What happened in Kelowna 100 and 50 years ago...
One Hundred Years Ago Today in Kelowna Overwaitea, with its 11 stores, is incorporated
Overwaitea Ltd. has recently been incorporated under a British Columbia charter, with a capitalization of $100,000. This incorporation calls to mind the almost unique rise to complete public confidence and the sound business success of the Overwaitea stores.
In 1916, Mr. R.C. Kidd opened the first Overwaitea store in New Westminster, just a small hole in the wall store, with 12 feet frontage by 90 feet depth. Now, the chain has eleven stores, including Kelowna, Vernon, and Penticton.
It is a point of particular pride shared by Mr. Kidd and every Overwaitea co-worker that there is not a single dollar invested in the company apart from their own, and no outsider can buy any of the company’s stocks. Thus the public is protected by a policy of independence which has over and over again worked to the advantage of Overwaitea customers.
Local and Personal News
Hard times do not appear to have had any effect on car owners in the Kelowna district, no less than thirty-five more car licences having been taken out so far this year than by the same date in 1923.
The many friends of Mr. W.H. Wills will be pleased to learn he has sufficiently recovered from his long siege of sickness to be able to leave the Kelowna Hospital and return home.
Ralph Bulman is expected home this week after an absence of almost three months in the States and at the Coast.
Items for sale at the Kelowna Recall Drugs ‘One Cent Sale’
Rob Roy Hot Water Bottle, 2 quart size and guaranteed for 2 years: 2 for $2.51
Chocolate Bars, normally 5 cents each, two for 6 cents
Petroleum Hair Rub, normally 75 cents, two for 76 cents
Liver pills, normally 25 cents, two for 26 cents
Aspirin box, normally 50 cents, two for 51 cents
Fifty Years Ago Today in Kelowna Crowded classes
The student-teacher ratio in Kelowna schools is the worst in B.C., the president of the B.C. Teachers Federation says.
Jim MacFarlan said the situation is “the legacy” of the former Socred government.
“It is ironic that the worst teacher-pupil ratio in the province should exist in a riding which the former premier represented for 20 years,” MacFarlan said, referring to W.A.C. Bennett.
Sexy, not obscene
The Joy of Sex, which contains explicit pen and ink drawings of couples engaged in intimate acts, has been taken off the shelves in two Kelowna bookstores after police suggested the owners should stop selling copies.
Local police then decided to send a copy of the book to Attorney-General Alex Macdonal for a ruling on whether the book is obscene. But the copy never reached the minister.
“The book appears to have been lost in the mails, much to the distress of some of my staff,” Macdonald said in the legislature.
If he does receive The Joy of Sex, Macdonald seems disinclined to declare it to be obscene.
“Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t want to do anything to bring an indictment against the Creator and his instincts,” MacDonald said.
Apparently, the RCMP can’t be charged with sending obscene literature through the mails.
New curling rink lauded
In an editorial, The Courier welcomed efforts to build a new curling rink in Kelowna.
“The present rink has served its purpose well but for a city with close to 50,000 population, it is inadequate.
“A 12-sheet facility is proposed and that should be a minimum as there are enough curlers in this city to keep it busy. And the more people that come from out of town, the more money is left in the city.
“It should also carry itself financially.”
The Daily Courier Archives
EDITOR’S NOTE: Depending on the popularity of this column, this could be expanded to Penticton.