I was the bar manager, head bouncer at the Beacon, Frankie and Johnnie’s, for years. It was rough. Lots of drugs sold there. The fights were common, but nobody got hurt often.
Awesome! Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the old days. I recall the place being rough too, but we’ve received many email suggesting otherwise. Perhaps time has mellowed their memories. It was no church!
I was there that day, about a hundred feet north of where this was taken, right in the middle of 16th Ave, in the crosswalk. There were a lot more people there by the time the Queen passed by, so this must have been taken 15 or 20 minutes beforehand. The NW corner was occupied by Chesney’s Hardware, which moved a couple of miles north onto 40th Ave in the 80’s. The predecessor to The Brick was on the SW, Sidorsky’s Furniture, notable for cheesy TV ads.
Awesome! I lived in this area in the ’90s, about 2 blocks away on 1st Street & 18th Avenue. I can confirm that Douglass Drugs was there until the mid-2000s; it was briefly a Shoppers Drug Mart before being turned into the dentist’s office it is today.
In the background the Safeway’s still there, but there was a strip mall beside it that was partially torn out in the late-90s when Safeway expanded, then almost completely demolished in 2011 for parking space, save the building on the corner which hasn’t been occupied since I still lived in the area.
Another great comparison of then and now. You can see in the back ground that the Safeway is still there today. Love the old Cop car and the guy that gets out of his car right on 16 ave to see what’s going on. I didn’t get to see the Queens motorcade in 73, But I did get a quick glance at it in 85 when it went by 9 ave on its way to the Palliser Hotel one evening.
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
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I grew up just a block away from here (Centre A Street) and remember this day well ! So many memories in my “old” stopping grounds!
How cool it that!
The car in question appears to be a mid-60’s Generic motors product—likely a ‘64 Pontiac Laurentian.
Awesome, thank you for helping ID it. That seems about right now that I give it a second look. Thanks for commenting!
I was the bar manager, head bouncer at the Beacon, Frankie and Johnnie’s, for years. It was rough. Lots of drugs sold there. The fights were common, but nobody got hurt often.
Awesome! Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the old days. I recall the place being rough too, but we’ve received many email suggesting otherwise. Perhaps time has mellowed their memories. It was no church!
Those were the days.They had better burgers than Peters a couple blocks away.1980 to 83 the best years without a doubt.
Thanks for commenting!
I was there that day, about a hundred feet north of where this was taken, right in the middle of 16th Ave, in the crosswalk. There were a lot more people there by the time the Queen passed by, so this must have been taken 15 or 20 minutes beforehand.
The NW corner was occupied by Chesney’s Hardware, which moved a couple of miles north onto 40th Ave in the 80’s. The predecessor to The Brick was on the SW, Sidorsky’s Furniture, notable for cheesy TV ads.
Yes, before she arrived. You can feel the anticipation! Lucky that you got to be there. I recall Chesney’s but not Sidorsky’s.
I only lived a few blocks away at the time.
I mistyped Sidorsky’s corner, it should be SE. Same building that later housed The Brick.
We all knew what you meant.
Awesome! I lived in this area in the ’90s, about 2 blocks away on 1st Street & 18th Avenue. I can confirm that Douglass Drugs was there until the mid-2000s; it was briefly a Shoppers Drug Mart before being turned into the dentist’s office it is today.
In the background the Safeway’s still there, but there was a strip mall beside it that was partially torn out in the late-90s when Safeway expanded, then almost completely demolished in 2011 for parking space, save the building on the corner which hasn’t been occupied since I still lived in the area.
Thanks for clarifying the bit about Dougalass Drugs. That helped a great deal.
Another great comparison of then and now.
You can see in the back ground that the Safeway is still there today.
Love the old Cop car and the guy that gets out of his car right on 16 ave to see what’s going on.
I didn’t get to see the Queens motorcade in 73,
But I did get a quick glance at it in 85 when it went by 9 ave on its way to the Palliser Hotel one evening.
Did the Queen visit Calgary in 85? I can’t find anything on that.
Opps sorry typo, it should of said 2005, missed it by 20 years;)
Hahaha!