in my heart for the Flamingo Club Dine and Dance, as that's where our own wedding reception was held back in the late '60's.  It really was a nice place back then.....and before it was finally bought out and torn down had turned into a real dive......although a dive with great history.....The Flamingo was owned and operated by Scott Shields, who was a neighbour of my parents back in the Arthur Street days.

This is actually an enlarged matchbook cover from my own collection!

 The card to the left is a post card from about 1961 given to prospective clients to book for a wedding or any type of formal reception....It was quite an elegant place at one time.  The ad to the right shows none other the Neil Young and the Squires playing at The Flamingo Club - Tavern.  The address was 344 North May Street in Fort William.  The photo below shows the present day apartment building built on the same property.

Former Flamingo Club property at 344 N. May Street

 Talbot Street, Port Arthur
Always click on all the photos once or twice to enlarge them!!!
An Internet find shown below is a house on 344 Talbot Street in Port Arthur taken in the late 1910's or the early 1920's.  This is a then an now set showing the same house today which still has the same roof line after almost 100 years.

Canadian National Railway

This is my all time favourite photo of the Canadian National pier in Port Arthur which is of course today's Marina Park.........we've come a long way baby!!....since 1922.  The building at the bottom right is the CNR Baggage building which is still used today and extensively refurbished as the arts building.  The roof of the building at the bottom left is the old Canadian Pacific Railway station, long torn down to make room for present day "Water Street".

This is another similar post card photo to the one above showing the S. S. Noronic and
the S. S. Hamonic at the Port Arthur and CN Docks.

 Kam Motors again
Here's an advertising 1939 post card from Kam Motors during the period of time my father worked there before he ended up in the Canadian Army.  It shows what the Kam Motors body shop could do if you ended up in a collision.

How the Kam Motors building looks today!

East Victoria Avenue Fort William circa 1954

One more picture of our cruisin' strip and how well we remembered it in pre Victoriaville days....The St. Louis, The Embassy Grill, Bryans Limited, White's Drug Store, and many more...all you 50's and 60's cruisers will remember it all!!

Another Port Arthur Then and Now

 Both of these photos were taken on the south east corner of Park and Cumberland street in Port Arthur, Ontario...the first one is from the 1930's and the second one is from 2011.

Cumberland and Arthur(Red River Road) Port Arthur, Ontario

The following three photos are taken on the same corner of Cumberland and Arthur Street, now Red River Road.  The first and third photos are great local Street Car shots taken in the late 1930's and the middle one was taken in the late 1910's.  They all depict the busy street life back then near our waterfront....photos here are thanks to Thunder Bay Face book.

The streetcar is coming down the hill toward Cumberland Street and just passing
St. Paul Street.

This shot shows the complete Tomlinson Block in about 1918 Showing the F.

W. Woolworth block and the W. T. McEachern Drug Store on the north/west

corner.

This final shot of this post is a wonderful one of tandem streetcars coming down Arthur Street and just passing St. Paul  Street.  Circa late 1930's.

Thanks to all those who donated photos for this post.  They are all wonderful shots of our early days here in the Canadian Lakehead(Fort William and Port Arthur) ....Thunder Bay.