Glimpses of the Past: January 15, 2025

Compiled by Benjamin Smith, Collection Manager, Revelstoke Museum and Archives

Revelstoke Fire Department’s Dalmatian mascot in the heritage fire truck, ca. 1980. Revelstoke Museum & Archives Collection, P-9817.

130 years ago: The Kootenay Mail - January 18, 1896

Two masked midnight visitors got cold feet after coming face to face with the owner of the business they intended to steal from. Mr. Wells had retired for the night, but his keen senses miraculously picked up the brick the thieves had discretely thrown through his store’s window. Like a deer in headlights, the burglars stood, frozen in astonishment that their attempt had raised attention. They bolted.

120 years ago: The Mail Herald - January 13, 1906

Judging by this advertisement in the Mail Herald, for the Mail Herald, which consumes an entire page, I’m going to assume it was a slow week. In other news, a brown leather pocket book containing $60 was lost. I checked the following issue, and coincidentally someone else’s brown leather pocket book turned up, containing $20. I hope the other one turned up too. 

110 years ago: The Mail-Herald January 15, 1916

Word was received of the passing of William H. Bohannon, a cherished name by postal workers, publishers, reporters, and journalists all across western Canada. Bohannon was the founder of the Revelstoke Review, the Chase Tribune and several other newspapers throughout British Columbia.

100 years ago: The Revelstoke Review - January 13, 1926

An annual report detailing the number of cases brought before the city’s court in 1925 was given in the paper. 127 convictions were made, of which 47 were in accordance with the Railway Act. No cases “of a serious nature” unfolded throughout the entire year, and $6,059 was collected in fines. I genuinely do not think I’ve ever been as underwhelmed by crime statistics as I was reading this historical crime sheet.

90 years ago: The Revelstoke Review - January 17, 1936

Revelstoke's first Italian mayor, Anselmo Pradolini, expressed his thanks to his electors for allowing him to return to office to serve a third term. Anselmo had come directly to Revelstoke from the Italian Alps in 1903, and he proved himself to be a positive, valuable member of the community time and time again.

80 years ago: The Revelstoke Review - January 17, 1946

A Masquerade Ball was held in Revelstoke and I missed it! You always see these in movies but opportunities to revel in one are few and far in between. Consider this a nudge towards any ongoing party planning committees who have yet to select a theme, you know where to mail my invitation.

70 years ago: The Revelstoke Review -  January 19, 1956

The showings at the Avolie Theatre (our Roxy Theatre) were as follows; A Star is Born starring Judy Garland, East of Eden with James Dean, and Fighter Attack. Did you know that the theatre came about its original name “Avolie” through a contest? The winner submitted an anagram of “Olive”, plus an “a”. Olive Cooper, was one of the owners of the theatre at the time.

60 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review - January 13, 1966

Rogers Pass claimed two lives when two well-known locals were engulfed in an avalanche which swept down Mount Macdonald. Unrelated, but I read about a man last week who was fined for ignoring avalanche control, twice. Don’t be that guy, let them look out for you.

50 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review - January 14, 1976

An ad for outhouse racing was published in the review. For those who are fairly unfamiliar with Revelstoke, like myself, you might be surprised to learn that such an event exists. Yes, you heard me, the outhouse race, where teams build personalized outhouses and then place them on skis to race down Mackenzie Avenue, or Centennial Park in recent years. (If you want to see photos of this chaos, visit the Commode Gallery on your next visit to the museum.)

40 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review - January 15, 1986

Last week I had included that the 1935 fire brigade maintained a remarkably low fire loss, $3,400. In this edition, I came across the statistics for the 1985 Fire Department. By no fault of their own, the results were brutal. $145,000 was the estimated total loss after 90 fire alarm responses. Of those 90, just 3 incidents accrued over $80,000 in losses. In lieu of this, 460 fire safety inspections were also carried out. 

30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review - January 12, 1996

Independent film-maker Murray Siple dropped into Revelstoke for the season to shoot his upcoming film, Cascadia. Murray is regarded as something of a legendary figure amongst sport filmmakers. He would later go on to direct Carts of Darkness, a documentary about displaced people in Vancouver finding youthful joy amidst their difficult circumstances through cart-racing.

20 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review - January 18, 2006

An apology seized priority in the Opinions & Letters segment of this paper, from the almost-victim of a near-accident involving a train. Issued by a 24 year old individual to the CPR crew, this local man was not paying attention as he crossed the tracks, and took notice of the oncoming train too late. I wanted to commend this individual, who likely recognized that everyone involved in an accident is a victim. Hope you’re looking both ways these days!