Tim Horton Museum – Cochrane, Ontario

Longtime readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of Tim Horton, the beloved Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman. (I also love his namesake coffee – it's my favorite).

Well, Tim Horton's birthday was a few days ago (January 12, 1930) so it's a good time for me to post some photos that I've had in my files. 

You see, Tim was born in Cochrane, Ontario, which is about a day's drive north of Toronto. His hometown proudly hosts the Tim Horton Museum inside the Tim Horton Event Centre honoring him. 

I happened to be in Cochrane back in the summer of 2017 (to catch the Polar Bear Express train to Moosonee) and was fortunate enough to visit the museum, which has very limited hours. The museum houses a variety of memorabilia of both his hockey career and his donut chain. Here are some of the photos from my visit.

I have a Tim-mug identical to the mug in this photo

Mr. Timbit was the mascot of the Tim Hortons 'donut hole' menu item

The museum is low tech but has its own charm.

A new bucket list item for me is to visit the Tim Horton Mini Museum in Hamilton, Ontario on the site of the original Tim Horton Donuts store. I'll get there eventually, eh?

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Although my preoccupation with Canada, Niagara Falls, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tim Horton have nothing to do with Lorain County, I enjoy writing about them from time to time. Plus, Canada really isn't all that far away.

Who in the World is Reading My Blog?

I'll close out the week (and the month as well) with another peek at some stats related to my blog. Yesterday we saw which posts were the most visited since the blog was launched back in 2009. Today, we'll examine just who is reading this tripe fascinating material.

As it turns out – amazingly – there are readers in countries all over the world.

Here's a map with an accompanying key showing the geographical areas where the majority of my visitors come from.

As expected, the good old U.S.A. comes in first. But surprisingly, France is second. I guess it's a good thing after all that I took all those years of French class at Masson and Admiral King, in case I want to tailor some specific French content for mes amis dans ce pays.

But then it gets kind of weird going down the list to the next in line. Singapore? Austria? Germany? All in the thousands?

Next are Canada and Hong Kong, which are evenly split with 84. I do write a lot about Canada, with posts about Niagara Falls, the Post Shredded Wheat factory, Billy Bee Honey, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tim Hortons, etc. (All on a blog supposedly about Lorain County, Ohio – yeah, right.) But I'm not sure why Hong Kong has the same identical number.

The rest of the countries are a curious mix.

I'm kind of bumming though. I used to get a lot more hits from Russia back in 2016. I'm not sure why I've losing some of my comrades readers there.

At least some of my relic-tives in Ireland must have read my post about my Irish ancestors.

Tim Hortons 60th Birthday

Anyone who has spent time in Canada over the years is familiar with Tim Hortons, the ubiquitous restaurant chain founded by the great Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman and Hall of Famer Tim Horton. 

From the chain's humble beginning as a coffee shop in a remodeled gas station in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964, Tim Hortons has grown to more than 5,000 restaurants today. It's the largest quick service restaurant chain in Canada. And it has more than 800 locations in the United States, including more than 100 in Ohio.

The first outlet in Hamilton

And today, Tim Hortons celebrates its 60th Birthday.

In honor of the occasion, and since I had a hankering for some Timbits (the small 'donut hole' delicacies), I headed down to Ashland, Ohio last weekend to visit that city's Tim Hortons, located on Main Street not far from I-71. Since I only make it up to Windsor, Ontario once a year, it's nice to be able to visit a Tim Hortons whenever I want.

The sign outside the Ashland, Ohio restaurant

Many people aren't aware that Tim Horton was a well-known professional hockey player that played in the NHL for 24 seasons. So it's nice to see that the store has a framed reminder of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs hanging on the wall.

I love Tim Hortons coffee (I drink it at home and at work) and I was happy to see that the paper cup it came in had some special 60th anniversary graphics.

I picked up my usual 10-pack of Timbits (Birthday Cake flavor, appropriately enough) in its little cardboard carrying case, and it too had some nice birthday graphics.

