The Month That Was – June 1922

All articles originally appeared in the Ontario Reformer

June 1, 1922, page 1
Wm. Culling Quits The Police Force
Mr. William Culling who for the past two years has been a member of the Oshawa Police Force, has resigned his position and will confine his attention to his business at Oshawa-on-the-Lake where he conducts an ice cream parlor. Mr. Herbert Flintoff, an Oshawa man has accepted the position and commenced upon his new duties this morning. Mr. Flintoff is well known here and should make a valuable acquisition to Chief of Police Friend’s staff.

Page 2
Spend Your Money in Oshawa
The “Buy-in Oshawa” campaign, in which several local merchants are co=operating for the net ten days, got away to an excellent start this morning. It is right that it should, and its popularity may be expected to increase each day.

During these ten days the merchants will make an earnest effort to convince skeptics that by buying in Oshawa they are not only being local to the merchants and the town, but to themselves. The merchants are offering big values for the prices asked, and The Reformer believes that if fair-minded persons, who have been buying considerable quantities of goods in Toronto, will only give the stores a fair trial more money will be kept in Oshawa in the future…

Be loyal to your community. Take advantage of the splendid prices offered in local stores. Profit by your experience in so doing, and help make it an even better down in which to live.

3 Jun 1922, p. 3
Building Forty Cellars
Mayor Stacey is constructing Cellars under forty houses this season, most of the on Verdun Road, and in that vicinity. The mayor stated last evening that he has had numerous enquires for houses in the past few weeks, more in fact than for some years at this season.

Ontario Reformer, 6 Jun 1922, p. 4

Butter Down, Eggs Up
Butter has been 45¢ a pound on Oshawa market for over a year, but this morning found Mrs. Oshawa Housewife able to buy the product at 35¢., the reason being the abundant supply, far greater than the demand. But when one product comes down in price another goes up. It was ever thus, and so 35¢ a dozen was asked for eggs, after the prevailing price of many weeks of 30¢. There was an abundant supply of rhubarb at 5¢ and 10¢ a bunch, and some potatoes at 35¢ a basket. A few chickens flew away at 35¢ a pound.

8 Jun 1922, p. 2
Editorial Comment
If the town of Oshawa were in the dairy business, it would have some splendid pasture for cattle along the sides of the roads on the outskirts of the municipality. However, as there is no possibility of this kind of public ownership being entered into, the Council could considerable improve the appearance of the town by having this long grass cut.

Ontario Reformer, 13 Jun 1922, p. 1

13 Jun 1922, p. 1, 2
Town Should Have Dead Fish Buried
Suggested that Boys Be Paid to Gather Shiners Up To Be Destroyed
Summer residents at Oshawa-on-the-Lake, and visitors to Lakeview Park, have been complaining for some weeks past of the fishy odor from the thousands of decaying shiners along the shore. Oshawa has fared no better nor no worse than other places along the north shore of lake Ontario, but that does not make the visits of Oshawa people to the lakeshore any more enjoyable. The presence of the dead fish, coupled with the odor, has interfered with the bathing all along the lakeshore…

Messrs Wm. Culling and James Smith, having sandy beaches in front of their property at Oshawa-on-the-Lake raked the dead fish together and buried them. The suggestion was made to The Reformer that the council or the Park Board should direct the cleaning up of the fish in from of Lakeview Park….

Ontario Reformer, 15 Jun 1922, p. 2

20 Jun 1922, p. 1
Mel Thompson To Manage New Martin Theatre
Mr. Mel Thompson, who is known to many Oshawa people as having been business manager for Mr. Ernie Marks, has been appointed resident manager of The New Martin Theatre. Mr. Thompson comes to Oshawa from the Orillia News Letter and before coming here, besides acting as business manager for Mr. Marks for eight seasons, was connected with various amusement companies in Chatham, Owen Sound and other cities. He has had wide experience in the theatrical business and Oshawa theatre patrons will be pleased to learn of his appointment. Mr. Thompson states that during this coming summer he intends to introduce the cold blast ventilating system which, he states will make the auditorium of the theatre comfortably cool on even the warmest days.

