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Dally Journal · Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1967 4 ; TO MAKE ENDS MEET The principal farm product# produced within the town's limits today are garden vegetables and prize cattle. F arm ers W e re H unters, The prosperity arising from the port of Oakville went to the town corporation and to the merch ants; but the average citizen in the Trafalgar area had to m ake his living the same way as did the pioneers in every oth er part of Upper Canada -- from the land. In fact, in a sense everyone was a farm er o f 6orts, because even in the middle of town there w ere few houses without a veget able patch, a cow and chickens. Life was tough for the farm er in the bush. Clearing the land was hard enough, but he also had to wait four o r five years until the tree roots rotted in the ground b efore he could use a plow. OTHER WORK And so for about their first 10 years few farm ers m ade en ough off the land to support their families. Most took outside work, such as clearing the land of other farmers, and all went into debt to the local merchant. Often a farm er would just begin to make his Jand pay when he lost it to his creditors. But if he could hold out for 10 years, he could spent the rest of his days in com fort and relative prosperity. During the early, lean years, area farmers found several ways to supplement their incom es. The commonest was to market the wood they cleared from their land. Most farmers becam e lumber men in the winter, filling Col. Chisholm's insatiable demand for oak barrel staves. They made staves all winter, and floated them down The Sixteen to Oak ville as soon as the ice was off the creek. b e r ja ck s an insatiable need for wheat for its big cities. The grain could also be sold in the cities of the northern U.S., as much of Oak ville's grain was, o r to loca l dis tilleries. Wheat, the area's principal cash crop, created a boom for the port of Oakville as well as for the farm ers that lasted until the bottom dropped out o f the market in the econom ic depres sion o f the late 50's. MOST WHEAT Oakville was the shipping cen tre fo r the wheat of the entire county, and figures show that Halton produced m ore wheat per a cre than any other county in the province. The wheat trade provided em ployment not only for the sailors and ship owners o f Oakville, but also for teamsters, m illers and warehousers. Mills and ware houses lined The Sixteen, and contem porary accounts tell of farm ers standing in line all day with their wagons waiting to sell their grain to the Chisholms or other m erchant - warehousers. Many farm ers who had bought land on credit during the boom years, when wheat was selling fo r as much a s $2.50 per bushel, lost it in the crash. The wheat boom never returned, and so far m ers began to diversify their crops, and to look for markets to the new cities rising around them rather than to the export trade. GROW BERRIES The sandy soil around Oakville was ideal for strawberries, but no one thought of cultivating them as a cash crop until a young Yorkshirem an named John Cross ca m e along about mid-cen tury. Dozens o f others soon followed suit, especially after Cross paved the w ay for marketing the ber ries by designing the quart bask et with sloping sides which is still used today, and which could be m ade fo r less than half a cent from two pieces o f wood veneer. Cross established the first bas ket factory near his house, now 43 Cross Ave., where he made baskets all winter. Other factor ies followed, and the making of baskets for strawberries becam e an important Oakville industry. BUMPER CROP The acreage under strawberry cultivation increased enormous ly, and b y 1900 the steamer " White Star" w as taking as many as 40,000 quarts per day from the harbor throughout the seas on. The wholesale price at that time was about five cents per quart. The fam e o f Oakville as a fruit - growing centre lasted well into this century, until the town began to cast its lot with the province' s industrial communit ies, leaving farming to Halton' s northern townships. D oyourdoor knobs contain Contact this man now BOB BLADF CENTENNIAL SITT Race against time He sells d h u m a t ic Town Is Tops In Centennial Celebrations Oakville has jumped into Cen tennial with both feet; both priv ate citizens and the town as a whole have undertaken such a staggering variety of projects that Oakville is listed among the nation' s leaders in com m em orating the big year. First of all, there is the town's own centennial project -- the civ ic centre on file old Central School com m on on Navy Street, containing a new central library, exhibition wing and indoor swim m ing pool. The project has been plagued b y dissention, criticism and de lays since its inception. There w ere many in town who were against the whole idea, arguing that the m oney could better be spent for a youth centre or other utilitarian project. M ANY DELAYS Latest setback was a provincewide loclcbut* ol* cbnsUructi°jJ workers this summer, followed' by a brief period in which members of the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers refus ed to work. At the present time construct ion has been halted on the pool In an effort to finish the ex hibition wing in time for the lull slate of activities booked there in September. Added to the town project is the work of the Centennial Cele brations Committee, led by Coun cillor Michael Boyle and ad ministrator Murray Walker. BIG WEEKEND The com m ittee' s biggest single job was organizing the town's gala Dominion D ay Weekend, which included a Jaycee - spon sored parade, old - time picnic and a monstrously successful fireworks display. Humidifiers The low cost of installing a Drumatic Humidifier in your home w ill be more than offset by the comfort realized by your family. Constant colds and sore throats and nasal passages are common in homes without proper humidity. Electrical shocks bounce off door knobs and furniture falls apart when a dry condition exists. Drumatic humidifiers are installed directly on your furnace and automatically circulates properly humidified air to every room in your home. Controlled by a humidistat mounted on a wall in your living area. Call your Drumatic man now! ^ ^ Cut Posts For Short Lamplighter Although they manage to il luminate a sizeable part of resldentail Oakville, council and the PUC still hear regular pleas for improved street lighting. But consider the situation of residents o f the 1876 vintage, whose pleas inspired a new Grit council to com m ence installa tion of the town's first lighting system. Council promised action, but subsequent action w as strictly low voltage -- all it man aged to accom plish that first yea r was a " system " compris ing a single beacon on Colbom e Bridge! F ive years later, five m ore kerosene lamps in glass cases mounted on posts were set up a t the intersections between the bridge on Dundas St. tended daily by one, John Ford, who cleaned and ignited them in late afternoon and snuffed ' em out at 10 p.m . Ford, a very short and lean individual, soon wear ied of carrying a ladder along C olbom e St. to facilitate his chores. So he sawed off sections o f the posts and re-installed the lam ps at a height he could eas ily reach. This m ove seemed logical to council, sind lamps installed la ter up Dundas St. to the rail w ay station w ere o f the sawedo ff variety at the outset. The two-street venture proved to be just about it during the oil lighting era -- but fortunate ly, electricity m ade its blow and permitted the town fathers to let their light shine in greater abundance as the years slip ped by. MAPLE SUGAR But the com m ittee has also Another winter activity w a s co - ordinated the centennial plans of many private groups, tapping the stands of maples maple and arranged for a visit by the on their land to m ake federal governm ent's history-in-a sugar, which was used in their own homes for preserves and nutshell Centennial Caravan. GRIST MILL CASHED IN ON AREA'S W HEAT BOOM Am ong the individual or group could also be sold for between Now demolished, it was photographed in 1926 projects carried out by Oaktown- 6d. and Is. per pound. In one ers have been an inter-faith year the farm ers of Trafalgar religious rally, sailing regattas, Township made m ore than 12,Perhaps the greatest boon to income b y fishing, especially for in the 1840's, probably from the canoe race, and countless class 000 pounds o f maple sugar, and the farmer-hunter was the sir- the Atlantic salmon which ab combined causes of the wholesale it found a ready market, since room projects in every town the price of imported cane sugar rival in town every year of enor ounded in The Sixteen. (An odd slaughter and the contamination school. mous flocks of passenger pigeons, was prohibitive. French ,map o f the a re a labels of the creek by sawdust and BEARD CONTEST The frugal fan n ers not only a bird now extinct that once flew other byproducts o f the mills. The Daily Journal - R ecord m ade their own sugar, but also a in mile-wide flocks that blotted the creek " Riviere au Saumon." ) Belated conservation attempts by even got into the act, with a wide variety o f other household out the sun fo r four hours at a The salmon ran up the St. the government failed, and the Centennial Beard Contest, co · necessities, such as yeast, vine time. One such flock was estim Lawrence to spawn in the rivers salmon w ere never again seen sponsored by Oak Queen Mall. gar, cider candles and soap. ated at two million birds. and creeks em ptying into Lake in the lake. It was won by Bruce McGinnis G am e was also plentiful --wol The northern part o f the vil Ontario. In the spring they were and R oy Stuart, both of Milton, It was in the 40's too that the ves oould be heard howling at lage was a favorite resting place so plentiful that farm ers could tim ber stands in the township and Oakville's Burney Goddard. night on the outskirts of town-- for these birds, and they often heave 18 - pound fish onto the