Were our winters of the 40s and 50s any harder than they are today?
Maybe they were because we didn't have the heating technology current
today. Our kitchen was the only room heated at bedtime to save money
of course. I can remember those winter nights in my bedroom, where I
could see my breath. Getting into bed was a nightly struggle. Looking
out the bedroom window next to my bed at the dark and windy scary
lane was not an option. With four inches of blankets covering me from
head to toe I never really got warm enough. I'd actually curl myself
up into a ball trying to protect my extremities, and eventually, I'd
fall asleep. My mom was the first up. It would damed near take
dynamite to get my younger brother and I out of that now relatively
warm bed. First I'd stick my little head out from my cocoon to test
the weather. Then I'd make a mad dash to the kitchen where our mother
had our clothes warming in the oven. Eat cereal (Rice Krispies), milk
and sugar. Or should I say cereal with our sugar. I'd put so much
sugar in the bowl there would be a residue of undissolved sirup left
for me to spoon up -- yum. Once bundled up in enough layers to
satisfy mom (totally uncool), I'd push open the front door against
the snow which fell during the night, and sallied forth to Bannantyne
Elementary School. Burr! Looking back I'd have to say the winters
were a bit colder, especially if one believes in global warming, but
mainly this is what I remember of a wonderful childhood growing up in
the avenues and lanes of Verdun.
Second Avenue.
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
29 comments:
I remember my father stocking the coal at nite and then putting more coal
in and letting it burn down over night and he had to start over in the
morning before the fire got warm
We had a stove in the kitchen and a Quebec heater in the hall with the pipes
going through from one to the other. we did not own a fan nor a telephone \
the good old days
----- Original Message -----
From: "biking2006"
To: "Verdun Connections"
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:29 AM
Subject: Verdun Winters Past
-----------------------------------------------------------
New Message on Verdun Connections
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: biking2006
Message 1 in Discussion
Were our winters of the 40s and 50s any harder than they are today?
Maybe they were because we didn't have the heating technology current
today. Our kitchen was the only room heated at bedtime to save money
of course. I can remember those winter nights in my bedroom, where I
could see my breath. Getting into bed was a nightly struggle. Looking
out the bedroom window next to my bed at the dark and windy scary
lane was not an option. With four inches of blankets covering me from
head to toe I never really got warm enough. I'd actually curl myself
up into a ball trying to protect my extremities, and eventually, I'd
fall asleep. My mom was the first up. It would damed near take
dynamite to get my younger brother and I out of that now relatively
warm bed. First I'd stick my little head out from my cocoon to test
the weather. Then I'd make a mad dash to the kitchen where our mother
had our clothes warming in the oven. Eat cereal (Rice Krispies), milk
and sugar. Or should I say cereal with our sugar. I'd put so much
sugar in the bowl there would be a residue of undissolved sirup left
for me to spoon up -- yum. Once bundled up in enough layers to
satisfy mom (totally uncool), I'd push open the front door against
the snow which fell during the night, and sallied forth to Bannantyne
Elementary School. Burr! Looking back I'd have to say the winters
were a bit colder, especially if one believes in global warming, but
mainly this is what I remember of a wonderful childhood growing up in
the avenues and lanes of Verdun.
Second Avenue.
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I remember that Barbara C
----- Original Message -----
From: "biking2006"
To: "Verdun Connections"
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:29 AM
Subject: Verdun Winters Past
-----------------------------------------------------------
New Message on Verdun Connections
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: biking2006
Message 1 in Discussion
Were our winters of the 40s and 50s any harder than they are today?
