Remembering Brockville, 1948

1948 was a boom time for Brockville. World War II was over and people were returning to normal lives. In an effort to attract more businesses to the city, The Recorder & Times published a promotional brochure describing the attractions and advantages of locating here. Here are some highlights:
    “In the year 1948 retail sales totalled $13,801,000. Brockville’s 3,600 families have an income of $13,170,000. The average income per family ... was $3,658. Brockville is 30% above the national average in per capita purchasing power.
    “Some of Brockville’s principal industries: Canada Foundries and Forgings Ltd., General Milk Products of Canada Ltd., Libby, McNeill and Libby of Canada Ltd., John B. Stetson Co. (Canada) Ltd., Lion Grinding Wheels, Phillips Electrical Works Ltd., Orient Hosiery Ltd., Rollitt Products Ltd., Hex Baits Ltd.
    “One of the reasons industry is attracted to Brockville is the cheapness of electrical power. The prospect of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Development promises a great future for the district.
    “The river offers itself to all of us, regardless of means or station in life. It presents the same aspect to everyone, whether in a steam yacht or a rented punt.
    “People from the city often ask us why we prefer to live in a small town like Brockville. We reply that we like the slower pace, the shorter distances—most Brockville men can walk to work without unduly exerting themselves—and we like the neighbourly feeling most of us have for each other. ... We enjoy being a part of a community where most of us know each other. We don’t miss the strain of city driving one bit. We hope to live longer, more leisurely and pleasanter life than we would in a city.”
    If you were living in Brockville in 1948 and have memories of what life was really like here, why not share them with us ‘newcomers’? A few sentences are all that is needed. Send them to the editor at the address above and we’ll compile and print them in a future newsletter. Help us relive the times.

We received one reply to our query and published it in the April 2001 issue of History Matters:

Dear Bob, In the February issue of History Matters, you asked for memories of Brockville in the year 1948. Well, as I remember, it was a very interesting year. Here goes.