disappeared and farm ers had to Then there is the Centennial and wild m eat was a staple of were so numerous that their shore with pitchforks. One night's depend m ore on straight farm Garden Contest being .sp(nsore' $l the early farm er' s dietweight broke tree branches. catch might fill eight or ten ing fo r their living. by the " hom^toyjj press" , in co The favorite method >{ hunt-1 When this happened, the birds - pound barrels, which, when operation with the Oakville Hort But by this tim e m ost of the lted down, sold for up to 35s. ing deer was on horseback with could be picked up off the icultural Society; and, of course, farm s in the area were well each. "f dogs. After a deer was flushed ;i dike windfall apples. this centennial issue. established and quite productive. out, the horsemen headed it to In the m ore heavily wooded And England, now in the middle Perhaps the m ost im pressive ward the lake and forced it into FISH D Is ip P E A K areas of Halton County, where of the centennial projects under the water, where it could be The salmon stopped running! of its industrial revolution, had taken by private groups is the roped b y the horns and drowned. berries and other food were plen tree - planting program being Until the 50's horsemen chasing tiful, the pigeons settled in such conducted by a group calling deer through the centre of Oak great numbers that in their roost ing areas the cooing and whirr themselves the White Oaks Cen ville was a com m on sight. ing of wings was so loud a gun tennial Tree Trust. could not be heard, and several SELL GAME WHITE OAKS Venison could either be eaten inches of guano caked the ground. The group' s aim is to raise enough m oney by public sub at home or sold to butchers in EASY P R E Y Area farm ers and sportsmen scription to pay for the planting town to make a few extra dol of 100 White Oak trees in town lars. So could gam e birds, such could easily take huge supplies as partridge, which w ere always of pigeons with nets or by 6imply parks and school grounds. firing into their midst, and the E ach tree, planted at a cost sold in b races of two. Striking evidence that early flocks seemed to promise an o f $100, will bear an engraved Some of the jobs undertaken by the trainees are metal plaque bearing the donor's townsmen had gam e right on thr easy supply of meat that would name, and might also contain eir doorstep is found in the ac be inexhaustible. assembly of bolts and wasihers for Atlas Bolt and the nam e of a person in whose count of the building of the Oak But the meat becam e too popm em ory the tree was donated. ville House hotel in 1828. Con u.ar, especially that of the fledg Screw Co. Can. Ltd., stapling cartons for Pollard The White Oak tree is closely struction stopped suddenly when lings, which were clubbed to Bearing, the printing of safety folders for the Oak associated with the town' s ea rlj workmen were informed that a death by the hundreds and ship history, and the trees will stand bear had been treed just outside ville Safety Council, packing of batteries for Mal'lory ped to the cities in barrels. The as a solid rem inder of Oakville's town. They rushed to the scene last passenger pigeon died in a com munity spirit long after Can and killed the animal with axes Battery Company and the printing of bulletins for zoo just after the turn of the ada' s centennial year has passed and clubs, and for years the skin century. service clubs. These jobs, however small, do play an into the ranks of the long forgot was used as a decoration in the ten good old days. tavern. Farm ers also added to their important role in Oakville's industry. m Manufactured by the Wait-Skuttle Company, 359 Oavls Road, Oakville, Ont F U E L S t>95 SPEERS RD. OAKVILLE, ONTARIO HANDICAPPED WORKERS ARE GOOD WORKERS and sheltered employment to adults with limited ability, from age 16 to 65. The trainees are taught good health habits, good work habits, factory procedures in assembly, packag ing, collating, etc. to make them as self sufficient as possible. If the trainee has potential to progress beyond the sheltered workshop, then every effort is made to find employment in the open labor market. Our Centre is designed to give training, assessment Older than Confederation Canada Permanent has been growing and serving Canadians since 1855 The services o f Canada's largest trust and mortgage complex are available to you from Canada Permanent Do it the Permanent way T hree H ig h Interest Investm ent M anagem ent Sa v in g s A ccounts Staff Director Mrs. C. Keighley - Members Mrs. R. Kelley M r. A. E. Edwards Volunteers A non profit organization, owned and operated by the Oakville Association for The Men tally Retarded, an agency of the United Appeal. T H E ADULT TRAINING C E N T R E & 1026 A N A C H R O N IS M ? Believe it or not, the first vote on a bylaw to prohibit the sale o f spirituous liquors in this area w as held in the Oakville House, the town's most venerable hotel and halfway house. SHELTERED SPEERS WORKSHOPS OAKVI LLE ROAD,