Wait for Me, Daddy!

"From what I understood from the photographer, he was trying to get a picture of how many soldiers there were, but then this kid made the getaway." (Jack Bernard)

It's the most famous photo ever to be taken in Canada during World War II.  It appeared in Life, Time and Newsweek.  It hung in every school in British Columbia during the war.  And it was used to sell Canadian war bonds.  It's called "Wait for Me, Daddy!".

On October 1, 1940, a column of Canadian soldiers marched down Vancouver's Columbia Ave. to the train station.  Their uniforms freshly pressed, their hats tilted on their head at just the right angle, their boots freshly shined, the new recruits were ready for battle.  But one little boy wasn't ready for them to leave.  The white-blond haired boy broke away from his mother's grasp and ran after his father who was part of the column, reaching out his little hand as if to say "Wait for me, Daddy!".  His father responded by reaching out his own hand. His elegantly dressed mother reached out for her son's hand, trying to keep up.  

All the while, photographer Claude Dettloff was snapping photographs of the column of soldiers on Columbia Ave.  Unprepared for the scene to follow, he captured a once in a lifetime moment on film.  His photograph would be published in The Province newspaper,  later to be picked up by several magazines including Reader's Digest.  Dettloff would become famous over the heart-grabbing image of the white-blond haired boy chasing his war-bound father down the street.

                                        

nationalpost.com

The little boy, Warren Bernard, returned to his Vancouver home that autumn day with his mother, Bernice.  His father, Jack, along with the rest of the British Columbia Regiment, boarded a train for Nanaimo where he underwent military training.

Later Jack fought on the battlefields of France and Belgium.  On the home front, Bernice and Warren lived out the war on a modest income in a rented apartment.  Since money was scarce, Bernice agreed to let Warren participate in a war bonds tour in 1943.  Dressed in a smart blue blazer and short grey pants, Warren toured the province with war bonds that featured the famous Dettloff photo.  The young boy, who had to take time off from his schooling at General Wolfe Elementary, delivered the same speech every time, ending with the line:  "Help bring my Daddy home!"  The teary-eyed audience usually responded generously to his plea.  When Jack Bernard returned home in October of 1945, Bernice and Warren were there to meet him, as was Claude Dettloff, ready to photograph the happy reunion.  

The white-haired boy grew up, married in 1964 and in the 1980's, became mayor of Tofino, British Columbia.  A sculpture honouring the moment the Bernard family said goodbye, was recently erected at the corner of 8th Street and Columbia Avenue, the spot where the original photo was taken.  Canada Post has issued a two dollar coin with the famous image.

The reunion between father and son courtesy blogspot.com.

Canadian Prairie Street Scene

In 1978, 75% of Canadians lived in or near cities.  Projections indicated that the figure would rise to 90% by 2000.  Communities were changing as they were being designed to accommodate cars rather than people.  Concrete was replacing grass.  Glass was replacing wood.  Air and water pollution were on the rise.  Solid waste disposal was an issue.  Canada was losing its traditional landscape.  Canada Post issued a series of stamps devoted to the communities of the past.  Arthur Ponting and Yves Baril engraved a Prairie town scene which harkens back to a simpler time.

http://data2.archives.ca/ap/s/s000776k.jpg

Point Pelee Sits on Same Latitude as Rome

http://www.shengnuo.ca/html/en/pointpelee2days.htm

It's on the latitude of Rome, Italy.  It grows trees native to Florida.  It contains swamps and marshes.  It boasts 27 species of reptiles and 50 species of amphibians.  Acadian flycatchers, Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers are at the northern limit of their habitat.  Monarch butterflies stop here on their fall migration to Mexico (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/natcul/natcul1.aspx).

During peak season, as many as 10,000 monarch butterflies per day land at Point Pelee courtesy http://www.learner.org/jnorth/www/critters/monarch/833382137.html.

You might think it's a tropical area.  Yet, come autumn, the trees lose their leaves.  The lake freezes over.  The clouds open up and the snow falls.  After all, it's Canada -- the southernmost point, Point Pelee.  Unlike Rome, which is surrounded by the moderating effect of the Mediterranean Sea, Point Pelee sits on Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes which freezes over in the winter.  Unlike Rome, which is protected by the mountains, Point Pelee gets the full brunt of the westerly winds.

