1971 Victoria White Christmas

Yes, Virginia, it sometimes snows in Victoria. This is our back yard after the surprise Christmas morning snowstorm of 1971. Victoria rarely gets a white Christmas; the chance of one happening is only about 11%. There wasn't another one for 20 years. The last one was in 2008 when the entire country had a white Christmas. (And technically, the Blizzard of '96, one of the biggest snowfalls in Canadian history, began on Boxing Day, and so doesn't count as a white Christmas.) The bridge in the photo (Admirals Road over Colquitz Creek) was replaced a number of years ago.

Winter Is Coming

My sisters bundle up on a Montreal winter's day, getting ready to try out the backyard skating rink Dad would make for them every winter.

Trans-Carrot Highway

Not the longest highway on Vancouver Island, but the most nutritious.

Mystery Place

I have no idea where this is, but I'm going to guess Englishman River Falls. What's your guess?

Two Mothers

Here's another of my dad's trick shots, showing mom trying to borrow a magazine off mom. I presume it's a double exposure.

Of course, these days, all it takes is a few clicks in Photoshop to do the same thing.

Mom

Here's a shot my dad took of mom playing on a dam somewhere. And somewhen.

Granny

I don't remember my grandmother, my dad's mother, as much of a smiler. She was, of course, many years older when I knew her, quite elderly, and not always in the best of health. But here, dad caught her with a lovely grin and a twinkle in her eye.

Selfie, 1950s style

This is how my dad looked in the 1950s selfie.

Kid

I have no idea who this is, or why he has the funny thing in his mouth But Dad thought he made for an amusing photo.

Man Feeding a Squirrel

It's a man. Feeding a squirrel.

And here's another angle of the same man feeding the same squirrel.

Prairie Sunset

In the fall of 1971, the family moved out west to Victoria. My mom and I took the train, while dad and my sister drove the car out. They approached Regina just as the sun was going down.

Three's A Crowd

My sister is not a set of triplets, at least as far as I know. Another one of dad's trick shots. I assume it's a triple exposure.

Using Your Head

I always joke with my sister that I got the brains. But here's proof that she got some brains, too. They just got separated from the rest of her body and left behind somewhere.

Twins....?

No, my mother does not have a twin sister. This is another one of dad's trick shots. I assume this is a double exposure.

Hallway

A hallway in a Montreal school.

I Was So Cute. I Wonder What Happened....

Nap Time

No, my father never found any dead bodies in cars, at least as far as we know. But this unidentified man clearly was sleeping like the dead when my dad took a picture of him.

Slide and Negative Comparison

I mentioned a while ago that my dad often shot with a slide film, but got it developed at a place where he get both slides and negatives back. This was a rare thing, usually most places would offer you one or the other, not both.
And I realize that to most of you under 30, the terms "film" and "slides" are meaningless. But that's another story.
A while ago I published a couple of photos by dad of the fountain in Centennial Square. That original post was scanned from slides. Recently, I discovered the negatives of the same shots. Now you can compare the two. I've done no tweaking to them; these are straight off the scanner. Both hold up pretty well for being 40 years old, but it does look to me like the slides' colour is starting to go a little to the pinkish side, something I found in a lot of dad's old slides.

Negative:

Slide:

Negative:

Slide:

On the Rocks

My father curled. Or so I've been told. Strangely enough, I have no recollection of him ever curling, or going to a curling rink to watch him curl. In fact, I don't think I've ever watched anyone curl in a rink. Curling is one great Canadian winter sport that has somehow passed me by. That said, I do know my dad curled as he had a couple of very small curling trophies that he had won. I know what you're thinking, that this is all leading up to an "A ha!" moment wherein I present newly-discovered photographic evidence that he curled. Well, no. Sorry. I think he gave up curling after his eye surgeries in the early 1960s before I was born. However, he did take some pictures of some other curlers in the late 1960s.

Light

Another of Dad's "product placement" photos.

Guy in an Office

Here's a picture Dad took of a guy in an office. I don't know who, what or why. When is probably the late 1960s.

Bannister

I'm finding many of Dad's photos are not as well documented as others. I can't tell you anything about this one, other than late 1960s. It appears to be part of a series that Dad took of a house or small apartment building. His documentation is really odd, like he's gone back to record everything after the fact, but in many cases it seems like he made no effort to sort things out before recording them. Some backyard family party pictures will be next to a school fire in the negative book, yet one last picture from the party will be hidden away on a different negative strip in another book, so it's all very mixed up. I like the shadows here, playing against the brightness of the bannister pole.