Either on Greene Avenue or Sherbrooke. Elmer Lach, part of the Toe Blake, Maurice Richard line of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1940s. The bike in the window is a Raleigh 3 speed.
I think this is Elmer Lach of the Canadiens trying to find the best paper clicker to attach to the wheels of the bike he just won from the first ever of Horton’s “ Roll Up The Rim To Win” contests. Apparently the actual winner turned out to be Ted Lindsay of Detroit who’s cardboard "super- clicker" was from an ace of spades from a Bicycle Deck they were playing with on the train from Detroit to Montreal. Incidentally, this contested event was tried in Montreal juvenile court later, (remember St. Denis and Laurier ???) They contented that Lach cheated using a clip from a box of Pain-Modern’s donuts. You never could trust the Red Wings. I don't know who won the case.
Former Montreal Canadiens star Elmer Lach appears to be involved in some kind of draw for that beautiful Raleigh bicycle. He is sitting in the window of a shop on the south side of Somerled just west of Cavendish. The camera is looking to the north side of Somerled with Cavendish just to the right
It could very well have been at Wilson's sports store. The store was at its 6536 Somerled location by 1959. Prior to that, the address was occupied by the Rex Television and Appliance Company. Looking out the store's window would give you that view. Another possibility is Lou's Hardware (or Somerled Hardware) next door.
On that day, Elmer Lach probably could have visited another former Montreal Canadiens player if he was at his business. Kenny Mosdell's gas station was a few blocks east of here on Somerled and Kensington.
Well, the selective amnesia that comes with Senior Citizenship has allowed me to completely forget this bike shop at Cavendish and Somerled.
We banked at the Royal next door to the East, shopped at Woolworth's on the NE corner and gassed the car, a Nash in the Fifties, at the Shell on the other East corner.
The bells at the fire station, No. 46, to the West on Somerled were audible when the doors were open in summer.
When the streetcars still operated and Wyed at Walkley and Somerled the 3B Autobus U-turned at the fire station and thence West to Terminus Elmhurst on Sherbrooke at the CPR station.
( The Dentist, a Dr. Bahr??? had his office upstairs on Somerled, entrance on Prince of Wales, facing the Steinberg's parking lot, and you sat in the chair watching the trolley pole wheels push the wire up as streetcars passed below.
Those old belt-drive drills were painful. )
Surprising what the brain remembers, and does not, Sixty odd years ago.
I did have a bicycle, a 28-inch CCM with a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed rear hub with drum and shoe rear brake. ( There was a front hub available that had a generator inside for the light, but, most bikes, if they were equipped with lights, had a small fork-mounted generator with a serrated metal wheel which rode on the tire by spring pressure. ) No front brake. A scary ride down CSL from the fire station up in Westmount, down into to VSP past Consumers Glass on Des Erables, and down the City snow haul road into Turcot Yards just East of Rose Bowl Lanes to watch the CNR scrap steam engines light years ago.
We walked up.
One of the bike shops then was on Fielding near King Edward on the South side and another was on Sherbrooke which was named Mc Quinnies ???
( Nearby to the latter was another Woolworth's? which still had hanging gas light fixtures altho' I never saw them lit.
We went to the Kent Theatre for movies. )
Bike shops were where we all-too-often purchased inner tubes and tires, and their companions, the Tire Repair Kits, and the yearly tin plate bicycle license which had a hole in it to be mounted on the front left axle and each came in different colours each year.
( The Tramways changed their transfer colours from time to time and kept a long stub after a certain time in the evening. Tickets came in strips with different colours for different age groups and fare zones. )
We used our bikes for trips from NDG, to Dorval via the Grovenhill station with it's pedestrian overpass and as far afield, strictly against parental decree, to Miron's Quarry way up in the North end.
A bike was freedom, and we took it.
Travelled 10 miles on my Mountain Bike yesterday, and experienced that style of freedom, still.
Great comment from MP and I. Brought back many precise memories. Hope to read more such comments from this knowledgeable person. (Travelled 10 miles on my Mountain Bike???) Wow !
