SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Canada in the 1920s

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 Banting1891-1941

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

The EffectsPositive

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

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).

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

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

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

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/audio/shootsandscores.au

https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/foster-hewitt

Foster Hewitt

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/sports/hockey/foster-hewitt-voice-of-hockey/from-here-it-looks-like-a-herring.html

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