Wilson & Lee Music Store: The 100 Year Anniversary

By Alicia Tkaczuk, Durham College Intern

Stepping into Wilson & Lee as a child I remember the awe and excitement that I felt, staring up at walls of beautiful, sparkling guitars in an amazing variety of colours and styles, and walking through rows and rows of CDs and vinyl records of every genre you could think of. The store had everything a music lover could want or need, and, if they didn’t, the Wilsons would go above and beyond to get it for you.

Being at Wilson and Lee was always an experience, even if you were just dropping by for something quick and simple. The friendly, helpful, and fun atmosphere of the store felt like visiting a friend more than a store. However, that friendliness didn’t detract from the professionalism of Wilson and Lee in anyway. It’s likely that the fact that Bill Sr., Bill Jr., and Dave Wilson all dressed in suits and ties every single day of their careers lent itself to their air of trustworthiness and expertise.

I was always so excited to go to the music store with my dad for many reasons, but in no small part because at the end of every visit, Dave would lean across the counter, conspiratorially, and open his hand within which would lay nestled a guitar pick or little music themed eraser. For most of my childhood, I had a mason jar on my dresser that I added to after every visit with a new colourful, shiny, or sparkling music store trinket.

William George Wilson and Mary Lee receiving a piano at his home on Albert street. Photo from Wilson family collection. Image from: https://chronicle.durhamcollege.ca/2017/01/music-lives-wilson-lee/

The history of Wilson and Lee goes back long before my tiny feet crossed the threshold, but I am sure it had a similar impact on most of its customers over the nearly ten decades that it was in business. The store was opened in 1922 by William George Wilson and his sister-in-law Mary Lee and went on to be run by three generations of the Wilson family. Wilson and Lee had the distinction of being the longest running music store in all of Canada, having kept its doors open for an impressive 97 years. William came to Oshawa from Toronto to work at the Williams Piano Factory. William was blind and had trained at the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) to be a piano tuner.

William and Mary’s partnership had its very early beginnings when she began to drive him from job to job tuning pianos in people’s homes. Through doing this, William realized a business opportunity, and he began to purchase, recondition, and resell pianos from his own home. However, as one can imagine, he quickly began to run out of room, at which point he and Mary opened the first location of Wilson and Lee. In the new store, William and Mary added player pianos and piano rolls, gramophones, and record players to their inventory.

The storefront of Wilson and Lee’s first location in Oshawa. Photo from Wilson family collection. Myers, Jasper. Image from: https://chronicle.durhamcollege.ca/2018/12/oshawas-iconic-music-store-closes-in-on-century-mark/

William’s sons all joined in the family business early on. His eldest son, Bill Sr., started in 1933 before leaving to serve in the Second World War from 1939 to 1946. The next oldest brother, George, came to work in 1938, and youngest brother Ed joined the ranks in 1942 when their father passed away. Mary Lee continued to work alongside her nephews after William passed.

In 1953, the brothers bought the lot at 87 Simcoe St. N. and built the store where Wilson and Lee remained until 2019. The three brothers ran the store together until George’s retirement in 1989; at this time, the torch was passed to the next generation of Wilsons. Bill Sr.’s sons, Bill Jr. and Dave, had worked at Wilson and Lee since they were teenagers. Bill Jr. came to work as a high school student in 1953, while his younger brother Dave joined the family business in 1967 at 14 years old.

Simcoe St N at William St looking South late 1970s. Wilson and Lee can be seen at the left of the image. Oshawa Museum archival collection

In 1995, Ed Wilson retired, and in 2002, Bill Sr. hung up his hat – sort of. He would still come into the shop three times a week, in his suit and tie, to pick up his copy of Oshawa Weekly and maybe, just maybe, to check up on things. Bill Sr. was still calling his sons nine years after he retired to see if they needed his help down at the store. Bill Sr. passed away in July 2011 at the age of 94.