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The Point Pelee boardwalk in winter courtesy http://pointpeleenationalpark5.weebly.com/climate.html.

Point Pelee is one of Canada's treasures, commemorated by Canada Post in 1983 by a stamp.  For more information, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/09/point-pelee.html or http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/08/preserving-point-pelee.html.

http://www.catawiki.com/catalog/stamps/countries-regions-territories/canada-can/1724835-point-pelee

Winston Churchill: Only Thing to Fear are German U-boats

"Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that ever 'really frightened him' during the Second World War was the threat presented by Germany's U-boats." (Canada Post)

German U-boats in Loch Ryan circa 1945 courtesy http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3072281/Wartime-navy-captain-blamed-letting-Nazi-U-boat-away-failed-attack-hailed-hero-oceanographer-Titanic-locates-wreck-discovers-DID-hit-all.html.

England and France owe a great debt to Canada and the United States for the supplies that they sent overseas during the Second World War.  Lend Lease, an "Act to Promote the defense of the United States", provided the Allies with warships, warplanes, trucks, material, oil and food from 1941 to 1945.  While Canada did not have a Lend Lease program, it did give Britain "gifts totalling $3.5 million during the war" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease).

Lend Lease Convoy circa 1941 courtesy https://seanmunger.com/2015/09/03/the-winds-of-war-live-blogged-8-honeymoon-in-lisbon-wine-in-boston/.

The problem for Canada and the United States was not producing the goods, but transporting them across the Atlantic.  "Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that ever 'really frightened him' during the Second World War was the threat presented by Germany's U-boats." (http://www.communitywire.ca/en/2005-04-28/longest-battle-second-world-war-honoured-new-canadian-postage-stamp)  The Battle of the Atlantic, according to Winston Churchill, "was the dominating factor all through the  war.  Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome."  It remains the longest continuous battle of the Second World War, lasting from 1939 to 1945 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_AtlanticT).

Allied tanker Dixie Arrow torpedoed in 1942 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Atlantic.

Canadian forces played a crucial role in protecting Allied merchant ships as they crossed the Atlantic in convoys.  Marauding German U-boats were often lurking beneath the depths of the ocean, ready to strike.  By V-E Day, 22 Canadian ships had been lost and more than 4,000 Canadians had died, including 2,000 sailors,750 airmen and 650 seamen from the merchant fleet.  

http://www.legion.ca/article/legion-marks-battle-of-the-atlantic-with-ceremonies-across-canada/

Canadian artist Sarty assembled several images to create a stamp design honouring The Battle of the Atlantic including a convoy of vessels, a torpedoed supply ship, a Canadian navy corvette and a German U-boat.

http://www.communitywire.ca/en/2005-04-28/longest-battle-second-world-war-honoured-new-canadian-postage-stamp

The Tragically Hip

The Tragically Hip, a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario which debuted in 1984, has come back into the limelight with its lead singer, Gordon Downie, being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Their last concert, scheduled for this summer, was sold out four minutes after tickets went on sale.

One blogger suggested that you could teach a History lesson using Tragically Hip songs.  Here is a list of suggested tunes:

1.  Fifty Mission Cap

Based on a World War II cap that a pilot received for flying fifty mission successfully, this is a cap that Gordon Downie owned.  Inside was a hockey card of Bill Barilko, the one who scored the winning goal to win the Maple Leafs the Stanley Cup in 1951.  That summer he went on a fishing trip and disappeared in the Northern Ontario Bush.  The plane's wreckage wasn't found for another 11 years, the same length of time it took Toronto to win the Cup again. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaeRrrtsCqU)

2.  At the Hundredth Meridian

The Hundredth Meridian is a line of latitude with separates Central and Eastern Canada from Western Canada.  The Hundredth Meridian is where the Great Plains begin.  "I remember buffalo and I remember Hengelo" is a line from the song in reference to the glory days of the Plains, filled with buffalo, and the glory days of the band, at a Hengelo, Holland concert filled with fans.

