Lost Ottawa Facebook 2020
Here are all the Lost Ottawa posts that appeared on Facebook in 2020, starting with the most recent and going backwards.
You can view the posts in various ways. You can read the descriptions on this page and see the initial comments. You can click on the three dots at the bottom of a post to see more comments. You can click on the picture to see a “full screen” version of the picture with comments. You can view the original post on Facebook and leave more comments there.
At the bottom of the page there is a “Get More Posts” link that will load additional posts to the page. We are still working on a way to make the posts searchable.
Christmas in Carleton Place ... and a little Xmas story shared by Linda Seccaspina.
Maybe not such a good Christmas for the turkey!
Somehow Christmas Always Finds Me
lindaseccaspina.wordpress.com
December 24, 2020 This morning I got up and sat on the edge of the bed and read the news on my phone as I always do. Nothing much had changed as I scrolled through the various news outlets. I hit m…3 CommentsComment on Facebook
With the demolition of the Webb Motel underway, Rose Moreau shares a link to a story about various Ottawa motels in the west end that you may have missed the first time.
Early Days: Checking out — Motels, hotels and the end of a historic era.
kitchissippi.com
By Dave Allston The closure and pending demolition of Webb’s Motel on Carling Avenue represents one of the final remnants of an important part of life in Kitchissippi that dates back to the 1860s. â...18 CommentsComment on Facebook
Kyle Simourd shares a great Lost Ottawa Christmas gift, writing:
"Found these in my parents’ basement Christmas Eve. I remember shopping at Beaver Lumber and Cashway with my father, a good 30 or so years ago. Not sure when Beaver Lumber closed for good?Maybe 25 years ago?
A great Christmas find!"
42 CommentsComment on Facebook
Victoria Edwards shares a post about Ottawa's Great Snow.
Writes Victoria:
"My sister Linda and I in 1970-1971, which broke records for snow accumulation. Tara Drive, Ottawa, Ontario."
Tara Drive is runs off Maitland in the McKellar Heights/Copeland Park neighbourhood.
31 CommentsComment on Facebook
Susan Wasner makes an observation about Ottawa life, writing:
"Living in Ottawa, where you get a certificate just for surviving the winter."
44 CommentsComment on Facebook
Now in Lost Ottawa ... this old motel, shared by andrew Parkes.
Writes Andrew:
"Perhaps a piece of Ottawa some won’t mind seeing on the ‘lost' list’?
It's the New Highway Inn on Prince of Wales, once called “(a) haven for heavy drug use, prostitution and other illicit activities.†by the City in court.
I recall driving past it in 2016 seeing flames pouring out of the second story, just before the fire department showed up!"
50 CommentsComment on Facebook
Robin Chinkiwsky shares a little piece of Ottawa history with this photo of Carling Groceteria, 438 Preston Street, at the. corner of Pamilla and Preston in 1955.
Writes Robin:
"Here is my father Bill Chinkiwsky, myself Robin Chinkiwsky, and my brother Mark Chinkiwsky at what was a well- known butcher shop and grocery store back then."
39 CommentsComment on Facebook
A favourite place in Ottawa you might had a few meals over the Holiday Season in times gone by - the Green Valley Restaurant.
Guessing by the car this is in the 1990s.
(Shared by Helen Souter)
139 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sunday Best, featuring the Ballantyne Boys of Ottawa East hamming it up for the camera on Christmas Day in 1891.
The picture is described as "dandys in the rain." The dandy's in question are named as Charles, Adam, Arthur and Harry Ballantyne.
Guess the guy at left is not one of the Ballantyes? More educated guess says this is just over the Pretoria Bridge along Hawthorne, where the Ballantyne's had their home and coal supply yard.
(LAC PA-130016)
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sunday Drive ... from Ottawa to the Gatineau for nice picnic in your nice car in 1963.
Looks like a Corvair, Chevy, Hillman(?) and, on the far right, one of those Buicks with the amazing fins from 1959 or 1960.
Not sure which lookout in Gatineau Park this is.