It was a nice surprise to see that Tim Hortons invited its long-retired Timbits mascot to the birthday party, giving him a place of honor on the side of the box. He has two big eyes (that look like olives) atop a body made of a Timbit, a small white nose, and two large, flat feet protruding out beneath him.

To many people (including me), Tim Hortons is Canada. I always feel like I'm enjoying a brief, pleasurable escape to our friendly neighbor to the north whenever I visit one of the Ohio restaurants, or sip a cup of the famous Tim Hortons coffee.

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I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the passing this week of Toronto Maple Leaf forward Ron Ellis, who played 16 seasons in the NHL with the Leafs, many of them with Tim Horton. 

For the last month or so, I've been reading his autobiography, Over the Boards: The Ron Ellis Story. It's a great read, and not only covers his fantastic hockey career, but also his bout with clinical depression. By becoming a spokesperson about this particular disorder, he helped remove much of the stigma about it. He was quite a guy.

Ellis was on the cover of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey program I posted back here.

Toronto Maple Leafs – 1964 Stanley Cup Champions

That's the Maple Leafs captain, "The Chief," George Armstrong to the right of the Cup.
Next to Armstrong is defenceman Bob Baun.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are down 3-1, in the best-of-7 series against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round. (Sigh.)

I had hoped that this post about the 1964 Stanley Cup Finals would be sort of a good luck charm for the Maple Leafs. But if they don't win tonight, they're finished, eh.

Anyway, they had sort of a rough time back in 1964 too. Their General Manager/Coach Punch Imlach even used the "Power of Positive Thinking" to help them beat their arch enemy Montreal. This article from the Lorain Journal of April 3, 1964 explains.

From the Lorain Journal, April 3, 1964

By April 8, 1964, both the Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings were tied in their semifinal series against their respective opponents.

From Lorain Journal, April 8, 1964

In the end, it was the Maple Leafs vs. the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals of the National Hockey League. It was a rematch of the 1963 finals.

From the Lorain Journal, April 14, 1964

By April 21, 1964 the series was tied 2-2.

From the Lorain Journal, April 21, 1964

And then the Leafs were down by one game – and on the verge of losing the whole thing.

It all came down to Game 7 on April 25, 1964.

But the Maple Leafs prevailed, shutting out the Red Wings in Game 7. It was their third Stanley Cup in a  row.

Another view of the Maple Leafs posing with the Stanley Cup in 1964

The Leafs would win the Stanley Cup again in 1967.

Here's hoping the Maple Leafs keep their hopes alive tonight. My bucket list (besides eating at Yogi Bear's restaurant) includes a trip to Toronto to join in a Stanley Cup celebration.

Lorain County Day at Barons Hockey Ad – Feb. 22, 1963

For several years, the Lorain Journal had a great tradition of sponsoring an annual trip to see the Cleveland Barons Hockey team play at the Cleveland Arena. It was a nice package deal, with the price covering a reserved seat ticket to see the game, as well as round trip bus transportation.

Below is the ad which ran in the paper on Feb. 22, 1963 for the Sunday, March 3rd outing. The game against the Pittsburgh Hornets was designated as Lorain County Day.

I've written about these Journal – Barons promotions before. This post featured the 1970 excursion, with the game against the Montreal Voyagers, and this one was for the 1972 event.

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Hockey has shown up on this blog quite a few times, with posts about a Barons vs Buffalo Bisons game (1949); an ad for P.O.C. Beer sponsorship of the Barons Hockey Casts (1949); a hockey stick sale at Van Wagnen's Hardware (1950); some hockey sports cartoons (1950); a vintage Toronto Maple Leafs program (1967); and how Lorain almost had a hockey arena (1968).

Royal Canadian Mounties Article – April 1972

To Americans, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are often seen as stuffy, comical buffoons and something to laugh at, thanks to the Dudley Do-Right cartoons that were part of the old Bullwinkle TV show.

But although the Mounties seem like they belong in the pioneering days of the past, the RCMP still play a role in modern Canada, providing provincial policing in eight provinces, as well as local policing in some territories.