The dentist with an office on Prince of Wales above where Jean Coutu is today (and which was the flagship outlet of Cumberland Drugs) was Dr. J.A. "Don" Carney, whose dental assistant, Margaret Good (later Margaret Pickford, mother of the host of Travel World Radio), was President of the Canadian Dental Nurses & Assistants Association. Dr. Carney moved to that location from a previous locale on Queen Mary. Margaret Good was the daughter of Charles Good, 45-year veteran of Montreal Light Heat & Power and Hydro-Quebec, who was assigned to bring Rene Levesque up to speed on the Hydro dossier when Rene was named as Minister of Natural Resources in the Lesage cabinet. Charlie Good resided at 4169 Westhill Avenue until his passing in the spring of 1980.
At this remove I cannot say just how many offices were upstairs above the Cumberland drug store on Somerled, but, as I recall the steps entranced off of PoW and the staircase went up on the East side of the building inside.
At the top, the hall went to the Left/West and the front offices facing on Somerled were on the right.
There were several doors with glass frosted windows and, possibly more than one Dentist.
I cannot say how many other of the doors belonged to Dentists, but, ours was about half way along on the Somerled side.
I do not remember what was on the Left/South of the hall.
In the old days the Tramways Tower Car used to back South on Walkley and spot at the end of track whilst it's crew visited the soda fountain in the Drug Store or Steinberg's across the street..
While awaiting the next downtown streetcar, I would get all brave and go look at the Tower Car, a marvel of transportation before TV and the Automobile changed priorities for ever.
"JM said It could very well have been at Wilson's sports store. The store was at its 6536 Somerled location by 1959."
It was taken from Wilson's Sports store in May, 1959, so it could well have been a promotional contest to publicize the store opening.Good job, JM and others.
I wonder if the winning kid still has the bike. In those days, Raleigh was the big name in kids' bikes.
Thanks to Colin, Roly, M.P. and I, JM, and others for writing up all the detailed reminiscences of their neighbourhoods. Makes for some very interesting reading.
@Marc: 185 Dorval Ave was WAY WAY down the road in the Cumberland saga...in their last few years, not at the beginning. Why do you think they are called Cumberland Drugs in the first place, being a couple of blocks from Somerled and Cumberland? Only in the last few years of their existence were they located in Dorval.
You are correct the Cumberland Drug Store on Somerled near Cumberland was the first! I grew up on Somerled just west of Walkley from the time I was 4 years old in 1949.
@ Unknown: Obviously you don't have a clue what you're talking about. They never had a store at 185 Dorval Ave. Cumberland's assets were sold off to Jean Coutu and Uniprix in 1997 when the founder, Morrie Neiss, retired. The Dorval store was there since the early days of that strip mall, in excess of 30 years, and was ALWAYS the flagship store.
@Mark: 185 Dorval Avenue was an OFFICE/management location, not a store. The name "Cumberland" was emblazoned on the top of the building, not the ground floor. The first store in what became a chain was NOT Dorval, but Somerled/Prince of Wales, and referred to by esteemed journalist Bram Eisenthal in a 2007 article in GTC's The Monitor as its flagship store, and he worked there at one time so he should know.
"185 Dorval Avenue was an OFFICE/management location, not a store. The name "Cumberland" was emblazoned on the top of the building, not the ground floor"
Love to get comments! Please, please, please speak your mind ! Links welcome - please google "how to embed a link" it'll make your comment much more fun and clickable.
Either on Greene Avenue or Sherbrooke. Elmer Lach, part of the Toe Blake, Maurice Richard line of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1940s. The bike in the window is a Raleigh 3 speed.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing it's Ben Weider. Maybe at one of the old Jewish department stores on the Main -- Brown's?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI think this is Elmer Lach of the Canadiens trying to find the best paper clicker to attach to the wheels of the bike he just won from the first ever of Horton’s “ Roll Up The Rim To Win” contests. Apparently the actual winner turned out to be Ted Lindsay of Detroit who’s cardboard "super-
clicker" was from an ace of spades from a Bicycle Deck they were playing with on the train from Detroit to Montreal. Incidentally, this contested event was tried in Montreal juvenile court later, (remember St. Denis and Laurier ???) They contented that Lach cheated using a clip from a box of Pain-Modern’s donuts. You never could trust the Red Wings. I don't know who won the case.