3.  Fireworks

This song makes reference to all things Canadian:  the Canada Fitness Award Program, hockey legend Bobby Orr and the 1972 Summit Hockey Series in which Paul Henderson scored the winning goal against the Soviets, immortalized in the line "If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ol' '72."

4.  Wheat Kings

This song talks about the beautiful skyline at "Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies" (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and alludes to convicted murderer David Milgaard who received 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

5.  Looking For a Place to Happen

Traces the history of explorer Jacques Cartier and his journey across Canada.

6.  Listen to the Bear

Refers to a bear in Algonquin Park, a famous camping destination for Canadians, immortalized by painters The Group of Seven.

7.  Bobcaygeon

Cottage country town Bobcaygeon is the title of their song which mentions looking at the constellations. It also mentions the "checkerboard floors" of the town's Horseshoe Tavern.

Note:  My son's birth cousin, Tyler Wilson, is part of a band called "Checkerboard Floors", inspired by the Tragically Hip's reference.

8.  The Dire Wolf

The songs talks about Isle aux Morts in Newfoundland.

9.  Nautical Disaster

A reference to the World War II Canadian raid on Dieppe in which 4000 of the 4800 soldiers were killed.

10.  New Orleans is Sinking

This was written before Hurricane Katrina.  You could argue that this song has a Canadian theme since New Orleans was settled by Acadians, of French descent, who were deported from present day Nova Scotia in the 1750's.  Known for their cuisine, they became known as Cajuns.  If you say the French word "Acadien" quickly, it sounds like Cajun.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZUsCONjIQ)

Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating the band in 2013 courtesy http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-post-unveils-stamps-dedicated-to-legendary-canadian-rock-bands-1.1374855.

Old Town Lunenburg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia

Lunenburg, established in 1753, was a planned British colonial settlement which has retained much of its original appearance.  The town, situated on the south shore of Nova Scotia, was settled by Protestants in an attempt to offset the large number of Acadian Catholics and Mikmaqs in the area.  The town has a seemingly German name as it was named after Britain's King, George August of Hanover, also the Duke of Braunschweig-Luneberg.

It is surprising that the town, filled with a mix of multi-coloured buildings, remains as beautiful as it does for Lunenburg has endured many attacks.  In the 1750's, the Acadian and Mikmaq militias attacked the town in a series of raids.  British officer John Knox wrote:  "In the year 1757, we were said to be masters of the province of Nova Scotia or Acadia, which, however, was only an imaginary possession..."

In 1775, during the American Revolution, the Yankees raided Lunenberg.  Again, in 1782, they attacked the town.  On both occasions, the town was devastated.

During the War of 1812, private citizens of Lunenburg were called on to build or purchase privateer ships to attack American vessels.  "After a long battle in Mahone Bay, the Lunenberg militia was sent to take prisoners from the American privateer, Young Teazer."

A relative peace came to the area by the early to mid-1800's and its residents could focus on making a living. Lunenburg became known for its agricultural industry as farmers took advantage of the fertile soil on the rolling drumlins of Nova Scotia.  In the 19th Century Lunenburg became a major fishing centre, drawing on the schools of fish on the offshore banks.  Lunenburg shipping yards specialized in building wooden fishing schooners which remained competitive until the 1920's.  The most famous of these, the Bluenose, which won the International Fisherman's Trophy, is immortalized on our Canadian dime.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995, the town was also featured on a Canadian stamp in 2014.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4522426-new-stamps-celebrate-canada-s-unesco-world-heritage-sites/

Franklin the Turtle

Hawkeye admits he is afraid to go into a dark cave in a M*A*S*H episode circa 1979 courtesy http://mash.wikia.com/wiki/C*A*V*E_(TV_series_episode)?file=MASH_episode_7x21_-_Hawkeye%27s_Claustrophobia.gif.

After the birth of her first child in 1996, Canadian Paulette Bourgeois decided to write a picture book. Bourgeois was inspired by an episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye admitted he was claustrophobic and refused to enter a cave, saying:  "If I were a turtle, I would be afraid of my own shell." (http://mash.wikia.com/wiki/C*A*V*E_(TV_series_episode).

