Hawk in Montreal

I know this has nothing to do with old Montreal, but it is pretty cool. I was walking down Sherbrooke street around McGill yesterday (July 6, 2011), and saw a HAWK??? circling around really high up. It was bigger and more graceful than a seagull, and too beautiful to be a pigeon. Pretty sure it was a hawk (see attached picture).

LaRonde

I was at LaRonde last weekend, and got to thinking about all the rides that were there before. I figure if I am thinking about this, others must be as well, so here we go.


I know, I know, Laronde is still around, but many of the rides and attractions that were cool way back when, were probably deemed to unsafe by todays standards, and thus closed. These are what I will be focusing on for this blog.

First off, let's remember the non-rides. Waaayy back when, there was an Aquarium and a Dolphin Show at Laronde. Don't remember that, do you... When you walked in, the penguins were waiting to greet you, and when you left the aquarium, there was an electric eel that you could press a button and see how much electricity he was giving off. Then you made your way to the dolphin tank, where you were able to see a dolphin show in which acrobatic dolphins jumped, flipped and ate food out of the trainers hands.


Then they put in a WaterPark in the 1980s. I never went to it, so I can't comment too much on it, but I guess it wasn't such a big deal as it is now closed.

Here are some of the old rides that have closed down.

OVNI = Big Spaceship that locked you into a seat that went around the perimeter inside of the ride in a circle and each seat went up and down one after another.

The Rotor - a large tube, that you stood against the wall, and the whole inside of the tube started spinning, and you stuck to the wall (like a giant salad spinner). The floor then dropped from under you. People were always turning upside down on the walls, and I am sure that there was a few sick people on this ride.

The Enterprise - Like a sideways ferris wheel, that locked people into little cages, then started spinning really fast. Then the wheel started lifting, so that it was going closer to up and down than flat out spinning.

The Funicular (telerifique) - A ride that started at one end of LaRonde, and in a cable car, brought you over LaRonde, over the lake, and to the other side where it left you off. This was a great place to get a little privacy when on a date... Boomchickawowow.

There was a house of Glass aka (la Palais des Glaces) that was unbearably hot on a typical Montreal summer day.

There was a Haunted House ride, that was mediocore at best when it came to scaring people, but another great place for privacy...

There was the Maelstrom, a ride that put you in a car, and went around and around while going up and down















The Diablo - 3 arms with a wheel on the end of each of them, and cars attached to the wheel. The arms spun around, then the wheels started spinning.

The Astronef - a cage that hung down from a long arm. When you got in the cage and strapped in, the arm started rotating and stopped for a while at the top (you are upside down and losing all your change at this point).















There was a ride that was similiar to the Enterprise, except for being locked in a cage, you stood against the wall while the wheel started spinning, then the wheel rose. I can't remember the name.

There were Teacups, which you sat in and they started rotating while the platform you were in were spinning.

There were others, but i can't remember them all.

The ones that have been there from the beginning and are still there are...

The Pitoune (water ride)
The Merry Go Round
The Kiddy Train
The MiniRail
The Spirale
The Ferris Wheel (La Grande Roue)

If you remember any others, or want to comment, feel free. As always, click on the ads please.

Eaton's

677 Ste-Catherine Ouest?

Eatons...

Better for shopping or enjoying a dinner on the 9th floor restaurant?

Timothy Eaton was one of Canadas greatest businessmen. He opened the first Eatons in Toronto, but later expanded to Montreal and Winnipeg.

In 1925, Timothy Eaton purchased the Goodwin's store on Ste-Catherine street in Montreal, and by 1927, he had converted it to a 6 story department store. In 1930, it was expanded to nine storys, the topwhich floor had the restaurant.

The restaurant and the hallway leading to it were done in the Art Deco style. The restaurant was a close replica of Mrs. Eaton's favorite transatlantic liner called Ile de France. For more about the restaurant, watch the National Film Boards movie Les Dames du 9e (The Ladies of the 9th Floor). The restaurant is now a registered historical site by the Government of Quebec.