Former Montreal Canadiens star Elmer Lach appears to be involved in some kind of draw for that beautiful Raleigh bicycle. He is sitting in the window of a shop on the south side of Somerled just west of Cavendish. The camera is looking to the north side of Somerled with Cavendish just to the right
ReplyDeleteA draw, yes. Is it at Wilson's sports store on Somerled?
ReplyDeleteIt could very well have been at Wilson's sports store. The store was at its 6536 Somerled location by 1959. Prior to that, the address was occupied by the Rex Television and Appliance Company. Looking out the store's window would give you that view. Another possibility is Lou's Hardware (or Somerled Hardware) next door.
ReplyDeleteOn that day, Elmer Lach probably could have visited another former Montreal Canadiens player if he was at his business. Kenny Mosdell's gas station was a few blocks east of here on Somerled and Kensington.
Elmer's still going strong out in Pointe Claire...Just have to love that kid in the front row with the glasses and the checkered shirt!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, the selective amnesia that comes with Senior Citizenship has allowed me to completely forget this bike shop at Cavendish and Somerled.
ReplyDeleteWe banked at the Royal next door to the East, shopped at Woolworth's on the NE corner and gassed the car, a Nash in the Fifties, at the Shell on the other East corner.
The bells at the fire station, No. 46, to the West on Somerled were audible when the doors were open in summer.
When the streetcars still operated and Wyed at Walkley and Somerled the 3B Autobus U-turned at the fire station and thence West to Terminus Elmhurst on Sherbrooke at the CPR station.
( The Dentist, a Dr. Bahr??? had his office upstairs on Somerled, entrance on Prince of Wales, facing the Steinberg's parking lot, and you sat in the chair watching the trolley pole wheels push the wire up as streetcars passed below.
Those old belt-drive drills were painful. )
Surprising what the brain remembers, and does not, Sixty odd years ago.
I did have a bicycle, a 28-inch CCM with a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed rear hub with drum and shoe rear brake. ( There was a front hub available that had a generator inside for the light, but, most bikes, if they were equipped with lights, had a small fork-mounted generator with a serrated metal wheel which rode on the tire by spring pressure. ) No front brake. A scary ride down CSL from the fire station up in Westmount, down into to VSP past Consumers Glass on Des Erables, and down the City snow haul road into Turcot Yards just East of Rose Bowl Lanes to watch the CNR scrap steam engines light years ago.
We walked up.
One of the bike shops then was on Fielding near King Edward on the South side and another was on Sherbrooke which was named Mc Quinnies ???
( Nearby to the latter was another Woolworth's? which still had hanging gas light fixtures altho' I never saw them lit.
We went to the Kent Theatre for movies. )
Bike shops were where we all-too-often purchased inner tubes and tires, and their companions, the Tire Repair Kits, and the yearly tin plate bicycle license which had a hole in it to be mounted on the front left axle and each came in different colours each year.
In the Sixties the hole was on the left end.
http://www.plateshack.com/76/QU/qu76montrealbike.jpg
In this older versions the slots were for leather straps to hang the plate on the rear of the seat.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3259/3233037417_f5c8b7da9e_z.jpg
( The Tramways changed their transfer colours from time to time and kept a long stub after a certain time in the evening. Tickets came in strips with different colours for different age groups and fare zones. )
We used our bikes for trips from NDG, to Dorval via the Grovenhill station with it's pedestrian overpass and as far afield, strictly against parental decree, to Miron's Quarry way up in the North end.
A bike was freedom, and we took it.