Franklin in the Dark, published in 1986, was the result of her effort.  Franklin the Turtle, in his daily struggles growing up, encourages children to "come out of their shells".  Whether it's the story of Franklin reluctantly cleaning his room and finding his prize sword, or the one where Franklin first meets his baby sister, the series resonates with young readers (and parents).

To date, Paulette Bourgeois has written 100 different tales.  The books, of which 65 million have been sold, are translated into 38 languages including French (Franklin's French counterpart is Benjamin). Illustrator Brenda Clark from Toronto explains how the series has taken off:  "With Franklin we were pioneers of sorts in Canada; the first to have a picture book developped into a large series, published globally and expanded into TV, DVDs and e-books."

Canada Post recognized Franklin's contribution to literature in a stamp issued in 2012.

Canada Post Franklin the Turtle stamps courtesy http://stampcollectornews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/franklin-turtle-graces-postage-stamps.html

Canada Post Commemorates Canadian Photography

Canadian curators and gallery owners have chosen the best photography from the last 150 years to grace Canadian stamps.  Here are some of the photos selected from the website: https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2015/2015_canadian_photography.jsf

1.  Nina Raginsky's Shoeshine Stand, Vancouver, BC (1974)

2.  Conrad Poirier's Friends and Family and Trips, Montreal Simpsons Store, 1936

3.  Isaac's First Swim, Lambton, Ontario, 1996

4.  Alex Colville on the Tantramar Marshes, Sackville, New Brunswick, 1970

5.  Angels, St. Jean Baptiste Day, Montreal, 1962

6.  Southam Sisters, Montreal, 1919

Titanic: The Canadian Connection

"Long before Cameron called 'action' on the set of Titanic Canadians were involved with the world's most famous ocean disaster."  Early on the morning of April 12, 1914, wireless operators in Cape Race, Newfoundland received distress signals from the ocean liner.  Aboard the Titanic, there were 130 men and women and children bound for Canada.  There were also over 20 Canadians returning to their native land on board the Titanic when it sank, including Grand Trunk Pacific Railway vice-president, Charles M. Hays and Eaton's buyer George Graham.  At least 10, including Hays and Graham, perished in the icy waters of the Atlantic, while the remainder were rescued by the S.S. Carpathian.

More than 150 dead were recovered by Maritime ships, their funerals presided over by Halifax clergymen and their bodies buried in Halifax cemeteries.  On the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic, Canada Post issued stamps to commemorate the tragedy.  One stamp portrays the stern while a second illustrates the bow, the two sections of which were torn apart when the ocean liner hit an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland.  The third stamp shows the anchor, which was so heavy that it took a team of 20 Clydesdale horses to pull it through the streets of Belfast, Ireland.  The fourth stamp features the three-bladed propellers, which weighed as much as 38 tonnes each.

While it was an American who discovered the wreck of the titanic in 1985, it was a Canadian, James Cameron, who produced and directed the blockbuster hit Titanic in 1997.  While by far not the biggest marine disaster, it remains the most famous one.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/campaigns/titanic/images/domestic_stamp_bow_anchors.gif

Canada's Most Famous War Photo Graces Stamp

It's the most famous and most recognized photo ever to be taken in Canada during World War II.  It appeared in Life, Time and Newsweek.  It hung in every school in British Columbia during the war.  And it was used to sell Canadian war bonds.  It is called "Wait for Me, Daddy!".

On October 1, 1940, a column of Canadian soldiers walked down Vancouver's Columbia Ave. to the train station.  Their uniforms freshly pressed, their hats tilted on their head at just the right angle, their boots freshly shined, their bodies trained for battle.  But one little boy wasn't ready for them to leave.  The white-blond haired boy broke away from his mother's grasp and ran after his father who was part of the column, reaching out his little hand as if to say "Wait for me, Daddy!".  His father responded by reaching out his own hand. His elegantly dressed mother reached out for her son's hand, trying to keep up.  

