1978 February - Edmonton, Alberta - Jasper Avenue

A little super 8mm movie of the south side of Jasper Avenue from around 107th Street to 100th Street I shot in early 1978. Music courtesy of KZbin.

[@stickynorth]

Great time capsule video... I wish Jasper Avenue still had the vibrancy and destinations as it did in 1978... Alas...

[@forfuxakes6814]

I still remember going downtown with my grandma,who passed many years ago🫡 I would of been 8 years old at this time✌🏽 Love you Grandma❤️

[@markditecco8682]

I MOVED TO EDMONTON IN 1982.( 21 YRS OLD)......LIVED THERE FOR YEARS. HAVE BEEN BACK IN ONTARIO FOR THE LAST 26 YEARS. OHHHHH I MISS THOSE MAGICAL TIMES... YOUNG AND FREE

[@mitch19872]

Great video...back when downtowns had a ton of old bookstores,theaters and arcades. Miss those days. Going to do a tour this summer of downtown and places I use to live back in the 70's.

[@Zerodghjj]

The good old Paramount theatre. I work there 79-81. Brings back a lot of good memories Thanks

[@jamesweber1827]

Thanks for the memories! I used to go to the blue willow and the silk hat in 78. I was 14 then.

[@dunweyweydum]

To see the Silk Hat & the Blue Willow again is fantastic, Thank You very much!

[@spartancanuck]

It really shows how the downtown of the past that so many are nostalgic for was really more of a mixed bag in a lot of ways. I can see where Mordecai Richler's description came from.

[@tonyw973]

Wow, I haven't seen downtown Edmonton like this since, well, it WAS like this. I always loved going downtown even as a small kid. It was a wonderful place to be, vibrant and just buzzing with activity. I remember seeing my first 'R'-rated movie at the Capitol Theater - Midnight Cowboy - and feeling oh-so-grownup. Thank you for posting this, it brought back a lot of memories.

[@LukeWarmwater-yb5lx]

wow, great footage of Jasper Ave, i miss those days.

[@MOJO-xi3wf]

I was down there in 85 for the Stanley Cup Parade. Crazy shit man. Now , back in Toronto waiting for the Leafs to get their shit together. 🇨🇦🥅🏒🍺🍺🍺

[@a.t1313]

Leafs no attendance Cup Parade by 2067 during Covid wave 9,623.

[@kingkrimson8771]

Good luck with all that! 😂

[@darrellinyvr]

Next month this will be 40 YEARS AGO! lord I feel old! I was 16 back then!

[@jimburden5113]

darrellinyvr me too

[@RichardCockerill]

i'm 69,no one cares lol

[@MOJO-xi3wf]

Join the club. 62 now. Fuck I'm getting old

[@EdmontonRails]

Beautiful footage. Seeing these better times makes it hard to live in the pile of flaming garbage that is the present.

[@tommythomas6837]

Thank you I am an Edmitonian as well I would love to go back in time for this.

[@EricHoffWillCodeForCoffee]

This is fantastic! Thank you!

[@canadians2214]

I am originally from Edmonton, have not been back to Edmonton since 1969.

[@globalamber]

wow. The Silk Hat... and star wars was playing. =) Thanks for the memories.

[@kingkrimson8771]

1:22 Colony Men's Wear! Many polyester leisure suits were sold there in 1978 I bet.

[@kanadiankorner]

Established by my dad, uncle and grandfather in 1970. Started with jeans ended with suits over 40 years later at West Edmonton Mall.

[@PerAllwin1963]

Yes, polyester came into style in the 1970s, especially for men’s suits and slacks. When I was a young man in the early 1960s, suits were made of viscose/ rayon.

[@dwdeclare1965]

geez, i miss those days.

[@edwardwoods6096]

But look forward to newer days!

[@ylekiote99999]

Corona hotel brings back so many memories;). Thanks for uploading.