Maybe they were because we didn't have the heating technology current
today. Our kitchen was the only room heated at bedtime to save money
of course. I can remember those winter nights in my bedroom, where I
could see my breath. Getting into bed was a nightly struggle. Looking
out the bedroom window next to my bed at the dark and windy scary
lane was not an option. With four inches of blankets covering me from
head to toe I never really got warm enough. I'd actually curl myself
up into a ball trying to protect my extremities, and eventually, I'd
fall asleep. My mom was the first up. It would damed near take
dynamite to get my younger brother and I out of that now relatively
warm bed. First I'd stick my little head out from my cocoon to test
the weather. Then I'd make a mad dash to the kitchen where our mother
had our clothes warming in the oven. Eat cereal (Rice Krispies), milk
and sugar. Or should I say cereal with our sugar. I'd put so much
sugar in the bowl there would be a residue of undissolved sirup left
for me to spoon up -- yum. Once bundled up in enough layers to
satisfy mom (totally uncool), I'd push open the front door against
the snow which fell during the night, and sallied forth to Bannantyne
Elementary School. Burr! Looking back I'd have to say the winters
were a bit colder, especially if one believes in global warming, but
mainly this is what I remember of a wonderful childhood growing up in
the avenues and lanes of Verdun.
Second Avenue.
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"I remember my father stocking the coal at nite and then putting more coal
in and letting it burn down over night and he had to start over in the
morning before the fire got warm
We had a stove in the kitchen and a Quebec heater in the hall with the pipes
going through from one to the other. we did not own a fan nor a telephone \
the good old days"
Santiago we had the same set up.and so did everyone I knew on Second Avenue. There were some cold morning!
S.A.
Yes Bill. There were cold mornings. We only had the stove in the kitchen. We used charcoal to get the fire going if it went out....which it did more times than not, then we would put coal on top of that, once it got going. I remember going to to the store to buy small bags of it. The charcoal was light, but the coal was heavy. Having no dad and being the oldest boy living at home at the time. It was my job to go buy that stuff. Talk about having the right upbringing. You could go one way or the other. We could have grow up good or bad. Most of us took the good route, it seems.
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I Remember the mornings being so cold,...that we put a pot of Boiling Water outside,and it Froze So Fast that the Ice was Still Warm.................(it's true) another time when I 'kicked ' the cat out for the night,.............it was So Cold ....I froze my foot,.................... (it's true I tell ya)...........hahahahahha .................................Stove Pipes ,............. ...................and once a year we had to clean the stove pipes out,to get rid of the soot build up,.............. I'll try to find some old pictures of those old Verdun hallways with the Hallway Furnance,where you stood till you thaw'd out,.........or till your frozen pants would start to be flexible again,........Yikes Remember standing gloves & mits on the stove to melt that snow that was stuck to them...... the house in the picture is from the VictoriaTown photo's that were saved from the garbage bin,they've been posted before,..but since the top[ic was winters,and stoves,..........I thought a reminder was in order
Bill. I know what you mean about being cold even in bed. Bumpy and I use to cuddle up together when we were very young. It would give warmth to both of us. I really miss that poor bugger, and would give almost anything just to be able to hug him one more time. Would that be enough? Probaly not. We need to enjoy each other while we are still around. and that to me means enjoying everyone on here. What memories.
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Winston we also only had the kitchen coal stove for most of my upbringing, however the hallway stove was added along with the extended piping. Maybe we used oil by this time but I don't remember. This up grade never warmed the back bedroom at all unless the bedroom door was left opened which of course never happened. Our humble hotwater heater in the far left corner of the kitchen and next to the stove, could never fill the bath tub, and so mom had to put pots on the stove to compensate for the lack of hot water. Thank God for the YMCA because I no longer had to take a scalding bath once I became a member (age 9). I recall mom scrubbing clothes with a washboard in the sink, until dad finally purchased a washing machine with auto rollers yet!
Winston I posted a reply but it disappeared from the site. Gremlins. Should teach me to save correspondences.
I have some wonderful memories about Second Avenue in the 40s and 50s. It took me many years to appreciate the effort my dear mother took to keep us warm and fed. Dad wasn't too reliable in those days (Irish Virus). He did the best he could with what he had, and thats all anyone can do. Mom's shopping, cooking, washing (washboard), house work, and in later years, also brought home a paycheck by cleaning other peoples homes. She lived out here with me since 1980 and passed away in 2000, so I did make amends to her, and told her I appreciated all she did for us.
