Communication by mail was essential
From The Creemore Star, May 2, 1957: Postmaster Cecil Hayward moved into new modern quarters in the Gillespie block last week and in the upper photo is seen with clerk Miss Grace Lemmon in the smart surroundings. In the lower photo, CB Smith is seen receiving his morning mail from the battery of lock boxes situated in the rotunda of the new post office.
There are days when my short walk to my mailbox seems like too much effort. It may be very hot or very miserable with cold rain. Then I say to myself, “Maybe this is my lucky day.” And I go. Sometimes I am lucky and I find a letter from a friend.
The post office has always been very important to its citizens in the past. Daily visits were required. Letters between friends and family were frequent. Bills and statements came in the mail, and also The Creemore Star and the Toronto newspapers. Strange as it seems now in the computer age, communication by mail was essential. Long distance phone calls were expensive. Even a short call to Collingwood cost 25 cents, a lot of money years ago. But stamps were inexpensive.
From 1938-1957 the post office in Creemore was located in the store we now know as the 100 Mile Store. In 1957 the move was made from that location to the Gillespie building, now known as Victorian Values. A visit to the store satisfied my curiosity about how the place looked. Cynthia Gordon was able to show me the mark on the ceiling to indicate where a partition was put up between the lobby and the working area. As a girl she remembered the wall of mail boxes and showed me where it was.
The move to the new quarters was made the last week of April in 1957. The May 2 issue of The Creemore Star reported the move. The photos accompanying this article describe the scene. C. B. Smith, publisher and editor of The Creemore Star, is seen collecting his mail. In a second photo Cecil Hayward, postmaster, and his assistant, Grace Lemmon, are seen at the counter in what was described as “smart surroundings.”
What was going on in the Creemore area in those long ago days? The front page story in the May 2 issue gives an account of the life of Rev. A. W. Downer of Duntroon. He was the Anglican minister of the parishes of Duntroon, the Batteaux and Singhampton. As well, he was the local MPP for the provincial government in Toronto. Mondays he drove to Toronto for his work week, returning Friday. Usually there was both a funeral and a wedding on Saturdays and, of course, three church services on Sunday.
May 2 was just days away from the destruction by fire of the 100-year-old Hamilton Brothers’ mill in Glen Huron. The fire was of an undetermined origin. A new mill was soon built.
Meanwhile in Creemore, the business of the post office continued six days a week.
Cecil Hayward was forced to retire in 1961 due to ill health. On his retirement, his assistant Grace Lemmon was appointed postmistress. In 1974 she too went into retirement. Isobel Rhodes was the successful applicant for the position. Alex Hargrave remembers her fondly with her glasses on a bead string around her neck for easy access when she needed to read.
Life at the post office went along smoothly until 1978 when once more it had to move.
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On a different topic, some readers may be able to tell if the following story is true. It was sent by an Echo reader. At one time “ladies of Creemore came up with a secret and successful method of winnowing the local male wheat from the chaff. It is told that they attended local euchre tournaments, not to cheer the teams but to assess the players’ fitness for marriage. A person’s character flaws are revealed in the telling moments of win or lose: anger or good fortune, or bad playing spoke volumes to women assessing a life partner.”
Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to The Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.
