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If You Grew Up In London, Ontario, You Will Remember When...

The folk running this page to an wonderful job of finding interesting historic photos and posting the pictures accompanied with some good copy.

Check it out.

 

Opened in 1948 with solid community support

A vintage photo of the S.S. Kresge store on Dundas St. in downtown London on  the morning of its opening in November 1948. The opening of the new store was quite the event and hundreds of Londoners gathered to catch an early glimpse of the new shopping experience. 

This new store was 80ft by 180ft. Along one inside wall were located the popular bay lunch counters and the tea room with table service. The remainder of the store was filled with a broad range of merchandise ranging from kitchenware, hardware, records to clothing and more. 

On opening day there were 350 employees on duty to serve the public.

In 1963 a Kmart, owned by the Kresge company, opened in London but the discount chain store was in north-east London in a growing mall. In 1998 the suburban stores closed. Although I could not determine when the S.S. Kresge store in the core closed, I did learn that the last remaining store in the once oh-so-successful Canadian branch of the U.S. chain closed for good in 1998.

Before Kmart there was Kresge

 

Another member of the Daily City Photo group posted a picture of a dying mall which featured as its anchor store a Kmart outlet. Kmart was the discount chain with anchor stores in malls right across North America. It was created by the older value-priced retailer Kresge which had stores on main streets across the continent. 

Kmart replaced the Kresge stores and then, failing, was bought by Sears. Sears, of course, later failed as well. Today there may be half a dozen Kmart stores left but they, and any remaining Sears stores, are all in the final stages of liquidation and closure. 

The S.S. Kresge store shown was on Dundas Street in downtown London, Ontario. Even today when a picture is posted online of the old retail outlet, seniors reminisce about the fine goods, especially baked goods, sold there. The lunch counter was much loved and is greatly missed.

Beauty in practicality?

 

There's a chap who posted pictures from the French town of Strasbourg located on the Rhine River. The river marks the border between France and Germany in this area. Often the fellow posts pictures of bridges and invariably these bridges are beautiful. Many are decades, or even centuries, old, so it is clear that these bridges are very practical as well.

A few years ago the bridge spanning the Thames River in London, Ontario, between the city golf course on the north side of the river and Springbank Park on the south side was a beautiful, narrow, suspension bridge. The bridge grew old requiring either extensive restoration or replacement. It was replaced.

Today the span is wider, far more stable, practical and dull. Was this really the best decision? I cannot imagine the folk of Strasbourg demolishing an old and and very graceful bridge in order to erect something more akin to a Bailey bridge.

Everyone can identify a mallard

Everyone can identify a mallard duck with its unique bright, metallic green head—well at least everyone can identify the male mallard. The female is not such a showboat but often hangs with the colourful males.

The water in Springbank Park may be a bit on the dirty side but it does often remain open for most of the winter months here in London, Ontario. When faced with the decision to fly south or stay put in London, some mallards opt for calling London home. Some years, when it is colder than usual, some of the non-migrating mallards may wish they had flown south.

Children 5 and up getting vaccinated

 

Children five and older are now being vaccinated in Ontario, Canada. This little girl, 8, is being signed in at the vaccination station in London, Ontario, by her grandmother. Children must have an appointment made a few days in advance. On arrival they are signed in, registered, placed in a waiting line, given a shot and then left to rest for fifteen minutes before signing out and leaving the building. Approximately one hundred children are working through the system from entry to exit at any one time.

For those of us who have never been in a room with a hundred children gathered together to be vaccinated, the big surprise is the quietness. Most of the time, one could hear the proverbial pin drop. In the forty-five minutes it took to get the vaccination process completed, this little girl only heard two kids causing a fuss. For the most part, the children were all quite relaxed.

One of the medical staff said the biggest problems were caused by concerned parents.

The crowd loved the hand puppet man

 

This fellow entertained the crowd from his perch on one of the floats in the Hyde Park Santa Claus Parade. Other than that, I know nothing other than the kids loved him, and his numerous hand puppets. And he did have one winning smile as well.