1. Canada in the 1920s

2. Discovery of Insulin  Sir Frederick Banting was the co-discoverer of insulin and shared Canada’s first Nobel Prize  In the winter of 1921-22, the discovery of insulin was made by a team of researchers that included Banting  Banting was hailed as the principal discoverer of insulin because his idea had launched the research Charles Best (left) and Frederick Banting, with a dog used in their experiments to isolate insulin Frederick Banting 1891-1941

3. A New Age of Transportation  In the 1920s, the automobile changed the lives of Canadians  In 1904, Canada’s automotive industry began with the establishment of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd.  By 1913, there were some 50 000 motor vehicles in Canada Henry Ford 1863-1947

4. Before the Car  Horses -Before personal automobiles, people used horses as transportation -Horses required long periods of rest, and couldn’t handle steep inclines  Trains -Railroads ran on determined schedules -Railroads ran to set destinations

5. Only for the Wealthy!  Travel was limited!  Before the automobile, the carriage, the coach-and-four, the private railcar and the hansom cab (kind of horse-drawn carriage designed for speed) were accepted methods of travel, but only for the wealthy

6. The Rise of the Automobile  Custom Cars -Cars were expensive to produce and buy -Had to be created by skilled labourers -time consuming and difficult  The Model-T -Henry Ford’s introduction of the “cheap car”, the Model-T

7. Assembly Line  Ford developed their cars using an “assembly line”  Work could be done by unskilled labourers. They could easily master the simple techniques.  Immigrants and other unemployable’s soon found work on the assembly line  Cheap to produce = cheap to buy!  The Ford Model T became accessible to average citizens  Automobile sales increased drastically

8. Canadians loved the car  Between 1918 and 1923, Canada became the world’s second largest vehicle producer and a major exporter of automobiles and auto parts  By 1929, 50 percent of Canadian families owned an automobile  The Model T, which sold for less than $400, was the most popular Ford Model T

9. Automobile travel was risky You could figure on the best part of a day to get from [Toronto] to Wasaga Beach, up on Georgian Bay. It was a kind of an adventure, each time. See, there weren’t many service stations in those days, so you’d have to take along some extra cans of gas. Used to stash them on the running board. And tires – they blew out about as often as the kids needed to go to the bathroom. Hate to think how many inner tubes I patched in those days. Lots of times the old bus would stall going up a long grade. When that happened, you’d get blocks behind the rear tires, and everybody would push and pray till you got [the car] going again. There wasn’t any such thing as road maps. So if you were going someplace you’d never been before, you’d just head out in that general direction and hope for the best.  Source: Quoted in The Crazy Twenties, Canada’s Illustrated Heritage (Toronto: Natural Science of Canada, 1978), 26. A traffic jam in the streets of Toronto

10. The advent of the automobile led to many changes...  Road paving began in the cities and gradually spread out to the countryside  In 1925, Canada had 75 200 km of paved roads; by 1930, there were 128 000 km  In the past, it had been usual for people to travel no more than 10 or 15 km from their homes through their life time  People could travel farther and easier than ever!  People enjoyed this new found freedom and spontaneity  The car made people much more mobile and increased their knowledge of the world

11. Obvious Benefits  People began to enjoy more “leisure” activities  The rise of summer vacation  Cars became part of every day life: drive to work, go shopping, visit friends, go to appointments etc.  The car went from being a “toy” for the rich, to an essential for everyone!

12. The Effects Positive  Created jobs  Created new industries  gasoline, rubber, glass  People could travel farther  More people travelled  restaurants, motels  People could live farther from their workplace Negative  Air pollution  Traffic problems  Accidents – deaths  Criminal used cars

13. An automotive vehicle for travel on snow  Joseph-Armand Bombardier, a mechanic from Valcourt, Quebec, developed the first snowmobile in 1922 First snowmobile (courtesy Bombardier Inc).

14. New Communication: The Radio  It was not until the 1920s that voice and music could be broadcast  The radio brought news and entertainment to homes across the country

15. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  During the 1920s, the small, low-power Canadian stations filled their schedules with cheap, live productions (music, comedy, drama, etc) which were of low quality  Audiences preferred the higher quality American radio  More powerful American stations were forcing Canadian stations off the air  In response, the government established the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1932

16. Where it began – Hockey Night in Canada  CBC Radio used to be the home of Hockey Night in Canada  Hockey Night in Canada was first broadcast in 1923, and captivated audiences listened to hear every word that announcer Foster Hewitt said about their heroes

17. Foster Hewitt (1902-1985), famous Canadian broadcaster  In 1923, he made one of the first radio broadcasts of a hockey game  He broadcasted the first game from Maple Leaf Gardens when it opened in 1931  From that time, his play-by-play descriptions became familiar to fans from coast to coast  Famous phrase, “He shoots! He scores!” Foster Hewitt - 1943: He coined that famous phrase... http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/tradition/au dio/shootsandscores.au https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage- minutes/foster-hewitt Foster Hewitt http://www.cbc.ca/archive s/categories/sports/hocke y/foster-hewitt-voice-of- hockey/from-here-it- looks-like-a-herring.html

18. Sources  Bain, Colin M. Making History: The Story of Canada in the Twentieth Century (Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2000)  The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.histori.ca/  CBC Hockey Night in Canada radio archives http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/radtrad.html  Ford Motor Company Ltd. http://www.ford.ca/app/fo/en/our_company/heritage/pre _war_fords.do