(BAnQ 06M_E6S7SS1_P631667-Edit.tif)
26 CommentsComment on Facebook
It Boxing Day and we're still slacking ... so here's a shot of Santa returning home after a hard night of deliveries in Ottawa in 1976.
Pretty well 2500 miles from anywhere ... and 2580 miles from Ottawa.
Just for fun, I decided to check the distance in Google Maps, which replied: "Sorry, we could not calculate biking directions from "Ottawa, ON" to "Alert, Nunavut."
No cars, trains, planes, or even walking directions either. However, Rome2Rio offered an option which got you from Ottawa to Pangnirtung, north of Iqualit on Baffin Island, in only 26 hours.
That's about half-way to Alert and as far as they would go.
(LAC e999901566)
9 CommentsComment on Facebook
Some place you won't be able to stop for a coffee when exhausted Boxing Day ... this Tim's on Prince of Wales.
Shared by Andrew Parkes who writes:
"The Tim Horton’s on Prince of Wales near Hunt Club West is no more!"
63 CommentsComment on Facebook
Postcard from Ottawa, and a small Xmas present too, shared by Terry B Latham, who notes simply: "This was on a site."
The scene is a classic one with a lady crossing Sparks Street with two streetcars and the Russell Hotel in the background. Three characteristic features of Ottawa in one picture.
The Toronto Postcard Club dates this particular postcard to 1914.
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Boxing Day in Ottawa, and a puzzler, too.
This photo is found with a bunch of others for Ogilvy's. But is it Ogivly's? And if so, which one? Downtown? Billing Bridge?
The picture is so small, the slogan on the far wall is hard to make out. Seems to say "Fashion by the Yard." A clue!
(City of Ottawa Archives CA022608)
23 CommentsComment on Facebook
Somehow this car never arrived at my house yesterday. Maybe today? After all, it is "Boxing Day" in Ottawa. Mrs. Lost?
The car, I think, is a Hillman Minx, circa 1958, and the picture is from vintage postcard from the era .
I haven't seen any of the million local delivery people driving one ... but I have seen some cars and vans pretty stuffed over the past week.
9 CommentsComment on Facebook
At Lost Ottawa we come across some odd stuff while looking for historic images ... like this Christmas Issue of the Avro News, promoting the Avro Arrow.
Maybe as a replacement for Santa's sleigh?
I don't have the exact date of this cover. It's either 1957 or 1958, and I think the latter when Avro was pulling out all the stop in an effort to save the Arrow. This cover would have ended up on hundreds of Ottawa desks. Alas, the Grinch stole Christmas!
(From the collections of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum)
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
It Christmas Day and we are still slacking here at Lost Ottawa, so here is a little Xmas message from a group of Ottawa skiers, taken to celebrate the fresh blanket of snow that arrived December 24, 1954.
I fiddled the picture in photoshop because the original picture was so small you couldn't really see anyone anyway. Nevertheless the Citizen says the people in the picture are, left to right:
Robert Pilon, Henry Staubitz, Andre Hupe, Tony Gusseus, Wilfrid Lalonde, Douglas Ralston, James Fordyce, Graham Fraser, Suzanne Richard, Diana Kingston, Joanne Ralston, Ken Evans, Peter Richard and Maurice Carey.
And now they are sending you best wishes all over again!
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
We've got a little Lost Ottawa Christmas present for you this morning -- a video featuring photos from the fifty most popular posts on Lost Ottawa in 2020.
What's most popular depends on the Facebook stat you count. Likes, comments, shares, or reach? We start off with the most popular picture in each category, then show the rest in random order.
I made the video as a relaxing retrospective on what interested people this year. There's no talking. Just pictures and little music. Enjoy!
(P.S. Some of you might notice there are more than 50 pictures. That's because the list of posts with the most comments and the list with the most likes are not exactly the same. I included all the extras. After all, it's Christmas!
30 CommentsComment on Facebook
Three Ottawa Kings rehearse with Mary and Joseph for the Christmas Play at St. James's Church in the Glebe on December 12, 1955.
I was one of those kings in Grade Three. I remember being so nervous up there on the stage, getting ready to sing my part of "We Three Kings."
