A Canadian Family

“To Scan A Poem From A Shopping List …” pt.2

Claude Leduc and I have been coresponding offline after he was kind enough to share an image of the 1960s Lasalle department store, the Mon Mart. 

I’ve asked him why he was interested in Quebec vintage stores  and it turns out he’s quite the family historian himself – and his (late) father, his mother and his brother all worked for Steinbergs. With his permission I’m reprinting some of what he’s shared with me, as I think it may inspire other family historians – as it has inspired me – to think about our “shopping history” and perhaps even to take a few photographs of our local commercial landmarks before they too disappear.

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Claude Leduc’s Comments

The reason I built this picture website is that many people do post photos of supermarkets, department stores and malls across America, but lest we forget we have our own shopping cathedrals.

My dad’s first job was at “Steinberg’s” (and yes I will certainly champion the fact that the first trademark had the 19th letter in the alphabet at the end…). [see my illegal 'S note below] and worked his way up  in the food store business. He died in 1984, however, if he did not bring me to most supermarkets around town and outside, well, I would not remember the architecture at all…  And of course, when I was a kid in the 60s-70s, Provigo was just a name on a warehouse, but there was “Steinberg’s”,  ”Dominion”,  ”A&P”,  ”Union Market”, “Spot”, “Dionne”, “IGA”.  Metro was only a small corner store then. And our deparment stores: Miracle Mart, K Mart, Zellers, Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, United, Greenberg’s, LaSalle, Wise Brothers, Hart and the biggies like Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Morgan’s, The Bay and Dupuis Frères. Yet Sears was not part of the picture, they were with Simpson’s at the time… Anyway, at the Bibliotheque Nationale, I happened to find many scans of these stores. It is not over yet. Wanted to prove that we have something in retail here…

And about shopping centers, it is not in Vancouver that was built the first one, but in Montreal, which is the Norgate shopping center, still standing at the corner of Côte Vertu and Decarie. Wicked that Steinberg’s was not the first food anchor store there (It was Dionne, which is now a big profitable Provigo…), but later, the supermarket chain would develop so many shopping centers around Montreal…

The last big shopping center to be built in Montreal ?  It is in LaSalle: Carrefour Angrignon (I am not counting what was done in Marché Central, 10/30 in Brossard and Boisbriand, they are not malls to me…)”

Just want to invite you to visit my other web photo sites: Grocerymania Photostream

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***   Note by Evelyn: Why the ‘S  is illegal in Quebec !!!   ***

For non-Quebeckers who are wondering about Claude’s  reference to the “19th letter”  - it refers to the fact that at a certain point legislation was introduced in Quebec to protect the French language. One part of that law mandated that public signage be in French and since the apostrophe s (‘s) doesn’t exist in French, signs using the possessive are now illegal. If you’re a Quebecker I imagine your reaction to this sign law (depending on your politics) is probably either satisfaction, anger or amusement. If you’re not from Quebec, I imagine your reaction is complete confusion! Read more »

March 4, 2009 Posted by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault | . | Montreal, Quebec | 2 Comments

“… To Scan A Poem From A Shopping List” pt.1

“The gift of the family novelist is to turn the cleaning of a closet into an inventory of love and loss – to scan a poem from a shopping list.” Marilyn Gardner

A few days ago I posted a childhood photograph that triggered some childhood memories about shopping trips and that post  (Smile For The Camera 11th Edition – Brothers & Sisters) brought me into contact with Claude Leduc who hosts several Flickr photostreams around the topic of Quebec vintage supermarkets, grocery and convenience stores. 

Claude Leduc and I have been corresponding and this has made me think about how much our shopping habits can reveal about our lives and the society we live in. When I reflect on my shopping habits I certainly see different “shopping periods” in my life (i.e. double-income/no kids in Milan, Italy to single-income several kids in Canada to present-day “empty-nesters”). The changes in what I bought and where I shopped were always influenced by budget 

Corso Vittorio Emanuele - Upscale shopping district, Milano, Italy

and personal tastes but also by the shopping and cultural landscape that surrounded me.

Nowadays, even though I’ve lived in the same Quebec community for several decades, the shopping and cultural landscape continues to change around me.  I’ve witnessed the rise of  Dollar Stores, the influx of American megastore outlets, and the disappearance or rebranding of many traditional Canadian chains - some of which had been around for over 100 years. But it’s not only the physical landscape that has changed. More recently my shopping habits have been influenced by broader social  issues such as fair trade, environmentalism and genetically modified foods.

In 2009 –  with a Canadian recession looming – I’ll have new financial and ethical dilemnas to unravel.

Do I buy from a certain department store chain which has great prices but has been union busting in Quebec?  

Do I try to Buy Canadian even though this will hurt developing economies? 

Marilyn Gardner talks about turning “the cleaning of a closet into an inventory of love and loss” perhaps a cleaning of my closet would give me insight into who I’ve been, who I am today and who I might be tomorrow.

I think I’ll have to add a new chapter to my private family memoirs: “Shopping – an inventory of my life”.

Related Posts:

“To Scan A Poem From A Shopping List …” pt.2

Smile For The Camera 11th Edition – Brothers & Sisters

Link:

“What to keep– what to lose” by Marilyn Gardner (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/1004/btyler.html

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March 4, 2009 Posted by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault | . | Montreal, Quebec | 1 Comment