Bee Careful

A bee. A flower. It's an age-old story.

Wired

The handsome guys of Platis Electric pose for Dad. Dad was not a professional photographer, but occasionally he must have taken some pictures as a favour for friends, or as a commission, as there are a number of pictures of the Platis trucks and offices in the collection, as well as other businesses. This would have most likely been a favour, as Tommy Platis, second from the right, was a friend of Dad's.

Flower Friday!

Fire Aftermath

My father worked as an electrician for the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. Sometime in the 1960s (probably 1965) there was a fire in one of the schools and Dad documented the damage. This is an interesting shot, as he arrived while firemen were finishing up. This is the only shot he got of them in action.

Black and White Cat

This undated photo is of our family cat, Tussy, taken probably sometime in the late 1970s.

Creepy

Didn't I see this guy in Alien?

Flower Friday!

Double Your Money

Dad did a few trick shots in his day, these being two examples. I don't know exactly how he did this, I assume a double exposure. Dad had a little spot in the house where he could rig up a small shooting area with black cloth and a couple of lights, then he'd turn the bathroom into a darkroom. The subject of these photos is my maternal grandmother, my mother's mother. My mom's family lived in England, and this was taken in 1962 during Granny's only trip to Canada. The odd thing is that these are the only pictures I've found of her visit.

Autumn in Cottage Country

Our family owned a cottage at Lake Wentworth, Quebec, for a few years in the 1960s. At the end of summer, the trees would change from green to a luscious panorama of reds and yellows. That's the family car; a 1962 Valiant. And yes, it has the latest in modern automotive technology; a push-button automatic transmission. That's a feature that really caught on, eh?

Flower Friday!

Fishbowl

Traditionally, the Victoria transit system makes changes to its service on Labour Day, and 1974 was no exception as the new 26 Crosstown route was introduced, and service to the Gordon Head area was revamped. While much adjusted since then, the basic routing on the Crosstown and Gordon Head service remains to this day. This shot was taken on Shelbourne Street at McKenzie Avenue in front of the University Heights Mall. The greenhouses you can see on the other side of the street through the buses windows are long gone now, replaced by condos. Serving the then-new 28 Majestic route in Gordon Head was venerable bus #794, a 1973 GM "New Look" diesel bus (also known as a GM Fishbowl). It only served Victoria streets 2 years before being transferred to the Vancouver fleet where it served out its days.