S.A.
Bill. That is great. You got a chance to repay your Mom for all her hard work and devotion. That is on of those blessings we get from above. My father got killed in 1943 while in the RCASC. So Bumpy and I grew up without a dad. My older siblings did know he, but I only have I memory of him. The Day he left to go away, I started crying, because he did not give me a piggyback ride. I always remember he did. He came back in the house and I remember standing on the trunk in the hallway, and climbing on his back. That was the last time i saw him. I was not 3 years old yet. I too got a chance to help my mother, because she now had to go to work, also cleaning other peoples houses. And some of them were very rich. One of them had the two top floors of a huge apartment building. I quit school at 14 to go to work to help her out. I use to get $45.00 minus taxes, etc twice a month. Out of
that I gave her $30.00. with the rest, I bought my own clothes, paid bus fare, and even paid my own medical and dental. No insurance then either. When I went into the Marines, I was getting $63.00 a month, minus taxes. Of that I sent her $40.00 a month. Lucky me, after 6 months in the service I got a raise to $72.00.... Sent her that amount for a good 2 1/2 years. Made me feel good to do it. And we never spoke about it between us. The memories are there, that is for sure... Much Aloha, Bill
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Bill, Your memories resemble so much my own that its as if I had wrtten them. The enclosed drawing shows our flat at 857 Galt and I bet are similar to many flats in Verdun. I showed this drawing before but I added the kitchen stove and Quebec heater connected together by those ugly stove pipes hanging from the ceiling. Guy
guy looking at your layout plan, shows you have skills in drafting back then all plans were drawn the same way you did. if it wasn't the date written on the bottom, i would of though you copied very impressed, the old school of plan drawing. when you look at heritage building plans they look just like that. from the original archectics. if you never took drafting well then you have a skill, that is forgotten today, again nice job on the layout
Metalman, As a matter of fact, I did take drafting lessons wich helped me throughout all may life, having built three boats, and three houses not to mention many other projects. The skills you learn when you are young stay with you all your life and you never know when you will need them. Of course today, all these drawings are down by computer. The Boeing 777 and the Airbus 380 were done by computer. Thanks for the compliment metalman. Guy
i read drawings everyday, today's drawings are very detailed to let the new geneartion carpenters, trades people have a better understanding and still make mistakes?? we used to meet at a restaurant back then, order a coffee for 25 cents the engineer, designer, would draw a sketch on a napkin with a pen no details and we would build it perfect. most of the tradesman are gone today, i was one of the youngest back then today i'm the oldest on site. all trades today just are experts on one part, the real general carpenters are history today, very very few of us left. thanks guy
Our flat was a 'little' different Guy.
Our flat was a downstairs unit on the right. The downstairs flat on the left was a mirror image of ours.
Going straight in from the front door to the back door:
Gallery - front door - porch - hallway - kitchen - shed.
The bathroom and the john were on the left.
All other rooms were on the right:
Livingroom and master bedroom were off the hallway separated by a chesterfield.
The back bedroom was off the kitchen.
The back gallery was off the shed.
We had a front and back yard.
Btw both bathrooms, of the flat next door and ours were connected by a skylight.
Second Avenue.
Guy. You must have lived in the rich part of town. Our master bedroom and "dining room" were one and the same.
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June 13th.Montreal,..............Just like the old days Yup,I Remember the Mountain Frozen Solid well into August,(no mosquito's that year).................................... and we had to thaw the House out by setting fire to the one nextdoor,.....only worked for a few hours,till the water from the firemens oses froze up again,.......and Well ya ,just couldn't start another fire immediately as that may appear suspicious (mind you most Montreal Fires were I think) ......had to have occasion for those fire sales,............ Yup we had to burn everything in the house that was made of wood,until we found all 8 of us precariously perched out at the end of the catwalk suspended in mid-air,.cause the week before ,we had to burn the shed and everything in it,which left us with just that 'catwalk ' btwn where the house used to be and where the shed used to be,............Good thing it warmed up the very next morning ,.and we all had to go to the Natatorium (being,August and all)...............Yup Remember it Well...................... have fun & Remember Verdun
I found this shot from Our old Protest days in the 60's................. right around the time of the Kite Festival................... ........................................................it's true I tell ya ,.it's true.........
