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Another installment of these cast iron circles, this time from Saint John, New Brunswick.
Hard to say for certain, but I found this group a bit grittier than those in other places.
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Similar Posts on O’Canada:
> Creativity Afoot!: Toronto’s Varied Manhole Covers
> Manhole Covers of Quebec City
John DeRinzy, Three Men With Jack Hammers (1950)
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Unless you were around when it was built (I wasn’t, by the way!), it’s difficult to imagine how massive an undertaking it was to build Toronto’s subway system. Shortly before it’s opening in 1954, local artist John DeRinzy, who worked as a graphics designer for Simpson’s department store (later part of the Hudson’s Bay chain), documented the progress of this major public works project in a series of watercolor and charcoal landscapes. His inclusion of workers in these images helps the viewer to connect emotionally to the scenes depicted. They are reminiscent of the style displayed by public art of the New Deal era a couple of decades earlier in the U.S.  (DeRinzy’s work also brings to mind Caven Atkins’ painting “Arc Welder Working on Bulkhead” (1943), which can be seen in this 2013 O’Canada post.)
More background on these images can be found in the City of Toronto Archives here.
John DeRinzy, Underground Utilities, Yonge Street (1949)
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John DeRinzy, Welder (1950)
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John DeRinzy, Men Excavating in Timber Lined Trench (1950)
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John DeRinzy, Man With Jack Hammer (1950)
Image Credits: John DeRinzy; City of Toronto Archives
Charlottetown is a delightful city on Prince Edward Island, whose residents are blessed to live in such a vibrant place and beautiful province. Small cities and towns throughout Canada often struggle to sustain a thriving economy and a high quality of life. To its credit, Charlottetown appears to have figured out a formula that works well.
On a recent visit to its city center, I was amazed at the evident diversity of its wonderful shops, eateries and arts and music scene. These shop signs are a small reflection of that. Although PEI may be the smallest province in terms of geography and population, it holds its own quite nicely.
Similar posts on O’Canada:
» Annapolis Royal Through Its Signs
Toronto, being the big city that it is, has more than its share of diverse street or wall art, more commonly called graffiti. This isn’t every one’s cup of tea, but it’s hard to ignore the creative expression that goes into these highly stylized works.
Among the varieties to be found gracing the corner wall of an old building, on either side of the occasional alley way or wherever else you may find these quirky pieces are classic graffiti tags, the enigmatic or humorous character scenes, the images laden with social or political messages, and designs that are as much about vibrant colors as anything else. I took a lot of shots of these recently, so have broken them up with some being posted here and others planned for a later set of shared images.
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Similar Posts on O’Canada:
While recently running an errand in Halifax I snapped these manhole covers as examples of subtle industrial design. Â I didn’t notice as much variety among them as I’ve seen in other cities but that’s probably because I collected these so quickly. Â Still, there are a few distinctive examples to see, including one that’s a square cover formed by two triangles.
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Headstones, Old Burying Ground, Halifax
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Given its immense size, Canada is blessed with vast forests, sprawling farms and sweeping fields all of green. Â Adding to previous posts featuring red- and blue-themed photo galleries, this collection showcases many shades of green that I’ve encountered through my photos from coast to coast across Canada.
O' Canada 