Happy New Year! My Dad welcomes his sister Evelyn into the world. Here's the world that greeted these two siblings at the height of the Great Depression...
1935 in the Niagara area
1935 marked the 53rd Canadian Henley Rowing Regatta (link is to a large scan of program) on Martindale Pond in Port Dalhousie, They still race there.
They also swim there - at Lakeside Park, as this postcard from 1935 shows.
The Great Gorge Route was a tourist railway that took sightseers down the valley of the Niagara River and along a scenic run past the roiling waters and the whirlpools. On Sep 13th a 5,000 ton rockslide near Whirlpool Rapids Bridge destroys more than 200 feet of track and railbed. The Great Gorge Railway never ran again.
1935 saw the founding of The May Court Club of St. Catharines. According to their website - "The May Court Club is Canada’s oldest women’s volunteer association. Membership consists of women dedicated to active volunteerism in their community, in both direct service and administrative placement or on boards of charitable organizations."
1935 in Canada
In 1935 Alfred Hitchcock completes his film The 39 Steps. As it happens, the film is based on a novel by John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir and Governor-General of Canada at the time.
The unrelenting economic Depression leads to the On-To-Ottawa Trek of 1935. It was a workers protest that would march from the west to Ottawa to present grievances to Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. The federal government ordered the Trek ended when it reached the RCMP station in Regina. Thus did July 1, 1935 become the day of the Regina Riot, a terrible and violent moment in Canadian labor history.
On a smaller scale of oppression, in 1935 the Dionne Quintuplets become wards of the King, and entertainment icons, being moved into an amusement park where they were the main attraction.
1935 marks the first issue of bank notes (money) by the Bank of Canada. Off denominations include $25 and $100 dollar bills. That reminds me -I have a friend who was in a variety store behind an elderly gent trying to buy a pack of gum - with a $1,000 dollar bill!
1935 in the United States
The Hoover Dam is completed.
On May 25th Babe Ruth hits his last 3 home runs - Boston Braves vs Pirates. On June 2nd, at the age of 40, Babe Ruth announces his retirement as a player
On Jun 28th American President Franklin Roosevelt orders a federal gold vault to be built at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Finally on Nov 5th, 1935 Parker Brothers launches the game of Monopoly, which gives the abject and penniless unemployed a few hours of enjoyment in lives that were otherwise likely to be bleak.
Note - My father recently passed away after 83 years on this earth. I'd like to commemorate his life with a memory project by featuring some milestone events from each year he lived.
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