A number of emails in the past month for requests about photos of the milk bottle that was once in our fairgrounds brought a number of childhood memories flooding back.
This first photo was taken from a calendar that our museum put out a few years ago. It's not great but shows the Co-op Dairy milk bottle with people lined up to purchase a half brick of ice cream for probably a dime or a quarter back in 1947.
A kid could easily get lost in the vastness of the midway, displays and booths that dotted the large landscape at the time, and you could easily find your mom or dad by saying "meet me at the bottle".
Here is another of the wonderful Brill Bus photos taken from the turn-around between Fort William and Port Arthur. The bus turn-around was just north of the corner of Northern Ave. and Fort William Road. Circled, you can see the milk bottle which was always a well known landmark at the
CLE grounds. Remember changing buses if you were going farther than the
CLE from either Fort William or Port Arthur?
Not a great clipping taken in 1962 but you can see how large the midway used to be. The left photo arrows and ovals are as follows:
Yellow - Northern Ave.,
Orange Oval -
CLE Coliseum,
Yellow Diamond - The Grandstand,
Green Oval -
CLE Auditorium(bingo hall now),
Pink Arrow - Memorial Ave.,
Purple Oval - Super Sonic Car Wash,
Red Oval - Welcome to Port Arthur Arch,
Blue Arrow - Fort William Road.
The configuration of the river was actually changed when the new
floodway was created.
The Google Earth photo next to the B&W one is:
Yellow Oval -
CLE Coliseum Bldg.,
Green Arrow - Northern Ave.,
Pink Arrow - old Super Sonic Car Wash building(no car wash but the building is still there),
Red Arrow - Memorial Ave.,
Black Arrow - Fort William Road.
I hope I haven't missed anything, and I'm sure you will all notice other things in the pictures.
This photo shows approximately where the track would be today, over top of the golf dome, with the grandstand taking up half of the Silver City movie theatre. the markings aren't as clear as the other photos but noted as follows:
A - Silver City,
B - Golf Dome,
#1 -
CLE Coliseum,
#2 - Dorothy Dove building,
Purple arc - this is where all the cattle barns were,
Orange rectangle - would be the grandstand,
large red oval - would be where the track was(the end was very close to the river where many stock car jockeys ended up),
E - Northern Ave.,
Pink 2-way arrow - Memorial Ave, Green Arrow - Fort William Road, and finally
C - Intercity Plaza.
When the Royal American Shows came to town for the
CLE, it was a childhood event to be topped by nothing else each summer. A number of midways came here but the Royal American Shows was the largest and best that I remember.
These photos were taken here in Fort William in August of 1958 mostly up and down Northern Ave., adjacent to the fairgrounds. Look at those kids - they are so excited(I remember it well)!
The bumper cars and the Gargantua!!
The Tilt-A-Whirl and another Royal American Shows truck!
These two are not local photos, but I
remember a ride like this coming to the midway where you actually had some control of the plane by tilting the wings with a steering wheel(very cool). The midway mainly came here by truck but occasionally a train would bring actors, acrobats and equipment.
Well here is our
CLE sign as we see it today on the Coliseum building on Northern Ave, and the last photo shows the old arch that was above the main entrance to the
CLE for years. You can see this today if you look towards the fairgrounds on May Street just south of Silver City theatre.
Conjure up your own memories and if you have any CLE photos from the past, email scans to me and we can put them on the web page.
NOTHING IS NEVER LIKE IT WAS AND THE CANADIAN LAKEHEAD EXHIBITION WAS NO EXCEPTION - THE RACING - THE RIDES - THE FREAK SHOW - THE CONCESSIONS - THE FOOD.......Can't help but miss the old days!!
Click on photos(SOME TWICE) to enlarge then enlarge more!
With this year's local Canadian Lakehead Exhibition on August 10th, I thought it fitting to add some nostalgia to Fair Week. The local Times Journal ad here was from 1947 with the Grandstand show being called "Cameos of 1947". This ad has appeared in this blog before. Note that the midway was the famed "Royal American Shows". Grandstand entertainment was also Jimmy Lynch's "Death Dodgers" and a 1947 Mercury was given away to some lucky person in attendance.
This original Canadian Lakehead Exhibition iron sign still exists on the CLE grounds. From my collection here is a 1963 ticket stub when the fair ran a full 8 days
An original Canadian Lakehead Exhibition "Jimmie Lynch's Death Dodgers" poster is shown here from the Fort William and Port Arthur days. 
Two Royal American Shows posters from the day are shown here....note that they both state "Worlds Largest Midway"....and I believe they were right. When our fairgrounds extended across the river, there were tons of rides, other midway attractions, and many other thrill shows. I remember vividly that one of Hitler's bullet proof cars were on display as well as oddities such as mutant animals and disfigured human beings.
Here is what the giveaway car looked like in 1947. One lucky person or family won this great family car.
Like most guys, their favourite midway ride was the bumper cars. Dodgem was one of the popular brand names for some of the early cars. Before you could ever get behind the wheel of your dad's car, you could drive one of these and run into anyone you pleased. One would show off by running into the cute girl drivers the most. These old bumper cars have become quite collectible in their own right today, as well as the old canvas banners as shown here.
A good one on the left... :-) This is what was allowed in California until January of 2010. Old retrofitted bumper cars with chain drive Kawasaki engines and leather interiors were allowed on the street until it was noted that it was a mistake by field staff at the DMV and all registrations were revoked.....Only in America! These cars no longer have California plates but were very cool all the same!
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