Backroads Nova Scotia: Old Chevy Truck

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Vintage Chevrolet Truck, Backroads of Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

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I’m always thrilled when I come across a rusty old truck or auto from the early era of transportation and I have my camera handy.  This vintage Chevrolet truck, from about the late 1930s (my guess), was perfectly situated near a weathered garage down a meandering country road.  The distinctive front-end of this truck features an oversized grill, exaggerated fenders with standout headlights, and an iconic sleek hood ornament.  I spoke with the owner, who explained that he restored old vehicles.  So this vintage beauty may yet roll along the road again and turn a few heads as it does.

Vintage Chevrolet Truck, Backroads of Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

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Vintage Chevrolet Truck, Backroads of Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

 

Similar Posts on O’Canada:

~ Cool Vintage Junkyard for Sale

~ Old Farm Tractor Along Charlevoix / St. Lawrence Shore

~ Broke-Down Farm Equipment

 

Vintage Tools From 1912 Hardware Catalogue

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Because I love doing projects that involve hand tools I probably have way more than any reasonable person should have.  But if you work enough with your hands you know that the right tool makes all the difference.  Traditional hardware stores are now a dying breed of retail but back in the day they were the one-stop shop for most tool needs. The McLennan, McFeely & Co. Hardware Store opened in Vancouver in 1885 and for many years was a substantial business enterprise.

These pages are from that merchant’s 1912 catalogue.  Among the wrenches above, the crescent adjustable wrench must have made quite a splash because it was only first introduced around 1907 and to this day is a standard in any well-equipped tool box. Though less common nowadays, variations of the hand drills pictured below can still be found today and are quite useful.

The City of Vancouver Archives has digitized some of the old McLennan, McFeely catalogues, and flipping through the pages makes for an interesting diversion as you ponder how much more laborious it was to do various chores over a century ago.

Hand Drills

“Dear Auntie . . . don’t be cross”: Scenic British Columbia in Old Postcards

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Postmarked July 12, 1921 (Note Is Below)

Back in the day writing letters and cards was the routine thing to do if you wanted to stay in touch with distant friends and relatives. Picture postcards also allowed the recipient vicariously to experience what the sender did and saw.  As suggested by the note below on one of these cards of British Columbia, the folks back at home expected a long form letter if possible and sending only a postcard from a trip was an occasion for an apology (being Canadians and all). 🙂

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Note Side of Card Above of Gorge Bridge, Victoria, B.C.

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Yoho Glacier, near Field, B.C. (About 1910)

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Simash Rock, Stanley Park, Vancouver, B.C. (About 1905)

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Seven Sisters, Stanley Park, Vancouver, B.C. (About 1910)

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Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, B.C. (About 1915)

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Fraser River, Yale B.C. (About 1910)

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Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, B.C. (About 1951)

Broke-Down Farm Equipment

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Abandoned barns, decrepit factories and broken down equipment fascinate me.  I ponder the stories behind these once highly functional things that now rest in a decaying state. As testament to the utility of the wheel, the circular form is often present in such man-made landscapes.  There’s also the mystery, mundane though it may be, about why particular discarded objects come to be abandoned in a given place and usually piled together randomly with other well-worn debris.  The unkempt farm field, the ramshackle shed off to the side of a property or the makeshift junkyard along an overgrown  path all withhold such stories.

These photos of old farm equipment are from just such a place alongside a back-country road I happened upon early one morning near Granville Ferry, N.S.

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Related Posts:

— Andrea Kastner and Rejected Things

— Scenic Northville Farm Heritage Center, Annapolis Valley, N.S.

— Old Farm Tractor Along Charlevoix / St. Lawrence Shore

For the Love of Old Barns

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Rustic Barn with Red Doors, Windows and Roof, Ile d’Orleans, Quebec

“I’m so glad you’re here . . . 

It helps me realize how beautiful my world is.”

                                                              ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Old Baptist Church, St. Croix Cove, N.S.

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Not far from the Bay of Fundy shore of the northern Annapolis Valley sits this very old and humble Baptist church.  The colored glass windows are adorned simply with a subtle yellow-hued cross motif and a few complementary colors in the other panes.  Every weathered detail of its cedar-shingle exterior and its intimate understated interior testifies to its long history and the many lives and life-stories that have been shared within.

Let’s Play!: Gaddabout Vintage Part II

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Following up on a recent post about Toronto’s Gaddabout Vintage, here’s another installment of wonderful baubles — this time toys and the like — that can be found in this perfect little shop with something for every taste (and age).

