Pooh

The first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published 90 years ago today.

Although the book Winnie is 90 years old the real Winnie, an orphaned American black bear, would be 102.  A Canadian soldier and veterinarian adopted the orphaned cub when he found her while at a stopover at White River. He paid $20 to a hunter who had shot her mother for her and named her Winnie after his hometown, Winnipeg.

Winnie and Lt Harry Colebourn continued their travel overseas with Winnie becoming a mascot for the 2nd Canadian Infantry in WWI.  When Lt Colebourne was deployed to France, Winnie went to stay at the London Zoo.  It would end up being a permanent new home for Winnie as when the war ended and Harry Colebourne came back for her, he decided to let her stay where she seemed to be happy.  Winnie would live to the ripe old age of 20 - 2 years longer than the average American black bear.

At the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg is a stature of Lt Colbourne and Winnie. 

Harry Colebourne and Winnie during the war.

grave post - Muir

Alexander Muir moved to Canada as a baby from Scotland (Lesmahagow) in the 1830s (he was born April 5, 1830). He is best known as the composer of The Maple Leaf Forever. The story goes that in 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation, inspired by a large maple tree on his street, and/or a falling maple leaf that got stuck on his overcoat, he wrote the words in an evening and later composed the music himself when he couldn't find someone to write a suitable melody. The song is the regimental march of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada of which he was a member. He fought at the Battle of Ridgeway in 1866 (part of the Fenian Raids)

Alexander Muir's father was a teacher in a log cabin school in Scarborough and Alexander followed into the same career as a school teacher and principal as well as pursuing his interests in sports and the military. Reputedly, Muir was progressive in his teaching methods and, unlike some of his contemporaries, did not rely on the harsh discipline of the birch cane. Through poetry, music, and athletics he tried to instil in his students a deep respect for Canada and its history.  He was twice married, first to Agnes Thomson with whom he had two sons and a daughter; and secondly to Mary Alice Johnston, and they had one son and one daughter. He died on June 26, 1906 in Toronto. source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography

there is a mural dedicated to Muir and his maple tree near where he lived in east end Toronto

It won second prize for a contest for the best Canadian patriot song, but soon became an unofficial national anthem. There are some who think it should have become the official, but it is not, which is just as well as it completely ignores the French as one of the founding nations while glorifying the British wins of the Seven Years War, and the War of 1812.  Still, it has a nice rousing melody that is fun to sing (as I remember from my distant childhood) as you can hear.

He is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.

Taphophile Tragics

a mountie on a horse

Yesterday, the Google Doodle was a special one honouring our very own Mounties, so today I dug out the only iconic mounties on a horse postcards I have

In honour of the 140th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - or North-West Mounted Police as they were known at the time.
According to the Mountie Shop website

Canada's first prime minister, Sir. John A. Macdonald, wished to put an end to the illegal trade of liquor with the native people in the Northwest Territories (the area covered today by most of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories). Order had to be restored to the area to make it safe for aboriginal people and settlers. Contrary to popular belief, the force was not established to protect the white against the Indians, it was to protect the Indians from the whites. The whites were U.S. whiskey peddlers, controlling what is now most of southern Alberta, who were destroying the natives with booze and bullets.

The Mounties, in their red serge uniforms, have been immortalized as part of Canadian culture in pulp fiction and in many movies and television shows from Sergeant Bruce (Nelson Eddy), Sergeant Preston, Sergeant Renfrew to Dudley Do-Right (remember, Rocky and Bullwinkle?)

to (my personal fave) Constable Benton Fraser of the tv show Due South

PostcardFriendshipFriday

for your viewing pleasure, Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald

more lighthouses

For this week's Sunday Stamps, Canada very conveniently had a lighthouse series of stamps issued in 2007. 
I just wish they hadn't planted the flag on them so prominently. the 'P' means that the stamp is good for the going rate no matter when you use it. in 2007, it was worth 52¢, today it is worth 63¢

here we have the first of the limestone Imperial Towers built on Lake Huron. this one is about 60km south of Southampton with its Chantry Island Lighthouse (previous post)

this red and white striped lighthouse is on Sambro island, Nova Scotia at the entrance to Halifax Harbour. built in 1759 it is the oldest surviving lighthouse in North America.                        