And here's a great article about the RCMP from the April 7, 1972 edition of the Lorain Journal, providing an interesting perspective on the eve of the organization's 100th birthday celebration in 1973. 

Of particular interest are the requirements to be eligible for the force, including being between the age of 19 and 29; being a native of a British Commonwealth country; a minimum height of five feet, eight inches; being single and agreeing not to marry for at least two years; requirements to become an expert in boxing and judo; and being able to handle a canoe (the only requirement that seems uniquely Canadian).

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Royal Canadian Mounties – a traditional symbol of Canada, along with the beaver and the Maple Leaf – have long been a favorite subject of postcards. Here are a few, culled from eBay.

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Canada has been a favorite topic on this blog, eh? There have been many posts on Niagara Falls (one of which featured Dudley Do-Right) and one on Canada's favorite honey: Billy Bee. And don't forget those Canadian bicyclists who visited Vermilion. Or the Toronto Maple Leafs! 

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While preparing this post, I remembered something that I hadn't thought about in years.

In the bedroom that I shared with my two brothers when we were kids, we each had a 10" plastic statue of a Canadian Mountie that sat on the headboards of our beds. The statues were souvenirs of our trip to Expo 67 at Montreal.

They looked exactly like this one (below).

Journal Hockey Game Bus Trip – Feb. 7, 1972

Hockey has been the subject of many posts on this blog.

I posted a 1949 Journal ad promoting the Cleveland Barons versus the Buffalo Bisons back here, including some images of Barons memorabilia; a 1949 P.O.C. Beer ad in which the brewing company sponsored Cleveland Barons Hockey Casts on WEWS; a 1950 Van Wagnen’s Hardware ad with a special on hockey sticks here (a post that also included a tribute to George Armstrong, “The Chief,” Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs during their Golden Years); a 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Program; and a 1968 Journal article about the possibility of Lorain building an ice hockey arena.

Back here, I posted three 1970 newspaper ads in which the Journal sponsored bus trips so that its readers could see the Cleveland Barons play the Montreal Voyageurs, as well as the Hershey Bears. 

Well, today’s post is another Journal bus trip, this time to see the Barons play the Cincinnati Swords. The full-page ad ran in the paper on Feb. 7, 1972.

The ad is a little amusing, with its strange mix of different illustration styles. The couple shown in the ad illustration look like they’re right out of a Higbees or Penneys ad.

I thought the ‘Swords' name was a little hard to swallow, but once I read about their history (how they were an AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres) it made sense.

The Cincinnati Swords weren’t around very long. They had only been founded in 1971, and after a stab at success, folded after the 1973-74 season.

When Sports Pages Were Fun – Dec. 1950

Regular readers of this blog might remember that I’m a big fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs (which I wrote about back here and here). So it’s not too surprising that I was happy to see the above illustration of Toronto Maple Leaf center Max Bentley, which ran on the sports page of the Lorain Journal back on December 7, 1950.

The main reason I posted this is because it was a reminder of when sports pages used to be fun to look at and we looked up to our sports heroes. Not only was there comprehensive coverage of all sports at the national level, with articles along with the scores, but there were also all of the local scores in bowling, etc., mixed in with the liquor ads.

Best of all, there were sometimes little cartoons of the team mascots in battle, and little syndicated features that profiled athletes. In this case, the profile of Max Bentley was a panel created by artist Alan Maver and provided by King Features Syndicate.

Here’s another Alan Maver sport panel with a hockey theme.

Clipping of a Alan Maver hockey panel from 1955
featuring Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau

By the way, there’s a fine selection of original paste-up art of many of Maver’s sports panels from the 1930s right into the 1980s on eBay right now. They show an artist at the very top of his craft, and are very affordable.

And here’s the artist himself (sorry about the Historic Images watermark).

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I did a write-up on another syndicated newspaper feature, “Scott’s Scrapbook,” back here. I also wrote about "Ask Andy" and “Cappy Dick."