Our 2007 Fall Fair at the Soccer Centre. Different Day, Different Venue, Same Thrill today!
Toronto. Did ya hear the news? On October 1st, the PHSC Big One is back in person once again!
We are now using a SATURDAY for the fall fair but we are indoors once again at the Trident Hall (Evans and Islington).
Great bargains, great food, and lots of parking there and in the area. Details are on our poster.
Lumber Workers on strike in 1910 Port Arthur
Toronto. Over a century ago Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) had a strike by the Finnish Lumber Workers in the town. The written word about the strike, the issues, who won, what was won, etc. may be well forgotten, but courtesy of the Lakehead University Library and its online digital site, we can once more see a PHOTOGRAPH of Finns grouped out side the Finnish Labour Temple.
The photographer included the power cable pole guy wires in the shot suggesting the photo was taken from up the power pole. Once again our good friend and fellow member, George Dunbar, sourced this photograph and shared it with us (the previous post has a link to the LU Library website).
It would take many words to describe this single photograph. My grand parents homesteaded on what was once lumber land worth a fortune. After the lumber was cut, only earth and rocks remained reducing the land value to a pittance. It would take years of hard labor by my ancestors and their neighbours to turn the land into farm land. Perhaps it was the same thing at Port Arthur.
the value of a picture
Toronto. Have you noticed the trend? Our ancestors prided themselves on being able to read and write. As the decades passed, the written word in books, newspapers, magazines, etc. gave way to images in movies, newspapers, magazines, books, TV. In turn video took over and the written word (at least the hand written one) is in the process of fading into history. Photography both still and motion has played an ever greater part in the transition.
My grand children no longer learn to read script (hand writing) at school. My personal experience with this was some old German writing on a microscope slide. It was nearly an illegible hand to me although carefully written. I had to ask a German lady to translate for me. It was then I learnt the writing was old German (a language not very clear to none German speaking or educated folks – just as old English words, writings, and spellings can confound many).
Once again my good friend, George Dunbar has elected to visit the online archives of the Lakehead University library. George discovered photographs there that describe the unique history of our country not in words, but in pictures. These pictures shows many details that even a thousand words may be too few to accurately describe what is shown.
Pathé’s better mouse trap for news reel pros
Toronto. In this September, 1962 advertisement, Pathé announced its ‘better mouse trap’ – the WEBO-M 16mm reflex movie camera intended for news reel shorts taken in the field. The ad appeared in ‘American Cinematographer’ of that year, placed by the American distributor of the famous French camera line.
I found it interesting that the ad announced this camera as the first of its kind to sell under $530US but was illustrated with a pricier setup which in very tiny print at the bottom says, “Model shown sells for less than $1,375.” As they said in Laugh-in about the same time, “very interesting”.
Once again, we owe a big thank you to my good friend, George Dunbar, for sourcing and sharing this tidbit of photographic history in this age of TV, streaming, and digital everything.
Toronto. Well we held our 29th executive meeting via ZOOM on Wednesday evening September 7th. Celio is becoming a ZOOM expert! Clint is learning the ropes for backup.
Our speaker program has started up again. The September meeting is at a new VENUE on a DIFFERENT date. See the poster on WINGS, a 1929 silent movie (above) for details.
Our September newsletter under a new editor is due out soon. The pdf newsletter is sent to all those signed up to receive our newsletter via MailChimp. Drop a note at news@phsc.ca if you would like copy but haven’t joined up as yet.
Our FALL fair is October 1st and will be posted on Kijiji as well as here (see David’s whimsical poster above).
We are looking at another auction this fall after the fair offering both estate and member items. Details will be posted on this site as they are known.
Have a great fall and lets hope the seventh wave of COVID-19 and its restrictions are very modest at best!
Clint and a small group meet for the September Executive meeting – next meeting will be October 5th, 2022
Toronto. Our fall fair indoors and in person! Want a table? let Mark know at fair@phsc.ca. It’s been a while since we hosted an event indoors at the Trident Centre – Evans just south east of Islington in West end Toronto. AKA the pierogi palace. Come on out and add to your collection or usable gear!
Toronto. The PHSC is pleased to meet in person this month. However; our hall is still not available so we are going to the movies instead. See this poster for details (sorry, this is a jpeg so the links do not work):
Our September outing Sunday the 25th at Revue cinema. Please get a ticket at Evenbrite
Goetzman photo c1898 courtesy of Lakehead University
Toronto. Even photographers get thirsty. This photograph is the property of the Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Orillia. It was taken c1898 by the H. J. Goetzman Studio and shows the ‘Joe Cook & Co., Dome Road House hotel in Dawson, Yukon’.
This image and the link to the Lakehead Archives is courtesy of my good friend and fellow photohistorian, George Dunbar, who discovered the digital collection link in general and this photograph in particular and graciously chose to share it with us.
Note: The title of the post is a riff on a song by Frank Sinatra. According to Youtube, “[The song,] One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) is a popular song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the musical The Sky’s the Limit (1943) and first performed in the film by Fred Astaire. It was popularized by the American singer Frank Sinatra.”
Today the song is terribly politically incorrect, but not so much when I was a kid and listened to old blue eyes and his captivating voice over our radio.
John Turner 1984 by Tibor Kolley, G&M
Toronto. George Dunbar writes, “Controversial photo of John Turner, by Globe & Mail photographer Tibor Kolley, was published just before the 1984 election in which Brian Mulroney defeated Turner.
“According to Steve Paikin (TVO interview, Sept. 5 2022): Soon after the election, Kolley was selected by Mulroney to be his official photographer.”
I remember thinking that Brian would do well as PM since he was chief honcho at Iron Ore up in Quebec on the edge of Labrador (Knob Lake/Schefferville) where IOC ran a huge open pit iron ore mine. I took some photos there in the late 1950s.
My thanks to good friend George Dunbar for sharing this piece of photographic and Canadian history with us. It shows the power of photography in politics. All major parties lambaste one another mercilessly during elections!
family outing c1954
Toronto. Today, we take photos for granted. Every smartphone comes with a camera. Dozens of shots can be taken on a whim at no further cost to the owner of the little technical marvel.
It wasn’t always so. At its birth, photography was an expensive and complex art. First one had to master the technical aspect to even get a photograph. Then the framing and background training was needed to make a saleable photograph. And finally one had to capture the essence of the subject – no small undertaking at any time as it also separates the ‘men’ from the ‘boys’!
Initially a photograph was so expensive that only the well off could consider having a ‘likeness’ taken. As time went on, photography was ‘institutionalized’ and grew more and more competitive. By the late 1800s most people could afford a number of photos to share with others. Albumen prints and negatives made copies relatively cheap. By the mid last century, far more amateurs could take the odd decent photo and have it printed commercially.
Collectors now favour photographs of the famous, or outdoor scenes, or scenes taken by once prestigious studios. Size and technical condition are also very important. A pristine print attracts good value while the same subject in a badly damaged or faded photo sells for pennies – if at all.
Photos shifted from the realm of the wealthy to that of the average working man and as such became a visual means of family history. Photos like that shown here are almost valueless to the casual collector but worth a fortune to the family as recorded history (especially if the date, people and location are known). Like many things, these photos may grow in value decades later as they become rare collectibles.
Now, will those digital images, so cheap and prevalent today, ever become rare collectibles – and even be viewable in the decades to come? Who knows!
EVENTS
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Stan White – Poems & Photos
Mise Au Point – sur la photographie Quebecois
