Flashback Calgary

[CaberTosser]

How much do you recognize that's not even around anymore?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHpZcImE7Hs

[Coulee]

The Trade Winds hotel was across from Chinook Centre. The Elveden building is still downtown as well as the Bay. I think they entered on MacLeod Trail, but not sure. That locomotive is the one in front of Heritage park.

[CaberTosser]

My Dads band would play the Tradewinds; I'm a bit rusty and would have to ask him if it was the Tradewinds or the Crossroads that they were the 'house band' for about 10 years after this was filmed. It was interesting to note that along Macleod Trail adjacent the Big 4 building the traffic was 2-way instead of just northbound. That Mayfair and Bel-Air were brand new is rather funny as they're both so well treed these days, though even some of the Mount Royal shots had noticeably less tree canopy. The relative newness of many of those buildings that are so familiar is neat to see; heck, Mayfair Place wasn't even up yet (my Dad was the foreman for the plumbing contractor when that was built).

[Taco]

Hell I even recognized the spot where I peed off the curb on 8th Ave back in 1954

[justsomeguy]

still laughing at the kid in a tie at dinner at grandma's.....

Ironic part is now the story is reversed.....many Calgarian's have come from away to make their life in the new west of opportunity, and have annual discussions about "heading back home" to show the kids where they grew up.

[Gust]

The Rope at Lyndsay Park behind St Mary's and just across the river from Holy Cross Hospital. When the developers forced the fire department to cut it down in 93, a vigil was held for the tree, with firefighters and everybody in attendance bowing their heads in a moment of silence. A friend had the tree hauled to his yard. Another friends granddad swung on it in the 40's.

A rite of passage was climbing the tree on May long weekend to attach the new rope, and each winter the fire department would cut the rope down.

Really good fishing hole too.

One of the first houses in the Mount Royal scene is the Murphy house just behind Western Canada High.

[omega50]

I have heard many stories of the Aquarium at the brewery and I see it in the vid.
What is the story? When was it closed?


I also heard them say that Stampede was 6 days long. When did that change?

[From The Hip]

Long gone is the Happy Valley amusement park.I got to visit it once as a kid around 1978 and it was in serious decline then with no go-kart track that I can remember.Only way me and my brother got to go was because we spent 3 weeks collecting tin cans to pay for the trip and I am damn sure my dad skimmed us on what we made in retrospect.

2 places not covered in the video are Paskapoo and Bowness Park.

Way back when I was a kid Paskapoo had grass skiiing in the summer and it also had a pretty decent go-kart track but the best thing was the alpine slide.The alpine slide was a fibreglass track(I think) that ran from the top of the hill to the bottom with lots of turns/dips etc that you ran down on a 3 wheeled cart with the front wheel being controlled by a lever that acted as a break.Back then a trip down the slide was $2 per run so it was a luxury to say the least considering my weekly allowance was $2.50 which paid for a movie with a small popcorn at the Grand Theatre(first movie I ever saw was Star Wars)which was also a treat.Now we have COP which is in the grand scheme of things pretty expensive overall and the ski jumps left over from the 1988 olympics are under utilized.

Next up is Bowness Park.Way back when I grew up in Bowness the bridge over the Bow river by the outdoor Shouldice swimming pool was the one lane Hextall bridge and Bowness Park was totally awesome.Back then it was fed and drained at each end via a wier with the water coming directly from the Bow river with the depth of the lagoon reaching well over 9 feet at a lot of places.There was a big ol wooden sign at the bottom of the hill just before the bridge that said NO SWIMMING/NO FISHING etc but that stopped nobody from doing it.Back then the amusement park had actual rides like the ferris wheel/small roller coaster/scrambler and a few others as well as a concession stand that sold hotdogs/hamburgers/pop/cotton candy/candy apples etc.As for fun that did not cost money there was the wading pool and right near it was the zip line that was about 40 feet long.I guess some kid knocked out his teeth because of his own stupidity and the zip line was removed to save other kids from their own stupidity and thusly make the park safer.

Sadly Bowness Park pretty much sucks now since the lagoon gets filled up like a bathtub due to the Stoney trail bridge and it no longer has a population of both Pike and Rainbow trout nor the muscrats that used to populate it.The amusement park is long gone as well and I imagine the train which is the proverbial "last man standing" will most likely get tossed because of the spring flood.

Pretty sad for my childhood to say the least....that 2 such wicked super happy fun places have essentially been wiped out in the name of progress and to protect the stupid people from themselves.

FTH

PS: Thanks to Cabertosser for posting the video in the first place.