I think I was Melchior, who brought the frankincense. I hope I wasn't Balthazar, with the myrrh, who sang the part about:
Sorrowing, sighing,
Bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb ...
Not so cheerful!
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Rick Henderson shares a Christmas sort-of story in his continuing Capital Chronicles about early days in the Ottawa Valley.
You never know what lies in the back history of a person and his family, even to being spies in the Revolutionary War!
How a Stone, leads to Three Roks, and Three Roks leads ... to a Spy
www.capitalchronicles.ca
A new story for George Smyth - and its impact on our Capital's history.5 CommentsComment on Facebook
When you are an Ottawa Valley Santa, you don't always need a sleigh. You can use the fire pole!
This particular Santa arrives at the Leduc Street fire station in Hull on December 18, 1955, to the delight of the firemen's kids.
Not sure why one chap is holding on to Santa's feet!
(CA035967)
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Farrell McGovern shares a link to some fine music by Ottawa author Charles de Lint about driving Highway 105.
You could be driving it on your way home for Xmas.
Says Farrell:
"Best selling local author Charles de Lint is also a musician. He used to play a number of the folk and celtic music venues around Ottawa where some of his stories were set.
He wrote a wonderful little tune that memorializes Highway 105 over on the Quebec side. It is a route many travelled to reach The Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, and points north.
Here is a link to the song where he is accompanied by his wife MaryAnn Harris. Both are very lovely and talented people!"
Highway 105, by Charles de Lint
from the album Old Blue Truck
7 CommentsComment on Facebook
Here's an Ottawa song I would like to hear.
It's "Thanks to Santa," written by none other than local jeweler, businessman and promoter Jack Snow. It seems to have been released in December of 1955, with the idea that sales would go to charity. The song seems to have been performed (possibly as a polka) by Cliff McKay and his wife Patricia.
I was thinking someone must still have the 45 ... but Ive found out it was a 78! I know people are into vinyl once again, but do people still know what a 78 or a 45 might be?
10 CommentsComment on Facebook
Had a request for a photo of Ottawa's favourite December destination back in the day, namely Santa's Toyland in Freiman's Department store on Rideau Street (now the Bay). Favoured by kids, at least ...
Searching my database, I found this great photo originally shared by Patti Jo in 2015.
Said Patti: "Riding the Train in Freiman's Toyland, circa 1963!"
57 CommentsComment on Facebook
Santa visits Ottawa Uplands Airport on December 1, 1956.
This was part of a special 34-city pre-Xmas tour by Santa, who was delivering some 18 tons of toys to under-privileged kids around North America.
These kids are from the St. Patrick's Home and St. Joseph's Oprhanage, according to the story in the paper. I believe Santa's "toy lift" was sponsored by Esso.
(City of Ottawa Archives CA042077)
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ben Weiss shares a Lost Ottawa kind of present, writing:
"An early Christmas gift from an out-of-town friend ...
in the form of an 1874 Ottawa Citizen calendar."
Still good until the end of the year!
And good once again in 2048 according to TimeandDate.com
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Your Morning Commute, over the Ottawa River, or maybe in the Aylmer Road, and along Rue Principale in Hull in what appears to be the 1940s.
(BAnQ P547S1SS1SSS1D172P04R)
16 CommentsComment on Facebook
Victoria Edward shares a post about an Ottawa Institution that's for sale.
Notes Victoria:
69 CommentsComment on Facebook
Patrick Hoffman shares some old prescriptions from Ottawa "chemists" (as they were known back then).
Writes Patrick:
"Here's a collection of early 20th century Ottawa prescriptions I found in an Edwardian copy of 'Pocket Book of Treatment and Formulary'â€
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ottawa shopping "in the modern manner" in October of 1955.
Now it "modern" means online. Then it meant a gigantic parking lot like this one at Westgate.
(Ottawa Citizen)
28 CommentsComment on Facebook
Classic picture of driving in Ottawa and Hull, back in the days of rear-wheel drive.
Shared by Donald Legault, who writes:
"Here is what the streets could like on Christmas morning if the predicted storm pans out.
