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| Theatre still stands but it’s closed |
My dad worked for Anthes Imperial, a
furnace manufacturer. He was one of hundreds of assembly line workers. Salaries
were meagre yet one of the employee bonuses Anthes Execs offered for families
was an annual Christmas Party, a December invitation to Lincoln Theatre on St.
Paul Street. There we would watch a Christmas flick and then every employee's
child's name was read out and an age appropriate gift given on stage by none
other than the fattest Anthes Santa they could find. Murray had beautiful
curly white-blond hair and sitting on Santa's knee he was asked his name. In
his sweet boy voice he replied, "Murray." Santa and his helper
misheard the name and gave Murray a present. We didn't open the gifts until we
got home. When Murray opened his, he found a dainty toy Tea Set, cups &
saucers & teapot. He was not pleased.
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| Queenstown Heights Restaurant & Brock’s Monument |
The other Anthes gimme was the annual Factory
Summer Picnic held at Queenston Heights. Races and other contests were
organized for children, three legged races, and wheel-barrow races (dads
holding their kids legs and the kids scrabbling with their hands to a finish
line), and sack hops. I loved it because I was fast and competitive enough to
come home with prizes. The Factory also provided drinks and foods, ice cream
and watermelon.
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