Ottawa On The River, 1941

A film about the Canadian city of Ottawa in 1941. To purchase a DVD of this film for personal home use or educational use contact us at [e-mail]. To license footage from this film visit: www.travelfilmarchive.com

[@illnation82]

It's good to see that the parking sucked in the market just as much as it does today.

[@chaoscobraflashbacks5044]

Geoff Blundell well i mean wtf did u expect back then to be better? The reason the parking is shit now because it never got renovated since it was build of course its gonna be the same parkin before and now

[@chaoscobraflashbacks5044]

Geoff Blundell its like some streets in ottawa you can barely fit 2 cars because its the old design

[@michellacasse9250]

only thing back then the streets were filled with folks...today filled with fear...

[@janishart5128]

@@michellacasse9250: Yeah, it's like the stooopid (several levels below regular 'stupid'!) bomb went off and people have zero common sense and can no longer think for themselves!

[@nathaniel_1152]

@@chaoscobraflashbacks5044 is it so unreasonable to think itd change in 70 years? xD

[@lilzajane]

My Mom is from Ottawa and it is her 87th birthday today. I am sending this to her to give her some memories of days gone by ~smile~

[@Killuminati1blood]

I was born and still live here 😀

[@fatima668]

How's your mom doing now?

[@4o8.sebastian]

I’m from San Francisco but I go there often to visit family. What a beautiful city, I love how it thrives with castles and other historical stuff

[@timcase2494]

A true window to the past, a time capsule if you will. I've lived in Ottawa all my life. It has changed so much since this film was made.

[@danpower7642]

I recognized the spot at 14:29. That skating rink is in the Glebe, between Third Ave and Fourth Ave just behind Corpus Christi. It was still operating in the early 70's when I lived there. In the summer it was basically an "empty" lot where we played catch or football. Still still there too I think. Not sure if it belonged to the city or one of the school boards. Hmm ... some of the kids skating there might have become parents of the kids I was skating around with 30 years later.

[@gofastnotnow2546]

I went to Corpus Christi in the 1970's. Hated that school unfortunately. Terrible teachers.

[@abbasgirl74]

I find it fascinating that hundreds of men would shovel the streets by hand and have them clear by noon.

[@ericssmith2014]

@James T Griffith They dwell fairly long on a tribute to the dead of what they were already calling the First World War, mind you.

[@abbasgirl74]

LOL! I was just impressed that they could clear the streets in half a day with a shovel. Nowadays it takes them days to do it with a plow (if they even show up). Didn't mean to start WW3.

[@eyemastervideo]

Amazing, just 70 years ago how things were different!

[@blazebrdar6492]

I couldn't help noticing how much they've stayed the same. Parking in the byward market looks identical to today! :p

[@michaelmurray2833]

notice a big train station right along the canal, and alexandria bridge was rail and one lane of traffic right next to it. And I don't know if the rail was all product or some passenger. City flow has obviously changed a lot. (and eventually the queensway hwy.)

[@andrewmorrison85]

@@michaelmurray2833 the first shot of the railway was the CPR yards in what is now the Lebreton flats. There was a small passenger station and roundhouse there but the yards mainly served industry. The second shot alongside the canal is the former Union station, with a focus on passenger travel. I wish I could have seen it in person!

[@bonniebluebell5940]

We were a Godly nation then.

[@eyemastervideo]

@@bonniebluebell5940 Wow, way to make it worse

[@hummingbird2254]

My mother was born and raised in Ottawa. She would have been 6 years old in 1941. It's interesting to see what things looked liked in her day. My grandma would have been 41, and my grandpa 37. I was looking at all the faces to see if I could see them 😀. Thanks for posting this video !

[@janishart5128]

My parents were 9 and 10 at the time, and I wasn't born for another 15 years. No ME in the world - weird to think about!!

[@mastercommanderdragonsir679]

Isn’t it crazy that when they were younger everything was black & white? Now a days we have evolved to see colours but back when your parents & grandparents were younger they only saw black & white.

[@hummingbird2254]

@@mastercommanderdragonsir679 When my son was little, he asked me, "when did the world get colour ?" I asked, "What do you mean ?" He said, "Well, old pictures and movies are in black and white, and I want to know when did the world get colour?" In his child's mind, he thought that the world must have been in black and white before, because of the old movies and photos lol.

[@voxer99]

@@mastercommanderdragonsir679 Yes, and up to about 1920 people walked with a quick jerky motion, not like the fluid way of walking that we use today.