Eaton's had a large Mail Order service, and the catalog became an icon of Canadian culture. It allowed rural canadians to take advantage of the same prices that urban canadians enjoyed, and in turn, closed out many local monopolies. Some canadians even bought houses from the catalogue.



































Eaton's also sponsored the Eaton's Santa Clause Parade, from 1905 to 1982.






Eaton's (the chain that controlled almost %60 of department store sales in th 1930's) was put out of business when purchased by Sears. Sears tried to get their hands on the Montreal location, but were beat out by Les Ailes de la Mode.






Sears closed some stores, and sold some to the Bay, with the hopes of relaunching the brand in 2000. Their logo was changed

Never happened, and now the Montreal location is les Ailes de la Mode and the Eaton's Center.

Simpsons

What was in Simons downtown before it was Simons. Well lets work backwards. It is currently a clothing department store named Simons and a cinema named Scotia Bank. Before that it was Simpsons. Before that it was Simpson's (see the difference). The change came because of pressure from french Quebecers (with an appostrophe, it does not seem so french).

Before it's current incarnation, the Simpsons store in Montreal shrunk considerably. In its last incarnation, it was a tunnel of plywood that connected Place Montreal Trust to Cours Mont-Royal. In its before last incarnation, it was a department store, but only on the main floor and in the basement. Before that, it was a beautiful store, that was in competition with The Bay and Eatons (and Kresges). Ask me about the layout, and it is a blur, as I get confused with the The Bay and Eatons also.

The Montreal store ceased to exist in 1991.

In 1987, the Hudsons Bay company acquired Simpsons, but was forced to end the partnership due to federal competition laws.

In 1952, Simpsons teamed up with Sears, and became Simpons-Sears Ltd.

I have been unable to find the exact opening date, but it was 1897 +- 50 years.

Robert Simpson opened his first store at Toronto, Ontario in 1871. When he died in 1897, his store was taken over and expansion started in Montreal, Halifax and Regina.

And that was Simpsons (not to be confused with the Simpsons)

Cinema Loews

The Loews Cinema opened November 19, 1917, and was originally a Vaudeville theatre. It then reopened as a cinema in 1940. It closed in 1975, only to reopn as a multiplex in 1976.

It had 5 cinemas, and they were all really extravagant, and one super extravagant with a balcony and all which was the orchestra area. The Loews Cinema was located on the corner of St.Catherine and Mansfield.

The last movie to play in the old Loews cinema was Jaws, and the first movie to play was KingKong.

The cinema finally closed in 1999. It was then reopened as a Club Med World, which didn't last long. It is now some boutiques and head location of the Mansfield gym, which is in the old Cinema 1.

Thanks to http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3043 for lots of information.

The Montreal Forum

Been away working, so haven't had much time to blog.

This entry will be about the Montreal Forum (or the Pepsi Forum, if you don't remember it). It has a long history. With 24 Stanley Cups (2 of which belong to the Montreal Maroons), 8 Conference Championships, and 22 Division Championships. And a lot of amazing concerts.

It opened in November 9, 1908 as a roller rink that encircled an outdoor ice rink.

It was then rebuilt in 1924.

It underwent a renovation in 1949. This incarnation hosted Jacques Plante, the Rocket and the incredible Canadiens of the 1950s.

It underwent another renovation in 1968. This incarnation hosted Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden and the phenomenal team of the 1970s.

It is now known as the Pepsi Forum. It is no longer a sports arena, but a shopping mall / cinema.

The sports and concerts have since moved, and the new building has changed names more than once, the Bell Center (aka The Phone Booth), the Molson Center... But it will never be as great as the forum once was. The Ghosts of the Forum are said to haunt the Molson Center, but they have yet to haunt us to a 25th Stanley Cup.

