the late Ev Roseborough – photo by Robert Lansdale
Toronto. Our one time journal editor, the late Ev Roseborough was great story teller. Ev ran his own photography studio and being a risk taker in the business, he had a wealth of fascinating tales.
For editor Bob Lansdale’s issue 24-4, Ev chose a CNE related tale which begins, “This is a continued story; that is, it lasted five days. For my part, it was a fiasco to end all fiascos, and believe me I have run into some dandies!
“August was always a hectic time of the year with the Canadian National Exhibition [CNE] due to open during the last week, to say nothing of Christmas booklets and advertising either in planning or production stages. To make it worse many decision makers were still away on holidays.
“I was fortunate in having an open contract with a large Canadian display firm that was operating around-the-clock to complete sizeable displays for the major motor car manufacturers, oil giants, bakeries and even pickle manufacturers. Although operating outside this company, I was their ‘photographic arm’, supplying photomurals, translite transparencies, slide sequences and almost any other form of photography of which you might think. Most of these jobs were repeat annual affairs.
“The ‘nightmare’ assignment was from a Canadian carpet manufacturer, which had just supplied the Royal York Hotel with a new specially-woven floor covering for their huge lobby. This prestigious achievement was to be the backdrop for a tremendous product exhibit occupying hundreds of square feet in the old Manufacturers’ Building, which has since burned down.” …
Members read all of Ev’s tale -including its surprise ending – in the issue 24-4 pdf on the free members only DVD/thumb drive. Not a member? See Membership above and at right to join. Questions can be sent to Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.