[@zammmerjammer]

If I had a time machine I'd just use it to visit different eras and walk around. Everyone would think I was a lunatic as I marvelled at places that don't exist anymore and try to recognize familiar places that haven't been built yet. Just watching this film I was marvelling at the streetcars running along Wellington and the train tracks beside the canal. Cool.

[@lonewolf8113]

Beautiful ... respect you have such clips

[@utubeDaveutube]

This is a really, wonderful, wonderful video --- showing "much" of our great city. Love it. :)

[@TheHojirt]

My maternal grandfather was a log roller. He had to go on floating logs to undo the log jams on the Ottawa River. I also had an uncle who was a lumberjack in the 1940's and 50"s. Chaudiere Falls was a main attraction of Canada at the time. Did you ever see it up close ?

[@pawsmcgraws916]

11:37 WOW! Colours of unbelievable beauty!!

[@dannyboysable]

Haha

[@wpintofg]

I didn’t see the shades? Hahaha

[@arcticjungle4741]

Omg 😭😭😂😂😂

[@eversostupid]

paws mcgraws Guess you had to have a good imagination back in the day

[@thomasrawlings5645]

So nice to see young children playing freely outdoors with no cellphones !

[@steviewyatt6551]

This video is really cool and gives you an inner look as to what the city looked like before but also remember that woman didn’t get the right to vote in Quebec until 1960’s and all the fresh goods that are now sold in the marketplace are now bought wholesale from other places and resold to make profit. All of Lebreton flats and around Tunney’s Pasture used to be neighbourhoods with family owned stores that were forced to leave so that the city would have more room for industrial development but because the city ran out of money, just ended up selling it to condo developers to make profit. Ottawa used to be a great city because of its resources but because the majority of politicians have been corrupted, they’ve ran the whole province into the grounds towards the point of not even being able to pay contractors for the new LRT. Our city is lacking in social assistance like housing and medical aid and is gentrifying areas instead of dealing with the issues it’s caused. I see a lot of racist comments on here that just don’t apply because if our city had a good foundation for welcoming new cultures into our province, we wouldn’t have crumbled so easily. Our whole country is unorganized, greedy and drug fueled and I hate to tell you but if you think that it’s just the lower class that had drug issues, you should really pay more attention to the people in government and parliament.

[@vincentlefebvre9255]

Vote for women was granted way before 1960 but was the last province to grant it.

[@poopsie117]

Only difference is that instead of the nice street trams we got the horrible LRT instead LOL

[@natethegr8230]

Funny how old time street cars ran more reliably than these new lemons

[@Multi0703]

soooo true!!!!! :( I wish we had been as smart as Toronto and kept our street trams/cars! :(

[@minchunyang5845]

I remember one day at Tunneys pasture station one side of the platform was placed out of service and it stopped with a train and the in service platform was out for no reason?

[@michaelpiotto4988]

Haha

[@jafo766]

Idiot mayor of Hamiltoon Ont. trying to RAM an LRT down the city'$ throat..another IMMIGRANT $UPREMACI$T r$$$hole.

[@georgschmidt494]

I tore a house down in southern Illinois that still had wood singles and they were manufactured in Canada. The house was over a hundred years old. How did it know lot, of the shingles had made in Canada on them.

[@blazebrdar6492]

When this video was made my childhood home was already over 40 years old. Surprised how much things haven't changed. The byward market parking looks exactly the same as today! All the old government buildings remain, the dam, the (now unused) train bridge and people hiking and skiing in Gatineau hills.

[@markdemell3717]

@James T Griffith The powers that be wanted to ignore that fact ,I enjoyed watching this .

[@dannyboysable]

2018 here .. wow ..I really enjoyed watching this 👍

[@wilfridcyr]

Great documentary in a different time that showed friends of mine. Thanks

[@marcdemell2987]

The base ball kid just ran the other one over.

[@markdemell3717]

@@dneilson2412 Troll on patrol ,that's a funny handle.

[@flaccidusminimus2170]

Make a 17 minute documentary about Ottawa today, and I think you would still need to identify the vacant lots as among the key attractions just to fill the running time.

[@mularkus165]

I love how I just saw the Frisby Tire ad of Ottawa's winter of 2013/2014 just before watching this

[@michaelmurray2833]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6Slf3Sia5tkobM (I miss being near Di Rienzo's, so good.)

[@janishart5128]

Men and women all dressed up and wearing hats - looked great!!

[@mejw1]

I love how seat belts weren't a thing lmao

[@bjdon99]

In 1941 people sure did like their smokes.

