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Hamilton Times, December 24, 1909. In 1909, the Arctic was the exciting frontier of North America, thanks to Robert Peary's still-contested claim of having reached the geographic North Pole. The Inuit living in the region were treated as an exotic species, to the point that, in the 1890s, New York's Museum of Natural History asked Peary to bring back "specimens" for study .  By this point, the myth of Santa Claus residing in the North Pole was established, which led to an obvious question: how did people in the far north actually celebrate Christmas? The answer: not in any way which pleased close-minded people to the south. The questions "disturbing young citizens" might not be the same ones which would disturb them today. This piece feels like a Christian missionary's wet dream. Look at these poor creatures who don't know the happiness everyone else experiences on December 25! It's cold! All they do is sit around joylessly on blocks of ice as ...

Panel from the Detroit Historical Museum's exhibit, Detroit 67: Perspectives . July 8, 2017. One of the elements I appreciated in the current Detroit Historical Museum exhibit on the civil unrest in Detroit in 1967 was its analysis of the media coverage. One panel lists what elements that we might expect today were missing. Panel from the Detroit Historical Museum's exhibit,  Detroit 67: Perspectives . July 8, 2017.   For television coverage, a space designed to evoke a middle class living room displayed footage on screens resembling vintage sets. As you'll see from the articles included in this post, the Canadian coverage followed a similar playbook. As the disturbance grew the morning of July 23, authorities urged the media to avoid or downplay reports, in order to maintain calm. It quickly became impossible to hide what was going on. CKLW-TV (now CBET) provided the first local TV report around 2 p.m. Soon, reporters from outside the region began desc...

Poster hanging outside the Detroit Historical Museum, July 8, 2017. A police raid on a “blind pig” (an unlicensed drinking venue) at 12 th Street and Clairmount Avenue in the early morning hours of July 23, 1967 provided the fuse for five days of civil unrest in Detroit. Whether you call what happened that week a rebellion, riot, or uprising, the repercussions are still evident around the city, and remain a well-debated subject. Given Detroit’s proximity to Canada, the events that unfolded affected Windsor, and were commented on elsewhere around the country. What I aim to do with these posts is show Canadian reaction to the events in Detroit, primarily from newspapers in Toronto and Windsor. This series grew from several streams of things I’ve done over the past year: Collecting newspaper stories: Side stories I saved while researching Canada’s centennial, others I tracked down out of personal interest. Museum visits: if you’re visiting Detroit during the...

This post offers supplementary material for an article I wrote for Torontoist , which you should read before diving into this piece. Toronto Star , January 1, 1977. The Star ’s initial coverage of New Year’s Eve celebrations put a positive spin on the evening. A full page of its January 1, 1977 edition was devoted to scenes across Metro Toronto, from revellers downtown to skating clowns in Scarborough. Those who ventured out endured temperatures which dropped to -13°C. On Yonge Street, the new year swept over the strip “like a new disco melody.” Among those mildly disappointed by the scene along Yonge that night was Chuck Ross, a 22-year old marketing analyst from North York. “Most of our friends have girlfriends now, so we figured we’d see if we could find some girls tonight by ourselves,” he observed. “I guess we haven’t tried very hard.” Spurned by the ladies, Ross and a friend wound up dining at an unidentified burger joint, staring at the mirror lining the counter.

Before reading this post, check out the related articles over on Torontoist. Icelandia ran short "Ice News Bulletins" in Toronto newspapers that usually pitched the latest events or offered lousy verse about enjoyed its facilities. This one, which appeared in the Globe and Mail on January 18, 1947, tries to attract a lawn bowler (or is "Henry" a reference to another poet or an enemy of the rink?). The poet is dishonest, as headlines that week indicated some of those who tried to visit were "out of luck." Ask the girl denied entry because of her faith if she wasn't harmed or maimed.  The tone was quite different in the ad it placed in the Globe on February 3, 1947, two days after sports columnist Jim Coleman related the latest incident of discrimination against potential customers (in this case, a Greek skater who Coleman was happy to note punched out a rink employee). I was unable to determine how far Icelandia went in taking action agains...