Table Of Content

Covering Niagara Cultural Studies Series Cultural Studies is the multi- and inter-disciplinary study of culture, defined anthropologically as a “way of life,” performatively as symbolic practice, and ideologically as the collective product of varied media and cultural indus- tries. Although Cultural Studies is a relative newcomer to the humanities and social sciences, it has in less than half a century taken interdisciplinary schol- arship to a new level of sophistication, reinvigorating the liberal arts curricu- lum with new theories, topics, and forms of intellectual partnership. Wilfrid Laurier University Press invites submissions of manuscripts con- cerned with critical discussions on power relations concerning gender, class, sexual preference, ethnicity, and other macro and micro sites of political struggle. For more information, please contact: Lisa Quinn Acquisitions Editor Wilfrid Laurier University Press 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 Canada Phone: 519-884-0710 ext. 2843 Fax: 519-725-1399 Email: [email protected] Covering Niagara Studies in Local Popular Culture Joan Nicks and Barry Keith Grant, editors This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Covering Niagara : studies in local popular culture / Joan Nicks and Barry Keith Grant, editors. (Cultural studies series) Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic format. ISBN 978-1-55458-221-1 1. Popular culture—Ontario—Niagara (Regional municipality). 2. Niagara (Ont. : Regional municipality)—History. I. Nicks, Joan, [date] II. Grant, Barry Keith, 1947– III.Series: Cultural studies series (Waterloo, Ont.) FC3095.N5A39 2010 971.3'38 C2010-900648-8 ISBN 978-1-55458-247-1 Electronic format. 1. Popular culture—Ontario—Niagara (Regional municipality). 2. Niagara (Ont. : Regional municipality)—History. I. Nicks, Joan, [date] II. Grant, Barry Keith, 1947– III. Series: Cultural studies series (Waterloo, Ont.) FC3095.N5A39 2010a 971.3'38 C2010-900649-6 Cover art by Niagara Region artist John Sakars: panel (48" × 48") from Mosaic of Niagara (2006; collage on wood triptych, 48" × 144"), photographed by Denis Cahill. Cover design by David Drummond. Text design by Catharine Bonas-Taylor. ©2010 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada www.wlupress.wlu.ca This book is printed on FSC recycled paper and is certified Ecologo. It is made from 100% post-consumer fibre, processed chlorine free, and manufactured using biogas energy. Printed in Canada Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omis- sions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copy- right licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. For Kenji, student of “the beautiful game” —J.N. To Zak and Gabi, who have taught me so much about popular culture —B.K.G. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS ix MAPS Niagara Region, Niagara Urban Areas, Niagara Wine Route xiii FOREWORD Reflections on Everyday Life in Niagara|Geoff Pevere xvii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xxi INTRODUCTION PART I PUBLIC SHOWINGS 3 Polite Athletics and Bourgeois Gaieties: Toronto Society in Late Victorian Niagara-on-the-Lake|Phillip Gordon Mackintosh 25 A Promise Set in Stone: St. Catharines Honours a Common Soldier|Russell Johnston and Michael Ripmeester 45 Niagara Falls Indian Village: Popular Productions of Cultural Difference|Marian Bredin PART II MOVIES AND MEDIA 69 Early Movie-Going in Niagara: From Itinerant Shows to Local Institutions, 1896–1910|Paul S. Moore 93 “Hollywoodization,” Gender, and the Local Press in the 1920s: The Case of Niagara Falls, Ontario|Jeannette Sloniowski and Joan Nicks 119 Where Is the Local in Local Radio?: The Changing Shape of Radio Programming in St. Catharines|Laura Wiebe Taylor vii viii Contents PART III FOOD AND DRINK 147 Frolics with Food: The Frugal Housewife’s Manualby “A.B. of Grimsby”|Fiona Lucas and Mary F. Williamson 169 “A Little More Than a Drink”: Public Drinking and Popular Entertainment in Post-Prohibition Niagara, 1927–1944| Dan Malleck 195 Niagara’s Emerging Wine Culture: From a Countryside of Production to Consumption| Hugh Gayler PART IV LOCAL CONNECTIONS 215 “Kenny-ing”: Kenny Wheeler and Local Jazz|Terrance Cox 237 The Music Store as a Community Resource|Nick Baxter-Moore 263 Back to Our Roots: How Niagara Artists Centre Became Popular Again|Roslyn Costanzo PART V BORDERLINE MATTERS 285 Entertaining Niagara Falls: Minstrel Shows, Theatres, and Popular Pleasures|Joan Nicks and Jeannette Sloniowski 311 Electricity from Niagara Falls: Popularization of Modern Technology for Domestic Use|Norman Ball 337 Weaving Local Identity: The Niagara Region Tartan and the Invention of Tradition|Greg Gillespie 353 CONTRIBUTORS 357 INDEX NIAGARA REGION