Stories

Stories tagged: consumer culture

Woodward’s & the $1.49 Day Tradition

Lawrence Herzog

As a kid, I remember the downtown Woodward’s store as a treasure trove of sights, sounds, and smells. It was the…

Buy It, Use It, Trash It: Changing Consumption & Growing Environmentalism in YEG

Allie Quigley

My name is Allie Quigley. I am a fourth-year history honours student from the University of Alberta, working with the…

The History of Filipino Businesses in Edmonton

Giselle General

“Anak, siksikan nating yung bagahe mo nitong mga produktong Pinoy na ma-eenjoy ng mga kamag-anak natin. Alam kong wala ito…

From Parking Lots to Palm Trees (And Back Again): A Look Back at Heritage Mall

Matthew Dutczak

Brenda Hall was just 18 years old when she stepped off the bus in the community of Kaskitayo on a…

Edmonton: A World Class Dump, Part Three – Salvage Men, Coal Mines, and a Futuristic Weir

Dr. Russell Cobb

In the middle of the twentieth century, G. S. Woodward was one of a handful of Edmontonians who plied the…

Edmonton’s Merchant Prince: James Ramsey

Lawrence Herzog

Echoes of one of Edmonton’s earliest successful retail enterprises can be found in the new Kelly Ramsey Tower now being…

Signs of Another Time

Lawrence Herzog

Drive around the heart of Edmonton and you’ll see them. Worn by time, pounded by the elements but still clinging…

Remembering the Corner Store

Lawrence Herzog

A bell jangles as the weathered door creaks open and the smells and memories flood back:  being six years old,…

Edmonton’s Candied Past

Lawrence Herzog

Right from the beginning, Edmonton has had a sweet tooth. Newcomers from European countries brought with them a love for…

Modern Times: Christmas Shopping in Edmonton 100 Years Ago

Sally Scott

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and it’s not hard to catch the spirit of the holidays in Edmonton. Trees are lit…

“Be patient, some goods are scarce”: Edmonton’s Wartime Black Markets, 1939-1945

Robert Morrison

Today when people think of the black market, they picture the seedy underworld of society buying and selling firearms and…

Yearbook Ads – Douglas Printing

Curio Studio

Over the course of Curio’s working relationship with the Royal Alexandra Hospital, we discovered a tucked-away archive of old yearbooks…