All the while, photographer Claude Dettloff was snapping photographs of the column of soldiers on Columbia Ave.  Unprepared for the scene to follow, he captured a once in a lifetime moment on film. His photograph would be published in The Province newspaper,  later to be picked up by several magazines including Reader's Digest.  Dettloff would become famous over the heart-grabbing image of the white-haired boy chasing his war-bound father down the street.

The little boy, Warren "Whitey" Bernard, later sold war bonds for his country, holding up the famous photo and pleading with his audience to help "bring his Daddy home".  Warren's Daddy was one of the lucky ones who returned five years later, in October 1945, for a happy reunion with his son.

"Wait for Me, Daddy!" stamp issued by Canada Post in 2014 courtesy https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2014/10/04/wait_for_me_daddy&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps.

Dinosaur Provincial Park

While the United States is known for its badlands, Canada has its share of beautiful topography, located in southern Alberta.  Opened in 1955 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alberta, Dinosaur Provincial Park is home to at least 40 dinosaur species and 500 specimens, exhibited all over the world.  Due to the precious fossils found in the park, it was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979.

The diverse collection of dinosaur bones at the park, part of the late Cretaceous period, include:  ceratopsia, hadrosauridae, ankylosauria, hypsilophodontidae, pachycelphalosauria, tyrannosauridae, ornithomimidae, caenagnathidae, dromaeosauridae, and troodontidae.  Previous to 1985, exhibits of these fossils could be found at the Toronto's Royal Agricultural Museum, Ottawa's Canadian Museum of Nature, and the New York City's American Museum of Natural History.  Today, the exhibits are displayed at Drumheller's Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, located only two and a half hours southeast of Calgary, supports three ecosystems:  badlands, prairie grasslands and riverside cottonwoods.  Current inhabitants are much smaller than the dinosaurs.  "Choruses of coyotes are common at dusk as well as calls of nightowls."  Daytime visitors can spot cottontail rabbits, mule deer and pronghorns.  In the spring and summer, curlews and Canada geese fill the skies.

Dinosaur Provincial Park Candian stamp courtesy http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/canada-post-reissues-new-dinosaur-provincial-park-stamp-following-photo-mix-up.

Stompin' Tom

Stompin' Tom Connors did not have an easy life.  Abandonned by his father, he was raised by a destitute mother.  At a young age, he was taken away by Children's Aid and became part of the foster system.  Still a teenager, he hitchhiked his way across Canada and wrote songs about it as he went.  It was at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins that he got his big break, playing his guitar and belting out his country tunes.  It was also at the Timmins hotel that he got his nickname:  he would stomp with his cowboy boots so violently that a big chunk of the stage flew across the room into a customer's drink.

Stompin' Tom had a way with words:  he knew how to tell a story.  A proud Canadian, his music was filled with tales about Canada.  In the 1970's, with more Canadians heading south of the border to promote their music, Stompin' Tom put his cowboy boot down, refusing to be a part of the mass exodus.  He believed that Canadian talent should stay in Canada and be promoted here.  He took some flack for his outspokenness, but he was only telling the truth.

In 2009, Canada Post honoured him with a stamp.  He passed away four years later, always a Canadian patriot.


For more information read One Nickel Short in the Nickel Belt at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/10/one-nickel-short-in-nickel-belt.html.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/stompin-tom-honoured-on-postage-stamp-1.826335

Viola Desmond

Black Canadian Viola Desmond owned a beauty parlour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  On a cold, blustery day in 1946, she set out on a business trip to Sydney, but her car broke down in New Glasgow.  The mechanic said it would take hours to fix so she took in a movie to pass the time.

After buying her ticket, and finding her seat at the Roseland Theatre, Viola was interrupted by the manager who said she would have to take a seat upstairs in the balcony "where her people sat".  Just as Rosa Parks would refuse to move to the back of the bus nine years later, Viola Desmond refused to move to the balcony. The police were called and Viola was thrown in jail and charged with a trumped up account of tax evasion (the price difference between a main floor ticket, 40 cents, and a balcony ticket, 30 cents).

Viola lost her case as well as a subsequent appeal and was forced to pay a fine.  In 2010, the Nova Scotia government formally pardoned Viola posthumously.  Canada Post issued a stamp in her honour in 2012.  The documentary, Long Road to Justice:  The Viola Desmond Story tells what happened on that blustery day in 1946 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI00i9BtsQ8).

