I came across this photo of the Montreal Canadiens team photo from 1957-58.
I was 10 and hadn't yet seen much hockey on tv. In reality, if we even had a tv by then, it hadn't been for long. And yet, I could recognize more than half of the players. Of course, this is also partly because I did follow the team, and therefore any number of those players, in subsequent years.
Only on Saturday nights were the games televised. In those early days they weren't shown right from the 8 o'clock start but picked up the feed at 9. Saturday night was,and still is to a great degree, Hockey Night in Canada from coast to coast to coast, as the cry goes.
At first, I wasn't allowed to stay up for the whole game because Sunday loomed, and that was a big and important day. I think for a few years, I was only permitted to watch the second period and be in bed by 10.
We had to get up early on Sunday to catch the bus although in the very early years of this church trek, it had been a streetcar. We would have to transfer from one bus (or streetcar) to another to get all of the way to church. I expect that we were out of the house by 9, and probably earlier, to get there by 10. Both of my parents were Sunday school teachers, he of the men and she of teenage girls. I received a diploma for 7 years of close to perfect attendance.
I kept the diploma for many years, even into adulthood, but then it disappeared from my life. However, you can find anything on the internet, and this is what it looked like.
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| You would receive the diploma in the first year and stickers for the next 6 years. I could purchase that diploma on Etsy for $24.39CDN if I were so inclined. |
Sunday school was followed by church, which likely ran from 11 to 12:30. It was a Pentecostal church after all, so it must have lasted for an hour and a half. After then, there would be some time for socializing, so we'd probably begin to wend our way home around 1 o'clock.
Then it was the hour long bus (or streetcar) ride back home. Usually, Mom would have put something in the oven and timed it to cook while we were away. That means that we probably were not having lunch until at least 2 clock, close to 6 hours after breakfast.
Those bus rides were not a lot of fun, particularly in summer. We'd be sweltering in our Sunday best, carrying our big bibles while the rest of the crowded bus would be thronging with noisy, casually dressed older teens and young adults (if memory serves). They were on their way to the amusement park a few miles farther on. Talk about feeling out of place.
Permit me to interject, that we thought amusement parks were sinful places to be avoided.
I guess my parents grew tired of the trek, for when I was about the ago of 12, they opted for small startup assembly that we could walk to. That lasted for a few years until we moved all of the way from Montreal to Toronto and found ourselves back in a big church. But times had changed, and we had a car.
Aside from those summer bus rides whilst porting our big bibles, I don't have bad memories of those long church days, and, if I recall properly, even the bus rides were not too bad in other seasons. As is true of everybody's life, it seemed natural, for that is all that I knew. Overall, I rather liked the church experience as a kid.
It is strange what that one team photo brought to mind, which turned out to be more about Sunday Morning than Saturday Night.
14 comments:
Interesting look back in history even if it's your history. One thinks of cars as ubiquitous but that was not always the case. Buses and streetcars (trolleys) were the mode of transportation for many who could not afford cars and the gas. And it's still the case for many living in the inner cities though many forgo the purchase as a choice.
I'm curious about one thing and maybe one day you'll write about it: what turned you off to attending church?
Interesting memories of those bus rides and the attire and church. I guess those buses were not air conditioned. Haha.
Those were the days!
JB does a lot of groceries at Shoppers! He goes in at 8 a.m.
Oh, I love those little moments. So much history in just the one photo. :-)
Greetings from London.
Old photos have a way of drawing out memories.
Wonderful to hear about your early Saturday nights/Sunday mornings & afternoons life as you were growing up. I had similar Sunday School experiences, even played the piano for a while in Sunday School. Then I became an adolsecent and was the bane of the teachers...wanting to pick apart many of the lessons. I also remember not practicing the hymns sometimes and they were awful hard to play...so I messed up a lot.
Saturdays had a routine in our house too. My grandfather would drop my grandmother to her hair salon then we would walk up George St. to visit his friend Mr. Hooper, who had a bakery and candy store. We would be given a little treat if we were good. After that, it was back to our house then Grandfather would leave in the car again to pick up a six pack of beer and Grandmother. Back to our house for supper, then he and my Dad would watch hockey and sip on their six pack. Sundays we walked to the Presbyterian church a few blocks from our house - but - at some point there was a falling out with that church. Us kids started attending the Pentacostal Church around the corner on our own.
I think I probably watched that team play! Although I could only identify a few players, I was always a Montreal fan (while dad cheered for the leafs). In those years I usually won! Thanks for the memories!
Our first television was 1956, from my mother's small inheritance from her grandfather. I don't recall what we watched, but going to bed was religion, for school or church the next day.
I'm sure that this will bring back many memories of how we lived and the importance of worship at that time.
I had very athletic brothers (and my dad too) but I don't remember watching many games on TV. Perhaps they weren't televised like they are now? I was a church goer as a child, but not any more. I don't have bad memories of that time, although I have no desire to pick the habit back up.
I loved going to Sunday School, mainly because it was at the same time as the church service and church was boring! Unfortunately once I hit 12, Sunday School was over and church started. No long trek for us though: the school was my own primary school located within sight of our house and the church was only a short bike ride away.
It's a wonderful entry. Thank you.
Fascinating history. I remember watching the Canadiens when we lived in Michigan and got the Canadian station on TV. The name Bobby Orr comes up in memory and wonder if he's in that picture somewhere. :-)
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