the lighthouse at Cap-des-Rosiers located at the eastern corner of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec is the tallest lighthouse at 112'

one of the two 1908 range lights at Warren Landing, Manitoba at the northern end of Lake Winnipeg are among the most remote lighthouses
there is an upper and lower range light and  you can tell that this one is the upper by the red vertical stripe

Sunday Stamps - insects

On Monday, our pennies will become defunct and gradually taken out of circulation and melted down. You will still be able to spend them but you will not receive any as change. Prices will be rounded off to end in a 5 or 0.

Which made me wonder about the small denomination stamps. How would you buy a 1¢ stamp since technically if it is rounded down to a 0 then it would have no cost? I am tempted to head to the post office and try to buy one with a nickel just to see what happens.

Anyway, here we have the full set of small denomination stamps featuring beneficial insects that was started in 2007 and gradually added to over the past five years.

1¢ convergent lady beetle or ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) 
2¢ monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) 
3¢ golden eyed lacewing (Chrysopa oculata) 
4¢ paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus) 
5¢ northern bumblebee (Bombus polaris)
6¢ assassin bug (Zelus luridus)
7¢ large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)
8¢ margined leatherwing (Chauliognathus marginatus) 
9¢  dogbane beetle (Chrysochus auratus
10¢ Canada darner or dragonfly (Aeshna canadensis) 
25¢  Crepopia moth (Hyalophora cecropia).

You can see more insects at Viridian's

Sunday Stamps - Christmas

I had a hard time choosing which stamps to share this week. Then I thought, in honour of finally getting a tree to display my many collected ornaments, I would show these ornament stamps from 2010, designed by Michael Zavacky. It is hard to tell, but the international rated stamp shows pink ornaments, while the domestic stamp shows red (and I took dozens of photos in various light trying to get the right hue)  Missing is the US rated stamp which shows blue ornaments.

Glass blown ornaments were first made in Lauscha, Germany in 1847 and introduced to the US by FW Woolworth in the 1880s.

According to the Canada Post website, this 1981 issued stamp, designed by artist Anita Kunst, is the first in a series of Christmas Tree stamps honouring the 300th anniversary of the 'illuminated tree'. The other two stamps show a decorated tree typical of 1881 and 1981, neither of which I have.

In 1781 at Sorel, Quebec, Friederike von Riedesel and her husband Friedrich introduced the illuminated Christmas tree to Canada. The illuminated tree "brought by German people to Canada, symbolizes mankind's eternal hope for peace..." In 1776 he landed in Canada in charge of a sizeable contingent of German troops sent to help put down the American Revolution. Although the Baroness had two small children and was expecting another, she decided to follow her husband to Canada, arriving in 1777. She came to be known affectionately as "Lady Fritz" in North America. After a rough few years the family were settled in Quebec. To celebrate Christmas, Friederike Riedesel had the idea of putting up an illuminated Christmas tree, a spectacle which astounded her guests.

see more Christmas themed stamps from around the world here

grave post - Weston

Some of you may recognize                                                                    this flourished signature

as that of Weston Bakery, started by his father George Weston.
W. Garfield Weston was born above his father's bread factory in Toronto in 1898. He was exceptionally gifted at making business deals and thus able to expand his empire during the Depression after his father's death. He bought out many smaller bakeries across Canada during the early 1930s and eventually ventured into Britain with a plan to buy and modernize bakeries there and (here's the brilliant part) get them to use Canadian wheat. By the end of the war, his vast holdings would include fisheries, frozen foods, and some 2000 (!) bakery, retail and grocery chains in Britain, South Africa, Germany, France, the US, and Australia and NZ. I am sure he was not always welcomed into these countries, yet in 1948 Canadian press reports described Garfield Weston as "the biggest manufacturer of bread in the world, the largest biscuit maker in the British Empire and Canada's largest wholesale grocer". [wikipedia]

Garfield Weston always considered himself a Canadian but moved his family of six girls and two boys (later to add another son, Galen) to Britain in the 1930s. He didn't shirk from helping or getting involved and was the MPP for Macclesfield  (hi Gilly!) during the war and was known for his philanthropic donations such as when during the Blitz, the Nazi aerial bombing campaign, he set up a system of canteens that fed thousands of civilians as they took shelter in the London Underground. He and his family also hosted air service personnel at their estate outside of London, providing a place of retreat.[wikipedia]

The Weston fortune continues to grow and in 2003-04, George Weston Ltd had the highest gross of any Canadian company with 120,000 Canadian employees with another 22,850 worldwide. The family fortune is estimated at around $7.7 billion. Garfield's youngest son Galen is considered among the top 50 richest men in the world.