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2012/2012_feb_john_ware_viola_desmond.jsf

Superman: The Canadian Connection

Toronto artist Joe Shuster, a cousin to the famous Frank of Wayne & Shuster, came from humble roots.  His parents, struggling to make ends meet, could not afford to buy him sketch paper.  He went from store to store asking for donations, and received some rolls of old wallpaper.  It was on the back of this wallpaper that he sketched musketeer Henri Duval and crime fighter Doctor Occult, both approved by DC Comics in 1935.

The Shuster's moved to Cleveland, Ohio when Joe was 10 and it was there that Joe met future collaborator Jerry Siegel.  Jerry had found a kindred spirit:  "When Joe and I first met, it was like the right chemicals coming together."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Shuster).  One day, the duo sketched a superhero which sat on the slush pile at National Comics for six years.  However, in 1938, an editor at a new magazine, Action Comics, took notice and Superman was born.

The similarities between Superman and Shuster were noticeable.  Shuster, the son of a Dutch immigrant, was similar to Superman, a North American from the planet Krypton.  The Toronto Daily Star, which Shuster used to deliver as a young boy, became The Daily Star (later The Daily Planet) in the Superman comic.  Metropolis, where Superman lives, shares similarities to the skyline of Depression-era Toronto, where Shuster grew up.  Perry White, editor in chief of The Daily Star, is socially conscious just as The Toronto Daily Star's Joseph "Holy Joe" Atkinson was.

On the occasion of Superman's 75th Anniversary, Canada Post issued a stamp to honour the superhero.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2013/09/10/superman_75th_annive&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps

Anne of Green Gables' World Wide Appeal

"Despite its distinctly Canadian setting, Anne of Green Gables belongs to the world." (Canada Post)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/157626055678408038/

Every Canadian knows about the flame-haired orphan who warmed her way into the hearts of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.  We know about Anne hitting Gilbert over the head with her slate when he teased her about her red hair.  We know about her kindred spirit, Diane, and about her tear felt goodbye to her beloved Matthew.  We remember her academic success and the trials of her first teaching assignment.

"[However] despite its distinctly Canadian setting, Anne of Green Gables belongs to the world."  (https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2008/2008_june_aogg.jsf).  Who would have thought that a book with such a Canadian flavour would first be published by an American company?  Lucy Maud Montgomery had already been turned down by Canadian publishers and as a last ditch effort, in 1908, approached an American one, the Page Company of Boston  (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/07/anne-of-green-gables-could-have-sat-in.html).  

It should be no surprise, then, that one of Anne's earliest fans was the famous American author Mark Twain who wrote to Montgomery and praised her for creating "the dearest and most lovable child in fiction since the immortal Alice [in Wonderland]" (http://www.enotes.com/topics/anne-green/critical-essays/anne-green-gables-l-m-montgomery).

It was only a year later that Anne was translated into Swedish, titled Anne pa gronkulla.  It was so well received that two further Swedish translations followed in 1941 and 1962.  

The Swedish edition was followed in 1911 by a Polish translation titled Ania Z Zielonego Wzgorza.  During the Second World War, members of the Polish Resistance were given black market copies of Anne of Green Gables to read at the Front, inspiring them to fight for their principles.  

In 1939, a Canadian missionary visited Japan and left her prized copy of Anne of Green Gables with a friend who secretly translated the text into Japanese, Akage No An (Red-Haired Anne).  After the war, when the Japanese school system was looking for good quality Western literature, Anne of Green Gables was selected for its curriculum.  Today, generations of Japanese celebrate Anne by visiting Green Gables on Prince Edward Island.  Many celebrate Anne-themed weddings at home.  Thousands of Japanese tourists flock to the Island each year, the women often dying their hair red and fashioning it in pigtails.  The Japanese cannot get enough of Anne.  

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/new-stamps-released-tourism-spikes-as-p-e-i-celebrates-anne-1.697908

Homer Watson

"There is at the bottom of each artistic conscience a love for the land of their birth." 

