Huronia Museum – Looking Back 60 Years ago in North Simcoe – June 16th to 23rd 1956

Click on photos to enlarge

2006 0020 2454 Four of more than 200 grade eight pupils who toured the new MPDHS building get their first taste of higher math from Mrs. J. Cardenas. Bernadette Hamelin, Penetang; Claudia Reynolds, Parkview; Donald Daoust, Perkinsfield and Karen Blair, Regent.

  2006 0020 2366 Midland ‘s main street gets a much needed face-lift, new asphalt from the CNR tracks to Yonge Street.

 2006 0020 2479 It Was Only Three Days   –  When the re-surfacing was being done last week several local wags offered odds on how long it would be before the new pavement was torn up again. It was just three days. The work shown is being done by Bell Telephone, installing cable for the new dial exchange coming in July.

 

2006 0020 2452Last Rites for a War Hero  –  One of the five drowning victims in the Southern Georgian Bay region this year Captain Anthony Van Steeden of Vancouver was accorded military honours at his internment in Lakeview Cemetery Midland. Holder of the OBE, MC and MM, Capt. Van Steeden was engaged in secret service work during World War II. Members of Branch 80 Royal Canadian Legion and the OPP detachment at Victoria Harbour attended the service. Bugler at right is Norman Jackson of Midland.

 2006 0020 2447 Mrs. Walter McMann (Helen) of 392 (516 new) Russell Street shows a white tulip that produced five blossoms on one stem.

 2006 0020 2449 Public School Field Day Champs  –  The girls are, Ellen Barber on the left, intermediate champ; Lynn McAllen junior champ; Carolyn Bath won the senior title but was not present for the photo. Boy’s winners were Gary Carr, intermediate; Gerald Wotherspoon, senior and Tom Jenkinson junior.

 2006 0020 2450 Thirty years ago, Fred Mitchell, an MPDHS student, would have been the envy of all his classmates, for this 1926 Auburn was then an elegant limousine. The Prince Albert suit he is wearing is the one his grandfather, Henry Gouett of Waubaushene, bought  for his wedding in 1900. Fred purchased the car recently, it hadn’t been run for three years but started right up with a fresh battery. Purchased by the late Fred Hill for $3,400.00 back in 1926 when the average price of a car was under $1,000.00. The car has 36,000 miles on it. Fred lives at 338 (402 new) Frederick Street.

2006 0020 2455 Midland Lions Club members attending their annual meeting at the Delawana Inn in Honey Harbour, relax on the front lawn.

(We have no names for this photo, help would be appreciated, I recognize Jean Somers,  Marg and Harold McAllen)

 2006 0020 2464Officials of the Midland Friendship Club check over the program during a picnic held at Little Lake Park Saturday, Jack Moore president and Mrs. James MacLeod are seated, Ted Rivers, Mrs. George Whitaker and Robert Wiles secretary treasurer, standing.

 2006 0020 2457 Four top golfers from each of the four towns competing in the ladies county cup match at the Midland Golf & Country Club Thursday are seen gathered around the big scoreboard. Mrs. Keith Robinson, Collingwood, who had a 91 gross; Mrs. J. A. Hepburn, Orillia, 97; Mrs. John Ough, Barrie, whose 85 was the best score of the day; Mrs. Sandow, representing MG&CC and Mrs. Ken Lewis who headed the Midland contingent with a 90.

 2006 0020 2442 A fine example of the new homes being built in the Ingram Subdivision in Tay Township near the new high school. This one, well advanced towards completion,  is being built for Mr. & Mrs. Jack Argue of Midland.

 2006 0020 2473 The new Loblaws store at the corner of King and Elizabeth Streets is slated to open Thursday, June 21st, 1956. Shelves are being stocked and last minute items completed in the building. Note the H.S. St. Amant & Sons panel truck parked in front, the well known local business provided all of the plumbing and heating for the new building. Other local suppliers included Walker’s Electric, Jeffery’s Hardware and Midland Planing Mills.

 2006 0020 2472 Getting ready for the big opening, Bill Howard, right, manager of Midland’s new Loblaws store, makes last minute checks with his chief superintendent A. R. Wallace of Toronto. All of Mr. Howard’s seventeen years with the company have been in Midland including five as store manager.

 2006 0020 2395 Over one thousand customers attend the grand opening of the new Loblaws market on King Street with hundreds lined up to receive free gifts distributed to the first thousand shoppers. 

