Consistency over the years

It’s been both a fun and educational exercise for our staff selecting the Canada 150th stories which appear daily in the pages of The Penticton Herald. The series began Feb. 1, 150 days prior to Canada’s 150th birthday. We’re going chronologically backwards and in the most recent years we published what was picked as the No. 1 story of the year by our editorial department of the day (a tradition which began in the 1990s.) We then began relying on our archives for what was considered a top story (in some years there were several good choices) but as we’re now in the 1930s, we are re-reading every Page 1. It’s not nearly as time-consuming as it sounds because in those days The Herald was still a weekly.

Reading the headlines from old papers was a reminder that we’ve evolved as a society. Some of the wording used by papers in those days was politically incorrect and racist by today’s standards. It’s often cringe-worthy.

It’s also interesting how society has changed. In Thursday’s Canada 150th story from 1932, a judge firmly suggested to the parents of three teenage boys that they thrash them at home for their involvement in vandalizing a school on Halloween. The judge also ordered their fathers to pay for the damages.

It’s unlikely a judge would ever say that today, although many visitors on our social media site believe it’s actually a worthy suggestion.

While page layout, story content, style and quality of photographs have evolved in newspapers, many of the issues in the South Okanagan have remained consistent for decades.

Flooding was a huge concern in the 1930s. Does this sound familiar?

Agriculture and the price of produce was another big issue just as it is today.

Over the years there was much bickering among municipal councils and school boards. One reeve was even expelled for a year due to a technicality over his irrigation rates.

Service clubs - the Gyros and Legion, in particular - did great things.

While much has changed in the Okanagan over the years, much has remained the same.

Many issues from the ‘30s are the same as today