I purchased a history of the Eatons’ store at a flea market, and in the “Golden Jubilee” book, published in 1919 was a list of all of its employees (men and women) who served in some capacity during the First World War.
It was a long list – which I have now transcribed for posterity. I listed the name of each individual, the store where they worked (Winnipeg, Toronto, Oshawa, Montreal, Manchester, Hamilton, London, Paris and New York) and information provided if they received a special medal for their service. The women are also highlighted.
I found these two addresses at Value Village. They were two sides of one frame, although it appears that the last person to hang this chose to show only the King’s address to his “people beyond the seas.” I think ultimately I want to remove them from the frame, but it is actually well made, and I am not sure how to do it….
So what is this? Both addresses appear to have been give-aways from the Montreal Star in 1901. As it says clearly on the lower left hand corner of both – “Presented to the readers of the Montreal Star.” The first is a message from Edward VII accepting the condolences for the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. The second is a rather florid poem to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later George V and Queen Mary) commemorating their visit to Canada in September 1901.
“In 1901 the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary) traversed Canada over five weeks. Conveyed by special train, the royal couple began their visit at Quebec City in the east and travelled as far as Vancouver in the west. Their tour covered 7700 miles, allowing an unprecedented number of Canadians to see a member of the Royal Family for themselves. Central to the visit was acknowledgement of Canada’s role in the Boer War, and much of the time was spent distributing medals and reviewing troops. The royal couple also attended a lacrosse match, visited a sawmill and inspected the Mounted Police.”
Canada To the Canadian People Sept. 1901
1
With myriad voices mingled and upcaught,
In two tongues married in a single thought,
One hope, one fealty, one purpose and one heart,
All hail! We shout with our free flag outrolled;
The rising sun hears welcome! as he sets
Welcome, and welcome! from the dripping nets
Of Nova Scotia, to the verge of the chart,
Where the grim Yukon thaws her stones to gold.
2
The Ophir climbs the shoulder of the world,
Leaving the sultry seas with isles empearled,
Where India smoulders in the torrid light,
Australia and her welded destinies;
She crashes through the crests on Cartier’s track,
and floats where Champlain moored and Frontenac,
Where bold Lasalle dreamed of the Western Seas,
and Wolfe victorious lion-crowned the height.
3
Now the freedom thou and thine make free,
Thy joyous people shout aloud to thee,
One hope, one fealty, one purpose and one heart;
In thee we hail the presage of the hour,
Old England federate of her utmost isles,
One from the lone lodge where the trapper piles,
His beaver skins, to where in nervous power,
London lies triumphing in her trampled mart.
Duncan Campbell Scott
Windsor Castle, February 4th, 1901
To My People Beyond the Seas
The countless messages of loyal sympathy which I have received from every part of My Dominions over the Seas testify to the universal grief in which the whole Empire now mourns the loss of my Beloved Mother.
In the welfare and prosperity of Her subjects throughout Greater Britain and the Queen ever evinced a heartfelt interest.
She saw with thankfulness the steady progress which, under a wide extension of Self-Government, they had made during Her Reign. She warmly appreciated their unfailing loyalty to Her Throne and Person, and was proud to think of those who had so nobly fought and died for the Empire’s cause in South Africa.
I have already declared that it will be My constant endeavour to follow the great example which has been bequeathed to Me.
In these endeavours I shall have a confident trust in the devotion and sympathy of the People, and of their several Representative Assemblies throughout My vasts Colonial Dominions.
With such loyal support I will, with God’s blessing, solemnly work for the promotion of the common welfare and security of the great Empire over which I have now been called to Reign.
No home in Canada, according to the American movies, is complete without the family trick dog. This faithful animal conveys the important letter thousands of miles, nurses kittens, releases the hero by gnawing the ropes that bind him, rescues the baby from drowning, carries baskets and bundles, opens doors and windows, gives warning of fire, and always arrives just in the nick of time, either down the chimney or through a trap door in the ceiling, to attach himself to the sat of the villain’s pants, thus rescuing his mistress from evil clutches.