The war was over and the (then) town was slowly recovering. Things were not back to normal yet, but the businesses and factories had entered the post war era. You could not walk in to an appliance store and buy a new stove or refrigerator off the floor; you had to, as they say, know somebody. New automobiles were as scarce as hen’s teeth and the axiom sometimes worked. At the GM dealer, you put your name on a list, with a deposit, and waited your turn. There were rumours about late-night factory deliveries of cars which were immediately driven to Montreal where they could be sold for more money. GM and Chrysler were a bit slow off the mark with a new post-war design, but Studebaker in ’47, with their Starlite, was the first new car. Then in 1948, Hudson came out with their ’49 Hornet and Ford came out with their biggest change since 1928 — a totally new car — and splitting their dealerships to two, one selling the new Meteor along with the existing Mercury and the other selling the new Monarch along with the existing Ford. However, there were plenty of ’29, ’30 and ’31 cars still on the road, and a person with a ’38, ’39 or ’40 was considered well off.
    On the social scene, the Liquour Control Board of Ontario had made dramatic changes in the laws governing public social drinking. The first “cocktail bar” was opened in Toronto in 1948 and Bodan (Dan) Korsa, the new owner of the Manitonna, and the Ness brothers, Glen and Ross, owners of the Grand Central Hotel on the corner of King and Chase Streets, were planning their own changes to take advantage of the new laws.
    Gene Krupa, the famous American drummer and band leader, played at the local Armories to a packed house. It may be interesting to newcomers to the city that the Armories was the site of all the major dances at that time. Their was no Memorial Centre (it was built in ’51) or Arts Centre at the time. The BCI auditorium was used by the theatrical groups.
    On the sports scene, the BCI men’s senior basketball team had an undefeated season of 30 games, winning the EOSSA championships and the “A” category championships at the ’48 Queen’s Easter tournament. They also played exhibition games against northern New York State high schools. Their coach was Aubrey Fudge, who later became principal at Kingston CI. Many of these players are still active in local, less strenuous sports.
    Senior and junior baseball (hardball) was being played at Fulford Park — now Bunnies Park — and softball (fastball) was played at various venues, including Rotary Park, Broad Street diamond (parking lot), Smart’s Foundry and probably others.
    In 1948, the Brockville Rowing Club hosted the Eastern Rowing Association championship regatta. The member clubs were Lachine (Que.), Ottawa and Brockville. This association had been formed in 1920, with a cup for annual competition between the member clubs being donated in 1925 by William H. Comstock, former mayor of Brockville and son of one of the founders of the BRC. The cup was for the winner of the most races at an annual championship regatta. Sad to say, it was not BRC’s day in 1948 — they lost to Ottawa by 2 points, with Lachine following a close third. But what a day that was because BRC had invited Barbara Ann Scott to be Regatta Queen. Very few Canadians do not know the story of Barbara Ann. She had won the 1947 European Figure Skating Championships in Davos, Switzerland, and then went on to win the 1948 Olympic women’s championship in Stockholm. After her ’47 win, the citizens of Ottawa had given her a new Buick convertible. However, Avery Brundige, the Olympic president from the USA, declared that she would become a professional if she accepted the car, so she gave it back. After the Olympics she turned pro, accepted the car and — you guessed it — showed up in Brockville in the convertible. Barbara Ann was a frequent visitor to this area with her mother who had relatives here.
    There was still no covered ice arena in town since 1937 and it would be three more years before the Memorial Centre at Rotary Park was completed. Local representative teams, like the juniors and intermediate teams, played wherever they get could ice time in Athens, Prescott and — yes — even Lansdowne. Minor hockey, run by the Rotary Club, played their games at Rotary Rink, an open-air (cold) venue. It was an embarrassing time for hockey in Brockville and in spite of this, the town developed some great players who moved on to major junior “A” teams and even the pros.
    The RCRs (Royal Canadian Regiment) were stationed at the former Officers Training Centre, out on the end of Ormond St. Speaking of that area, there was not much of the town north of the CNR, with exception of Scholfield Hill and the Park St.-Ormond St. salients. The town ended at First Ave. in the east and, in the west, St. Lawrence Park was the end, with the line jogging west along King St. to Centre St. and then north to the CNR Manitoba yards. I include the Bakers Park area, now on Stewart Blvd., in with Scholfield Hill area, but it was quite separate in ’48. You see, Stewart Blvd. was just being built then and when you drove out to #29 Highway, you went up Perth St. The north end of town in this area was about where Central Ave. intersects Stewart Blvd., with the Brockview Apts. and Orient Hosiery (now Black and Decker) being in Elizabethtown. Then, if you drew a line across to approximately where Oxford Ave. now crosses Butlers Creek, you would have the north boundary.
    The shoreline of the 1948 town, especially between Cunningham Park and Centeen Park, would be a shock to someone who had been away for 50-odd years. Beginning in the west at Cunningham Park, it was then Simpsons’ Sand Dock, the Yacht Club was Wrightway Laundry, then next east was the pipeline terminal for Esso and Regent Oil (Trinidad Leaseholds), then east to the Central Canada Coal Co. and Canada Foundry (Smart’s). In the bay at the foot of Home St. was the Morristown Ferry terminal and the St. Lawrence Engine Co. Opposite them was the old McNeil and Libby pickle factory on Blockhouse Island, and we can’t forget the CPR railway sidings coming from the tunnel out to the pickle factory and extending east along Water St. to Park St. Now back across the bay to Snider’s Boat Tours and the moving and storage warehouse next to Shorey’s Glove Works (now Buds on the Bay) at the end of Broad St. Next we have to jump across the end of Tunnel Bay to the CPR warehouse and dock, extending from the west side of Ferry St. at the river to the bend where the island actually starts. This is where the Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) steamer Kingston tied up every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday on the run between Prescott and Toronto. Other ships — sometimes CSL package freighters (City Boats) — would load and unload at this dock for local industries or transfer to rail freight. The ill-fated CSL Noronic even made an annual stop in the fall on its special excursion from the Lakehead (now Thunder Bay) (see the picture in the basement of the Brockville Museum). Ontario Hydro rented space east of the tunnel out to Ferry St. for poles, transformers and other heavy equipment. Their office and warehouse were across the street at the corner of East Market and Water St. The Brockville Rowing Club’s original clubhouse was where the lawn in front of the new clubhouse now is, and it is located where the club tennis courts were. Next east of the BRC were two coal dealers, W.B. Reynolds and James Bresnan. Then, east of them was Ault Creameries and finally the town water and purification building (the pump house). Included in the pump house was the town’s one and only electrical distribution station — there are now seven electrical distribution stations.

Barbara Ann Scott as the Regatta Queen, Brockville, 1948. From The Brockville Recorder & Times.

That’s about enough for now, Bob, I hope that if you print any of this, it will arouse interest in other local people and that they tell it the way they saw this very interesting year, 1948. To me, it was a year when the town finally began to grow out of its 10,000 population, where it had been stuck for years, and realize the potential that its founders had probably dreamed of.