Finding fun in Edmonton in the 1940s and 1950s, by Gwen McDonald Halabisky
Date : 1940 to 1959
My family was not wealthy when I was growing up. Luckily not much money was needed to be happy and entertained.
Summer holidays were looked forward to with excited anticipation. My parents had only two weeks vacation time so we usually just went for a week. Mom was a cook at the Edmonton Club (across from the MacDonald Hotel) and Dad delivered lumber for Clark Lumber (just south of the 9 th street "rat hole"). Although they enjoyed their jobs, the camping trips to Edmonton, Alberta Beach or Elk Island Park were a welcome break. Originally we camped using a floorless tent. In 1953 Dad built, on the back of our 52 Chevy truck, a camper with wooden sides and a telescoping canvas top. I can still picture Dad flipping pancakes over the Coleman stove.
Mom signed us up for a week of Journal swimming lessons at Oliver Pool. We took the bus for a nickel, or six tickets for a quarter getting off on 7 th Ave. We were not to take the short cut via the CNR right of way nor put a penny on the track, but we did. We would stop by the Jasper dairy on the way home and would sometimes have a nickel for an ice cream cone. My attraction was looking at the milk wagon horses. We would sometimes cut through the 7 th Ave cemetery and read the monuments, feeling sad if the dash between the years was not a long one. We learned to swim well enough to enjoy Saturday afternoon trips to Sunnyside, a deeper part of the Sturgeon River near the Namao highway. We huddled under a tarp and blankets as Dad transported us in the back the pickup.
Another exciting part of summer vacation was the Edmonton Exhibition. I would usually go with my sister Jackie and two friends. Mom would double what money we had saved. We went the day of the parade, taking the bus downtown and go on to the midway with the sound of a pipe band ringing in our ears. We spent hours observing arts and crafts exhibits, very proud if one of our "masterpieces" were among the school artwork displayed. Salesmen of the latest kitchen gadgets, working their magic on various vegetables, mesmerized us. We were alternately drawn to and appalled by the "freak" shows that claimed to include "the worlds tallest man", a "bearded lady", or a midget. The rides were exciting but almost an afterthought as the other attractions cost little or nothing. With descending twilight, "dog" tired and our tummies full of hotdogs and cotton candy, we reluctantly left the grounds for another year. At home we would watch the fireworks display in the distance, sometimes going up on the garage roof for a better look.
The bush beside the Mitchell home across 114 St. was a favourite haunt. I wiled away many summer hours climbing trees, exploring nature. In winter, wearing my Gene Autry gun and holster set, I would track rabbits, never finding one but never giving up the pursuit. One poplar tree provided my cousin Bill Surmon and I with entertainment one spring. We climbed that tree every day to inspect the progress of a robin's nest, the pale blue eggs, the hatchlings, the feedings and finally the leaving of the nest by the four baby robins.
Open meadows near our home gave the meadowlarks a nesting place and for us, a field in which to lie and watch the white, puffy clouds in the bright blue sky, or a place to play games with our cousins and other neighbourhood kids. Often though, after supper, I would go with my older sister to Calder School and play baseball with kids ranging in age from about 8 to 16. My sister's friends, Eileen Lindberg, Phyllis North and Francis Ryziuk, often joined us. Ted Frechette, who later played for the Eskimos, and Don Lindberg were probably there as well. We shared equipment and found no need for adult organization or supervision. We rotated through the positions, the smaller kids jumping the position of pitcher and umpire. I was always glad to get a hit on one of the first two strikes as it proved I did not have to be babied. The younger children were usually given four strikes and often got to first base on a hit that may have only gone as far as the pitcher.
My sister Jackie remembers Tuesday teen recreation night at Calder hall. For the price of a dime one could play ping-pong or dance to rock and roll records. Constable George Mitchell played an important role at the occasional teen dances on Friday nights. He had excellent rapport with teenagers and diffused incidents before they happened. As teens got older they would venture to other district teen dances or pile into cars and go to Alberta Beach where there was D-jay Bouncing Barry Boyd or the band of Wes Dakus and The Rebels.
When Westmount shopping centre opened in 1954 it was a pleasure to go to the brand new Woodward's, Kresge's and various other shops. I was by no means a shop-aholic but it was exciting to be in a place that was a first of its kind. Little did I know that my future Mother in law was working in Woodward's Food-Floor.
Many evenings in winter were spent at the Calder outdoor skating rink. It was situated on 119 St. near where the Calder Seniors Rec. Centre now is. Since our mother did voluntary supervision we did not have to pay the dime admission. If it was snowing hard we would have to go off the ice while the older boys cleaned the ice. During the break we took off our skates and rubbed each other's feet or huddled around the small stove in the centre of the room. If we left before closing we might be accompanied home by the sound of "Sail along Silvery Moon".
For little or no money one could feel that contented exhaustion that is only acquired through fresh air, exercise and imagination.