  • National Cancer Institute of Canada holds its second national conference at the Delawana Inn. One hundred of the finest doctors and research scientists in the world are attending, including guests from Israel, France, England and the United States. The conference discussion has been divided into five categories; the cell, Leukemia, chemotherapy, hormone and cancer immunity.
  • A hole was burned in the wall of a classroom in Elmvale District High School last week when some chemicals exploded.
  • Ernst Leitz Sr. head of Ernst Leitz, Wetzlar, died at Wetzlar Friday in his 86th year. Dr. Leitz was the second generation of his family in the optical company and when his elder brother Ludwig was killed in 1898, he took over at the age of 27 the direction of the firm that now employs more than 6,500. Surviving are three sons, Ernst and Ludwig of Wetzlar and Guenther of Midland.
  • The twice-weekly CPR boat train is back in operation for the summer season, leaving Toronto at 12:01 PM Wednesdays and Saturdays and connecting with the Assinaboia and Keewatin at Port McNicoll.
  • IGA is offering a taxi ride home for with your order if you live in town and your order is $10.00 or more, cost .15 cents.
  • Newest item for building patios, the concrete patio slab is being produced in North Simcoe by Wyevale Concrete Products.
  • $8,462.00 worth of cigarettes stolen from DeNure and Sons Transport warehouse on Easy Street. $5,000.00 worth of cigarettes were stolen from the same warehouse on May 9th.
  • 300 children attend St. Paul’s United Church Sunday School picnic at Little Lake Park Wednesday afternoon.
  • Polio vaccine proving successful, only six cases reported in Ontario so far this year, none in a vaccinated child.
  • Simcoe County council spent Thursday afternoon cruising Georgian Bay on the Penetang Eighty Eight.
  • Wrestling at the Arena Gardens Monday June 25th at 8:445PM. Pat O’Connor vs. Lord Athol Layton. Special midget tag team match, Fuzzy Cupid and Sky Hi Low vs. Little Beaver and Cowboy Bradley.
  • Esteemed wife of United Church pastor, Mrs. W. R. Auld dies. The former Mary Elizabeth Clark was born at Mountain Ont. in 1889.
  • Midland PUC introduces lawn watering restrictions. New hours are 7:30 to 8:30 AM and 6:30 to 7:30 PM.
  • The Dam Busters and The Glenn Miller Story are playing in local movie houses.
  • Leitz constructing another 2,000 square foot addition.
  • Port McNicoll School Board decides not to join MPDHS area, cites full complement of teachers in place and classroom space available. Port McNicoll students who wish to gain their senior matriculation (Grade 13) will continue to enroll for their final year at MPDHS.
  • Every issue of the paper has “gossip” columns from the area’s towns and villages, the “who visited whom” section, submitted by local correspondents. This is the Honey Harbour report from the County Herald, Friday June 22, 1956. As I read it many of the names were very familiar, how many do you recognize? ‘Mr. & Mrs. Henry Gamelin of Victoria Harbour week ended with their son-in-law and daughter Mr. & Mrs. Ed Boucher Jr. – Miss Yvonne Boucher and Ronald Murphy of Toronto were weekend guests of Miss Boucher’s family, Mr. & Mrs. Ed Boucher Jr. – Miss Beatrice Macey and Bob Massey of Toronto  week ended with Mr. & Mrs. Frank Macey. – Floyd Oulette of Peterborough visited his mother, Mrs. Margaret Oulette, over the weekend.  – Jack Gillard and Cal Cook visited Mr. & Mrs. Frank Rourke (O’Rourke) over the weekend.  – Miss Carol White who has been attending Nardin Academy School for girls in Buffalo N.Y. for the past year, and Mrs. Louise Parish will spend this coming weekend with Mr. & Mrs. Art White. – David Jacques of Preston visited his brother and sister-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Jacques during the weekend.  – Mrs. Tom Curry and son have returned from the Bahamas and are residing in Honey Harbour for the summer with Mrs. Curry’s brother-in-law and sister, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Jacques. – Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Paradis, caretakers at Brebeuf lighthouse, and their daughter and son-in-law Mr. & Mrs. Herman Lacroix of Midland, visited Mr. & Mrs. Wilfred Paradis during the weekend.’
  • Basic salaries of municipal employees has nearly doubled in the last eight years, mayor tells local Kiwanis Club. Police Chief $2,370 in 1948 to $3,700 in 1956. Senior constables $1,800 to $3,300. Fire chief $2,100 to $3,200, senior firemen $1,920 to $3,000. Public works labourers .55 cents per hour to $1.05, truck drivers .66 cents to $1.15. Public school teachers $1,870 to $3,350.
  • Over thirteen million trees have now been planted in Simcoe County forests since 1922, 401,000 in 1955. This far sighted project has been a huge success and a great benefit to the residents of Simcoe County. http://www.simcoe.ca/dpt/fbl/about#ui-id-1

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