[@Killuminati1blood]

I like my smokes bahaha

[@92kartelzbak]

now its a different kinda smoke lol

[@ericssmith2014]

Fellow at 9:00 appears to be smoking _and_ chewing tobacco at the same time.

[@wpintofg]

Amazing documentary!

[@wpintofg]

@James T Griffith We have to take in consideration all this things that you pointed out for sure. I was just trying to give them a positive feedback for the fact they have posted this historic video, which is great to have access nowadays.

[@wpintofg]

Btw, It's so amazing to see how the things were so different just 70 years ago

[@Kangpb03]

Sirra sirra. Mai ta aahi kehna bai. Sirra

[@ab-il1gk]

excellent vintage video

[@CWB900]

Awesome video.

[@khusseinkhomeini]

Super dope. Only time will tell how this ancient city will grow and develop.

[@owens7807]

@captain crankypants michael

[@email5023]

Ancient?!?

[@s.b.sieber2007]

Wonderful

[@silviamorales7147]

I love Puerto Rico summer all year i go swimming almost every day the water is warm

[@siddokis2945]

Except for the odd hurricane, I'm guessing.

[@TabbyAngel2]

Long live Ottawa ❤❤❤

[@TabbyAngel2]

@Prabh Rangi English please.

[@markdemell3717]

@Nuria Rangi You are definitely out of balance .Shake off your demons ,Yahua may forgive you.

[@philipberthiaume2314]

All of mother's uncles were in the army, including her father in the airforce, who were in Europe fighting in WW2. I find that the economy as shown here is rather un total war like, with leaisure activities more prelevant that I would expect it to be.

[@darylserrurier2402]

If i could turn back time!!

[@michaelmurray2833]

ya so those women folk could make sandwiches for the men working all day. life sure was better back then with less equality, healthcare, science, education and technology.

[@darylserrurier2402]

@@michaelmurray2833 simp

[@daveyboy_]

Fascinating

[@alt7648]

I remember when there was still logs coming down the Gatineau river. Things haven't changed much. Traffic was an issue then, still is now. Parliament still looks the same then as it does now. Haven't seen too many hobos begging at every intersection in that clip though...😂

[@markdemell3717]

Don't make fun of people ,it ain't nice.

[@alt7648]

@@markdemell3717 didn't make fun about anybody. Calling a homeless person a hobo, what's wrong with that? You think they gonna see this Post? 😂😂😂 They are too busy shoving their dirty hands In my window ...

[@misty5979]

@@alt7648 that could be you, blame the governments and the rich cause no one in this world should be homeless and they all know this......had friends who were extremely well off 'till the family lost everything, parents died. even though they have a part time job they still had to beg for help and it's truly embarrassing for them and everyone else. If you don't have an address good luck on getting help......bet you nothing bad has happened to you or else you would not insult them!

[@alt7648]

@@misty5979 been there done that and climbed back out. Probably was in worst shape then most. So don't get me started. People like you have nothing better to do then reply to people's comments because they get sooooo offended. Please .... Move on and get a life

[@misty5979]

@@alt7648 no you should move on, you put down the homeless, shame on you. from what I'm getting and read, your in the wrong. lol. you called them hobos and that's nasty. you sound like a racist. people like me, lol, do you listen to anyone? no you don't.....I don't usually and won't reply to you because It would waste my time. don't like it when someone thinks they're better then others. bah-bye

[@PatriceBoivin]

I remember l'astrolabe and E.B. Eddy, the gogo club across the street from the railway station downtown. Then they built the Rideau Centre and Ottawa went in a downward spiral after that. They threw the city plan in the garbage. What a mess.

[@specwill1]

i love my city

[@janubouny7710]

Pchakh hayat zwina

[@chardelraconner7324]

that's the fixie and pixie stix upset

[@shawner1989]

This is neat

[@chardelraconner7324]

that number got somebody looking you know

[@dreamingoftravel465]

Then and now: similar landscape, different people!

[@mohameda8070]

you mean there were more light skin people than there is now?

[@ddicin7759]

@@mohameda8070 and what of if she did ? those people built what you see today

[@cdcanada7182]

OMG that was so much fun to watch!!! I loved comparing the city then to now. Also ppl were thin then! Seriously I didn't see one overweight person! Despite social issues that existed then ppl got out more and ate less or at least burned off calories. Anyways was really interesting to see my town 9 years before my Father was born.

[@CommandoMaster]

Nice

[@mitchdupu]

Go Sens Go!

[@studnieprywatne6794]

The Best

[@rumchjoe]

At 3:00 the film shows Nepean's Point where the statue of Samuel de Champlain is now. The statue was built in 1915 but I cannot see the statue at 3:00 in this film. I've googled it but I cannot find when the statue was first located there. Anyone know?

