MEMORIES AROUND PARK AVENUE, MONTREAL - 1940's and 1950's

 

This site is devoted to Justice, but it is also about my personal experiences. Here are just a few memories from my childhood, for the interest of those who may remember and for posterity.

 

Excerpts posted by - 

 

 

Phyllis Carter  

 

To "Stories and pictures of a Clark Street Childhood" on Facebook.

 

Who can fill in the blanks?

 

Does anyone remember the egg lady on Esplanade near Mt. Royal on the second floor?

 

I remember a tiny, dark, house front, ground floor, Chinese laundry in the area, probably on Esplanade south of Villeneueve. Is that the Wong laundry you mention?

 

Richstone. Not the bakery, but a small grocery, probably on St. Urbain near Villeneueve, near a lane. The daughter was so pretty. She had Goldilocks hair that she wore in long curls.

 

The corner of Esplanade and Villeneuve: Groceries: Northeast corner - Mendlebaum. Southwest corner - Garfinkle - Sons - Jack, Donald and an older brother ? I went to school with Jack. In those days - late 1940"s - the girls would get together and crash big brothers' and big sisters' friends weddings. Jack's brother's wedding was held in the big synagogue across the street from Fairmount School. A small contingent crashed the wedding in time for the nosherie.

 

 

Phyllis Carter  Fields' candy store and soda fountain - southwest corner of Villeneuve at Esplanade near Mendelbaum's grocery. Struzer's barber shop was attached to the candy store. I can hardly remember Mr. Struzer. It was his assistant - Eddy - I think, who remains in my memory. He was such a sweet man. In those days, barbers cut women's hair as well as men's.The barber shop construction was like a shed really. It was so rickety, it moved when you walked. It was actually a part of Fields' store with an open door between them. I visited the area about five years ago with a friend and the building that was Fields' was still there, but renovated with a plastic awning of some sort as I recall.

 

Who remembers the name of the pharmacy at the corner of St. Urbain and Villeneuve ? Was it Burns? What was the original name (owner) of the pharmacy at the corner of St. Joseph and Park Avenue?

Paul's Dry Cleaner's - Laurier, north side, near Park Avenue. One November, we used the site for a warm haven when selling poppies. I remember I loved the "breaks" for chopped egg sandwiches and hot chocolate. Oh! We do remember.

 

The candy shop next door to Fairmount School, just across the little lane. The woman prepared red barley sugar apples, making them into little girls with a marshmallow head and paper trim for a dress. Oh, we do remember what people do.

 

And then there was the Santa Claus Parade. You don't have to be Christian! We stood on the curb on Villeneuve between Esplanade and St. Urbain. The weather was always wet, cold, damp, and our feet were wet, cold, damp, and our noses were running. But we waited for the Santa Claus Parade eagerly. Later, when we returned home, I would put my feet up on a towel on the open door of the coal stove.

 

Phyllis Carter What was the name of the restaurant at the corner of Park and St. Joseph before Lindy's?

 

 

Phyllis Carter  Does anyone remember that before the Zunnenshine boys became fabulously wealthy with their Belcourt company, their daddy operated Sunshine Fruits near the southeast corner of Park and St. Joseph?

A long time ago, we bought a home from Belcourt in DDO. When we moved in, the paint on the wall was so thin, you could almost see the bricks outside. So I phoned Irving's big brother and asked for a coat of real paint. And he said, "I sell houses the way other people sell bagels" - letting me know that our life's purchase was nothing to him. But he did have the painters add a coat of fresh paint.

Phyllis Carter

I grew up near St. Joseph Blvd. circa 1940's-1950's: Attended Baron Byng. Rode horses out of Sunnyside Stables on Hutchison. Rented comic books from Wilensky. I note the photo on your site of the famous Montreal wrestler, Sammy Berg. My mother told me she knew him. When he was young, someone beat him up and she mended his wounds. That was why he decided to become a wrestler.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

I remember, in the 1950's, a bakery opened on the west side of Park Avenue, north corner at Mt. Royal. His specialty was baba. Alexander Business College was on the north side of Mt. Royal, west of Park, up a flight of outdoor stairs and around the corner from that bakery and facing Fletcher's Field where the tramway turned around. A nightclub opened next door to the YMHA. I think it was called The Midnight. Frances Katz was the drama teacher when I was at BBHS.

 

I always loved a story. My Pop, George Rubin, took me to second hand book stores and to Wilensky's for comics and he took me to the movies and he told me stories. I loved the movies and I loved listening to radio. The Fat Man, The Thin Man, Life With Luigi, Duffy's Tavern, Our Miss Brooks, The Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger, The Weird Circle - Here in this cave by the restless sea, we are gathered to bring you the weird circle. Bell keeper ! Toll the bell ! The Shadow, - Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows....hmmmm !

Memories of Montreal - Enough to fill volumes. The reader will find a cornucopia of my personal experiences with fascinating people at -

 

 

ALONG THE ROAD TO CAMELOT -

KNIGHTS, NOBLES AND KNAVES   

THE PEOPLE AND THE ADVENTURES

 

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/04/along-road-to-camelot-knights-nobles_8151.html