1934

From the big scrapbook of time, here’s a look at Canada in 1934--

              

 Hupmobile found fewer and fewer buyers during the Dirty Thirties. Only 275 of the sleek beauties will be sold throughout the Dominion in 1934.

January 11: Jean Chrétien is born in Shawinigan, Quebec. He is the 18^th of 19 children. When he grows up, he will enter politics and become our nation’s 20^th Prime Minister. He will make history as the only leader to win three back-to-back elections.

January 19: His mother doesn’t know it as she looks at her son for the first time but newborn Lloyd Robertson will grow up to be the most trusted face on television, first as a reporter and then as a news reader. The Brantford, Ontario native will work at the CBC, then co-anchor the CTV News with Harvey Kirck until 1984 and go solo after that until he retires in 2011.

January 24: The Kingston Prison for Women opens. No longer will female convicts be housed in the main prison. The facility will close forever on May 8, 2000.

February 5: Donald Stewart Cherry is born in Kingston, Ontario. He will play hockey and coach NHL teams but Don becomes most famous as the colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada. In 2005 he will be voted as one of Top Ten Canadians.

The Government of Newfoundland is nearly  $100 million in debt and can't raise any more money.

February 16: After 79 years, responsible government ends in St. John’s and the bankrupt Dominion of Newfoundland reverts to Crown colony status.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization will open in 1989. It will be designed by Douglas Cardinal.

March 7: Douglas Joseph Cardinal is born in Calgary, Alberta. He will grow up to become a famous architect designing such beautiful buildings as St. Albert Place & City Hall, Markham Town Centre and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec.

Frances "Frank" Fish will be the first woman to stand for election in New Brunswick when she puts her hat in the ring next year. The lawyer won't win. In fact, it will be 1967 when the first woman is elected as a Member of the Legislature.

March 9: Good news in the Picture Province as women in New Brunswick may now stand for office in provincial elections.

March 9: Marlene Stewart Streit is born in Cereal, Alberta. She will grow up to become a professional golfer, the only woman to win the Canadian, British, Australian, and US Amateur titles.

March 16: Ramon John (Ray) Hnatyshyn is born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His father is a Senator in Ottawa. Ray will be a politician before being appointed by PM Brian Mulroney as Canada’s 24^th Governor General, serving from 1990 to 1995.

This CCM advertisement salutes the Blackhawks Stanley Cup win.

April 10:  The Stanley Cup goes home with the Chicago Blackhawks who beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one.

April 11: Prime Minister Bennett tells the House of Commons he intends to seek amendments to modernize the British North America Act. He wants the provinces to give up control of old age issues, health and many labour conditions. 

 This dust storm is 2 414 kilometres (1 500 miles) long, 1 448 kilometres (900 miles) across and 3.1 kilomtres (two miles) high.

May 11:  A terrifying dust storm sweeps the Prairies today. It is so intense that it blocks out the sun and motorists must drive with their headlights turned on in and around Winnipeg. Railroad tracks are buried in the “black blizzard,” disrupting rail transportation. In Saskatchewan, drivers are stranded and buried in as much as 60 centimetres of topsoil.

May 28: Oliva Dionne gives birth to quintuplets in Corbeil, Ontario. The 24-year old farmer’s wife already has six children.

June 3: King George V knights  Dr. Frederick Banting for his co-discovery of insulin.

June 9:  Members of the Mine Workers Union of Canada walk the picket lines at the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The 1,300 men are fed up and demand better working conditions.  They will go back to work on July 14.

The chartered banks print currency for the government. The Imperial Bank of Canada will merge with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1961 to become the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce or CIBC.

July 3: Parliament passes the Bank of Canada Act. A new central bank will set monetary policy. Money will no longer be printed by the individual chartered banks on behalf of the Dominion Government.

July 8: The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra plays for the first time in the Miriam Malkin Memorial Bowl. The outdoor theatre is a 2/3-size replica of the Hollywood Bowl in California. Located in Stanley Park, it is named in memory of former Mayor William Malkin’s deceased wife.