[@traceye.6428]

I noticed there were a lot of tall trees in the shot of Nepean’s point (which are all gone now). I wonder if the statue was sort of hidden somewhat by those trees. On Sunday’s, In the early 70’s my father would take us kids to “Pee’n Point” as we called it. I don’t remember a single tree there then. It was always the place we wanted to go? There, or the “tippy kitchen”.

[@marioandrikopoulos2158]

Oh boy I Like Canada and I think Canada is a nice place to live 🇨🇦👩‍❤️‍👨

[@101519e]

Massive buildings built by giants that humanity inherited

[@Barrymacockkiner3050]

Back when things were normal!

[@dotcomstyle]

WW2?

[@markdemell3717]

Things have never been normal.

[@DS-qg9ck]

those hills are not the Laurentians,they are the Gatineau hills

[@michellacasse9250]

to say my Mom was 3 yrs old in '41

[@marrrrrrks]

Train on the prince of wales at 5:12

[@michaelmurray2833]

the two bridges you see at 5:12 are Chaudiere Bridge and the train bridge in the background is lemieux Island. Not Prince of Whales. Note they are talking about chaudiere falls at that time in the video.

[@marrrrrrks]

@@michaelmurray2833 The Lemieux Island bridge is Prince Of Wales

[@michaelmurray2833]

oh wow that was super not obvious since POW stops at Carling now. Made me assume POW bridge would be the POW falls around hogsback or the new barhaven/vimy memorial bridge. Thanks for the info, I'll delete my comment. :)

[@annoyed707]

Back when the PoW bridge was actually used for something.

[@brennayolen1186]

do you guys ever think about how in another 70 years they’ll be making videos like this about our life today

[@colinmacvicar2507]

Brenna Yolen It would be a video made today and watched in 70 years. But still cool to think about.

[@brennayolen1186]

Colin MacVicar hahahha yeah that’s what i meant 😂

[@chardelraconner7324]

you too out of bounds with this one

[@allisonchains__]

Yes camp fortune!! Best hill

[@markdemell3717]

It's ok.

[@allisonchains__]

mark demell for snowboarding on a fresh powder day or night and for mountain biking - specifically downhill mountain biking, it is the best around. Challenging, technical and prepares you for pretty much all terrain for biking or boarding across the country.

[@markdemell3717]

@@allisonchains__ Some of us will be heading for the hills whenever the NWO and Bill Gates of Sheol try to starve us all to death.Amein.

[@allisonchains__]

mark demell k sick, whatever that means

[@markdemell3717]

@@allisonchains__ The truth will be revealed .Vaccines and A.I. are going to kill us .

[@berubed]

wow

[@chardelraconner7324]

keep that same energy

[@mannykhan7752]

Did i just see Canadian Tire in the video?

[@andrewmorrison85]

Manny Khan what time?

[@ADOSMOORINOS]

7:10 theres something I don't like about seeing people hold the bat wrong, seems like the coordination was worse in every sport that long ago

[@marcdemell2987]

5 cent popcorn with butter.

[@Funkyphresh]

Smoke break's didn't exist back then.

[@markdemell3717]

So many trees killed. So sad.

[@Lanarkwow]

At 15:27 "This is Mens Game" hah, wow how times have changed!!!! Its funny he says that as the kid runs out there and just falls over lol....

[@markdemell3717]

Parliament buildings are so creepy to me .

[@GregoryJWalters]

Thank you! The more things change, the more they remain the same. 1941...... uggh Peace

[@NicksSkillz]

Ah yes, the two races, English and French.

[@supersoul4541]

Other than the labourers, not too many lower or middle class featured

[@escalatedpumpkin]

Practically the entire video is low and middle class families, lol.

[@supersoul4541]

Josh K not in the 40s. Bikes, skiing, cottages, living in a the Glebe, were all luxuries (it was wartime). The hockey scene and the workers was about it for the lower socioeconomic

[@supersoul4541]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6C1ZIeDhr5mZtE

[@bardame]

What? No potholes??????

[@walterpapp2289]

ya ya ya well well well

[@larchenouvelle9555]

Canada qu,à tu fais de ton baptême?

[@paulkouri7786]

Ah back when kids went outside.

[@mychael.kostiuk]

Copyrite must have expired by now.

[@davidmccaffrey3477]

7:22 one boy shoves another and right after a boy takes s ball to the face and yet, no tears, no whining. Different breed.

