sisters summer 1937 Toronto. Snapshots are photographs usually taken by amateurs, often by the only person in the family who routinely records events and family members. Without such photographs, we may not remember how family members looked as they grew. If not captured, a family’s special events may become lost in time. The photograph at left shows two teen-age sisters in 1937, between the two world wars. Their mother captured the pair that summer with a simple box camera. Annotation and careful filing in a family album gave their names and dates. The girls’ father was a serious amateur ga ..read more

Driving First Spike for Toronto and Eastern Railway, October 31, 1923, Toronto Daily Star. Whitby Archives 14-003-001. Toronto. Most of us can remember the photograph in the late 1800s showing dignitaries at “the last spike” in the CPR line connecting BC with the rest of Canada without need to detour down into the States. In this case, ‘the first spike’ was recorded in Whitby in 1923 in a Toronto Star photograph celebrating the start of construction on the Toronto and Eastern Railway. which was to become a commuter railway from Toronto to Oshawa. Dignitaries included the then Whitby Mayor, N ..read more

May 2012 – at the Soccer Centre. Ed gets ready to do a photo shoot  Toronto. Today’s the day folks. Hustle on down to the Trident Hall and visit the PHSC spring 2023 fair. At left you see an executive of the PHSC photographing a young lady (that year we had a display as well as the show). Remember, at the Hall today, you can get stuff for your collection – film or digital. Or perhaps a bit of added user gear. Or both! Free parking, lots of bargains. Lots of food. Admission is down right cheap! Our fair chairmen, Mark and Clint have worked to bring you a rewarding event this spring. Hard ..read more

Tackling TV instead of ducking it Toronto. When TV hit the big time, radio and movies were predicted to die. Fortunately both survived TV. In any case companies relying on the movies tried to expand their market by hopping on the TV bandwagon. Among them was a retailer of a major motion picture camera maker – Auricon. In the August, 1953 in an ad placed in Popular Mechanics, the camera retailer, BERNDT-BACH, Inc. pushed a cheaper Auricon to movie neophytes as a means to make money by shooting TV films complete with synchronized sound. A big thanks to my good friend, George Dunbar, for spotti ..read more

the days of battery-capacitor flash guns that worked even with nearly dead batteries Toronto. One of the nagging things affecting the wide use of flash bulbs was the risk of having dying batteries when the old camera and flash were dug out to be used for an event. For a brief period of time (before cheap and small electronic flashes appeared) someone came up with the clever idea of charging a capacitor and using its EMF to trigger the flash bulb. Then, a nearly dead battery would just mean a bit longer to charge – a sign that the battery was about to expire, but the flash bulb would still tr ..read more

our editor, Bob Lansdale, catches a snooze after the 2017 spring fair! Toronto. Like many of us, come on and join in at the Spring Photographica-fair! Meet old friends, get some added pieces for your collection, buy some stuff for your film or digital gear. Now that COVID is well on the way to being but a distant smear on history, we are holding spring and fall fairs on a Sunday at the Trident Hall. Click the above link for poster and directions for the Spring Fair this coming Sunday. Don’t don’t miss out on the fun and food at this grand event in the west end of the big smoke! Lots of food ..read more

end of an era in Halifax, NS Toronto. George sent me a few photos the other day including this gem from the Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection. This is simply another example of the importance of photography in recording history and the ability of archives to hold and display such photographic resources. I wonder who today would otherwise know that in March of 1949 tram-car service in the main part of Halifax was ended? Thank you, George Dunbar, for discovering the Archives and this photograph. Note. The title of this post is a riff on the 1965 song sung by the Rolling Stones, “I Can’t Ge ..read more

1953 – A Kodachrome slide carefully exposed in bright sun Toronto. From the late 1800s to pre WW2, colour was a huge challenge. The additive colour process was very slow. Mosaics and fine screens were used to record and display colour photographs. Colour photography was revolutionized in 1935 when Kodachrome subtractive colour film came to market. While faster than the old processes, it was still slow and contrasty but with an  incredibly increased resolution. Kodachrome development was so complex (numerous baths, tight time and temperature demands) that customer bought both film and pr ..read more

Gordon Bay School c1905/6 in Muskoka Area of Ontario Toronto. Remember your grade school days? My dad went to a little one room country school. At his school, children couldn’t attend unless they could walk the miles from farm to school house. He was seven when he started school. Until then, he was home taught by his mother. This photo, enhanced by George Dunbar, is courtesy of the Humphrey Museum in Parry Sound.  As mentioned in earlier posts, museums and archives are a rich source of photographic images and history. In this case the Museum is located in Northern Ontario. A big thanks ..read more

a book for a quarter – and a sleeve from Westinghouse flash bulbs Toronto. … with photography! Weegee in NYC last century seemed to find many ways to make money from his photography besides taking street photos at night of crimes, etc. –  like books and promotions. George Dunbar writes, “Weegee, one of the greatest examples of an entrepreneur extraordinaire. “He appeared in this ad for flashbulbs in Popular Mechanics Magazine, March 1953. “It wouldn’t be surprising if he received a few year’s supply of Westinghouse bulbs for this.” Many of our readers remember Arthur Fellig (a.k.a. Weeg ..read more