Interesting comments about leaving your kids alone. When I was an infant, my Mom would bundle me up and put me outside the back door on the stoop in a laundrey basket, even in the winter for an hour or so each day. When my Dad came home, he'd brush the snow off me and bring me into the house. It seems there was no fear of the kind of creeps we have today.
I know that there were Eaton stables on Pembina highway at one time. They were on the east side of the highway backing up to the CN tracks. I seem to think that they were around where Grant intersects today, but I'm not 100% sure now. I was a long time ago. Eaton's vehicles (horse drawn or gas powered) were not allowed out on the road unless they were spotless. They were cleaned when they came back from their routes and before they went back out the next day. I recall my Dad had many stories to tell about Eaton's. He had been a 40+ year employee.
At one time there was a number of catalog built houses on the prairies. I wonder how many of them still stand, or if the present day owners realize that their house was ordered from a catalog.
Those stables you are talking about was where the horses went for "vacation" times during the summer. Seems that Eaton's had a huge herd and rotated them back and forth quite often.
I'd like to have a look at some of those old houses. And somewhere in the archives will be the original drawings and instructions for each of them. HMMMM Curiosity factor up by 20%!
Here's an image of the 1913 Eaton catalogue showing the homes: <br> <img src="http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/images/ip/1222116.jpg"><br> <br> and 1919:<br> <img src="http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/images/ip/1222117.jpg"><br> <br>
The Canadian Museum of Civilization has a section on their website dedicated to the Eaton's Catalogue and mail order homes (that's the source of the above images). <a href=http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/cat2104e.html#1222117> Check it out:</a>
There sure looks like a lot of those in this city. No. 68 is unusual with the double gambrel roof...a bitch to shingle I might add. It looks like they had something to suit everybody's tastes.
There are some "similar" style houses of 68 in St.B with the sloping roof, but definitely not as drastic. Just noticed how some houses, and the newer condos, had the 'odd' roof.
It almost brings you to tears when you think how George Eaton and his brothers ruined Timothy's good name. They truly were a Canadian institution that couldn't keep up with the times.
I believe The Bay may be in trouble too. Is it because people don't want high(er) end all things kinda' merchandising/big box stores? These are after all the original big box stores. But I believe their star is falling as specialized big box stores take over.
I think so too Grumpy....... I remember all the malls having an Eatons and Bay stores, no more. Didn't some sort of American firm buy out the Bay? I seem to recall that.
The late Jerry Zucker's firm bought controlling interest in the Bay. Not only did control of the company leave this country, but it was in foreign hands for the first time in over 300 years. Zucker died recently and now his widow has been named CEO of the Bay. Another first. She is the first and only woman to be the CEO of the Bay in 333 years. Those old governors of the HBC must be doing back flips in their graves. The Bay may be ripe for being pulled apart and sold off piecemeal if it doesn't improve. The old ways of retailing with a traditional old school department store format doesn't fit very well today. The number of department store chains is shrinking. Macy's has control of most of the traditional US department store market now. There are a few regional chains still in existence..e.g. Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, etc. Even Dayton Hudson from Minneapolis has had much more success with their Target discount store operation.
Yes, there was a minor bit of fluffing of the chain and then it's sort of sat idle. The only think I notice is that they don't advertise like they used to.
People just don't seem to want to pay for good service either, cheap is all most are concerned with. We accept the inferior quality of China and think it is okay to have a product wear out very quickly and have to buy a new one. This principle was brought about by the Japanese no parts just buy new , the Chinese just perfected cheap and Walmart fed it.
<blockquote><cite>Posted By: jim</cite>People just don't seem to want to pay for good service either, cheap is all most are concerned with. We accept the inferior quality of China and think it is okay to have a product wear out very quickly and have to buy a new one. This principle was brought about by the Japanese no parts just buy new , the Chinese just perfected cheap and Walmart fed it.</blockquote> Agree 100%
Eaton's executive got the misguided idea that they could make more money by catering to the "upscale" crowd, they forgot that Timothy made a massive fortune for the times by being of good service to the "blue collar" workers, knowing that THEY were the ones with the vast majority of disposable income.
Service in their stores was great, until the sons started getting greedy.
The Eaton family began investing in real estate (shopping malls) and operation of the department store business was handed over to outside interests. It has been rumored that the family drained much of the money from the business to finance their other investments. That, of course, put a serious crimp in their store operations right at a time when warning bells to the old fashioned approach of retailing were sounding and a totally different idea was desperately needed.
Actually it was Sear's, when they acquired what was left of Eaton's who reopened some of the stores and were responsible for that "upscale" merchandising idea. It was, of course, a dismal failure as anyone who had been a steady customer of the old Eaton's would tell you. It just wasn't what Eaton's was known for.