Kathleen and I recently took a quick vacation to Toronto (as well as Hamilton and locations across Manitoulin Island) and while walking around, noticed this well-preserved and recently-revealed sign on one of the empty commercial properties along Ossington Avenue.
Continue reading Blog: “For Best Service”: John Lissee’s Appliances on Ossington
One of the more important sources I have relied on to gain some type of impression of the state of housing in the Ottawa area is, unsurprisingly, the Census. Although not immune to critique, Census data, even at the worst of times, has been a useful source to raise further questions, develop leads, and find new and interesting ways to reframe our understanding of just what it meant at various times to take, produce, regulate, manage, maintain, improve, demolish, and – darn it – actually enjoy shelter.
One of the more interesting tools that I have used for understanding the ethnic and racial composition of Canadian cities in the postwar era is called City Stats. Billed as a tool “designed to encourage the use of measures of residential segregation in Canadian urban history,” it allows the user to run calculations, from the basic to the complex, to understand segregation better in one, several, or all urban areas in Canada.
Continue reading Ethnicity and Segregation in Ottawa-Hull, 1961
Although the writers were clearly beginning to run out of steam (at least, arguably), the sixth season of the Littlest Hobo was not intended to be the last.1Matthew Fraser. “Canadian shows on CTV agenda,” The Globe and Mail, May 22, 1985, S5. Mulroney-era changes in subsidization policy, financial troubles at CTV, changing tastes, and the unfortunate decision to use Hobo to fill Cancon quotas ensured that it would nevertheless be so.2Hobo almost seems to have been the only show used for this purpose as it seems to have become a byword for “Cancon policy filler programming” in reports on the policy. See Jeffrey Simpson, “A dramatic void,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1986, A6; John Haslett Cuff, “New Canadian content rules could reduce TV ad revenues,” The Globe and Mail, September 24, 1986, C5.
Although the writers were clearly beginning to run out of steam (at least, arguably), the sixth season of the Littlest Hobo was not intended to be the last.3Matthew Fraser. “Canadian shows on CTV agenda,” The Globe and Mail, May 22, 1985, S5. Mulroney-era changes in subsidization policy, financial troubles at CTV, changing tastes, and the unfortunate decision to use Hobo to fill Cancon quotas ensured that it would nevertheless be so.4Hobo almost seems to have been the only show used for this purpose as it seems to have become a byword for “Cancon policy filler programming” in reports on the policy. See Jeffrey Simpson, “A dramatic void,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1986, A6; John Haslett Cuff, “New Canadian content rules could reduce TV ad revenues,” The Globe and Mail, September 24, 1986, C5.
Notes
| ↥1 | Matthew Fraser. “Canadian shows on CTV agenda,” The Globe and Mail, May 22, 1985, S5. |
|---|---|
| ↥2 | Hobo almost seems to have been the only show used for this purpose as it seems to have become a byword for “Cancon policy filler programming” in reports on the policy. See Jeffrey Simpson, “A dramatic void,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1986, A6; John Haslett Cuff, “New Canadian content rules could reduce TV ad revenues,” The Globe and Mail, September 24, 1986, C5. |
| ↥3 | Matthew Fraser. “Canadian shows on CTV agenda,” The Globe and Mail, May 22, 1985, S5. |
| ↥4 | Hobo almost seems to have been the only show used for this purpose as it seems to have become a byword for “Cancon policy filler programming” in reports on the policy. See Jeffrey Simpson, “A dramatic void,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1986, A6; John Haslett Cuff, “New Canadian content rules could reduce TV ad revenues,” The Globe and Mail, September 24, 1986, C5. |
The fifth season is about where I begin to remember (in my dullest possible memories) seeing Littlest Hobo episodes as they aired. Granted, when the season was going, I was approaching two years, but I also know that MCTV aired Hobo reruns frequently.
In Season 4, Hobo’s human partners were more likely to give him a name than they were in Season 3. It might have been due to the multi-part episodes.
In Season 4, Hobo’s human partners were more likely to give him a name than they were in Season 3. It might have been due to the multi-part episodes.
I haven’t exactly hidden that The Littlest Hobo is one of my favourite shows. In addition to being a consummate piece of Canadiana, it was the first show I ever really was able to identify and I get to play “where in Toronto is this” when I watch. The other day, Kathleen remarked that it would be funny if someone had tracked all of the names that Hobo was given by his human costars through the series. Although someone may have, after a brief search, I did not find a source. A bit surprised, I figured that I’d go ahead and do it myself.
Continuing on with Season 2.
I haven’t exactly hidden that The Littlest Hobo is one of my favourite shows. In addition to being a consummate piece of Canadiana, it was the first show I ever really was able to identify and I get to play “where in Toronto is this” when I watch. The other day, Kathleen remarked that it would be funny if someone had tracked all of the names that Hobo was given by his human costars through the series. Although someone may have, after a brief search, I did not find a source. A bit surprised, I figured that I’d go ahead and do it myself.
Interest-based research is a wonderful thing. Something catches your interest, you ride it out, put it aside. It’s that last part that really gets you. All that effort should, really, result in something. At least a poorly-written blog post, if not something more substantial. This has been one of my peskier issues. Continue reading Apartments, the Depression, and Research Never Completed
As I explore a bit in an upcoming piece about the MacLaren House nursing home (1967-1993) in Ottawa, shelter for seniors came to be a major concern in housing policy during the 1960s.1To be certain, it was a known issue long before that, but it was not until the 1960s in Canada that it received a dedicated policy response.
Continue reading The Heritage: Seniors Housing for Regina, 1971
Notes
| ↥1 | To be certain, it was a known issue long before that, but it was not until the 1960s in Canada that it received a dedicated policy response. |
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Midcentury hotels are one of the first things that got me into urban history. There is just something about their design and the role that they tended to play that proves endlessly interesting. Although hardly competition for the Constellation Hotel down the road (now demolished), the Skyline recently caught my eye.
