Three more vintage shots today from the Bernie Drouillard collection. The photo above is dated June 1941, and shows a street scene of Ouellette Ave. looking north from Wyandotte Street. Note the old streetcar tracks are still visible on Ouellette Ave.
This shot shows the same view a few years later. The bunting has been removed along with the “Victory Bonds” banner. Perhaps this is after WWII was over? Also note the Streetcar tracks are now gone.
Here is a view of Ouellette Ave. looking south from Riverside Drive. The long lost Norwich block is on the right, and Albert Kahn’s original Bank of Commerce is located to the left. I’m guessing the photo above was taken at the same time as the photo before this one. Again the tracks have been removed, and the asphalt looks relatively new. The last two photos were probably taken following the removal of the tracks for S.W.& A. records.
It’s kind of depressing to see how far downtown has fallen. Despite the spin by the DWBIA and the Mayor’s Office, there is really little reason to head downtown these days.
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Thanks for this and other recent photos of postwar Windsor. I hope more people can see how our downtowns used to be to give them an idea of how they can be and should be once again.
I am looking for some informaion on a childrens clothing store that was open in and around 1943. There was a picture in the window of a young boy in a sailor suit. This was my father and I am looking to obtain a copy or any info, as he has just passed away and I am looking for information on him.
Thank you in advance
Chris Hamilton
I would like to enlist the help of any local history buffs who would be willing to be part of an historic sidewalk project. I would like to see sidewalk slabs at important locations stamped with a brief summary of some historical event that occured in Windsor...in front of the Francois Baby House for example. Since most of your comments find Windsor "wanting" in terms of what we could make of our city - it seems that a few of you might be interested in this.
does anyone know the name of the Chinese Restaurant that was just down the street from the old Radio Tavern, it was on Ouellette Ave just north of Wyndotte on the East side of the street
Lotus Garden.
does anyone remember the hotel that was built on the Northwest corner of Riverside Drive and Ouellette Avenue.
Millie, it was the Ritz. Have a look at this earlier post: http://internationalmetropolis.com/2010/05/14/the-ritz-hotel/
I remember the chinese restaurant on Quellette ( Lotus Gardens ) The young guys me included would go there after a hard night of Beers . Food tasted great . Went there until they got sited for using cats in the Chinese .
Does anyone remember Robert Bullen?
Ouellette Ave. was alive and well back in the 40's and 50's. Although smaller than that of Detroit (of course!), it was loud with the sounds of footsteps on cement sidewalks, the honking of horns (lots of that in those days), and the hum of those old yellow Ford-built front-engine buses, numbered in 2-digits in the Sandwich, Windsor, and Amherstburg Railway Company's system. These were the buses that replaced the streetcars back in 1939, and I remember riding next to the driver on the big hump under which was the engine. It was warm sitting there in the winter, and exciting to a 4-year old about to climb the great heights of the Peabody Bridge on Riverside Drive on the Lauzon bus route. Many were the great stores along Ouellette Ave. The lower photo shows the large Dowler's Mens Wear store with its balcony and large L-shaped floor area. Across the street on the left of the photo is the Smith's Department store with it's several floors of goodies and its old wooden attendant-operated elevators and its pneumatic tube system for sending money up to the offices on the top floor. Tucked in there was Bondy's Shoe Store. It had an x-ray machine where you could see your toes right through your shoes! Imagine that! You can't do that today. Small things made big memories and had great entertainment value back then.