Hartney
and the R.M.
of Cameron
Some General Trends in the 1920’s
- Throughout the prairies communities erected various memorials
commemorating the sacrifice and service of those who participated in
the “Great War.”
- On farms and in businesses trucks were replacing horses for everyday
tasks
- Commercial travelers now use cars making them more flexibly mobile.
This trend eventually led to the decline in demand for hotel rooms and
of course a decline in rail passenger traffic.
- many communities reached the peak of business expansion in the
pre-war years. We see stores changing hands, closing
- the same decline is seen in housing – again communities
had expanded to the natural capacity
- the adoption of a car-based transportation economy saw the expansion
of car-based service – gas stations, auto repair shops
- in recreation tennis and cricket declined. Hockey continued to grow,
as did curling.
- radio helps connect remote hopuseholds to the rest of the world
This excerpt frtom
“The Mere Living” speaks to the changes.
Hartney
Between the Wars
The excitement of
the War
years, the re-aligning of values in the light
of the necessity for personal survival on the battlefields and for
national victory, had a disrupting effect on the puritanical taboos by
which Manitoba servicemen were influenced before enlistment.
As the home folk
sang
with the returning men "How ya goin' to keep 'em
down on the farm after they've seen Paree?" they realized that, if this
were to be accomplished, they must not be too critical of the changed
and more flexible attitudes their sons had acquired in Europe, among
which was a lesser willingness to attend Sunday services and adhere to
the rigid Sabbath customs of pre-war days, a tendency to mingle oftener
with dancing crowds, a less sterilized vocabulary and a continued
restlessness and dissatisfaction with things in general. This
restlessness was imparted to the youth of the following years and
brought about a sophistication and a swing away from old manners,
customs and morals, that was the more pronounced because of the rigid
restraints of the pre-war years.
1921
Annie Playfair leaves the Hartney Star – selling it to W.A.
Bourns.
1922
Lawyer Clyde McKenzie opens a law practice.
Home EconomicsSociety, established in 1912, has its name changed to
Women’s Institute.
Willima Robson is successful as a independent farm candidate in the
Provincial Election.
Excelsior Rebekah Lodge formed in Hartney – 24 ladies and 9 men.
Radio broadcasts reach Hartney.
1923
Hartney – Lauder Agricultural Society formed
Riddell and Gordon are local doctors
An Agricultural Display Building is erected on the Fair Grounds
1924
Hartney Hotel is renamed the Bell Hotel.
An office of the Poultry Producers Association opens in Hartney with A.
Landreth in charge. It is part of an ongoing effort to improve the
production and marketing of poultry.
Ladies Auxiliary of the Royal Canadian Legion Formed.
A Dancing Class started by Mrs. Gordon that became known as the
“Joy Girls” raised money for the construction of a bathing
house at the swimming pool and for a donation towards the creation of a
Golf Clubhouse.
During the twenties a “Little Theatre” group is formed. One
successful production is the one-act play, “Jim Barber’s
Spite Fence was written by Lillian Beynon Thomas who spent her early
years in Hartney.
Automobile
Road Map
of Manitoba (1924)
Emmett, A.C. Automobile Road Map of Manitoba [map]. 1:760,320.
Winnipeg: Stovel Company Ltd., 1924.
Image Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives & Special
Collections
(Morris Block fonds, MSS 207, A.05-43)
www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/collections/com...
1925
National Union of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches
formalizes the many informal unions that had been taking place across
the prairies.
Union Bank merges with the Royal under the name Royal Bank.
1926
A Golf Club is formed on land NW of Town.
Power Commission; Canadian Fairbanks – Morse Co. Installs power
plant.
Hartney Legion Branch No.26 formed.
United Grain Growers 2 MB govt. Elevators.
1927
Radios becoming popular in Hartney.
Fred Brooks hired as the first town electrician.
Hartney Ladies Curling Club established.
Mrs. James Forbes opened a maternity centre in her home.
1928
Hartney United Church built on the site of the former Methodist Church
– Reverend C.W. Gordon (Ralph Connor) is guest speaker at
the opening.
1929
Hartney Cooperative Elevator Association formed.
Consumer’s Cooperative Assoc set up in Hartney.
MB Assoc of Poultry Producers has it origins in Hartney.
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