[@smwca123]

Now all that's left is the name of the LRT station. A block south at 100 Ave. was the original Holiday Inn that later became the Inn on 7th, and is now the Matrix. When this film was taken, the city was ramping up for the Commonwealth Games, the original LRT line from Central to Belvedere was about 2 months away from opening, and the old Brill trolleybuses were down to their last 8 months of service.

[@sharonlenoreanderson]

wow.. that's about the time I was playing a single at the lounge in the McDonald hotel.. and some other littler joints on down and onto 24th.. just a few years before that I was working at the big AGT tower there.. my very first job.. just above McAulley plaza.. is that right? oh, what a neat memory.. the river valley just below with Breezy, Douggie, Marv, Stewie, Davey B, Gaye.. all kinds of folks living there.

[@cijmo]

I didn't know the Strand was still there in '78! I thought it was long gone by then.

[@Concierge-om3rz]

This is a couple of months after me and my family arrived from B.C. We even bought a brand new furniture set from The Brick, at the very end of this clip. I was only 8.

[@strangenorth]

Wow cool footage man, love it

[@cory4682]

I can remember,The Silk hat,WW arcade,Woolworths,Eatons,Kresgies,Paraount,Teglar bld,old courthouse,Starlight theatre.

[@rickscott8609]

Check out the 1978 Jasper Ave. Tube. Corona Hotel, Silk Hat, must have been early and cold though, not much action on the stroll. :)

[@PerAllwin1963]

Edmonton was at its best in the early 1960s to mid-60s. I was a typical businessman wearing nice dark suits, well-shined shoes, and narrow ties back then. In 1976, I switched gears and became a social worker for children at the Youth Development Centre (YDC) in northeast Edmonton. Times had changed for the worst. More divorce, more juvenile delinquency. At the YDC, I dealt with many unruly kids. One boy, who was only 12 years-old, kicked me in the groin really hard when I tried to restrain him, injuring me to the point where I couldn’t walk for two days. The pain of getting kicked in the testicles by an emotionally unstable child was devastating. I thought that was the end of me. I didn’t want to deal with kids anymore. From a well-suited shiny-shoed businessman in the early 1960s to dealing with misfit children in the 1970s and 80s in Edmonton. What a change.

[@sspeedy2859]

I spent some time in YDC in the mid 70s. First time I was in there my mother was also there as she worked as a part time cook, she was less than pleased to see me arrive that afternoon.

[@PerAllwin1963]

⁠@@sspeedy2859 Interesting! I may have known you, as I worked there when I was in my early thirties. I hope you and your mom reconciled. How old were you back then? Did you know a boy by the name of Ken (Kenny) Shank? He was about 12/13 years old.

[@sspeedy2859]

@@PerAllwin1963 No never did,. As for "shank" doesn't ring any bells.

[@__d_u_c_k_]

Thank you.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

Brian Hardy I wonder if you have any other videos?

[@MugshotMidge]

You should do this but in 2028, call it “Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta 50 Years Later”

[@briankerr4674]

Paramount THEATRE, Capital Square Theatre & Odeon theatre ... I saw Star Wars, Poseidon Adventure, American Werewolf in London all those movies Downtown.

[@usejackk]

wow are city grew a lot

[@timmiewillier440]

I lived a couple kms further than where this video ends.......down in the river valley in Riverdale right around the time this awesome video was filmed. .....but I just wanted to point out that the very first Boston Pizza is in this video. This is why we love KZbin haha

[@JohnSmith-tc2gu]

Not the first BP.

[@jimedge8301]

Had a wedding reception at Hotel McDonald in July/78 ,should of known that wasn't going to last.😂

[@user-iz3gv5vo6b]

I remember going there to watch Star Wars.

