1885-07-01 Holiday

“Canada’s eighteenth national holiday has come and gone, , and it leaves a memory of a cool and pleasant day, of flying flags, of music from many bands, of fire crackers and flaring fireworks, of dust, of ice cream, of soda water, cigars and – beer.”

Hamilton Spectator     July 02, 1885.

The first of July, 1885 was a national holiday in Canada. In Hamilton, all shops, factories, and stores, in fact nearly everything was closed for the day.

One of the very few that workers that did not have the day off was a Spectator reporter, who had the assignment of capturing the events of the holiday in Hamilton. He was busy from the break of day until well after sunset:

“Both early morning and late at night the streets were thronged with people, hurrying to the various attractions in and around the city, hustling to catch the excursion trains and boats for Buffalo, Toronto and elsewhere. But through the middle of the day, the streets were almost deserted. The weather could not have been finer. The sun was shining from a cloud-flecked sky, but a delightfully cool breeze blew through the day and prevented nature’s self-feeder from making things uncomfortably warm. There were happy faces everywhere, and it is safe to presume that the eighteenth anniversary of confederation was thoroughly enjoyed by Canada’s loyal subjects.”¹

¹  “Our National Holiday : How It Was Observed By Hamilton People : The Big I.P.B.S. Demonstration at Dundurn, House of Providence Picnic, and Other Holiday Attractions”

Hamilton Spectator     July 02, 1885.

The biggest of many attractions in Hamilton, on July 1, 1885 was at Dundurn park where the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society leased the grounds for the day, and provided all sorts of events within, tempting one and all to pay admission at the gate to enter:

“It was a successful event. This society’s demonstrations always are. They make their arrangements carefully and generously, provide excellent attractions, and spare neither pains nor expense to secure the enjoyment and comfort of their patrons. It is a way they have and a way that has made the Hamilton people feel , and know that when the I.P.B.S. undertake to do anything, they do it with all their might, and that in every instance, they can be depended upon to make that particular part of the day’s entertainment which they have under their care, an overwhelming success. It was so yesterday.

To induce ticket buyers to head for Dundurn, a procession containing a band and some uniformed marchers gathered in the city’s core:

“At 1:30 p.m., the Thirteenth band and two uniformed societies, the Royal Scarlet Knights and the knights of Sherwood Forest, formed in procession at the gore and marched to the grounds. They took a large crowd with them, and thousands more filed in through the afternoon.”¹

Dundurn Park itself was always an attraction, particularly in the summertime, and it was an animated, jolly place on July 1, 1885:

 “Dundurn was looking as pretty as it well could, and it was crowded with a jostling mass of promiscuous humanity, plentifully sprinkling with white and colored summer dresses, that contrasted well with the more sober garb of the male portion of the audience.”¹

Hamilton was baseball mad in 1885, and the managers of the demonstration scheduled two games at Dundurn’s ball grounds, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon, to induce the baseball ‘cranks’ to pay the fee to get into the grounds. The grandstand beside the baseball field, only constructed that spring, would be well-filled for both games.

“The morning game was between the two Hamilton franchises in the professional Canadian Baseball League, the Clippers and the Primroses. The number of people estimated to watch the game was about 5,000. Of especial interest were the three Wood brothers, top level professional baseball players from Buffalo, New York. The brothers had recently left the Clippers, saying that their contract had been broken because the Clippers’ manager had not played all three at the same time in a game, despite them being promised that they would always be on the field together. The Wood brothers had simply decided to break their contract with the Clippers and signed up with the other Hamilton team, the Primroses.

While the morning game was well-attended, the afternoon game attracted more than twice as many, believed to be the largest attendance at a game ever before in Hamilton’s sporting history. Not only was the grandstand completely full, fans circled the field and had to be restrained from getting into the field of play itself. A ball which landed in the outfield crowd was an automatic double, while any ball hit over and beyond the crowd was a home run.

However, as the game was in progress, several other things were happening at Dundurn:

“While the match was in progress, the uniformed societies (each body 23 strong) gave an exhibition drill, and won frequent applause for the excellent manner in which they went through the difficult evolutions they were called upon to perform.

“The Thirteenth band was in the park all day, and furnished the exquisite music that Hamilton people have been taught to expect from it. Melody was also provided during the afternoon and evening by the Lomas family of juvenile musicians. The Thirteenth string band played at the dancing platform for scores of people who tripped the light fantastic until their feet ached”¹

In a series of brief descriptions, which appeared under the heading, Notes, the Spectator reporter wrote:

          “The grounds were very orderly. There were no disturbances and no inebriates.

          “The children from the boys’ and girls’ homes were on the grounds during the afternoon.

          “The blind gentleman with the violin and extraordinary vocal powers reaped a harvest of pennies.

          “Mr. J. H. Eager and Mr. Robert Irwin attended to the ticket selling. They did it well, and appeared to be able to keep Barnum’s lightning pasteboard dispenser hustling to keep up with them.

          “ The street car service to the park was excellent, and plenty of accommodation was provided. Mr. M.C. Dickson, the superintendent, looked after it in person, and patrons of the line feel grateful to him for the thoroughly efficient manner in which he did it.”¹

By late afternoon, most of the huge crowd which had been in Dundurn Park started to leave, and for a very brief time, there were few people left in the beauty spot:

“Ball match and games at an end, the spectators filed out , for the afternoon was getting unsatisfactorily near 6 o’clock, and thoughts of edibles to dispose of were disturbing the sight-seers. But the grounds were not empty long for the people had scarcely gone out before they commenced to return again. The band and the plumed knights marched up again in the evening. By 6:30 o’clock the grandstand and the grounds were once more filled to overflowing.”¹

The evening experience at Dundurn was made memorable for many on July 1, 1885 as outdoor electric lights, still a novelty at the time, were turned on, until the time came to turn then off again:

“The electric lights were in full blast, though they were put out while the fireworks were being set off. The fireworks were all arranged to face the grandstand, and people who chose that vantage point to sit in, had an excellent view of the magnificent display. Mr. J. Pain, of London, England, who was running the exhibition of colored pieces, seems to understand how to do sort of thing pretty well. The effects were novel and ingenious and the colors artistically blended. The bombardment of Alexandria was about the most elaborate set piece of the evening, and brought prolonged applause from the people, whose upturned faces looked very peculiar from the effects of the variegated lights. At 10 o’clock, God Save the Queen sounded from the band, which signified that it was time for all to skip.”¹

There were other attractions for Hamiltonians to choose from on July 1, 1885.

At Bayview park at the far west end of Hamilton bay, an immense crowd, who were mainly taken there by the steamer Lillie, enjoyed picnicking, roller skating and outdoor dancing. At Ainslie park, along the line of the Hamilton and Dundas street railway, the Sons of Temperance held a picnic. At the Ocean House, the hotel at the beach strip near the canal, roller skating was a prime indoor attraction, while outdoors, picnic parties on the sand were held and numerous fishermen could be seen trying their luck from shore or out on the waters of lake or bay. Finally, there was the then new Lansdowne Park, on the shoreline of Hamilton bay at the foot of Wentworth street north, where another temperance picnic was held attended by about 600.

However, Dundurn was the place to be for thousands upon thousands of citizens, and it proved to be as popular with all who went there at some time during the day:

“The demonstration was more largely patronized than the average demonstration is, and this is due to the fact that the committee did not provide a multiplicity of attractions, dispensed with speech-making and a long list of games, and had the attractions they had, the best they could procure. The total attendance was considerably over 12,000.”¹