Remember when we would pile in the car and go for a Sunday afternoon drive? There would be a stop for ice cream cones. Or maybe that was the point of the drive. Would that be something people might still do? Or is it a bygone tradition that started in the when cars were introduced to the public? Cars gave people the freedom to explore the areas around them, to visit people, and do errands efficiently.
Wikipedia says this Sunday drive tradition started in the 1920s and 30s. I don't think it was as popular here in Canada. The Great Depression started in 1929 and continued for 10 years here. Then there was the war, and people really sacrificed during the war so consumer items were in short supply, and that meant cars. People had to work many extra hours. My Dad said he worked every single day except for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday during the war. He worked for an aircraft company, so they were on extra duty.
That makes it easy to imagine the enjoyment of a Sunday Drive in the 1940s and 50s, after the war. There would be freedom - to visit friends, family and enjoy the countryside. What a difference now. There's heavy traffic, the price of gas, and a lot of suburban development where forests and fields once stood. Also, there is competition from more forms of entertainment - such an abundance now.
There are some old pictures of our family in front of the fountains in Niagara Falls. That would be a Sunday Drive back then. I know that the Sunday Drive to Niagara Falls is still a tradition. It is stop and go traffic towards the Falls from the late morning until the evening on a Sunday, and also on a Saturday. There are the fireworks at 10:00pm nightly, so quite a draw. Daily estimates range from 21,000 to 26,000 people. No that's a sizeable Sunday Drive crowd.
Here's another Trillium house in Grimsby. This one is on Livingston, very close to Casablanca. I would expect the Sunday Drive time is taken up with topiary trimming. Those spheres and rectangles are pretty impressive.
No comments:
Post a Comment