[@stevemino142]

This was right around the time when shopping malls became mainstream because notice how you get closer to the downtown area the amount of parked cars increases

[@drewturner5925]

The only thing colder than Edmonton is my ex wife's heart. Im not even kidding. I grew up on Jasper(uptown) and in those days you could pick up the best gold seal hash in the park right on 6th when it was the stroll. When the Capitol picked up the Rocky Horror Picture Show it was like New York on the street. Then when the Oilers won their first cup a few yrs later Jasper Ave was shut down from end to end. There were so many people the cops got freaked out and left in droves and everybody just partied arm and arm like drunken sailors well into the morning - no looting or brawls yes those were the days. Again, cold as hell in that old town I once got pneumonia in July ... sigh

[@sspeedy2859]

Yes the Recreation Billiards in the old Edmonton Journal building with the arcade underneath.

[@RavenMaven]

The Brick !!!

[@vazdef]

HOLY SHIT THATS LOUD

[@Inlinetodie]

My dad and his partner demoed downtown Edmonton and Calgary in the 70s and 80s

[@hardyboy1959]

what did they do? Work in demolition?

[@Inlinetodie]

@@hardyboy1959 Robstar General developments and Calgary Demolition. The 2 first controlled demolition company's in western canada, meaning they cut and core to remove safely. Not blasters.

[@SlavaUkraine966]

I saw Star Wars at the Odeon with my family.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

Awesome! :)

[@johns.8458]

I'd love to see the same type of thing, but for Whyte ave.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

That'd be cool to see.

[@douglascorlett7890]

Neat video : )

[@kevtech733]

Back at simpler time.

[@Zero-Fox-Garage]

man, that whole stretch from 107th to 100th is all towers now. About the only thing I recognize is the Paramount. Still there and hanging on by a thread with the Covid19.

[@hippo780]

Brian do you still live in edmonton?

[@hardyboy1959]

no, I moved to Toronto the same year this film was shot. Edmonton's still my home town though!

[@griffinlife]

who's the girl at the end??

[@moreygloss9248]

I'm going with Sloopy

[@frankclack9096]

Stayed in the Mayfair hotel in 1970

[@hardyboy1959]

I worked there in '75 down in the garage as a valet if you can believe it!

[@rockylum6947]

Looks exactly like Hamilton,Ontario 2016.

[@reykjaviktotoronto186]

Rocky Lum lol...true

[@reykjaviktotoronto186]

b4 Gretzky. wow

[@kaoseast1]

Chez Pierre [save the gravy ] 7& BYOwn 7 no license circa 1976 next too Corona Hotel back then a chat room was a tavern

[@tarotbyamber7233]

How far is Edmonton from the US border by car?

[@hardyboy1959]

Edmonton's about six hours north of the border.

[@tarotbyamber7233]

@@hardyboy1959 have you been to America before?

[@RaySarasin]

lol I was 19 then I remember

[@ninjapumkin]

That is my wife at the end. She was working at Bank of Nova Scotia at the corner

[@hardyboy1959]

Wow that's amazing! I remember my buddy, Dave, who was driving honking the horn to get her attention, I think he thought she was cute!

[@msmysticstorytime]

ya sorry but that wasn't your wife at all. it was me

[@hippo780]

@@msmysticstorytime do you still live in edm lol?

[@cameronpickard7456]

hasnt changed all that much

[@edmontonboy99]

tHeRe’S sOmEtHiNg OdDlY FaMiLiAr AbOuT tHiS pLaCe

[@tylerw.9100]

Now it's all dollar stores, weed stores and liquor stores. Welcome to Canuckistan!

[@nene3857]

Frickin shakey ass video makes me dizzy, and I can't read the signs!!

[@gurwinderdosanjh7638]

Ummmm

[@jenpoly1]

Hi Brian, I'm working on a documentary film called "THE ARTISTS:The Untold History of Video Games" and we'd like to use your footage of Edmonton. Please email us at [e-mail] to discuss. Thanks!

[@darrelldoran509]

It was better back then , but it still sucked .

[@gurwinderdosanjh7638]

Ummmm