Ontario Reformer, 20 Jun 1922, p. 2

22 Jun 1922, p. 1
Mr GW McLaughlin Gives Union Cemetery To Town of Oshawa, Also $500 Toward Its Upkeep
Part Of Cash Gift Is To Be Used To Defray Cost of Moving Bodies of Veterans Into Plot Set Aside For Soldiers’ Graves
COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTS OFFER AND VOICES APPRECIATION
The Union Cemetery, between Whitby and Oshawa, will become the property of the Town of Oshawa on July 1. This splendid gift was made formally to the Town Council, in special session, last night by Mr. George W McLaughlin, who has secured all the stock of the present holding company. Needless to say, the offer was speedily accepted, and the Town Clerk was unanimously instructed to write Mr. McLaughlin expressing the sincere thanks of the corporation.

Mr. McLaughlin also gives $500 to be used as a nucleus for a fund to administer the property. Part of this money he suggests be used to move bodies of soldiers to the veterans’ plot.

There are about 30 acres in the cemetery, the part of it on the south side of the Toronto and Eastern tracks only having been opened. How the cemetery will be governed by the Town has yet to be decided…

Ontario Reformer, 24 Jun 1922, p. 1

24 Jun 1922, p. 1
$90,000 IS BUILDING FUND OBJECTIVE OF ST.GEORGE’S CHURCH
Campaign To Be Launched at Congregational Meeting Monday Night
HAVE $11,000 ON HAND
Aim to Raise $23,000 Day for Three Days—Teams Chosen
With an objective of $90,000, exclusive of the cash on hand the members of St. George’s Anglican Church on Tuesday start a campaign for the raising of the funds necessary for the erection of the proposed new memorial church. The canvass of the congregation will extend over Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a daily objective of about $23,000. The foundation of the church on Centre Street will be completed next Thursday and if the campaign is successful it is the intention of the committee in charge to let the contract for the superstructure this year…

At the present time the congregation has on hand something around $11,000, which was realized by the sale of the old property. Besides this amount there is a fund which has been built up by various organizations in the church during the past few years with the object of assisting in the erection of the church. This money, most of which has been raised by the women, will be devoted to furnishing the church.

Nearly every window in the proposed edifice has already been spoken for by some member or friend of the congregation who intends to make a memorial to some departed one, but at the present time no names are available for publication in this connection…

27 Jun 1922, p. 2
Boy Scouts Have A Splendid Hike
An enthusiastic troop of boy scouts participated in the despatch (sic) run and hike held Saturday afternoon under Boy Scout auspices to Edmundson’s Woods at Tooley’s Mill. The boys were in charge of Mr. Chapman, Honorary Scoutmaster, and Assistant Scoutmaster Jas. Lovell. Several of the boys participated in the cooking contests, after which all had a swim.

On Dominion Day, next Saturday, the scouts will hold an all-day hike to the same locality, in all probability, when about thirty boys will be in attendance. The boys are now aiming at passing the tests for a First Class scout and will try some of these next Saturday. After the First Class Scouts come the Kin’s Scouts, and some of the Oshawa boys already have this class in view.

Ontario Reformer, 29 Jun 1922, p. 10

29 Jun 1922, p. 1
No Mail Delivery On Dominion Day
On Dominion Day, July 1, which falls next Saturday, the General Delivery and Registered Letter wickets of the Oshawa Post Office will be open between the hours of nine and eleven o’clock in the morning. Stamps may be procured at the General Delivery wicket at that time.

There will be no delivery of mail by letter-carrier on that date and only one collection of mail from the street letter boxes. This collection will be at five o’clock in the afternoon. All outgoing mails will be despatched as usual.

The Month That Was – April 1922

All articles originally appeared in the Ontario Reformer

April 4, 1922, page 1
Albert St. Butcher Robbed of $100
John Hrcio, butcher who conducts a business at Albert and Jackson Streets, was the victim of a daring hold up last night about nine o’clock when a masked bandit calmly walked into his store and looted the cash drawer at the same time levelling a revolver at him.

