A neat postcard view of the University from late 1950’s early 1960’s. Intersting to note on the back of the car, it says “Photo by Frank Wansborough”.
Photo above from the Windsor Star Library © 1987
On the old site I ran the following quip when Frank Wansborough Passed away. He passed away Saturday, February 20, 2005.
The 27th Mayor of the City of Windsor passed away Saturday at the age of 85. Wansy was the mayor of Windsor from 1970-1975. He was a city councilor and owner of Wansborough’s Camera Shop prior to becoming mayor. He also once threw Xaviera Hollander the “Happy Hooker” out of his office. In 1974 he was in a battle for election to his third term as mayor, when a huge blizzard hit the city in December 1974. Voter turnout was very low, and after waiting two days for the results, Wansborough lost to Bert Weeks by less than 800 votes. This blizzard also is the reason Windsor’s municipal elections were moved back to November, to avoid any future blizzards on election day. After losing Wansborough started a travel agency, and offered his popular “Wander with Wansy” guided tours around the world.
nice view of the “Educations Gym”
nice view of the “Education Gym”
Do I see this right? Huron Line didn’t run parallel to the bridge in the early 60’s?
I see Wansborough in Hugh Hefner PJs, and then I see Xaviera Hollander’s name and ‘popular “Wander with Wansy” guided tours’ in the same paragraph. What kind of guided tours were these? I’ll bet there are some really interesting stories behind this. More interesting than those from past US Senators.
i miss the old Wansborough’s camera shop downtown. wasn’t my favorite place, but i still went in from time to time looking for deals or things the other camera shops downtown didn’t have in stock.
In 1974, the Windsor economy was heading downward and there was hope that tourism could lessen our dependence on the auto industry. But the hotels were old and the Cleary Auditorium underutilized by conventions. When a hotel developer proposed a hotel on the waterfront site of the old British American (BA) Hotel, at the northeast of Ouellete and Riverside, Mayor Frank Wansbrough gave his support. Alderman Bert Weeks ran against him saying a hotel could just as easily be built on the south side of Riverside Drive and the waterfront could be preserved for parks. Weeks won the two-day election and today we have a parks from Hiram Walker to the bridge with hotels beside the Cleary.
Frank Wansbrough was a resident of the Huron Lodge nursing home in his later years which may explain the robe. As for the Happy Hooker, a downtown merchant smuggled her into the mayor’s daily news conference hoping for publicity for her autobiographical book which he had just stocked. Frank was livid at the trespass and the brazen attempt to get him and her in the same news shot. The blowup generated bigger headlines than if he just shook her hand.
Marijuana sbourough
high times indeed!
lol….weirdo
Don – it’s there, i was just checking on a 1961 areial. it was just a really nice tree lined street back then lol. i was confused for a bit because i think it was a 1952 areial that showed almost no trees, unless they were just little and wern’t casting any real shadows, then a decade later it’s full of’em like they’re 50 yr old trees.
i think the road may have been expanded to the east to allow for on street parking on both sides of the road, which would have wiped out most, if not all the trees shown here. or they were redistributed though out the campus.
yak yak yak yak yak…i’m done now lol
Aaron – Could be one set of photos were taken in Summer, one in winter/fall.
Also, they might have been Elm trees, wiped out by the Dutch Elm Tree Disease.
i thought about the elm trees, but not the winter.but now i’m wondering if the road was even expaned. those street lights on the right side of the road are original, arn’t they? or were they more like…sidewalk lights?
Aaron, would you be willing to send me the 1961 ariel you have?
Aaron, would you be willing to send me the 1961 ariel you have?
Don, just google DTE areial collection. it’ll bring you right to a bunch of them. you can get low-res, and hi-res which have amazing detail. it’s really reallly cool and i have spent hours pouring over them. it’s so interesting to see the changes and how under developed windsor was even in the 50’s.
very cool – enjoy! 🙂
What a resource!!! Thanks.
I attended Assumption College 1950-53. That white bldg next to the original buildings wasn’t there. We had a series of WWII quonset huts there, which was the student center…lounges, student offices, yearbook (I was editor) etc. We loved the atmosphere. We had all our classes in the “new” building in the upper right of the photo and used the library in the high school bldg in the botton right of the photo.