W Galen Weston (b 1940) the grandson of George, son of W Garfield 
Weston is also head of the world’s second largest luxury goods retailer as Chairman of Holt Renfrew in Canada and the Selfridges Group, owner of Selfridges in the United Kingdom, Brown Thomas of Ireland, the De Bijenkorf department store chain in the Netherlands, and the recently acquired Ogilvy department store in Montreal. (wikipedia)

Yousuf Karsh photo c 1962

and Galen G Weston (b 1972) the great-grandson...

Galen Jr has two sons, neither of whom are named Galen, though the G tradition continues with Griffin and Graydon.
Galen Sr is married to Hilary Weston who was the Lieutenant Governor General of Ontario from 1997-2002.

see more riches of graves at Taphophile Tragics

Sunday Stamps

In honour of February's Black History Month Canada Post has issued two new stamps.

First up is Viola Desmond, who was born in 1914 in Halifax. With her husband, they travelled the province expanding their businesses of barbershop and hairdressing salons. One day in 1946 when she developed car trouble in New Glasgow, she decided to go to the movies while it was being repaired. She bought her ticket and took a seat on the main floor unaware that, in New Glasgow, tickets sold to blacks were for the balcony only and the floor was reserved for whites. She refused to go to the balcony and eventually the police were called and she spent the night in jail. She was charged with defrauding the Government of Nova Scotia the difference in tax between a ground floor and balcony seat, which amounted to one cent. She was also fined $20, which she paid, but she decided to fight the tax evasion charge. No-one admitted that the theatre had a racist seating policy and that Viola was black. In 2010, a posthumous pardon was granted to Viola Desmond, the first ever such pardon granted in Canada, and the Government of Nova Scotia made an official apology.

Second, we have John Ware, whose story I was less familiar with. He was born into slavery in South Carolina around 1845. After the Civil War, he headed out west where he learned the skills of a rancher and became a cowboy. He worked his way up to Calgary and brought with him 3,000 head of cattle as part of the North West Cattle Company - and stayed, thus helping to create the province's important ranching industry. Known for his strength and ability to ride, plus his skill with a lariat, he popularized steer wrestling which would go on to become one of the highlights of the Calgary Stampede. He defied stereotypes and became one of the most respected figures in frontier Alberta crossing race lines thanks to his good nature and hard work. His funeral in 1905 was reported to be one of the largest held in the early days of Calgary.




Check out Viridian's Stamp Blog to see what other storied stamps are on offer.

P.S. I ran out to buy these stamps for this post - I really just wanted one stamp of each, but in the confusion of the other international stamps, and GST etc, I have a booklet of ten each. If anyone wants one let me know.

Sunday Stamps

The theme this week is stamps from the Great White North. That would include us up in Canada. One thing this meme has accomplished, for me, is a new appreciation for our own stamps. I always thought they were a little on the boring side. But then, apparently I have never really looked at them. This flag series is not my favourite, but I seem to have a few of them lying around so I will share them. Now if only there were a description on the stamp, because some of these were a bit of a mystery, I will admit, and required some research.