Mr. Hrcio was preparing parcels to be delivered this morning when the stranger appeared on the scene and ordered him to throw up his hands. The bandit took all the cash, amounting to $100, from the drawer, and 26 cheques, which Mr. Hrcio had cashed for employees of the Ontario Malleable Iron Company, were also missing. The cheques were found this morning by a police officer lying on the floor, but the money had been stolen…

Page 4
Strict Rules to Govern Peddling Ice Cream Here
If the decision of the Health Board Thursday night with regard to regulation of ice cream peddlers on the streets of Oshawa is carried out, those open air dispensers of ice cream cones will be few and far between in the town this summer. A communication was received from Mr. A.J. Holland asking for the renewal of his license to peddle ice cream this summer, promising that all sanitary regulations could be strictly lived up to. The inspector spoke very favourably of this application, but put his foot down on a number of foreigners who were in the business last year under conditions far from being conducive to the public health.

April 4, 1922, page 3

Health Reports Show Isolation Hospital Need
The splendid work being done by the Public Health nurses was very favourably commented on by the members of the Board of Health at the regular meeting Thursday evening when the following report was presented by Miss B.E. Harris for the month of March:

Communicable diseases reported for March are as follows: Chicken Pox, 26; scarlet fever, 4; diphtheria, 1; erysipelas, 1; whooping cough, 1, making a total of 33… 

It is of the scarlet fever cases one feels more concern. We have had 12 cases reported during February and March. This though not approaching an epidemic, has necessitated much concentrated work and strict quarantine to prevent the disease from spreading. We have had repeat cases in two homes, which brings home to us, so closely connected with diseases, the great important of an Isolation Hospital.

April 6, 1922, page 1
Music Assists in School Work
In the Assembly Hall of the Oshawa High School Tuesday evening, public school teachers and parents assembled to hear what was perhaps one of the most unique and interesting demonstrations as to the true value of music in schools ever presented in Oshawa. The speakers were Mrs. May Shilling and Ethel McKee, representative of the Columbia graphophone Company, who illustrated their talks with the use of the graphonola.

April 6, 1922, page 4

Bell Telephone Co. Will Spend $31,000 Locally This Year on Extensions
The Bell Telephone Company will this spring and summer expend the sum of $31,000 in Oshawa in the construction of new underground and aerial cables, with a view to meeting the telephone needs of the town for the next five years at least. The appropriation for Oshawa was passed recently.

The Bell Telephone Company has always regarded this town as one of promise and has expended much more money here in equipment and service than in many other places of like size and in many cases double the population…

April 8, 1922, page 1
Thornton Co. Send Firemen $789 to Show Appreciation
To know that your work is thoroughly appreciated is probably one of the most encouraging experiences which one could have. The members of the Oshawa Fire Department yesterday found themselves in this position when Fire Chief Cameron received a letter from Mr. W.R. Morson, owner of the Thornton Rubber Company factory, at the time the large building was almost totally destroyed by fire, expressing his appreciation of their splendid service in trying to save the structure.

The letter contained three cheques, one for $174 to cover the expenses of Fireman E. Jones, who was severely injured and confined to his home for some weeks through blood poisoning, and a second for $65 covering loss of time through injury to Lieut. W.C. Culling, who was also injured at the fire and had blood poisoning. The third cheque was for the sum of $550, made payable to Fire Chief Cameron with the request that the money be distributed according to his wishes.

April 8, 1922, page 4

April 11, 1922, page 1
Oshawa Creek is Rising Rapidly
Oshawa Creek this morning is a raging torrent on account of the heavy rain of last night and today. The water in the creek, it is said, has risen over a foot since eight o’clock this morning, and if it continues to rise will cover the flats before the day is out.

The filling in the new bridge is also giving way in several places…

Storm sewers today are working overtime and several cellars in the business section are already flooded. Of course the rain storm is a particularly heavy one, and would tax the capacity of any storm sewer system.