 

An A++ for Toronto’s Gadabout Vintage

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While spending a late morning in Toronto’s very hip Leslieville neighborhood I happened upon Gadabout, a fantastic vintage shop showcasing all manner of things from bygone eras.  The store’s very friendly proprietor, Victoria Dinnick, was cheerily helpful and wonderfully gracious in allowing my impromptu photography in her jam-packed two-story shop.  Equally as impressive as Gadabout’s extensive offerings of vintage items are the mad and clever organizational skills on display.  For instance,  numerous rustic cabinets and drawers are carefully labeled to hint at the nifty contents tucked within just waiting for the curious.   (In one such drawer I found the heart-shaped box pictured below, with which I later happily surprised my sweetie.)

I plan to share several categories of photographs — including clothing, housewares, figurines and toys — from this neat little shop in future posts and these shots are just a sampling.  More on Gadabout can be found at its official site here (or stop in over on Queen Street East!).

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Ever-Bustling Early 20th Century Toronto

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No Postmark– Around 1920s

The cityscape of Toronto, with its many tall buildings adorned with fine architectural detail and its bustling street-level activity, is most akin to what Americans encounter in the busy cities of New York and Chicago.  These early 20th century postcards highlight the magnitude of Toronto even then.  The people and vintage vehicles in these tinted images add interest and help define scale.

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No Postmark — Around 1920s

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Postmarked 1910

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 Postmarked 1918

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Postmarked 1939

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Old Maps and Their Hidden Stories

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Nova Canadae (1693)

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Good historical maps combine science and art to guide its users through its subject geography, with the best such maps igniting the imagination about the many backstories underpinning its cartographical offerings. Some of the oldest maps of North America include parts of Canada, which then featured place names such Terra Nova (now Newfoundland), Nouvelle France (most of what is now Eastern Canada), and Acadie (now Nova Scotia).  The following collection showcases some interesting old maps of Canada I’ve come across.

Related Posts on O’Canada:

1933 Quebec Tourist Road Map

Vintage Quebec: Ox Carts, Dog Carts and Sleighs

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A Dog Cart in Quebec (late 1940s/early 1950s)

Much of Quebec has long had a rural character.  As shown in these vintage postcards, the province’s resourceful people would routinely enlist their animals — even dogs! — in the daily chores.

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Ox Cart in Rural Quebec (late 1940s/early 1950s)

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Sleigh in Winter in Montreal (postmarked Apr. 3, 1911) — Note on card reads in part: “Dear Father,  This is what they are doing way up here in April.   It thaws very little even yet.  .  .  .  With love, H.K.I.”

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Another Ox Cart in Rural Quebec (late 1940s/early 1950s)

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Similar posts on O’Canada:

* When Motels Were Newer and Grander

* Early 1900s Town Markets

* Moonlit Views of Yesteryear Canada

* Pastoral Splendor on the Ile de Orleans

 

Early 1900s Town Markets

These colored photo postcards from the early 1900s highlight the importance of town markets as hubs of community activity.  Lots of horses and wagons, ladies in long dresses and men in dark hats and not an automobile in sight.

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Postmarked October 6, 1910, Reads: “Dear Cousin, I have not received any letters from you, nor from Oscar. Hope you will write to the above address and by the time I return here, there will be many letters.  Kind Love, Edgar”

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No postmark, but likely around 1910; No note

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Postmarked September 8, 1909; No note

 Similar posts:

Moonlit Views of Yesteryear Canada

Vintage Postcards: Canadian Churches

 ♦ Whimsical Wednesday: Vintage 7 Day Kisses

The Scenic Northville Farm Heritage Center, Annapolis Valley, N.S.

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Tiller Wheels, Northville Farm Heritage Center, Northville, N.S.

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With its fertile plain shielded from the Bay of Fundy by a low-lying but extensive mountain range, the Annapolis Valley has long been the farming center of Nova Scotia.  Because of this, there are several places devoted to preserving and sharing that heritage.  Although the Ross Farm Museum in New Ross, N.S., probably gets more attention (and about which I’ll post at another time), the Northville Farm Heritage Center in Northville, N.S. (close to Centreville, N.S.), which we came across while on a meandering late Fall drive through the Valley, has a wonderful display of old farm tractors, machinery and other implements situated in an especially scenic area of the Valley.  It’s worth making the effort to find!

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Trusty Rusty Tractor, Northville Farm Heritage Center, N.S.

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Massey Harris Tractor, Northville Farm Heritage Center, N.S.

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Some Other Farm-Related Posts on O’Canada:

Old Farm Tractor Along Charlevoix / St. Lawrence Shore

Barns and Cottages of the Maritimes – Part 1

Barns and Cottages of the Maritimes – Part 2