“Morgans Department Store”-Little bit of Canadian Vintage History

Recently I went and visited an antique show here in Toronto at a local mall called “Cloverdale“, there was lots and lots of items for sale but nothing mid-century for this gal until I saw a really cool hat box at one of the tables. Seen here…

The box was not in great condition but after quickly searching the name on the box “Morgans” I discovered that it was a little bit of Canadian history, so I ran back and scooped it up for a steal and a history lesson from its owners.

Apparently, Morgan’s (formally Henry Morgan & Company) was a Montreal-based Canadian department store chain. The first store was opened in Montreal in 1845 by Scottish immigrant Henry Morgan with a second store not appearing till the early 1950s in the Snowdon section of Montreal. Other stores subsequently opened on the island of Montreal, and several Ontario cities (Wikipedia).

After being open for over 100 years, in the 1960s the Hudson Bay Company purchased Morgans and quickly converted the Ontario stores to “Bay’s”. By the early 1970s the Quebec stores followed suit and that was the end of the brand Morgans….until I found my box! Now we can share in a moment of Canadian history together and bring to life the department store once more.

The Early Days:

Morgans 1890

Morgan’s department store in Montreal decorated for the 1939 Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. So Elegant.

I wish we could see setups like this again when royalty comes to visit.

Here are some images of other Morgans in the 1950’s

Hamilton’s Greater Shopping Centers-Morgans

Source: henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com

Interior shots of the Hamilton store being prepared for opening

A miniature milk bar for the kids. Oh my how cute!!

Source: henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com

Male Mannequins for the store. Kind of creepy I think. Actually Really Really Creepy!

Source: henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com

Group of Sales women attending a class to be able to work at Morgan’s.

What marvelous hair all these ladies have.

Source: henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com

Learning how to use the Cash Register.

Source: henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com

Morgans 1950’s ad for Schiaparelli Hats. Love this! How do I get this hat?

 

Hungry anyone? I will have the Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding (my fav!).

Gosh could you imagine if a Buffet (then called a Smorgasbord) was $1.19 today? Yikes!

Source: torontoist.com

“As new as tomorrow”….How exciting, I love things that are as new as tomorrow!

Source: torontoist.com

Logo Designs:

1950s Morgans

Source: The Department Store Museum

1970s Morgans after the Hudson Bay took it over (this would be its last logo change)

Source: The Department Store Museum

 Interesting Fact: It looks like Morgans was the first department store to move into family neighborhoods, as opposed to making a trip downtown to go shopping (as seen below). I’m sure this made many a family lives easier.

This ad makes me giggle. What is with the triangle people??

Source: torontoist.com

And that interesting fact ties in with the knowledge that where I bought the hat box was actually where a Morgans Department store once stood in the 1960s at Cloverdale Mall.  It was under my nose the whole time and I never knew! How exciting!

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There you have it friends, a little bit of Canadian History.

Do you have a department store where you live that has been around for years or maybe know of one like Morgans that has come and gone? I would love to hear about it.

Liz 🙂

 

 

Remembrance Day-Tale of the Canadian “Army Show”

Today is November 11th, Remembrance day a time to commemorate the sacrifices of people in all armed conflicts. It is also a time to say Thank You to the ones who are still living. Recently at the Toronto Maple Leafs game they had a remembrance day ceremony and had several military there. One of them was a woman by the name of Mary Prescott who had served with the Canadian Women’s Army Corp with the “Army Show” as a dancer and traveled to various places in Europe with the show. When I heard this, I instantly got to wonder exactly what the Army Show was and thought it would be a wonderful piece to share on this day.

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Note: Pictures were almost impossible to find for this blog but I really wanted to share this story with you so I moved forward with limited images. The Canadian Archives though has some wonderful pictures that I have attached at this link for you to enjoy.

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The Army Show

The Department of National Defense sanctioned a radio program with the help of the CBC called “The Canadian Army Radio Show” broadcasted from Dec 13th, 1942-September 1943. With its combination of music, comedy, skits it became widely successful and prompted the creation of a touring stage version. This idea behind the stage version was to entertain troops, promote recruitment by enhancing the army’s image, to increase the sale of war bonds, and to bolster civilian morale (Canadian encyclopedia).

Wayne and Shuster who wrote most of the material for the show

Source

When it opened in April 2, 1943 most of the skits, lyrics and music were written once again by the comedy duo Wayne & Shuster and it also was a smashing success. Time magazine described it as a “high-spirited, always likeable, often lavish soldier show“.  The show toured Canada that spring, visiting places like army camps and urban centers (Canadian encyclopedia).

While in Vancouver being refurbished for a project run on Broadway, the Department of National Defense, decided to split the troupe into 5 units to be sent overseas, two as musical revues and 3 as variety groups. Why? Morale was down in the military and the government knew that something like a musical revue would help change that AND they also saw the great success that the American USO had with their soldiers and wanted to replicate it with their own shows.

The 5 units reached England on Dec 21st, 1943 and there became part of the “Canadian Auxiliary Services Entertainment Unit” where they toured Britain and after the 1944 Allied invasion of Western Europe, at the front lines in Holland, France, Belgium and Germany (Canadian encyclopedia). The shows ended up having the effect that Department of Defense was looking for and one solider was even quoted to have said that it was like “mail from home”.

After the Allied victory in Europe, units entertained troops awaiting repatriation & serving as occupation forces. More than 20 entertainment units remained active until 1946 when all live entertainment in the Canadian Army were dispensed with.

Other Entertainment Units

As well as the Army Show there was also “The Royal Canadian Air Force Shows” and “The Royal Canadian Navy Show”, all with their own troops, singers, dancers touring to the respective bases and camps. The Navy show “Meet the Navy” was so widely popular that it even became a British Feature film.

If you would like to read more about the other troops and other exciting tidbits then check out this wonderful article entitled “It made them forget about the war for a minute” by Laurel Halladay that goes into much deeper information about all three of these entertainment units (and there is wonderful pictures that I cannot share on this blog).

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I hope you enjoyed this mini little remembrance day history lesson. Troops like the ones mentioned above really were an integral part of the war effort and without them there is a possibility that the war could have gone very differently. It truly is amazing what a “piece of home” can do for one’s soul.

Liz