I took this photo at the corner of St-Joseph and Graham in December of 1970 at the start of the infamous 1970-71 winter. By the end of winter the hedges would be completely buried.
The bulldozer is in the field behind the Hull Armory, which used as a snow dump back them, and would be very busy that winter!"
14 CommentsComment on Facebook
Deborah Robitaille shares an Ottawa Hostelry where you might have hoisted a few pints of Christmas cheer over the years.
Writes Deborah:My Great Uncle Albert Robitaille owned the Albion Hotel.
My Great Grandfather owned the Sirdar Hotel (no longer in existence) on Rideau Street and my Great Great Grandmother owned a popular boarding house across from the Parliament Buildings.
I am looking for any information on both the Sirdar Hotel and the boarding house.
Thanks, Deborah
18 CommentsComment on Facebook
Waiting for Winter ... at what I believe is Ottawa Ski Club's chairlift at Camp-Fortune. The description just indicates the "County of Gatineau" in 1964.
Okay, so they are really taking the chair lift to get a great view ... but what interests me is that most of the cars are "compacts" like the Valiant, Acadian(?), and Corvair.
Looks like a Volkswagen bus in the back, but what is that in the front? A 1964 Rambler wagon? We boys always ended up in the rear-facing back seat of our family wagon.
I spent so many thousands of miles going backwards ... hey, maybe that's why I became a historian!
(BAnQ 06M_E6S7SS1_P64234)
28 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sunday Drivers from Gordon Johnson Motor Sales located at 1159 Banks Street (and Glenn) in Old Ottawa South and featuring a Lincoln, and Mercury and a what looks like a tri-tone Meteor for 1957.
The Meteor was a Canada-only car for most of its life (1949-1976), except for two years when they sold a Mercury Meteor in the U.S. The idea was to provide Mercury dealers with a low-price car they could sell in competition with the Pontiac. It was based on the Ford at first, but with special trim and fittings -- and that wild colour scheme!
By this time the Meteor line also had special "Canada-only" names like Niagara, Rideau, and Rideau Crown Victoria. These cars would now be 53 years old. Farther from us than the Model T was from them!
(City of Ottawa Archives CA044061)
30 CommentsComment on Facebook
Saturday Night at the (making of) Movies here in Ottawa.
Shared by Joe Macnab who says:
Yasmine Bleeth (of Baywatch fame) filming a movie on the Rideau Canal in the summer of 1998.
I did a little research and the movie appears to have been "Undercover Angel." The plot synopsis reads: "A writer with no focus in his work, becomes the unwilling babysitter of a precocious little girl who turns his life around. As you might have guessed, it was a feel-good Hallmark movie.
They seem to shoot at least one feel-good movie a year in Ottawa because ... we're all so sweet!
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Donald Legault shares the Morning Puzzler with a photo of this well dressed-lady posing for the camera on a trip to Ottawa from Hull.
Asks Donald:
"I wonder if a Lost Ottawa follower can identify where this photo was taken. It looks like one of the parliament buildings but I cannot quite place it. It is from my brother-in-law's collection whose family lived in Hull. Part of a group of photos from the late 1940s."
There's two lost and one found item related to this photo. Answer later, if nobody gets it ...
13 CommentsComment on Facebook
When you were a Saturday Vendor, rather than a shopper in the "Ottawa Market."
Shared by Michael Davidson, who notes:
"Found in my files ..."
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
Home from work in Lost Ottawa, where maybe you were employed by the government in the data processing office? Creating punch cards and tape for giant IBM computer?
I found these clips in the archives of the National Film Board. I bet some of you worked in this very room processing data for the census in 1967.
The clips were silent, so I added all the sounds. Possibly not the most authentic, but does give some ambience. I notice, for example, that practically no one is actually talking in the video, but they sure are typing a lot ...
I'm not sure I recognize everything the people are doing, but check out the hair and clothing styles. Plus, keep your eye out for it, you gotta love the good old days when people could smoke in the office!
Not!
17 CommentsComment on Facebook
Deitra Kimpton shares a Souvenir of Ottawa, as it was circa 1920. A little pre-Xmas present!
Writes Deitra:
3 CommentsComment on Facebook