Metro Stations

Man, has the metro changed. I remember the days when you could hear the metro leaving, but the song the metro tires made

hmmm HMMM HUMMMMM!

They've started renaming stations also

- Berri-UQAM was Berri-deMontrigny

- Jean Drapeau was Ile St.Helene

- Longueuil -Universite de Sherbrooke was Longueuil

That's all of the 3 stations on the Yellow Line

- Guy Concordia was Guy

I don't think I am forgetting any, but let me know if you remeber something.

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William

Peel Pub

Peel Pub used to be the cheap place to go in Montreal to have alot of beer and fun with the friends. There used to be 5 of them in Montreal.

Peel & St.Catherine

Peel & DeMaisonneuve

Old Montreal

Park Avenue

One near the Bell Center on de la Montagne (which burned down in February 2010)

They also opened one in Ottawa and one in Toronto (I don't know if they are still open)

Now there is only one left, on Peel Below St.Catherine, and it just isn't the same.

It was cool in the day, you could get $.99 spaghetti daily and $.08 chicken wings on Sunday. You would wait in line down the stairs, for a bouncer to decide if you should bet in.

There was a sign in the bathroom (graffiti, that said "Flush twice, it is a long way to the kitchen"

They had wet t-shirt contests, and NTN Online Trivia. Young adults playing quarters and other drinking games were quite common to see there.

Boy did we spend a lot of money there, but also had lots of fun.

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The Big 3

In later blogs, I will be going into some of the big forgotten buildings in Montreal, that are still there, but are no longer what they used to be. Here is a brief summary of upcoming blogs

Stores
Simpsons
Eatons
Kresges

Cinemas
Palace
Loews
Atwater Theatre
The Seville
Cinema de Paris (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Cinema 9 at 2001 Universite

The Forum

The strip mall in front of church on St.Catherine near Park Avenue (which everyone thought was a Satanic church)

Peel Pub
...Peel
...DeMaisonneuve
...Park
...Old Montreal

The metro stations that changed names
... Berri
... Guy
... Ile St-Helene



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Will update soon

Belmont Park

Hi All

I feel that all the "unimportant" history of Montreal is being forgotten, so I choose to immortalize it in my blog. This blog is about Belmont Park.

Anyone remember that Big White Wooden rollercoaster (the Cyclone) that was the symbol of Belmont Park?

It was located in Cartierville.

It opened in 1923 and closed 60 years later in 1983 (I guess LaRonde finally put it out of business).

I remember, very, very vaguely, going into the Haunted Mansion, and falling through a trap door, but that seems very unreal to me, as it could be extremely dangerous.

And wasn't the Cyclone a blast?

Belmont Park also had an authentic carousel.

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Les Terrasses "Better on every level"

I was walking through the McGill metro station and found myself trying to remember where the shopping mall Les Terraces was, from way back in the 80s.

I seem to think it was where the Eaton Center is currently. Anyone can remember, please let me know. I know when you stepped outside, you were across the street from where the Palace cinema was.

Anyways, Les Terrasse had the weirdest layout, many different partial levels, all color coded. It felt as if you were in a weird video game, where if you walked too far, you would fall off the RED level and land on the YELLOW level.

They had a catchy TV commercial tune
"Blue floor
Green floor
Yellow floor
Red
Les Terrasses is where its at
Les Terrasses, Les Terrasses, ooooooh....
Better on every level"

Found more information on Les Terrasses from Wikipedia, so here it is

"The Montreal Eaton Center was originally Les Terrasses, which officially opened in 1976 and closed in 1987.

The Mall layout was a triangular spiral, with gradually rising interconnected floors, approximately 45 feet high in total. At each point of the triangle, patrons could walk to the top of the mall. It housed 140 stores, and earch store faced the center of the triangle."

For all of you that remember, please feel free to share your memories.

For more pictures please see Mike Rivest Picassa Album @ https://picasaweb.google.com/rivest266/LeTerrassesBetterOnEveryLevel#

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