Travelled 10 miles on my Mountain Bike yesterday, and experienced that style of freedom, still.
Thank You.
Great comment from MP and I. Brought back many precise memories. Hope to read more such comments from this knowledgeable person. (Travelled 10 miles on my Mountain Bike???) Wow !
ReplyDeleteThe dentist with an office on Prince of Wales above where Jean Coutu is today (and which was the flagship outlet of Cumberland Drugs) was Dr. J.A. "Don" Carney, whose dental assistant, Margaret Good (later Margaret Pickford, mother of the host of Travel World Radio), was President of the Canadian Dental Nurses & Assistants Association. Dr. Carney moved to that location from a previous locale on Queen Mary. Margaret Good was the daughter of Charles Good, 45-year veteran of Montreal Light Heat & Power and Hydro-Quebec, who was assigned to bring Rene Levesque up to speed on the Hydro dossier when Rene was named as Minister of Natural Resources in the Lesage cabinet. Charlie Good resided at 4169 Westhill Avenue until his passing in the spring of 1980.
ReplyDeleteAt this remove I cannot say just how many offices were upstairs above the Cumberland drug store on Somerled, but, as I recall the steps entranced off of PoW and the staircase went up on the East side of the building inside.
ReplyDeleteAt the top, the hall went to the Left/West and the front offices facing on Somerled were on the right.
There were several doors with glass frosted windows and, possibly more than one Dentist.
I cannot say how many other of the doors belonged to Dentists, but, ours was about half way along on the Somerled side.
I do not remember what was on the Left/South of the hall.
In the old days the Tramways Tower Car used to back South on Walkley and spot at the end of track whilst it's crew visited the soda fountain in the Drug Store or Steinberg's across the street..
While awaiting the next downtown streetcar, I would get all brave and go look at the Tower Car, a marvel of transportation before TV and the Automobile changed priorities for ever.
Thank You.
"JM said
ReplyDeleteIt could very well have been at Wilson's sports store. The store was at its 6536 Somerled location by 1959."
It was taken from Wilson's Sports store in May, 1959, so it could well have been a promotional contest to publicize the store opening.Good job, JM and others.
I wonder if the winning kid still has the bike. In those days, Raleigh was the big name in kids' bikes.
Thanks to Colin, Roly, M.P. and I, JM, and others for writing up all the detailed reminiscences of their neighbourhoods. Makes for some very interesting reading.
The flagship Cumberland was the Dorval store, not Somerled. The corporate HQ was also in Dorval.
ReplyDeleteI played hockey with Kenny Wilson and Ronnie Lach many moons ago. And worked at Wilson's!
ReplyDelete@Marc: 185 Dorval Ave was WAY WAY down the road in the Cumberland saga...in their last few years, not at the beginning. Why do you think they are called Cumberland Drugs in the first place, being a couple of blocks from Somerled and Cumberland? Only in the last few years of their existence were they located in Dorval.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct the Cumberland Drug Store on Somerled near Cumberland was the first! I grew up on Somerled just west of Walkley from the time I was 4 years old in 1949.
Delete@ Unknown: Obviously you don't have a clue what you're talking about. They never had a store at 185 Dorval Ave. Cumberland's assets were sold off to Jean Coutu and Uniprix in 1997 when the founder, Morrie Neiss, retired. The Dorval store was there since the early days of that strip mall, in excess of 30 years, and was ALWAYS the flagship store.
ReplyDelete@Mark: 185 Dorval Avenue was an OFFICE/management location, not a store. The name "Cumberland" was emblazoned on the top of the building, not the ground floor. The first store in what became a chain was NOT Dorval, but Somerled/Prince of Wales, and referred to by esteemed journalist Bram Eisenthal in a 2007 article in GTC's The Monitor as its flagship store, and he worked there at one time so he should know.
ReplyDelete"185 Dorval Avenue was an OFFICE/management location, not a store. The name "Cumberland" was emblazoned on the top of the building, not the ground floor"
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was well aware of that.