The Wilsons weathered the ebbs and flows of the economy over their ten decades in business, surviving the Great Depression, a World War, and numerous recessions. They showed great adaptability in their business model as the way we experience music changed so drastically throughout the 20^th century.

Exterior of Wilson and Lee, c. 1986; Oshawa Museum archival collection

In the ’50s, the store installed six record booths so that customers could sample their records before making a purchase. They also made the shift from pianos as their big seller to accordions, banjos, violins, and of course the electric guitar as rock n’ roll music took off in the ’50s and ’60s. Other shifts they witnessed were 8transitions through the era of gramophones to records players, the brief competition between cassette tapes and 8-tracks, the advent of CDs, and the resurgence of vinyl records.

Bill Sr.’s sons stayed with the family business for eight more years before deciding to retire and close the doors to Wilson and Lee in December 2019. The brothers were honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the Oshawa City Music Hall of Fame in April 2020, a wonderful acknowledgment by the community for the dedication of the Wilson family to modern quality products and service with a personal touch, which will be their lasting legacy in the story of Oshawa.

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References

Carter, Adam. “One of Canada’s Oldest Music Stores Shutting down Just Shy of 100th Anniversary.” CBC News, September 15, 2019. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/wilson-and-lee-music-closing-1.5284620    

Crimi, Crystal. “Saying Goodbye to a Long-Time Oshawa Businessman.” Oshawa Weekly, July 27, 2011. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/3452265-saying-goodbye-to-a-long-time-oshawa-businessman/

Myers, Jasper. “Oshawa’s Iconic Music Store Closes in on Century Mark.” The Chronicle. December 12, 2018. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://chronicle.durhamcollege.ca/2018/12/oshawas-iconic-music-store-closes-in-on-century-mark/

Szekely, Reka. “Music to Stop Playing at Oshawa’s Wilson and Lee after 97 Years.” Toronto Star, September 12, 2019. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/09/12/music-to-stop-playing-at-oshawas-wilson-and-lee-after-97-years.html

Williams, Jared. “Music Lives on at Wilson & Lee.” The Chronicle. January 25, 2017. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://chronicle.durhamcollege.ca/2017/01/music-lives-wilson-lee/

YouTube. YouTube, 2020. Retrieved on November 9^th, 2022 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VbiJILe8fI.   

Oshawa’s Two Queen’s Hotels

The old Queen’s Hotel was established in 1874; it can be seen in the 1921 City Directory but is no longer there in the 1923. This fits with the information that shows the hotel closed at the start of the 1920s. The upper storeys of the building remained open as the Queen’s Apartments for some time after that. The building fell into disrepair during the 1960s and 70s and was eventually torn down in 1987.

The second Queen’s Hotel does not appear in the City Directories until 1935. Prior to becoming the Queen’s Hotel #2, the address was home to a fish market, a shoe repair, a music store and a tailor. It is likely that these hotels were never the same ‘business’, but rather it is likely that someone thought to capitalize on a well known name when they opened the second Queen’s Hotel in the 1930s.

The black and white photo is in the archival collection of the Oshawa Museum; the colour photographs are from the Bill Miles digital collection.

Oshawa’s latest hotel, a Holiday Inn, has been built and recently opened at Simcoe and Richmond, the site of the second Queen’s Hotel.

ArteFACTS – Trinket Box, Hotel Genosha, 1929

By Melissa Cole, Curator

The need to bring a first class hotel to Oshawa in the 1920s was part of the emerging identity of the town as a corporate centre. General Motors was in the midst of a modernizing and expansionist program, and the future prospects for the town were good. When it opened in 1929, the Genosha Hotel offered luxury accommodation. The unfortunate timing of its inaugural year, coinciding with a severe downturn in the national economy and the ensuing depression, undermined its financial viability for several years. In spite of this, the Genosha was a popular meeting location of our industry leaders, the travelling public and proved to be the hub of community activities. Whether it was for a Club meeting, family gathering, business luncheon, coffee, dinner, or dancing, the Genosha was the venue of choice. It was the bus terminal, radio station, and home to a variety of offices and shops.

