Another month is zipping on by like it was almost never here, can you believe it? I have had a fairly quiet month, beside my yearly Vegas Trip for German Karneval (Mardi Gras), I have stayed pretty close to home. This means I have had lots of time to do some reading and some YouTube watching. Today’s post is a highlight of some of the vintage goodies I have enjoyed this month.
Thursday’s Google Doodle was of a woman, named Bessie Coleman. Bessie was the first African-American woman to hold a pilot license. She was also the first American woman to hold an international pilot license. Wow this is truly fantastic!
I have had never heard of Bessie but she will forever be on my mental mantle of awesomeness, right up there with the other women mentioned in the above article.
3. There is a Twitter page called ‘Diary Dear‘ that tells the tales of a shop girl living in Toronto, starting in 1938. They tweet a page from her diary every day and so far what I have read has been fascinating for the vintage lover like myself. I will be interested to see if they get far enough into her diary where she begins to mention WW2, and what it is like in Toronto at that time.
5. Need ideas on how to give your home a bit of that Vintage Shabby Chick look? Then this Room by Room Guide to Vintage Chic by Laura Preston, inspired by the Rosebery Hotel is perfect for you!
Vintage Photo Tuesday is back for 2017! And as mentioned in my previous post ‘Come Visit Canada! Vintage Travel Posters‘, I will be doing a much bigger focus on Canada for a lot of the vintage content that you will see on the blog this year. And in case you missed the “Why?” it’s because Canada is celebrating 150 years as a country and so I think that is a good enough reason to celebrate all year-long. Don’t you agree?
Today’s VPT is on Niagara Falls, Canada. Known for its magnificent Falls and awesome wine country, Niagara is a must visit for all travelers to Ontario (I’m pretty sure my family has taken ALL my German relatives there throughout the years). But like any town, anywhere it has its vintage roots and for today’s VPT, I will be exploring some of those images from my favorite era’s, the 1920s to the 1960’s.
Source: Allposters
Vintage Photos of Niagara Falls, Canada
1920’s – 1960’s
1920’s Frozen Falls in the dead of winter. Apparently the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) use to commission vehicles to take you directly to the Falls.
Source: Library and Archives Canada
1921 Aerial View of the Horseshoe Falls and the City of Niagara (It does NOT look like this anymore. The Falls yes, but the Town no).
Source: Historic Niagara digital Collections
The Royal Tour 1939: King George VI & Elizabeth at the Niagara Parks Commission Administration Building.
Source: Historic Niagara digital Collections
Hotel General Brock where the King and Queen had dinner during their Royal visit. First opened in 1929, it was the first high rise built in Niagara and has hosted many other famous individuals. Like: Walt Disney, Shirley Temple and Jimmy Stewart. It is now known as the Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls and has maintained much of it’s vintage glamour.
Visiting in the Summer and needed to cool off? Then you would have checked out the Niagara Falls Cyanamid Swimming pool (seen below, 1940’s). The pool was owned and operated by the adjacent Cyanamid Company’s giant Niagara plant and was once a popular swimming area.
Source: nflibrary
Volleyball by the Cyanamid Swimming Pool (now closed).
Source: Niagara Falls Review
Visiting the Falls is a year round activity, sometimes involving having to dress up in your winter best to capture the perfect picture. Circa 1940’s.
Source: The Journal of the Dead Beats Society
1953 – Picnic by the Niagara River below the Falls.
Across the street from the famous falls is the lovely ‘Oakes Garden Theatre’. Constructed in 1936, designers capitalized on the contours of the landscape to create a curved pergola overlooking a central amphitheatre. Rock gardens, lily ponds and shrub borders have been created around formalized gardens, with attractive ornamental iron gates (Source). Here are 2 friends visiting in 1949.
Source: Library and Archives Canada
Still standing today is the Skylon Tower. It’s door’s opened to the public on Sept 31st, 1965 and was inspired by the Space Needle Tower in Seattle, Washington. It is Niagara’s tallest structure, measuring 520 feet above ground level and 775 feet above the base of the Falls.
Source: Clifton Hill
Even the stars liked to visit the Falls, like everyone’s favorite blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.
Source: Library and Archives Canada
Lastly, over the years many people who visited Niagara Falls wanted to go down the falls in a barrel or some other contraption. Some tried, very few succeeded. In 1956 Woody Woodpecker was in a film called ‘Niagara Fools‘ about the pitfalls of going down those falls (click on the image to watch the cartoon).
Like what you saw? Then check out a more detailed breakdown of Niagara Falls History, HERE.
Question time: Have you ever been to Niagara Falls? Did you enjoy it? If you have not been there, does this post make you want to visit?
