Silver Bells Print (Unframed)

Christmas time in Hamilton in the 1950’s was an era of parties at the Royal Connaught Hotel. A time of taking the trolley bus downtown to shop at one of the many department stores such as: Eatons, Robinsons, Birks, Woolworths or Kresges. A time when an expensive toy cost five dollars. A time when magic filled the air as hundreds of Hamiltonians converged on the downtown core that surrounded Gore Park.

Parcel-laden shoppers would stay downtown for the entire evening until the stores closed, many stopping in at a restaurant for dinner. One of the most popular restaurants was the “Chicken Roost”. My sister, Shirley, and I recall many shopping excursions that would end at the Chicken Roost. Although known for the Bar-B-Q chicken dinners, it was the cherry cheese pie that we always looked forward to.

In my painting, “Silver Bells”, I recall to imagery some of these cherished memories. It is my hope that your memories will also be stirred to relive your own reminiscences of an era that will live on in our hearts and minds.