This newsletter began with thoughts of turtles chocolates – on World Turtle Day. Turtles (as chocolates) are toasted pecans with a layer of caramel over the pecans dipped or covered in chocolate. Of course, there are places in the world which have never heard of turtles chocolates. I think they are well known (by different names) in Europe, Australia, and North America. Maybe people from those countries have been giving the idea to other countries. Eventually, the world can enjoy turtles chocolates when ever they would like. That would be nice.
Canadian Inspiration
Canadian Chocolate – There must be some people who do not like chocolate. I’m not one of them. Smooth, creamy, milk chocolate is my favourite.
Do you remember Smiles ‘n Chuckles, from Kitchener, Ontario and the turtles chocolates? Were they only in Ontario? Turtles chocolates are still around, but not Smiles ‘n Chuckles.
The factory started as the Hamblin & Metcalfe Candy Factory, founded in 1915. After the Second World War it became Smiles ‘N Chuckles. The company was bought by Laura Secord (also a Canadian chocolate company) in 1972. The building was demolished in 1976.
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- Ganong Canada’s oldest candy company founded in 1873. (New Brunswick)
- Peace by Chocolate (Nova Scotia)
- Roger’s Chocolates (British Columbia)
- Newfoundland Chocolate Company (Newfoundland)
- Rousseau Chocolatier (Nova Scotia)
- Denman Island Chocolate (British Columbia)
- McGuire Chocolate Company (New Brunswick)
- Purdy’s Chocolatier (British Columbia)
- Walker’s Chocolates (Ontario)
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There are many others: chocolate makers and chocolatiers. This list is just a start with those I know and/or have bought chocolate from over the years.
- Monsters In The Fog: Atlantic Canadian Stories by Atlantic Canadian Authors
- Lost in the Fog: Atlantic Canadian Stories by Atlantic Canadian Authors
Please help me support my fondness for groceries and the occasional new print book.
Canadian People
The Caesar was invented by Walter Chell, in Calgary, Alberta at the Calgary Inn, in 1969. Walter was asked to create an original drink to celebrate the opening of a new Italian restaurant. After working on it for 3 months he came up with, The Bloody Caesar: hand-mashed clams, tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper with a celery stick for garnish.
Toppings for the Caesar have become a meal in itself. Dill pickles being one which actually does work without being a meal in a glass. You can switch out horseradish for Worcestershire sauce. Mott’s Clamato has taken over from the original recipe of mashed clams and tomato juice. I assumed Mott’s was a Canadian company, but it started in the US. That’s disappointing.
Officially named Canada’s national cocktail by Parliament in 2010. The May Two-Four Weekend (also Victoria Day) is the unofficial beginning of summer for Canadians. The third Thursday in May, before the weekend, is National Caesar Day.
Canadian Places
In 1903 Frank, Alberta at the foot of the Turtle Mountain, was partially buried under the deadliest rockslide in Canadian history. It’s known as the Frank Slide, designated as a burial ground and provincial historical landmark.
In 1901, entrepreneurs Sam Gebo and Henry Frank developed the first of many coal mines in the Crowsnest Pass, in the base of Turtle Mountain. The community of Frank was incorporated as the Village of Frank on September 3, 1901.
Frank became the first incorporated village in the Crowsnest Pass. By 1903 there were two dozen businesses and services, a two-story brick school, and a regional post office. Population – about 1,000 people.
Early morning, April 29, 1903, 110 million tonnes of rock slipped off the eastern side of Turtle Mountain. Two minutes later, it had buried three square kilometres of the valley, destroyed the mine’s infrastructure, rural businesses, and seven houses. The slide split Turtle Mountain into two peaks. Homes, cottages, work camps, farms and businesses were buried under as much as 45 meters of rock. Only 18 bodies were recovered but 70 to 90 people were missing, not seen again.
A few years later, due to the danger of another rockslide happening, the village was moved to a new townsite across the CPR tracks. The Imperial Hotel, built in 1902, was moved to Vulcan, Alberta. A new three-story hotel (Rocky Mountains Sanatorium) was constructed with small zoo near the hotel.
There is an annual Tour de Frank rock climbing festival. Also a trail run called Run the Rocks, in honour of Sid Choquette, a brakeman for the Canadian Pacific Railway who scrambled across the debris on the night of the slide to prevent an oncoming train from colliding with the limestone blocking the tracks.
- Canadian History Ehx Craig Baird has far more detail in his podcast about Frank, Alberta.
- Mysteries of Canada – Hammerson Peters has also written about Frank, Alberta.
- Canadian Geographic- The 1903 Frank Slide: In the shadow of the mountain
- Discover Crowsnest Heritage – Frank
- Canada’s Deadliest Landslide | Frank Slide, Alberta – Yellow Bird – Taylor Holmes.
- Frank Slide || The Night a Mountain Crushed a Town || Southern Alberta, Canada – Down the Wrabbit Hole – Marti Doktorchik
- Crowsnest Pass | Alberta Canada (travel guide) – Traveling with Krushworth – Kevin and Lizzy
- Frank slide, a town buried under a mountain – Railfanning with Tony V
- CBC: The National – Report by Cameron MacIntosh in 2003 (100 years later). YouTube found link.
Southern Alberta – Ghost Towns & Abandoned Places – Chris Attrell Photographer based in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. Author of Forgotten Saskatchewan, Forgotten Saskatchewan II, and Grain Elevators: Beacons on the Prairies.
Canadian Things
Stories from Canada’s Economic History – Chris Willmore, Skeride Publishing, August, 2019. Free to download and read – Please donate.
Canadian Links
- FastStone – Canadian software developer for photographs and images.
- HTML Notepad – from Andrew Fedoniouk. WYSIWYG editor, not a web page editor.
- PHP Markdown – Michel Fortin.
- Atlantic Canada – The RPG – Published 2018. – created by a member of Moncton-based band The Motorleague. See the play along video with the game creator.
Canadian Society of Marine Artists – Dedicated to Canadian artists inspired by our oceans and lakes, our ships and those who sail in them.
Morbid Canadian Moments – YouTube video posts.
Life is Adventure – Exploring Interior BC, and other places.
Our Retired Life – Travel vlog from Yula and Alex, a retired couple from Ontario, Canada.
Some of the people I’ve bought coffee for on ko-fi.
- Noah Nowhere – Exploring old and abandoned places, somewhere in Ontario. Also on Instagram.
- Shandi with the site: Small Town Canada – She was off to a great start but hasn’t posted in awhile. See also Instagram and her YouTube account.
- Canada’s Magic – A site for and about magicians.
- Robyn Lacy – historical archaeologist with a PhD, focused on burial grounds, historic landscapes, and built heritage. Spade and the Grave.