Post 1900 - It Holds Up. And A Special Blog Announcement

Welcome to post 1900, ladies and gentlemen!

Being a Saturday, we slept in until quite late.  We did get up eventually, though.

I did the dishes.  Of course, it took a long time.  After they were over, I plunked down on the couch and watched a cooking show with Patricia.  Yes, I was that bored.  However, the host had such a good idea for a salad, what he called a chicken wing salad, that it inspired me to make something similar for lunch, so I did.

Rolled some cut up chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, in flour.  Cooked it, adding some red pepper flakes.  Let it rest.  To the same frying pan, I added equal parts margarine and Frank's Hot Sauce and fried that with a bit of ketchup.

To the bowl that had the chieken, I poured on the liquid and then added lettuce and tomato and feta cheese.  Mixed all of that together, and it was an excellent salad.

I know.  You don't care.

Anyway, the emails started coming in requesting a copy of the Ada McCallum documentary.  I made some copies of it, for research and educational purposes only of course.  Late this afternoon, we watched the thing on TV.  It still holds up.  It is still fascinating, but at the same time, frustrating.  So little is known of Ada, on the record, officially, that they had to work on speculation more than a little.  It is intimated that, late in life, Ada bought and subdivided properties which ended up with street names named after some of her best girls.  They showed some names.  They refused to focus in on the house she lived in and ran her business from, on Windsor Street but indicated it was very close to the Jehovah's Witness Hall.  I drive past there every day on my way to work.  I still think it's across the street from the hall.  Hard to say.  Also hard to say whether this is the place where actress  Ellen Page currently lives.  Another viewing of the documentary will be in order.  Many people who knew her, and availed themselves of her services, would not speak on the record.  After all these years, I'm sure that they would still refuse to speak on the record.  Cowards, all of them.

Watching the documentary is also depressing in that they show many old Halifax structures that simply no longer exist.  The whorehouse at the former 51 Hollis Street, across from where the Lt. Governor lives, became a parking lot and will be part of a future development.  The Morris Lodge was torn down and is now the eyesore at 1313 Barrington Street.  The Dresden Hotel is history as well.  They showed a picture of the old Halifax Police Headquarters, probably the one that was part of the section of the city razed to create Scotia Square and the Cogswell Interchange.

It is sad, contemplating the pieces of old Halifax that no longer exist.  Which is what leads me to the following blog announcement: I am willing to discuss with anyone, any time, anywhere, aspects of the so-called "old" Halifax.  If you have an anecdote to share about a building in the downtown or in the South End or something, then leave a comment on this blog and I'll be happy to publish it.  Any stories of interesting old characters forgotten today?   Any cool ghost stories or local legends?   Send them my way.  I want to know about them.  Tell everyone that Bevboy wants to hear these stories and will provide a free forum for their exchange!

A couple of rules.

I'm primarily interested in the history of Halifax.  I'll go as far as to include Dartmouth and the old County and the like.  Also, the Annapolis Valey, where I'm from, would have many interesting stories that I'd love to publish here.  Other places?  Not so much.  I'm sure there are Cape Breton bloggers who would love to write about the history of that fine place.  I have to draw the line somewhere.

I am not interested in libellous stories.  If you want to write about someone who's dead who was a child murderer or something, allegedly, then in the absence of a conviction to that effect I will not allow that publication here.  I am the sole judge as to what I will and will not publish or discuss here.  I'm liberal in that sense, but not willing to engage in character assassination.  That's why I moderate all Blog comments here.

I am aware of other websites that discuss local history.  They certainly are interesting.  Most of them, however, feature a lot of pictures without much commentary.  I would like to have the opposite: commentary without a lot of pictures.

Every time I run one of these stories as a comment to a blog post or whatever, I will use the "HalifaxAnecdotes" label, starting with this here post.

Well, what are you waiting for?  Tell me these stories!

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy