1939 - It's a boy! And the Queen rolls out a superhighway

In 1939 my father's birthday gift would be the birth of his brother Harry on Nov 16, a couple of weeks after my Dad's own birthday. This occurred shortly after Canada went into war in Europe. Something very exciting in newsreels and comic books for a boy of 8, but not something that would touch his family's life in the heartland of Canada.

On the other hand, 1939 saw a whirlwind of Royal visits and the opening of Canada's first superhighway. The QEW was a four-lane blacktop not named for the current Regina Elizabeth the Queen, but rather for Queen Elizabeth - the Queen Mum and the King's consort.

There at at least two blogs devoted to its ceremonial lion monument with the other about the sculpting couple who created one of its two still-extant monuments.

The QEW is so important that even the hipsters of today blog about it. And here - "Historicist: From Magnificent Thoroughfare to Death-Trap"

There's even a cool website about the landau and other ceremonial cars used in the 1939 opening. Many of which are now in collection.


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.