Friday, March 18, 2011

Remembering History

15 comments:

Les F said...

Prior to the Turbo ,the other fast train was called the Rapido,....I saw both these trains quite often as the train tracks were immediately behind my oldman's shop ,when we were on Mullins St. The tracks were the ones that separated Verdun & Point St Charles,it was always something to see the Turbo as it looked quite futuristic,for it's time:
Cheers !! HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

My mother worked in the DIL plant in Verdun during the war. With 7 kids to feed we could finally eat normally as we where born during the depression in the 30s and had very difficult times as did many other Verdunites. The DIL plant was the factory that made more ammunition than any other plants in the commonwealth. It hired 6000 employees, mostly woman. Thanks Pauline for bringing up the subject.
Guy

Les F said...

Mostly Women due to the fact that most of the men were at War. The women did a superiour job and at the end oof the war they were sent bak to be housewives ,almost forgotten, yet it is thier efforts & women like them across Canada who helped the War Effort ,that contributed greatly to the ultimate succes of Our side .....
Working all day & then taking care of a household the rest of the time.......... We Owe them all a great deal of Thanks........................................Cheers !! HF&RV

Les F said...

The Turbo Train has come up a few times , here is a link to the most recent being in 2009....I know we also had a number of other photos of this cool old train ,way back on the old Verdun Connections MSN site.too.

http://verdunconnections2.multiply.com/journal/item/3524/Remember_the_Turbo_Train?replies_read=5

Cheers !! HF&RV

pauline garneau said...

Your mother must have been a very strong willed, responsible and creative person. With 7 children the weight on her shoulders must have been enormous. .....Pauline

Tom q said...

Guy and Les: I've got some "historical" (does 1975-era count) shots of the DIL before they tore it down, but haven't a clue as to how to post them on here. Got a quick "Reader's Digest" version of how to do it? Would you rather drop me a line?

Les F said...

Sure no sweat Tom, I sent you a message asking if you have a scanner ,so I can walk you through it easily enough. We can do that off the board for now,.& you will soon be posting whatever you want.
As for does 1975 count,.Absolutely it all counts & we'd be happy to have it.......... HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Tom,
I will also gladly add those photos of the DIL plant to my album no. 17 for everyone to enjoy.
Guy

Tom q said...

Ok Group, Here goes. If you go to my page, you should see the pictures. If there's an easier way to do this, well, let me know and I'll have at er. I've some black and whites of the same area during the construction phase I'll have to find...

Les F said...

Great start Tom,.& here are your pictures in a slideshow

Cheers !! HF&RV
...and Thanks for the input ,it is appreciated by all..... Now that we've got you started...hahaha We hope you find all kinds of stuff & stories to share,but at the very least keep reading too.

Les F said...

definetly unmistakable water tower & the shape of those sloped rooftops,....and the cars of the era,very cool....... Cheers !! HF&RV

Tom ,if you go to your page & open your photo album ,you will see at the bottom of the page, the Embed Codes,.those are the ones you can highlite ,then copy & paste into any of these reply windows like this one.

Guy Billard said...

From what I can remember about the DIL plant, after the 2nd WW it was divided into sections and rented to various manufacturing facilities but these eventually ceased operation or moved elsewhere, then demolished to be replaced by a residential complex. Only the tower at the corner of Henri Duhamel and La poudrière remains of the original plant but was totally renovated as I have shown in my slideshow. I will copy your photos and add them to my album n. 17. Thanks for the photos Tom.

Guy

Tom q said...

I can remember as a child when my mom would take us through the factory to different companies that were there. CLIX zippers used to hire people in the neighbourhood to do piecework like putting together zipper heads. Women would take 5 gallon metal cans of zipper parts home, put them together, and get paid for the pieces. ALL the "ABSORBINE JUNIOR" in Canada that was made in the early 60's came from there. There were companies that made flatware for your table there as well, and two furniture companies. Where the tower is now, immediately to the right, was a fabric company that used to import ponchos and south american fabrics of the wildest colours I've ever seen. It was quite a place...

Les F said...

That is quite the information, I didn't know any of that stuff,...it took me until the 70's when I went used to go to Central America to appreciate the vibrant colours they had .otherthan that I thought it was just hollywood stuff 'painting' their version of locals.. Oddly enough though when I worked for Gestetner Duplicators in Montreal , I got to see another side of Montreal , the sweatshops all over te place. Immigrants all working away (for the garment industry) in Montreal......
Thanks for the info & memory prompts .......................Cheers !! HF&RV
As for the CLIX zippers , I only remember joking years ago that I wanted to be part of the YKK family,as almost every single piece of clothing had YKK zippers in them,.I guess today it's something Chinese ?? maybe. great input Tom & thanks for waking us up,,,,,

Les F said...

hey , how's this for udeless information..........hahahahha
The initials YKK stand for 吉田工業株式会社 (Yoshida Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha?), Yoshida Manufacturing Corporation.

YKK claims to be the first zipper company to promote environmental protection measures. YKK developed a line of "environmentally friendly zippers", following the company's philosophy "The Cycle of Goodness" which means that one prospers when one renders benefit to others.

.I like the idea of the Cycle of Goodness, which means "That One Prospers,When One Renders Benefit To Others".................... Helping Others .....not a bad Mantra. Cheers !! HF&RV