April 11, 1922, page 8

Page 4
Car Hits a Hole Glass Cuts Driver
The sight of high smoke stacks, big buildings and the sign “Welcome to Oshawa” giving travellers along the Provincial Highway approaching Oshawa the impression of a modern metropolis, are deceiving in so far as good roads are concerns. This fact was vividly brought home to a well known official of the General Motors from London, England, who is in town this week. Motoring from Toronto this official as he approached Oshawa expected great things, but, alas, as he gazed up on the sign “Welcome to Oshawa” his car was thrown into a hole of terrible mud just at the end of the pavement. His hat was thrown in the air, his forehead cut, and it was with difficulty that the car was resurrected from the mire. This spot surely requires the attention of the Council forthwith.

April 13, 1922, page 1
Hebrews Locally Observe Feast of Unleavened Bread
Began at Sunset Last Night and Continues Until Friday
Services in Oshawa Are Being Held at Home of Rev. Rabbi Halpern
Oshawa followers of the Jewish faith, in common with those throughout the world, began yesterday to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, known as the Passover, during which time they abstain from eating leaven in any form and in its stead use the Matzoth. Special services are being held at the home of Rev. Rabbi Halpern, 182 Simcoe Street South. The first were held yesterday, and today, and tomorrow morning and evening services are being held…

April 13, 1922, page 6

Candy Easter Eggs in Great Demand
Chocolate Soldiers Introduced This Year – Use of Dyes Falling Off
Stores in Oshawa, confectionery emporiums in particular, are looking unusually attractive for the Easter season. Easter eggs are to be found in large quantities, chocolate eggs being the most popular.

Some years ago, it was a custom for citizens of this country to boil eggs and paint them various colors for use at Easter by during the past 10 years, the candy egg has become more and more popular until the old custom has almost entirely disappeared.

April 18, 1922, page 4
Many People See Selves in Movies
Local Factories, Schools, Workmen, Etc., Are Shown on the Screen
Oshawa, its varied industries, business thoroughfares, public officials and prominent buildings, fire department, schools and many other activities, were shown in the movies at the New Martin Theatre Thursday, Friday and Saturday last in a film prepared by a moving picture company from Sydney, Nova Scotia. Hundreds saw the film and were delighted with it.

Every department of civic, industrial and educational life was shown as well. The factories included the General Motors, Pedlars, Fittings Limited, Williams Piano Company. All the schools with hundreds of children leaving them were thrown on the screen… The film showed the fire department in action, the religious side of the community in the people coming from Simcoe Street Methodist Church, the Rotary Club, lined up in front of Welsh’s parlors, the Mayor and members of the Council in front of the Town Hall, the news boys leaving the Reformer office with their papers, and many other scenes. The film can be utilized for advertising the town and will no doubt serve this purpose well.

The bad condition of the streets was the only regrettable feature of the whole film.

April 20, 1922, page 1

April 20, 1922, page 6
News of Nearby Places
Columbus
Reeve Ellins and Deputy Reeve Nesbitt and PG Purvis, clerk, attended the annexation meeting at Cedar Dale on Tuesday evening. The Reeve says if the terms laid down by East Whitby and Cedar Dale will be accepted by Oshawa, annexation will be possible in the near future.

Council Had Laugh On Mayor Stacey
When members of the Town Council assembled for a meeting last night they found a rehearsal of the show “Jack’s Wife” in full progress in the legislative chamber. Someone pulled a good pun on the mayor. It was intimated to His Worship that the Council meeting was held up by Jack’s wife who was holding forth in the Town Hall. “What in the mischief is she doing up there?” he asked, thinking it to be his partner in life, and not knowing of the rehearsal of the show that is being put on for the Hospital benefit. His Worship’s colleagues had a good laugh on him.

April 25, 1922, page 6

April 25, 1922, page 3
Oshawa and District
Big Garage Under Way
TB Mothersill has under way the large garage being erected by Phillip Smith, of the Oshawa Iron and Metal Company. The excavation work is almost competed and brick and cement are on the ground. The garage will be used for the hosing of trucks used by the nompany (sic) on the road.

