Editors liked poems, funny ads
THE PRINTED WORD was overwhelmingly the greatest source of public information in 1867. Beyond personal communication, there was no source of current events other than the daily and weekly newspapers.
Canada was surprisingly well furnished with these.
In 1836, there were 30 small journals being published periodically in Upper Canada. By 1855, the various provinces which made up British North America had about 300. On the eve of Confederation, there were, in Ontario and Quebec, 22 daily papers, 220 weeklies, 26 triweeklies and 45 other periodicals which came out at varied intervals.
IN HAMILTON, the Spectator, founded in 1846, had a long established readership by the time of Confederation, as did its rival the Times, which was started in 1858.
Other towns in southern Ontario were similarly well served.
The Brantford Courier was founded in 1834; the Galt Reporter in 1846; London Free Press, 1849; Brantford Expositor, 1851; Stratford Beacon, 1854; Woodstock Sentinel Review, 1854; The Dundas True Banner, 1856; and the Simcoe Reformer, 1858.
Weather and remedies
George Brown’s Toronto Globe was founded in 1844 and, in the Reform movement camp, dominated its field in the years which preceded Confederation and for a long period afterward.
There were religious journals, such at Egerton Ryerson’s Christian Guardian, which had wide readership among Methodists in Ontario.
Other publications than newspapers and periodicals were almanacs, which kept Hamiltonians informed, or perhaps misinformed, concerning the long-range weather outlook and what was the best remedy for whatever ailed them.
There were a number of books, often of poetry. But, in most instances, these were not widely circulated or very informative. Government surveys and reports formed an important source of basic information, but were not precisely news.
One work available in most well-furnished libraries of the day was Smith’s Canada, published in 1851 at Toronto and covering southern Ontario with a thoroughness which included the occupation of all the leading citizens.
Personal letters played a part in keeping people informed.
Those who travelled to the United States often wrote revealing letters of conditions there which were more informative than some of the dispatches. The same was true of Canadian travellers in other lands. Then there was a great multitude of travelling lectures equipped with magic lantern slides.
The clergy often preached on the events of the day.
Long, long speeches
In politics, the public meeting indoors in winter, and in the form of picnics and outings in the summer, formed the greatest source of information on public affairs.
First, the speakers on behalf of the various parties delivered their addresses to often large and always endlessly patient audiences. Then these addresses were usually carried verbatim in the press. An alert newspaper would have two shorthand writers at any meeting of importance.
THE STAGE brought light upon the culture and the prevailing fads and fancies of the outside world.
The concert platform did the same for the world of music. The Mechanics Institute, which preceded public libraries, often provided a very up-to-date selection of books. Hamilton’s Institute was located on James Street North, and for years, copies of the old books bearing the Institute stamp appeared in second-hand stores.
Ads, teeth and poetry
The daily papers of Hamilton, The Spectator and The Times did quite a thorough job of informing their readers of what went on in this country and the world.
One warm day, July 10, 1867, The Times presented a lively looking four-page edition to its readers. The first page was largely advertising — The Ontario Clothing House said they had the largest and cheapest stock in the city; D. A. Boquet advertised dentistry with a menacing set of snarling false teeth depicted beneath his name.
There was a long poem by Jessie Lawson, which began Heaven bless our land — free Canada In this her youth’s glad mourn Of all the earth’s mighty nations The latest born … The news as chiefly grouped on page two; the political events in Montreal and Quebec, an account of a convention of leading Ontario Catholics in Toronto; an extensive report of the Reform meeting at Galt addressed by George Brown; Hamilton cricketers playing at London, and a number of local news items and letters.
The third page was devoted to business news including commodity prices from Europe by cable and from other parts of this continent by wire.
PAGE FOUR was heavily given to advertising including a breathtaking picture of a giant hippopotamus which G.F. Bailey’s Circus was bringing to town the following day. There was also the announcement that Doctor Andrews’ dispensary for the treatment of private diseases had been closed and moved to Toronto — apparently a greener field in that line.
Different presentation
The Spectator on that same summer day gave somewhat the same diet of information as that presented by the Times, but the presentation and atmospheres were different.
A long list of legal cards lined the front page — R.N. Law, W. Allan Geddes, Henry Wetenhall, J. V. Spohn, John E. Start, Mills and Land, to mention only a few old Hamilton names. The Goldsmith’s Hall advertised, with some excitement, electroplated silver.
The first news item was from the Brampton Times, a Reform paper, reporting the split which had occurred in the Reform party on the eve of the election which followed Confederation.
Dr. Tupper’s Confederation day oration at Halifax was reproduced and there was a lengthy story from the Montreal Gazette on the state of Canada’s defences.
On page two, the editor discussed the American reaction to the murder of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, and did so with extensive background knowledge and keen judgment.
Blast reform policies
Next was a discussion of the benefits of the new Atlantic Cable. The reason why the Brampton Times’ account of the Reform situation was published then became apparent — the editor used it as the basis for a slashing attack upon Reform policies.
There was a good budget of news and business information by cable from London and material by telegraph from Montreal, Quebec and Toronto. The paper maintained a correspondent in the provincial capital who apparently filed at length daily.
The address of W.P. Howland (one of the fathers of Confederation) in West York was reported and the dinner of the Licensed Victuallers got good coverage.
There were nine local stories and Harriet Annie, then Hamilton’s leading poetess, wrote lines after attending a divine service for the deaf and dumb. It was quite long and, had they been able to speak, Harriet might have been urged into greater zeal.