July 12: Winnie the Pooh the loveable black bear from Ontario, who was the inspiration for the books by the same name, dies at the London Zoo.

July 13:  Peter Gzowski is born in Toronto. He will run away from home when he is 14. Though he never finishes school, Peter will become a journalist, be editor of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, editor of Maclean’s. As host of This Country in the Morning and Morningside on CBC Radio, he will become a friendly voice to millions of listeners each morning and conduct more than 27,000 interviews before dying of emphysema in 2002.

July 17: It’s a boy for Frederick and Dorothy Sutherland in Saint John, New Brunswick. Son Donald will grow up to become a Hollywood heartthrob with a career that will span more than 50 years. He will be made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and receive a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000.

Last year, Oscar winning Marie Dressler became the first woman to appear on the cover of Time. She was the highest paid actress in Hollywood, earning $4,000 a week.

July 28: Oscar winner Marie Dressler is dead of cancer. She never knew the nature of her illness because MGM studio head Louis Meyer ordered doctors not tell her. An accomplished Broadway actress as well, the Coburg, Ontario native appeared in 40 movies. She was best known for her roles in Min and Bill and in Tugboat Annie. In 1995 her hometown will sponsor the annual Vintage Film Festival to showcase her works and others of that era.

August 15: A freak hailstorm demolishes much of the wheat crop in much of Alberta. Damage is estimated at more than $500,000. Afterwards, astonished farmers stand in ruined fields 10-centimetres deep with hail.

John Labatt was kidnapped from his car, seen here.

August 17: John Labatt is released by his kidnappers in London, Ontario. The brewing magnate was held captive for more than 60 hours. Authorities are tight lipped, it is not known if the $150,000 ransom was paid.

September 21: Leonard Norman Cohen is born in Westmount, Quebec. He will grow up to be a poet, novelist, singer and songwriter. The Juno and Grammy award-winning Companion of the Order of Canada recipient will be best known for his hit Suzanne.

September 22: The Dionne quintuplets are moved into a special nursery. The five little girls are now wards of the court. Dr. Allan Dafoe will be their guardian.

October 26: The Reconstruction Party of Canada is formed by one-time Tory Henry Herbert Stevens who served as Minister of Trade in Prime Minister Meighen’s cabinet. The new party’s platform includes massive public works programmes and a pledge to build the Trans-Canada Highway. The party will elect one member to Parliament from British Columbia and be absorbed into the Conservative Party in 1938.

The Mann Cup in 2013

November 10: Railway pioneer Sir Donald Mann is dead at the age of 81. He built much of the Canadian Northern Railway (later renamed the Canadian National Railway) and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1901 he created the solid gold Mann Cup as the trophy to be given to the senior champions in lacrosse.

November 16: The Montreal Symphony Orchestra comes into existence.

November 22: Fishermen off the coast of British Columbia have long reported sightings of a mysterious sea creature nicknamed “Caddy.” Its remains have washed ashore near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Scientists are studying the bizarre nine-metre long mammal and will quickly determine that it is a Basking Shark.

This is Norm Perry's second year to be a CFL All Star. He will be running back for the Imperials for eight seasons.

November 24:  The Sarnia Imperials pound the Regina Roughriders to take home the Grey Cup. Final score is 20 to 12.

December 12: The RCMP have a warrant to arrest 61 men for evasion of some $5 million worth of duties owed to Ottawa for smuggled liquor. It is an enormous operation, stretching from PEI to BC.  Among those to be detained are the four Bronfman brothers.

Christmas Day: A train collision in Hamilton, Ontario kills 18 people and 30 more are injured.

1934 Graham Eight is one of the first automobiles to have a supercharged engine.

December 31: The automakers report annual sales in Eastern Canada as follows: Lincoln 7: Auburn 56; Graham 536: Packard 659: Pierce-Arrow 9 and Cadillac 93.

  Chrysler introduced its aerodynamic Airflow models in 1934. A total of 1,693 were shipped domestically from the factory in Windsor, Ontario during the calendar year.