Les. You are a fruitcake. You are a clown short of a circus. You are as goofy as goofy can be. You have me in hysterics......Keep it up. Always keep 'em laughing!!!!!!!!
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Les, I don't believe a word of it. If the shed and house were gone, how would you get down from the catwalk? If it was true, you would be still up there. Ed
Wait a second here,Winnie! You lived across the street from me and YOU HAD A DINING ROOM ON 3RD AVENUE?? there was a kitchen,bathroom,parents bed and front room no wall in between, and us kids in the bedroom off the kitchen in bunkbeds, and of course the hallway with those lovely pipes on the ceiling, not to mention the clothes line across the kitchen where the frozen long johns would hang to thaw out from the freezing bloody weather we had back then......I say the winters are much warmer today. So let's see a photo of YOUR dining room on 3rd Winnie............(smile) cookie
Did anyone have the skylight I mentioned in the above post?
Till this day I cannot understand the significance of having a skylight in those flats. It consisted of a shaft about 4' X 4' wide, which extended from the roof down through all three stories.
The top two flats had a small bathroom window looking out at the shaft. The bottom flat had a window (painted) on the bathroom ceiling. I recall one day getting a ladder and trying unsuccesfully to open the window. It had never been opened since we lived there, and the paint sealed it shut. I also got scolded for trying.
There must have been a reason back during WW 1 (when they were built) to have a shaft down the middle of the building, but I can't think of any. I'm sure it wasn't to provide sunlight to the flats as they do to some homes today. Besides during the winter the roof would be covered with snow.
If the people (Isabel MacIntyre) in the flat above us stuck their head out their shaft window and looked down, they could see right into our bath tub (if it wasn't painted that is).
Now here's a puzzle for someone.
Second Avenue.
those were built to have like a air vent, so when you use the crapper you have the window open to clear the air??
Bill. Great minds think alike. I have also wondered why the skylights. I don't think they provided that much light. Maybe they figured cause the poor people lived in Verdun, that the police might have to come and get them, and that would be an easy access.... Anyone have a better idea????
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Can't figure it out for the life of me , thinking,,, smell the wood burning jim
Cookie. It was a bedroom/diningroom. We MADE it into a dining room at Thanksgiving and Christams. Otherwise it was the place where Bumpy and I slept. Maybe it wasn't a "BEDROOM" at all. I guess I must have been trying to put on "THE RITZ"!!!!!
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Cookie. I do have a picture of our "dining room" on 3rd Avenue. The only trouble is, is that it is on vhs tape......
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HI Re the winters. We lived on bottom flat on 6th. Anyone remember the coal man coming in the yard with his coal chute and dumping the load thru the window onto the floor in the basement? Man never forget that smell...touch it and get dirty real fast... Emptying out the stove with the ashes and putting it on the snow and ice on the "path".Just enough so we could play ball hockey on the sidewalk.. Lad
I think just about every house in Verdun (at least all the flats) seemed to have that 'connecting' room off the front room,......and with all the kids around in those days ,.every inch of space was needed for sleeping quarters,...... and it was a rareity for anyone to have a room of their own,.......it wasn't until my older brother moved out that I inherited the room to myself,.....all my sisters shared their bedrooms.......... Then we moved to Ville Lasalle ,and I got myy own room there,...and got a driveway,..and a 'real shower' instead of those makeshift showers in Verdun , you know the type the hose that fit over the faucet,and had a 'holder' halfway up the wall to put it on while you had a shower................hahahahaha "The Good Old Days" hahahahahaha HF&RV
Our parents fault Les, it was the large families. I was thinking if they brought the pill out earlier we could have all had our own rooms. Of course if they did, we may not be here. Ed
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