The typical Canadian girl as the American movie producer insists, passes her life in divided skirts and one blouse. When not occupied in reciprocating her lover’s sentimental slobbering she is either being abducted, or escaping by performing the most marvelous acrobatic stunts imaginable. Clad in her one blouse, she often travels hundreds of miles in the deep snow and zero weather, through the dense, wild-animal infested forest, to warn her lover of a plot to accuse him wrongfully of illegally appropriating the neighbor’s chickens. Thus she constantly foils the attempts of the designing villain to remove rivalry to his amatory advances. These trips are not in the least detrimental to the rouge and talcum powder on her face and arms which is as fresh at the end as at the beginning of the trip.
This is St Andrew’s Day; Scotchmen are the heroes of the hour; highlander and heather have it all their own way; the pibrock’s din drowns all other sounds. To day the Scottish heart overflows with patriotism, and love of country is imprinted on every Scottish face. Old men who crossed
The tedious great wave
To room in climes unkind and now
Will relate to crowds of wondering youngsters gathered around, tales of history, of gallant deeds of those who centuries back struck a blow for Auld Scotia. The names of Wallace, Scott and Burns, and a hundred others, will afford plenty of food for the most eloquent.
A Scotch contemporary says:
“To two men above all others Scotsmen owes not only a vast proportion of their own happiness, but the romantic interest which their country claims from the natives of every clime. The fame of Burns and Scott will endear as long as the Doon and the Tweed, as long as Sohiehallion and Benlomond. May will be pardoned for again reminding our countrymen that on the 15th of August in the coming year will take place the centenary of Sir Walter Scott, a Scotsman whose nationality glowed as intensely as that of Burns? At every St Andrew’s festival in the United States and the Dominion of Canada, the fact should be dwelt upon with a fond and loving interest; and we are sure that nothing will do more to warm a true Scotsman’s heart, and, for that night at least, make him prouder than ever of dear old Caledonia.”
The programme arranged by the Scottish societies for to day is as follows:
At one o’clock the Caledonian Society will meet at the Mechanic’s Hall, transact business, and at two march in procession along with the St Andrew’s and Thistle societies to St Gabriel Church, where the Rev Mr. Campbell will preach the anniversary sermon, and where a collection will be taken up for the Home.
In the evening the grand anniversary concert of the St Andrew’s Society will take place in St Patrick’s Hall, the proceeds of which will also be devoted to the Home. The programme for this concert is exceedingly rich and well arranged. Addresses will be made by Mr. A McGibson and by the new pastor of St Andrew’s Church the Rev Gavin Lang. The singers engaged include many old favorites, and a delightful evening may be confidently expected.
Elsewhere will be found “A Passage in the Life of Burns,” which cannot fail to be read with interest by Scotsmen and their descendants.
Why the bad men in Canada are represented by fantastically garbed individuals named “Jean Baptiste: or “Mexican Pete”, no one knows but the American scenario author. Whenever there is a dirty work to be done at the cross roads, cattle rustling, claim-jumping, train-wrecking, hold-ups, stage robbing, kidnapping, dynamiting, arson, abduction of the divided-skirted Canadian girl, bank robbery or suspicion to be cast on the innocent – all of which are daily occurences in the life of Canadians according to these movies – the services of “Jean” and “Mac” cannot be disposed with. These gentlemen are endowed with more lives than a cat, for although shot dead at each event, they always bob up again for the next crime. This speaks highly for the bracing climate of Canada, but the nationality of these bad men puzzles the Canadian movie fans, for according to the police statistics a very large percentage of the occupants of Canadian jails and penitentiaries hail from the USA.
(“Come the three corners of the world in arms, and we shall shock them; nought shall make us rue, if Britain herself do rest but true.”) – Shakespeare
Cartoon from the News of the World, London, Eng. This cartoon is characteristic as showing how the people of the Motherland view Canada’s delay in sending her contingent to South Africa. Australia and Queensland have already rallied around the flag, while the Canadian is the last to appear.
Gilliandr's Blog 
Canada, according to American Movies, 1923
Montreal Daily Star, 29 Nov 1923
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Canada, According to American Movies – no 12
No home in Canada, according to the American movies, is complete without the family trick dog. This faithful animal conveys the important letter thousands of miles, nurses kittens, releases the hero by gnawing the ropes that bind him, rescues the baby from drowning, carries baskets and bundles, opens doors and windows, gives warning of fire, and always arrives just in the nick of time, either down the chimney or through a trap door in the ceiling, to attach himself to the sat of the villain’s pants, thus rescuing his mistress from evil clutches.
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