Windows on the Past – my parents – 1911-1912

~ Ellie

I’d like to share two precious pics from over a century ago.

Below is a “Declaration of Birth” of my father, Sam, on June 13th, 1911. A couple of things stand out for me. The first is that the baby’s name is nowhere to be seen – there isn’t even a place for it. Seems odd; maybe in those days people named their babies later, days after their birth.

Secondly, the “Residence of parents” shows as 346 St. Dominique St. But my father had always told me he grew up on Harvard Avenue in the genteel, leafy west-end Montreal suburb of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG). He never once mentioned St. Dominique, a much older, run-down street in the smoggy, less-genteel area of eastern Montreal. I suppose they moved to NDG later on. When? Unfortunately I can’t ask him now.

By the way, my dad inherited the “dry-goods” store mentioned on this form. I wrote about my dad’s father and the store here.

Sam-birthcertif

 

Ida-as-baby

Here is a splendid photo of my mother, Ida, taken when she was one year old. Isn’t this gorgeous? Note that her glorious dress was sewed by her mother, my grandmother. Every stitch. Where she found the time, I’ll never know, since she already had four kids and another one coming. (Eventually there were eight!)

If you’ve ever seen my pic, now you know I come by my curls honestly. 😀

Hope you’ve enjoyed this little “window on the past.”

 

11 thoughts on “Windows on the Past – my parents – 1911-1912”

  2. Lovely picture. Aunt Ida always was gorgeous! As for Uncle Sam, his family certainly lived in St. Dominique St. when he was born (the census taker seems to have passed through just a day or 2 before he was born!). They were on Blvd. St. Laurent by 1921. Your census records are so much easier to search than ours!

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  4. That’s a beautiful picture of your mom as a child Ellie – just amazing how clear this photograph is. She has some beautiful sausage curls, so you are correct saying that you came by your curls honestly. 🙂

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