First up is the flag flying
against the backdrop of the
city of Edmonton skyline at dawn
in celebration of its centennial in 2003

issued January 2002, the 48 cent domestic stamp 

has the flag flying in front of the 

Canada Post Head Office in Ottawa 

issued  December 2000, the 47 cent domestic stamp shows the flag fluttering over an inukshuk                                         

 issued December 1998, the 46 cent domestic stamp depicts the flag in a the breeze against the backdrop of a Newfoundland iceberg 

then there is this series from 2006, featuring 

Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba

The lighthouse at Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia 

Tuktut Nogait National Park, Northwest Territories

Ice fields and fjord in Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut 

This was also the first year for the non-denominated stamp. The P icon stands for permanent, so although these stamps cost 51 cents when they were bought in 2006, they can be used indefinitely for whatever the current domestic rate is (which this year is 59 cents)

more stamps can be found at Viridian's Stamp Blog

in aisle 25

It was all quiet on Carlton Street in front of this shrine on Friday afternoon, but Wednesday morning was a different story. People actually started lining up on the street on Tuesday night to be first to enter the new Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens (MLG) when it opened at 8AM on November 30th. Almost exactly 80 years after its original Grand Opening as a hockey arena and home to the Toronto Maple Leafs (until 1999)

Now, it is a grocery store.

I had to see it when it was still all bright and shiny new

(and in full disclosure, this was only my second time ever being in this place of so many memories)

It is a store with special touches












and a giant Amazing Wall of Cheese

and a popular sushi bar placed at the outside wall with windows onto the street for some great theatre

When it was first announced that a grocery chain had bought this iconic building, there was much gnashing of teeth at the effrontery of it all. MLG is considered a hallowed shrine. It was not only used for a beloved hockey team, but was also the venue for many other sporting events, not least for wrestling and boxing. Then there were the concerts - Elvis and the Beatles among them. 

This new store is actually full of mementoes of these events. From the pictures on the pillars to the old posters on the walls and even the cafe tables are a collage of old sporting event memorabilia shots.

At the entrance is a collection of the old chairs from the arena painted in blue and (artfully?) arranged on the wall in the shape of a maple leaf. The original walls were left exposed and one can still see the imprint of the risers next to the new escalators. Further up and not yet finished will be an athletic centre and a new hockey rink for the nearby university. This building and its owners has also been riddled with controversy over the years, which just adds to the legendary status and the controversy continues (but I won't bore you with details. google it if you are really interested)

This is as much a tourist attraction as a grocery store for a badly needed vibe in this area and there were staff galore handing out maps and brochures and guiding you to see the sights. Halcyon, who was with me, desperately wanted to get a picture of their specially designed t-shirts, but everyone declined (bosses were likely watching carefully on the security cameras) but I managed a covert shot of these two poor sods in1930s newsboys outfits who wandered around handing out free bags and colourful brochures for the special events being held.

and then there is aisle 25.

where near the end, surrounded by soy sauces, is a red dot.

this folks, is the very spot of centre ice. 

seriously, next to the amazing wall of cheese, this was possibly the biggest attraction

and as you can see by this large billboard (interestingly seen across the street at Church and Carlton) 

this was a major, show stopping event.

100 dollars

I have been thinking of this as a piece of art.

The new polymer 100 dollar bills came out last week and I managed to snag one. It is still the same buff colour as the older cotton fibre version. This time around the images are dedicated to science.

I have had fun fondling its smoothness, turning it around in the light to see all the pretty colours and the embedded pics. I have caressed Prime Minister Borden's shoulders trying to feel the raised bits (they are extremely subtle). And then there are the see through bits, which are a fun novelty.

The older bills were easy to counterfeit - at one point in the early 2000s, it was near impossible to spend one at any store as no-one would accept them.

It isn't quite true that it doesn't wrinkle. But it doesn't fold well. And it has some pretty cool waterproofing - no drops remains when you pull it out of a basin of water, dries immediately!

It is also very slippery (as a friend of mine who works in a bank testified while trying to count a bundle!)

But I doubt my wallet will ever carry more than one anyway.

Now that I have wrinkled it, I will take it back to the bank until I can afford another pristine edition.

Monday AMuse

I have been going to see a few plays in Stratford (Ontario) this past summer and have just about fallen in love with the place. It is a lovely town, on the Avon River.

Mostly it is known for the Shakespeare Theatre Festival it holds every summer which attracts many tourists and prominent actors.

It is also the birthplace of a certain teen sensation... who has written an autobiography that is worthy of a reading by a prominent Canadian actor
(as seen on a satirical television news show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes)

Ex-summer

Every summer, in my childhood days, there was a jar that sat on the kitchen window sill waiting to be filled with nickels. These would be necessary for spending money at "the Ex".
It has been years since I went to the Ex, the CNE, or to use its full name, The Canadian National Exhibition. I'm thinking the games and rides cost much more than 5 cents nowadays. But, back then, I would anxiously watch the change my mother got for her shopping, and search for those all important nickels that would be added to my 'Ex' bank jar.
The Ex was a big deal. It still is even though it has changed some. People used to camp outside the Princes' Gates to be the first in. They were given free entrance and gifts and much media attention. There were the rides and games of chance. The Alpine Way with cable cars that soared over the grounds so you didn't have to walk all the way back. The Bulova Watch Tower that soared tall over the buildings so you could keep track of time - and even go up to see the view over the lake (it seemed tall at the time). The fashion shows - I loved those models who stood frozen for hours no matter how many times you tried to distract them with your funny faces and comments. We'd have to plan our visit to include the free taping of Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date (a television interview show). There were the buildings that showcased all the newest gadgets and designs of the 1960s and 1970s, with ballots to be filled out at most booths. I would fill out every single ballot I came across. Even the ones for a full set Encylcopedia Britannica. One year, I actually won! It was a little confusing, since I didn't keep track of what I was filling out, and in the end, it turned out you had to be 16, so the brand new 1970 Singer sewing machine (whew, not the encyclopedias!) went to my mother. The best, of course, was the Food Building with its free samples. And those Tiny Tom donuts that you could watch being made and covered with sugar and cinnamon, then eat fresh and hot out of a little bag before getting back in line for more. The free samples are long gone. As is the Alpine Way, Elwood Glover, Luncheon Date, the mannekin models, and new car shows.
But the rides and games of chance are still there. And the Tiny Tom donuts. And new this year, some
horridconcoction of deep fried butter - melon ball-sized scoops of butter, coated in funnel cake batter and drizzled with your choice of toppings. Apparently this comes out of Texas. Gee, thanks, but no thanks.

But the opening of the Ex is bittersweet, for it is also a marker for the 'end of summer'. It always ends on Labour Day weekend and the next day it is back to school. It is a slippery slope to autumn and Thanksgiving. Last night, when the temperature dipped down to a respectable and comfortable 18C, one of the guys I work with, after filling his car with his newspapers, pulled on a warm sweatshirt over his long sleeved t-shirt. "Hey, what can I say" he laughed, when he saw my face, "I'm from Jamaica. It's cold!"

Today, the Ex opened for its 132nd year. It is the end of summer.

SundayStills - logos

This week's theme is corporate logos.
Signage is another thing I love to capture for posterity.
And I was pleased to have gotten this beauty (which may only be meaningful to fellow Canadians) before it was changed to the new boring name of 'metro'.

Dominion grocery store

Here we have the Redpath sugar refinery (with a LCBO - Liquor Control Board of Ontario sign also included). This area is under massive redevelopment at the moment, which is an exciting change to a wasteland on the waterfront.
Redpath Sugar and Liquor Store

Then there is the iconic Hudson's Bay department store logo - Canada's first department store - conveniently truncated to simply "the Bay"

Hudson's Bay
And another iconic logo....

'crappy tire', er 'Canadian Tire'
"more than just tires" this store is an automotive centre, hardware, kitchen ware, home decor, sports store with a garden centre in the summer

.
But my all time favourite - for nostalgia reasons, perhaps - is this particular logo.

It belongs to a car dealership.

The 'girl on a swing' has swung in the east end of Toronto for
decades. When the area where the sign was located was slated for development, there was a huge outcry when the sign was thought to be outdated and to be removed forever. It was eventually moved further down the street and sits on the actual lot of Willison.

When I was young, I got excited when we drove past her, wishing for a red light so we could sit a moment and watch her swinging. There was a time when she wore a bikini in the summer, but I haven't seen that particular outfit lately.

Above is her winter outfit, and below is a fetching red number for spring.
(I also remember the top bit of the tree changing with the seasons, but it seems to stay constant in these days of restraint)

Isn't she a fun taste of the 50's?

more logos at SundayStills