Montreal landmark mystery - what became of the Golden Owl?

    A giant 12-foot golden owl stood imposingly at the door of a printers shop at 389 Notre Dame West in Old Montreal from 1895 until early in June 1946 when it vanished mysteriously. 

   The iconic owl was familiar to all Montrealers, as the imposing oak statue was covered in gold leaf, bringing a luminescence to the otherwise gloomy old high street. 

1928 ad

   Stealing such an item would not have been an easy task, as removing the owl from its moorings - as owners of the C.F. Dawson Company Limited did from time to time for maintenance - was a three man job requiring half an hour of work. 

   So well-known was the icon that people would mail letters to "The Golden Owl, Montreal Quebec" and they would arrive just fine.

   The store had long included an image of the owl in its advertisements for decades, so it is unlikely that a rival enterprise might have snagged the treasure. 

  Charles F. Dawson Printing and Stationery offered a reward for the return of the missing owl but nobody cashed in. 

  Weighty, large-size, signage was once common in front of Montreal stores but have become scarce in recent decades, likely due to the insurance risk involved in such items falling and killing people. 

1895 ad

   A better-known search for a missing golden owl remains ongoing in France, where countless people have been trying to cash in on a big-prize scavenger hunt since 1993. It has never been found and the one person who knew where that golden owl was located died in a car crash some time ago.