Here’s a collection of vintage images I was made aware of some months ago through the comments section. They belong to neighborhood photos taken in Ottawa by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation between the ’50, ’60s and ’70s. In the case of our post, most images seem to be from 1968 and are fairly high quality. All the better to check out the locales and traffic of the period.
The images have been slightly color-corrected for this post.
Fascinating. True to the common stereotype, there’s a preponderance of sedans, typically in low-trim lines. But there are two exceptions: the two elderly Cadillacs in #1, and the three hardtop coupes and one convertible in shot #5, which seem to all belong to that one house.
I may have been one of the posters to mention this trove of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation high res images. All these posted images are from the former city of Vanier, Ontario. A predominately French-Canadian working class city, that amalgamated with Ottawa in 2001. The second image appears to be Montreal Road, the former main route via Highway 17 to Montreal, and the main commercial strip in Vanier.
Along with various other cities in the region. Vanier had their own city services and police department, prior to this time.
In the 1960s, these cars would have faced the worst of pre-climate change frigid and salty winter weather. Their condition would reflect this.
And just north of Vanier was Rockliffe Park, another city amalgated to Ottawa.
I checked these old photos and I miss these old school street lamps.
Yes topical for the day, and notice how many pickup trucks compared to today.
These photos remind me of neighborhoods in New Jersey when I was a toddler.
Wish I could go back in time and walk around a little . . .
Here’s Main Street in Metuchen, NJ:
In the sixth photo, you can see the bilingual stop signs that were common in the City of Vanier, at the time. ‘Arrêt’ followed by ‘Stop’ below.
I will beat Eric703 to the punch on this research. lol Montfort Motors on Montfort Street (Photo four), is now McConville’s Garage. A well-regarded (and busy) independent repair facility. And Krown rustproofing franchise.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4389731,-75.6591053,3a,90y,218.83h,65.38t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1se5RkrZ6vSBOYTk4SJO5ZuA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3De5RkrZ6vSBOYTk4SJO5ZuA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D127.00082%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
Are they better qualified for the application of Krown rust inhibitor? Canadian tire was also a depositary, the product is good, but their work at C-T was not there.
Sont-ils mieux qualifier (McConville’s Garage) pour l’application de l’antirouille Krown ? Canadian Tire en était aussi dépositaire , le produit est bon, mais leur travail chez C-T n’etait pas le y’able.
I know the garage has a favourable reputation for their car repair services. I don’t know their reputation for applying Krown rustproofing. I generally would not recommend Canadian Tire.
Awesome Daniel! You beat me on this one.
Here’s a then-and-now of the second picture – like you said above, on Montreal Rd. I assume many of the other pictures are in from the same general neighbo(u)rhood, so I’ll try to look for more later today. I love these old photos!
And thanks for explaining the bilingual stop signs; I thought they were exclusive to Quebec.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/b4gR4frimHx6KYHy6
Just realized after I posted this, that the Quebec signs say “Arrêt,” and aren’t bilingual. But still, thanks for explaining where those stop signs came from.
Great before and after photos! Vanier was formerly known as the City of Eastview, but adopted the name Vanier in the 1970s. To reflect its French-Canadian heritage, and to honour the former Governor-General of Canada, Georges Vanier. The city has had its ups and downs, as a working class neighbourhood. And has been popular with university and college students, as the rents were very affordable there. Parts of Montreal Road, always did have a gritty reputation. Pay day loan stores, a men’s club, and such. And crime was a problem. Vanier has been picked on often, and the target of jokes, for decades. As gentrification is slowly creeping into the area. Various new developments have been schedules for the area.
Poor Canadian Tire being maligned! In 1986 we toured The Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It was in Nova Scotia thar a bad nail damaged one of our tires irreparably. Canadian Tire supplied the replacement whitewall for our 1986 GMC Safari. And now, the confession: When we alit from the ferry from Yarmouth and passed through Customs in American Bar Harbor, we did not admit to the purchase of the tire, whose white wall was wider than the other three on our Safari. We, thus, did not pay $3.65 in Federal Excise Tax. The tire, incidentally, held up until it was time to retire it due to normal wear.
Canadian Tire has marketed both cheap and reputable products for many decades. Their auto service often reflects this model. Why their reputation here, is not the best.
In the second photo I’m loving seeing the large low hanging mudflaps on the Chev Impala. I havent seen or thought about these large ones on a sedan in decades. Looks like they are on the back only, makes sense to me to have them only on the driven wheels. I grew up around lots of dirt roads in the sixties, and these flaps were on plenty sedans, not just Landies.
Mud flaps used to be quite popular in Canada, at least into the early 1980s. I always found them extremely unattractive, if they served some, to protect paintwork from stone and gravel chips. The cheap machine screws used for mounting, and fender drill holes themselves, often a source of rust.
The much-maligned Canadian Tire used to make a small fortune selling them. Often devoting a catalogue full page or spread to a JC Whitney-style selection of mud flaps. A goofy Canadian thing. Like Bob and Doug wearing toques.
Now, they mostly market them for pickups.
A few more geolocations:
Here’s the location of Picture 7 – on Montfort St., just two blocks west of the picture of the Montfort Motors site:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VP31rGeUoGzjHxdR8
And here’s the location of the last shot – on Olmstead St., just south of Montreal Rd.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EtMyt9j89QAyE3Mv5
And here’s the first picture’s location – at the intersection of Jeanne Mance St. & Cyr Ave… just about two blocks away from the Olmstead St. shot.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Vyop1ciYM8bN33jz9
Fantastic work Eric! As you can see, so little has changed on many streets, over the course of decades. Many of the same homeowners for years, in this largely very quiet bedroom community, for the larger city next to it. Many neighbourhoods appearing frozen in time.
I’ll take the Caddy with Dagmars please =8-) .
Love the then and now pix too, some of the roads look narrower now .
-Nate
Great photos. I should recognize some of them, but they are not familiar. I worked in Vanier for about 8 months over the winter of 76/77. I did verify that my car was not in the pictures, but I usually took the bus from my apartment in Ottawa, so I did not park in Vanier often.
Photo 7 – navy blue Ford Cortina mk 2
I moved to Ottawa from the states in 2003, and imported my 1996 Sebring LXI. Last step in the process was going to Canadian Tire for some sort of child safety hook that went behind the back seat. Cost was about CAD $5. The guy just dropped it in the trunk and told me the regulations said it had to be “in the car, not installed on the car:. LOL. Stamped my paperwork for inspection and off I went.
I had all my daily drivers rust preventive treatment directly at a Known shop, annual for all the 18 years I lived in Ottawa. Not one spec of rust on any of my autos so the treatment worked. Funny, when I first took my Camaro in for inspection here in Virginia, the shop owner thought I might have a leak under the car. I said no, it just the rust preventive treatment. And yes, in Canada all signage and product packaging is bi-lingual (English / French) except Quebec which is French only. Also, Canada is all metric because they changed when the US was going metric. However, the US later said nevermind we are sticking to Imperial.
Some fun photos on here. Hard to believe some of these areas stayed the same while others have changed so much. But then the city has changed considerably in the last 50+ years too. I always liked seeing these older shots because it gives me some perspective of the city from when my father grew up.
A suggestion for the OP – Share these with the Lost Ottawa Facebook group as this would be right up their alley and they will have quite a few more kicking around that I think would be a great fit here.
Love the pic of the Binder in the background looked high end to match the cady
Very cool! What’s the blue sedan parked behind the red Ford pickup in # 6?
Ford Cortina