JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

 Waterloo Chronicle-Telegraph, December 23, 1920. Click on image for larger version. There's a lot of finger-pointing and fist-shaking going on in this ad. These elements are not unusual in early 20th century newspaper advertising, especially appeals to consumers to keep buyers busy. Store ledgers won't stand for passive purchasers.  Using the Bank of Canada's inflation calculator, that free car fare for "buyesr" would require the equivalent of a $900 purchase today. The radius for that offer may have stretched out to Hamilton, Harriston, Orangeville, and Simcoe.   A few details about J. Letter & Son, from the Waterloo Historical Society Journal : The J. Letter and Son furniture store opened November 28, 1907, on what was later 38, now 40 King Street South, beside the railroad tracks. An attached undertaking business started a few months later on July 1, 1908. John's son Norman ran the businesses with his father. Norman took over the business after his fat...

During the last Sunday in January, I drove a friend out to Guelph and Waterloo Region to show off some of my old haunts. The U of G campus was busy, thanks to an organic food show that offered plenty of samples—thumbs up to organic cottage cheese, vanilla yogurt and pickled asparagus (individually, not combined). For dinner, we wanted to try someplace neither of us been before, which made me think of The Black Forest Inn in Conestogo. The layout reminded me of places I ate at during childhood, the type of taverns that were plentiful then but have disappeared as time marched on. The long tables and area set aside for a dance floor brought back memories of many family meals at the Anderdon Tavern in Amherstburg, though we were never there for music. We figured the Sunday night buffet was the easiest way to sample the menu. Amid the sausage, schnitzel and sauerkraut was a dish served at several restaurants in the region that I had never laid eyes on before: pigtails. This req...