[@sagecapogreco335]

perhaps a more concussed one as well

[@skateboarding118]

Before feminism really took over

[@scumbagsteve5029]

This didn't change until mid 2000s, I had a cap gun strapped on my hip inside stores and nobody batted an eye (1995)

[@travellose5370]

They should left the Train Station how it was

[@brenthill3241]

Wow today you'd have to take out a student loan and be enrolled for a college or university degree just to work as one of those shopkeepers. To actually be the proprietor one would have to up the loan to half a mil. No seat belts but also no bicyclists with earbuds and i -pads oblivious to traffic laws.

[@highpoxia1]

I love at 3:04 the spooky music starts when you see native people!

[@chardelraconner7324]

quebec is not a hypothesis to my fe

[@jean-christophegallant8855]

8:27 = creepy

[@michaelmurray2833]

fact check... Ottawa Ski club out of Camp fortune was the biggest in the WORLD?? the world??

[@poe7716]

WW2 begins

[@EvilStudios]

Ottawa > Montreal > Toronto (just my humble opinion)

[@chardelraconner7324]

i x anything you don't know ship

[@chardelraconner7324]

you created pig latin from that chasis not being yours

[@Emily-mv4cx]

Most of what they've mentioned here is still very much the same!

[@susanb4816]

apparently, all the children in ottawa were boys,,lol

[@markdemell3717]

Hahahaha,I did not notice that.

[@johnkatsaros7340]

When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s growing up in Montreal the boys competed in sports and games outside all day. That's all we did and all we wanted to do. Doing anything else was considered boring. The girls were nowhere to be found - outside that is. I don't know why, but that's the way it was. Your comment made me realize this for the first time.

[@susanb4816]

@@johnkatsaros7340 i spent my childhood in riverdale toronto in the late 60s early 70s. Girls and boys played together but we did use separate doors at school. We were outside if the sun was shining, regardless of temperature. In the summer, rain was no reason to go inside either. Working class neighbourhood. Most of us were new to city life. I was born on a farm. Wish we had stayed on the farm though

[@raymond19001]

@@susanb4816 I went to a catholic school in Ottawa in the 60's. The boys and girls used separate doors and separate stairs. We had separate areas in the school yard. We even had separate washrooms, not like todays kids that choose which one to use.

[@susanb4816]

@@raymond19001 it was the same for me in toronto at public schools but we played together on the street

[@markdemell3717]

The rinks are now pretty much empty ,most are in their homes playing videos games or watching movies ,getting fat and lazy.

[@TheLadsOutdoors]

That was fucking beautiful

[@escalatedpumpkin]

I've always said I was born and raised in the wrong era, and this confirms it. Ottawa is now a cesspool of degeneracy, crime, and resembles nothing of the proud city it once was. Sad.

[@njam101]

Nice try. It's one of the safest places in North America. But we know that you want to blame immigrants.

[@email5023]

No, he's blaming the politicians.

[@njam101]

@@email5023 He's blaming the politicians for allowing immigration.

[@ddicin7759]

@@njam101 and why can't immigration as a policy not be questioned from time to time, as I believe you are implying ? Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. Maybe this is one of those times.

[@maxwarrior3324]

And now this beautiful country called Canadistan.

[@centrasseptyni8277]

is it americans who have trump and dies from virus like rabbits?

[@neoistheone7802]

Wow, you're pretty stupid.

[@TabbyAngel2]

Disgusting comment. We Canadians do not condone your comment. Also, "istan" doesnt denote Islam. It literally means "land of" in Persian. You are very ignorant.

[@centrasseptyni8277]

@@TabbyAngel2 how you a Canadian with that symbol? I would never say in my life. Oh i get it, you are Canadian, the you want to get something from Canada, not to give

[@maxwarrior3324]

@@TabbyAngel2 I know how Canadians are look like and you are not Canadian.

[@chardelraconner7324]

c'montreal don't favor

[@MilkBreadASMR]

God this is so weird watching as someone who lives in this shity city. It's weird to see little things you see today back then.

[@joshfoley8862]

Shitty? Seriously? You're free to move elsewhere, you know. Ottawa is a quiet but beautiful city.

[@cliffordparmeter6940]

I see Quebec still spilling waste in the Ottawa river...

[@realmetis8002]

when boys were boys and girls were girls lol

[@neutralgod300]

you can't swim in the Ottawa river any more,it's polluted even the fish commit suicide lol

[@ogolow570]

12:29 oh how climate change messed up this one...

[@jafo766]

Our grandpa was off to FIGHT in the WAR while Czech immigrant $ells popcorn here......futt me.