1935 Winter. “Hockey Team” is the label grandma put on this snap. my future uncle is front centre. It was snapped across from her house on Gowan Street.
Toronto. The first half of the last century, most families used the humble box camera, and my grandmother was no different. The photographer in her small family, she recorded family members, friends, and neighbours over the years, the majority snapped outdoors in good light.
She saved the best family shots in an album, taking the photos between the wars as her family grew in size and height. Of course all the saved photos were black and white. I had the privilege of having the album for a time before I passed it on to a cousin.
The rather spotty photo of my uncle’s hockey “team” in 1935 is typical of the photos she took wth an inexpensive Kodak box camera. In later years, the photos lessened. In time, they were taken by relatives with fancier cameras, often in colour. But my grandmother’s old black and white photos – all annotated – remained favourites of mine for their exposure, framing and family history.