(Homer Watson)

Dawn in the Laurentides courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Watson.

Homer Watson was given a set of paints by his aunt and decided to become a painter.  Decades later, Oscar Wilde nicknamed Watson the "Canadian Constable", comparing him to the great English landscape artist.

Homer Watson was born in Doon, Ontario (now Kitchener) in 1855.  He showed an interest in art from an early age.  Later moving to Toronto, he copied works from the Toronto Normal School, but was mainly self-taught.  In 1876, Watson moved to New York where he was influenced by the Hudson River School.  He painted along the banks of the Hudson and Susquehanna Rivers.  In 1880, he painted The Old Mill and sold it to the Marquis of Lorne for Queen Victoria's art collection.

The same year Watson married and bought a house in Doon, near the banks of the Grand, which he featured in his newest paintings. In 1887, he moved to England for four years where he painted his most famous piece The Flood Gate.  Watson maintained:  "There is at the bottom of each artistic conscience a love for the land of their birth."  In his later years, Watson campaigned for the preservation of the Waterloo woodlands which he had so lovingly painted.  The Stock Market Crash of 1929 forced him to sell many of his paintings.

In 2005, Canada Post honoured Homer Watson by issuing two stamps, Dawn in the Laurentides and The Flood Gate.  Today, Watson's Doon home has been transformed into a museum, filled with his paintings.

The Flood Gate courtesy http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/homer-ransford-watson/.

Canada Post Recognizes British Home Children

A group of British Home Children, accompanied by Dr. Barnardo's widow, head to Canada courtesy http://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/4532437-wellington-county-families-explore-their-connections-to-british-home-children/. 

From 1869 to 1939, 100,000 destitute children from Britain's cities immigrated to Canada where they worked as child labourers (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/08/british-home-children.html).   While the churches and philanthropic organizations which sent them here had good intentions, they were unable to properly monitor their situations.  Some of these "little immigrants" were treated well, but many were overworked and even abused.

One in ten Canadians, including myself, is a descendant of a British Home Child, named after the Children's Homes that they lived in.  They settled all across Canada, but the majority settled in Ontario.  The highest concentration of Home Children was in North Muskoka, where my great- grandma lived once she immigrated here.  These children worked on Canada's farms, in Canada's factories and on the battlefield in Europe during the First World War.  They helped build this country.

Many people do not know that they are descendants of the Home Children since it was a source of shame for the children. As they die off, however, some are sharing their stories.  Rose McCormick Brandon, another Home Child descendant, features many of these accounts in her book Promises of Home:  Stories of Canada's British Home Children (https://littleimmigrants.wordpress.com/promises-of-home-stories-of-canadas-british-home-children/).

Brant MP Phil McColeman, the nephew of a British Home Child, championed a bill declaring 2010 the Year of the British Home Child in Canada.  The same year, Canada Post issued a stamp in their honour.  "The stamp features an image of the SS Sardinian ( a ship that carried children from Liverpool to Quebec), a map symbolizing their trans-Atlantic journey, a photograph of a child at work on a farm and one of a newly arrived Home Child, standing beside a suitcase while en route to a distributing home in Hamilton, Ontario."

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2010/2010_home_children.jsf

Tulip Festival

Canada Post issues commemorative stamps each month to recognize certain events in our history.  In August of 2002. it issued a stamp to commemorate Ottawa's Tulip Festival.  Back in 1944, under Nazi occupation, the Dutch were starving.  That winter, they survived on tulip bulbs and sugar beets. The American driven Operation Market Garden which attempted to drive the Germans out of Holland, largely failed.  Therefore, in 1945, it was up to the Canadian Army to liberate much of Holland, and that they did.  The Dutch will always have a special place in their hearts for Canadians for ending their oppression under the Nazis.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/liberation-of-holland/

It was the Canadian government which took in Queen Juliana, the Dutch royalty who had fled her country when the Nazis occupied it in 1940.  She came to Canada with her husband and two daughters.  In 1943, she gave birth to a third child at an Ottawa hospital.  The hospital was declared an international zone in order that Queen Juliana's baby could be of Dutch citizenry and therefore eligible for the crown.

Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard with two daughters in Ottawa circa 1942 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana_of_the_Netherlands.

After the Second World War, the Dutch government sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada, the origin of Ottawa's Tulip Festival.  The tradition has continued ever since.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/archives/2002/2002_aug_tulipsouvenir.jsf

A $35,800 Christmas Card

1.  Sir Henry Cole commissioned the first Christmas card in London, England, featuring artwork by Callcott Horsley, in 1843.  The hand coloured card read:  "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."

2.  Postmen in Victorian England were called "robins" due to their red uniforms.  Many Christmas cards at the time depicted a robin delivering Christmas mail.

3.  The Christmas card designed by Horsley evoked controversy due to the people on the front drinking wine during a Holy holiday.  In 2001, it became the world's most expensive Christmas card when it was auctioned for $35,800.

4.  The first official White House Christmas card was issued by President Eisenhower in 1953.

5.  In 1962, the first official Christmas postage stamp was issued by the United States Post Office.

6.  Over 200 billion Christmas cards are sent in the United States each year.  Fifteen percent of these are purchased by men.

7.  About 500 million e-cards are sent each year.

8.  Fifty three percent of Christmas card purchasers prefer the greeting "Merry Christmas".

9.  Canada Post released the first Christmas stamp in 1898.

10,  Licensed properties like Thomas Kinkade, Peanuts and Disney's "Frozen" are featured on this year's Christmas cards.

Source:  hubspot.net

Wait for Me, Daddy!

"From what I understood from the photographer, he was trying to get a picture of how many soldiers there were, but then this kid made the getaway." (Jack Bernard)

It's the most famous photo ever to be taken in Canada during World War II.  It appeared in Life, Time and Newsweek.  It hung in every school in British Columbia during the war.  And it was used to sell Canadian war bonds.  It's called "Wait for Me, Daddy!".

On October 1, 1940, a column of Canadian soldiers marched down Vancouver's Columbia Ave. to the train station.  Their uniforms freshly pressed, their hats tilted on their head at just the right angle, their boots freshly shined, the new recruits were ready for battle.  But one little boy wasn't ready for them to leave.  The white-blond haired boy broke away from his mother's grasp and ran after his father who was part of the column, reaching out his little hand as if to say "Wait for me, Daddy!".  His father responded by reaching out his own hand. His elegantly dressed mother reached out for her son's hand, trying to keep up.  

All the while, photographer Claude Dettloff was snapping photographs of the column of soldiers on Columbia Ave.  Unprepared for the scene to follow, he captured a once in a lifetime moment on film.  His photograph would be published in The Province newspaper,  later to be picked up by several magazines including Reader's Digest.  Dettloff would become famous over the heart-grabbing image of the white-blond haired boy chasing his war-bound father down the street.

                                        

nationalpost.com

The little boy, Warren Bernard, returned to his Vancouver home that autumn day with his mother, Bernice.  His father, Jack, along with the rest of the British Columbia Regiment, boarded a train for Nanaimo where he underwent military training.

Later Jack fought on the battlefields of France and Belgium.  On the home front, Bernice and Warren lived out the war on a modest income in a rented apartment.  Since money was scarce, Bernice agreed to let Warren participate in a war bonds tour in 1943.  Dressed in a smart blue blazer and short grey pants, Warren toured the province with war bonds that featured the famous Dettloff photo.  The young boy, who had to take time off from his schooling at General Wolfe Elementary, delivered the same speech every time, ending with the line:  "Help bring my Daddy home!"  The teary-eyed audience usually responded generously to his plea.  When Jack Bernard returned home in October of 1945, Bernice and Warren were there to meet him, as was Claude Dettloff, ready to photograph the happy reunion.  

The white-haired boy grew up, married in 1964 and in the 1980's, became mayor of Tofino, British Columbia.  A sculpture honouring the moment the Bernard family said goodbye, was recently erected at the corner of 8th Street and Columbia Avenue, the spot where the original photo was taken.  Canada Post has issued a two dollar coin with the famous image.

The reunion between father and son courtesy blogspot.com.