The Genosha is fondly recalled for its place in the life events of many local residents.  As Oshawa’s first luxury hotel receives its finishing touches to open as the new 70 King featuring one-bedroom and studio apartments in the heart of Oshawa’s downtown, I thought I would share a recent acquisition to the Oshawa Museum’s collection related to the Genosha Hotel.

This beautiful yellow ceramic trinket box was given to a member of the donor’s family at the opening of the Hotel Genosha in 1929.  Written on the side of the lid in gold lettering is “Hotel Genosha, Oshawa.”  The decoration on the lid is inspired by the works of Fragonard, one of France’s leading rococo painters who specialized in libertine genre and gallant scenes.  The central motif is of a young woman listening to a young man who appears to be serenading her with bagpipes.  The sides of this motif are framed with a vine of gold motifs.  The interior of the lid and bottom features a colourful floral motif.  As the Genosha begins a new life as 70 King, this small artefact reminds us that this building has been a part of Oshawa’s history for 90 years.

To read more about the Genosha Hotel, I recommend this article written by Joel Wittnebel who spoke with our archivist, Jennifer, at the Oshawa Museum: https://oshawaexpress.ca/the-genosha-saga/

 

 

 

 

Asian History Month

By Jennifer Weymark, Archivist

May is Asian History Month in Canada. The Government of Canada officially declared the month of May Asian History Month in May 2002.

Early Asian history in Oshawa has become a research focus for myself, as I work with the archival collection to help tell a more inclusive, diverse and accurate history of Oshawa. By shifting the focus away from the traditional local history narrative that focuses on the accomplishments of the wealthy white settlers, we are able to learn about all members of the early Oshawa community and this helps us to better understand how our early roots have contributed to the community that we are today.

Immigration, along with the skills and work ethic each wave of immigrants brought with them, helped Oshawa to become an industrial hub in Canada. The 1911 census for Oshawa shows an influx of people arriving from Poland, Ukraine, Russia and other Eastern European countries. Perhaps sensing the potential for war or wanting different opportunities for their families, Oshawa was a popular spot to begin life in a new country.

Some time between the 1911 and the 1921 census, a small Chinese population of 18 people, arrived in Oshawa. Of those 18, 5 belonged to the family of Mrs. Wong Shee Soo. Mrs. Soo came to our attention as while touring through the large Mausoleum at Union Cemetery. Amongst the familiar names of Conant, McLaughlin and Storie, her name stood out as being very different and we wanted to know more about her.

Given the date of her death was 1947, what could her story tell us about the experiences of those of Asian descent living in Oshawa during World War II? How did the experiences of Asian settlers differ from those of Eastern European settlers who arrived in the decade before the Soo family?

Looking back it becomes clear that Canada’s treatment of Asian Canadians has been problematic. From the head tax that was placed on only Chinese immigrants, to the Chinese Immigration Act, which actually prohibited entry to Canada, and to laws dictating where Asians could live, work and associate with, the history of Asian Canadians has been dark.

How did the Soo family end up in Oshawa? In 1921, Oshawa had a population of approximately 13 000 people. Of that 13 000 people, 18 are listed in the census as being Chinese. There are no people of Asian descent, including Chinese, listed in any of the previous census records.

The earliest records that show the family in Oshawa are the 1921 Canadian Federal Census for Oshawa and the 1921 City Directory for Oshawa. At this time, the family of 5 lived on Simcoe Street and Min Soo ran a restaurant called the Boston Café. The Soo family owned the Boston Café until sometime between 1934 and 1938 when they then operated the Eden Inn restaurant. The Soos lived in a very ethnically diverse area, with people listed as being Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, and Russian.

Detail from photo of King Street, Oshawa (Ax995.194.1)  The Boston Cafe sign can be seen in the centre, just to the left of the man holding the ‘Go’ traffic sign.  Its address was 4 King Street East

Research into this family is ongoing. We have actually been in contact with the granddaughter of Wong Shee and she is happy to help us with our research. As with my research into early Black history in Oshawa, this research is difficult as early records concerning the Asian population’s contributions to the community were not archived. This is an important story and an important aspect of our community’s history and so I will continue digging and continue to collect any information I can find.

