The New York Restaurant (the name later changed to Cafe) was founded by Peter Wong on July 12, 1913.  It was a popular eating place for 59 years until it burned to the ground in 1972. This postcard shows many of the businesses of the 1960s and 1970s. On the right is Ford’s Credit Jewelers, Snetsinger Hardware, and Smith’s Hardware, the red pointed finial on the roof line is the A&P grocery store. The meat department was to the right of the door and butchers served customers personally. All the floors were wooden and there was a small ramp that led up to the “rest” of the store. The store was long but not very wide, goods went along the walls, and in short rows that ran across the width of the store. It didn’t take long to purchase a week’s groceries and arrange for delivery then one could cross the street to the soda bar at Woolworth’s for a treat. Also, along Pitt Street (at right) were Laura Secord, Vanity Ladies Wear, Sones Jewelers, and the Bank of Montreal. Dover’s Men’s Wear was on the corner of Pitt and Second Streets. Notice the crowds of people walking along Pitt. It was a very busy pedestrian street before the arrival of box stores and malls all built beyond the downtown area.

On the left is a cola truck filled with wooden crates of glass pop bottles. Nyman’s Shoe Store sold work boots, dress shoes, and children’s shoes. Savage was a leading name in leather goods. Nyman’s had an x-ray machine for viewing children’s feet inside new shoes to make sure they were a good fit. There were two or three steps up to the shelf where feet were slipped into an opening. At the top of the machine, were two tall oval cones where the store clerk and parent could see the x-rayed feet, and discuss whether the shoes were a good fit. Tamblyn’s Drugs in the centre of the block moved into a “new” space on the ground floor of the newly renovated King George Hotel. Next is Peoples (with a blue and white front).  Zellers sign is black and gold, followed by F.W. Woolworths and the Metropolitan store. Fullerton Drugs was on the corner of Pitt and Second Streets. Inside, the Department stores had an open feel, because all of the goods were laid flat on large counters. Items were not stacked on shelves as they are today. Clerks and their cash registers stood in the centre of a rectangle of waist-high counters, ready to serve customers. Cornwall had great shopping before malls arrived.