April 27, 1922, page 1
Only Ten Per Cent of Trees Failed to Survive the Winter
Only ten per cent of the 2,500 trees planted last spring by Mr. GD Conant on his lakeside property, “Bonniebrae Point,” as part of a reforestation scheme, did not survive the summer and winter. This percentage is very low and demonstrates fully that reforestation in this county can be successfully carried out, as strongly advocated before the County Council by Reeve Owen Davies, of Uxbridge Township. Mr. Conant is planting another 1,000 trees this spring, and will continue the scheme. Water, light and telephone are also being constructed at Bonniebrae this spring and road improvement are being made.

Page 6
Those Income Tax Returns
All those who are required to make out income tax papers are reminded that the returns must be filled out and filed not later than the end of the present month. A large number have called at the Post Office for the forms and many have been already sent in but it is expected that there will be a heavy last minute demand as there was last year.

April 29, 1922, page 5

Interesting Architecture at John XXIII Catholic School

By Jill Passmore, Visitor Experience Coordinator

The following is an excerpt from the Olive French Manuscript – a document in the archival collection about Oshawa’s earliest schools from 1867 – 1967.

To accommodate its increased enrolment, the separate school board is building a new elementary school, John XIII(sic), on Athabasca Street. It will be the first to feature the new team teaching technique. It will have operable walls in one of the three quadrants that will open a three-classroom unit where groups of pupils can be taught by a team of teachers.

This circular school is 136 feet in diameter and will have a 64 foot inner court. It will have eight classrooms and a kindergarten area. It will accommodate more than 300 students. It is expected to be ready for classes in December 1967.

The principal is not yet appointed.

Olive French, Public and Separate Schools in 1967

Earlier this year, I taught the Oshawa Museum’s First Nations program to multiple classes at John XXIII. Arriving in the parking lot, you get the first glance at the circular dome. The school has had several additions since 1967, but the apex remains its most prominent feature.

The curved hallways make for a less institutional feeling inside than in most schools. Many teachers have told me, ‘well, you won’t get lost!’ The dome’s peak is in what is now the library, which facilitates a great teaching space.

Sadly, the traces of the operable walls Olive French mentions are no longer there, but John XXII remains Oshawa’s first circular school.

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March 13-17 is March Break at the Oshawa Museum, and we’re going back to school!

Join us for School Days: discover what school was like for kids back in the early 1900s! Step back in time when you enter Guy House. Sit in school desks, write on slates, dress up like a Victorian kid, and more!

March Break at the OM is taking place from March 13 – 17, and we’re open from 9am-4pm. The last tour leaves at 3:30pm. Please allow around 1.5 hours for your visit!

March Break activities is $5/child (free for OHS Members), and this includes a tour of the Oshawa Museum.

10 Years of the Oshawa Museum Blog

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

In 2013, I was able to work under a grant to digitise Henry House and various collections within. It was a wonderful opportunity to work with the collections we have here at the Oshawa Museum, and at the time, I was early in my Museum career, so I was excited to be offered new opportunities to grow my skills.

One of the first projects I was tasked with cataloguing and digitising was the quilt collection, a priority collection to focus on at first because of a planned exhibit later that year.

Our set-up for photographing large quilts, 2013

As I was working through the collection of over 70 quilts, I thought it would be interesting to share some of what I was learning about the quilts and the behind the scenes workings of the Museum. From this, the Oshawa Museum’s blog began!

Ten years later, and staff, students, and volunteers of the Oshawa Museum have authored over 600 posts for the blog, with topics ranging from industries, soldiers, the lives of women and children, street names, newspaper happenings, and everything in between. There have been over 228,000 views from over 140,000 visitors, just amazingly overwhelming numbers!

If you have ever stumbled across the Oshawa Museum blog and have enjoyed what you’ve found here, thank you! We appreciate the continued support and we hope you enjoy reading for many years to come!

• Our very first blog post was Quilt Stories, Part I.
• It is very likely that our top read blog post is Keeping Warm: The Ways The Victorians Did!. The top all time post is a hard stat to gather, but it has been the top post for years now, so this is very likely the best read post!
• The blog site is also where we have our Resource Pages, where we have rounded up blog posts, videos, community links, and more related to our community history.