The 1918 Plane Crash

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

“This is the most heavily photographed episode in the history of Oshawa.” So claimed Thomas Bouckley, photographic historian in his adored Pictorial Oshawa Vol II.

On April 22, 1918, between 5 & 6 o’clock in the evening, a pilot lost control of his plane, and it crashed into the northwest corner of King and Simcoe Street.  Miraculously, only one person was injured in the incident.  A woman named Mrs. Guy was leaving Porter’s Dry Goods at 8 King Street West and was struck on the shoulder by a falling brick.  Thankfully, her injuries were minor.

To take the plane off the side of the building, the wings were removed after ropes secured the fuselage, and it was then lowered and slid down piles placed against the building.  The plane was removed by staff of the Leaside Training camp, with the military refusing to let the local firemen do the removal.

Naturally, an event like this was covered in the local media.  Despite gaps in Oshawa’s historical newspapers, the newspaper after this incident survived, and the Ontario Reformer featured this story on its front page of the April 26 edition.  The Reformer called it a “as fine an exhibition of aeroplaning as will be seen here for many a day,” and the pilot who “swooped up and down over the town like a bird” was acting in a manor “we are told…is mild compared with what aviators in the battle squadrons at the front are called upon to do when in action.”  The Reformer went on to report “something went wrong with the engine… [The pilot] tried to land on the street but was unable to do so on account of the wires.” He ultimately ended up on top of the Dominion Bank building, and wires which acted as a net for the plane were so badly damaged that power in Oshawa and Whitby was knocked out.

The reporting of the Ontario Reformer seemed to take a light-hearted approach to the story, as though it was a unique sense of excitement.  Reviewing other news reporting of story seems to perhaps take a harsher view.  The headline of The Globe reads “Airman Makes Two Towns Dark,” demonstrating the outcomes from the incident, while the Reformer has the headline “Oshawa Sees an Areoplane (sic) Light on Bank Building” focusing on the incident rather that its outcome.

The Globe makes mention of the pilot was “entertaining practically the entire population of this town with his various stunts – looping the loop, figure eight, flying upside down” and the crash was a result of “misjudging the distance” and crashing into the Dominion Bank.

Both the Reformer and Globe say the pilot refused to give his name; The Toronto Daily Star, however, reported that the actions of Cadet Groom of the Leaside Camp would be investigated by the RAF (in Pictorial Oshawa, Thomas Bouckley named the pilot as Cadet Weiss).  Of note, the Star’s reporting on the incident was the shortest of all three papers reviewed.

This incident occurred during wartime; World War I was raging on across the Atlantic, and it was the first major conflict where the skies served as a battlefield.  Looking locally, there were flying fields for training pilots in Leaside and Long Branch, and according to Bouckley, ‘several mishaps occurred in Oshawa.’  The Oshawa Museum’s archival collection features not only photographs of the ‘infamous’ Four Corners crash, but also of a crash that occurred in 1916 at Alexandra Park, a plane that landed on the lawn of Parkwood, and a crash at the Golf Links on April 28, 1918.

While it may no longer be ‘Oshawa’s most heavily photographed incident,’ 100 years have passed and the Four Corners plane crash remains a captivating story from our past.

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References

“Oshawa Sees an Areoplane (sic) Light on Bank Building,” The Ontario Reformer, April 26, 1918, 1.  Accessed from: http://communitydigitalarchives.com/the-ontario-reformer/1918-04-26/001/newspapers.html#

“Airman Makes Two Towns Dark,” The Globe, April 23, 1918, 3.

“RAF Will Investigate” Toronto Daily Star, April 23, 1918, 13.

Thomas Bouckley, Pictorial Oshawa Vol II (Oshawa: The Alger Press Ltd., 1976), 115-116).