 In
the early 1950s Ontario was a very different
place than it is today. Canada was emerging from
the effects of the Second World War. The baby
boom was gathering momentum and that was motivating
a building boom.
We played host to a new Queen at the same time
the world was growing nervous with the onset
of the cold war and the new fear of nuclear weapons.
The space race was about to begin, as was the
cultural revolution of the sixties. Major events
were shaping and changing the province in dramatic
and far-reaching ways: Hurricane Hazel; the Avro
Arrow; the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway
and the construction of highway 401, were some
of the big events that made news at the time.
And, unlike any generation that came before,
people were learning about these
events through
the new medium of television. Television was in its infancy in 1953 and was just starting to become a fixture in most homes. There was even concern about its safety as seen in the video clip to the right.
It is often the smaller stories that have a greater
direct impact on a community and these are the
types of events captured by the CFPL news cameras.
While by their very nature, many of these “newsworthy” stories
focus on ordinary people in extraordinary situations
the stage on which they unfolded was no different
than many other communities across the province
at the time. And, in that way, they provide us
with a reflection of ourselves a couple of generations
ago. |