The Host Files: Scout-Guide Week and Scouting in Oshawa

By Adam A., Visitor Host

The week of February 22 is Scout-Guide Week, the celebration of the global Scouting and Guiding movements around the shared birthday of its founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the former World Chief Guide. These organizations promoting preparedness and community mindedness have long been active in Canada and had an especially notable presence in Oshawa.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell’s role as the founder of Scouting began as a mere coincidence. He was a career soldier of the British Empire and served in a number of colonial campaigns in Africa. During this time, he penned a guide to living off the land and wilderness survival titled Aid to Scouting, meant to instruct the Army’s non-commissioned officers in the skills needed for reconnaissance. At the same time, a grassroots movement had begun to reconnect the youth with nature and revive the rural character that had been lost through industrialization and urbanization. In lieu of more suitable literature, a number of predecessor organizations had adopted Lord Robert’s book, inadvertently turning a niche military manual into a best seller. Lord Robert took a more active role in the movement upon returning from the Second Boer War, organizing the first scout rally in 1907 and rewriting Aid to Scouting to be more directly applicable to youth wilderness instruction, publishing it in 1908 as Scouting for Boys. In 1910 he formally founded the Boy Scouts Association and, along with his sister Agnes, established the Girl Guides in response to the high amount of female interest in scouting.

Scouts Canada would only be established in June of 1914 as an overseas component of the British Boy Scouts Association, but, as in the UK, a number of predecessor organizations and informal scouting troops already existed by that time. This arrangement gave Canada a national council to organize scouting activities and procure uniforms and other equipment for the troops, but Scouts Canada would continue to be internationally represented by its British parent association until 1946.

022.11.1 – scout shirt from the 1930s

Last year the Oshawa Museum received an especially interesting collection of artefacts from this period of Canadian scouting. A collection of Sea Scouts uniform clothes belonging to John Chappell, son of Colonel Frank Chappell, was donated in September. This collection notably contained the uniform John Chappell had worn in 1933, his 6^th year with the 8^th Oshawa Sea Scouts Troop, and the year in which he was one of eight Canadians to attend the 1933 Scouting Jamboree in Budapest, Hungary. This uniform proudly displayed 20 proficiency badges:

• Pathfinder
• Ambulance man
• Cyclist
• Signaller
• Fireman
• Rescuer
• Interpreter
• Naturalist
• Starman
• Citizen
• Swimmer
• Pioneer
• Camper
• Laundryman
• Handyman
• Camp Cook
• Musician
• Electrician
• Auto Mechanic
• Plumber

Detail of 022.11.1, showing the sleeve and badges.

He also had badges designating him as a King’s Scout and a First Class Scout. As Scouts Canada was still internationally represented by the British Boy Scouts Association, his 1933 Jamboree patch is accompanied by a Union Jack patch.

Girl Guides of Canada was established in July 1917, though a number of Guide Companies organized under the British Association had been operating since 1910. The Oshawa Girl Guides began as one of these early groups, first organizing in 1911. For many decades they lacked a permanent meeting place. They met at St. George’s Anglican Church as well as the homes of prominent Oshawa women like Adelaide McLaughlin and Verna Conant.

Camp Samac, c. 1940s; Oshawa Museum archival collection (A002.9.8)

In 1943 Sam McLaughlin donated 150 acres in north Oshawa to Scouts Canada, and three years later it opened as Camp Samac. Camp Samac remains one of Scouts Canada’s largest properties and hosts a number of major scouting events, such as the international Join In Jamboree which has been held there since 2015. In 1947 the McLaughlins would provide the Girl Guides with their Guide House in downtown Oshawa.

Painting of Guide House, 1981, Oshawa Museum archival collection (A013.5.5).

Various troops from both organizations frequently visit the Oshawa Museum to learn about the area’s history and to do Victorian/pioneer crafts. The Oshawa Museum is also currently preparing a new exhibit on the history of Scouting and Guiding in Oshawa which is planned to open later this year.

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Sources:

https://www.scouts.ca/news-and-events/national-calendar.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Stephenson-Smyth-Baden-Powell-1st-Baron-Baden-Powell

http://discoverhistoricoshawa.com/listings/camp-samac/

http://discoverhistoricoshawa.com/listings/girl-guide-house/