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Month: April 2017

Vintage Travel Advertising for Ontario-Canada’s Vacation Province!

1950s Vintage Travel Poster / Travel Ad for Ontario- Canada's Vacation Province.
Source: I Desire vintage Posters

Today’s post is going to showcase Vintage Travel Posters of Ontario in the 1920’s-1960’s. Ontario is where my home of Toronto is located (and TO is the capital of Ontario) and it also is home to my childhood home of Sarnia. So Ontario is very special to me and since it’s Canada’s 150th birthday I want to show-off the vintage side of my beloved province.

Lets Begin!

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 


In 1924 a Tourist and Publicity Bureau was set up to promote Ontario’s attractions, especially those associated with nature and the outdoors.

To encourage tourism, the Bureau published an annual guide to “point out some of the advantages of the Province of Ontario as a tourist centre in summer and winter”(Source).

1926 Ontario Travel Guide- “The Lake-Land Playground“.

1926 Ontario Travel Guide Booklet
Source: Archives of Ontario Library Collection

Ontario Canada Resorts, 1920s vintage poster.

Ontario Canada Resorts 1920s vintage poster

Archives of Ontario State:

By the 1930s, three out of every four Americans visiting Canada chose Ontario for their vacation. The government’s tourism marketing strategy through the forties and fifties was to target Americans who wanted an outdoor vacation. This advertising was directed at families who desired to holiday on one of the many lakes, as well as at individuals who wanted to hunt and fish in Ontario’s forests and streams.

Publications and photographs promoting Ontario as “the Lakeland Playground of America” were forwarded to travel editors and inserted in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States (Source).

1930's Ontario travel pamphlet vintage
1930’s. Source: Archives of Ontario Library Collection

1940s traval poster: “Ontario-Canada’s Vacation Province! For Your Victory Vacation”

1940s vintage travel poster for Ontario Canada featuring two women in 1940s swimsuits and 1940s hairstyles playing on a dock.
Source: Made Man

Ontario has lots of lovely lakes and you can see many of them by traveling by train (I have).

Ontario vintage travel poster illustration for Ontario's Lakelands
Source: Pinterest

1950s Travel Poster: Ontario is this way! Bring the family!

Ontario 1950s travel poster vintage
Source: Pinterest

Ontario Travel & Publicity Bureau wants you to know all about “Ski-ing in Ontario. It’s so convenient for you”.

As a person who used to downhill ski a lot, i will say that this statement is true.

vintage skiing in Ontario Canada Travel Brochure -1940s
Source; Pinterest

1950s Travel Ad: “Make your vacation a family frolic in…Ontario”. The ad is targeted to Americans.

1950s Vintage Travel Ad for Ontario Canada featuring a family visiting all the sites.
Source: Etsy

“Last one in’s a loser….” “Don’t wait – don’t be late planning to spend your holiday in Ontario”. 1953 vintage travel ad.

1953 Ontario Canada vintage travel ad featuring an illustration and photos of people enjoying visiting Ontario.
Source: Etsy

Fishing is one of the actvities you could do when visiting Ontario in the 1950s and today.

1950s vintage travel poster illustration for Ontario Canada.

“Plenty to do and see in Ontario. 33 vacation areas”. Cute 1950s travel brochure.

1950s Vintage Ontario Travel Brochure featuring 3 women in 1950s swimsuits sitting on a dock at a lake.
Source: PicClick

Inside of above travel brochure.

1950s Vintage Ontario Travel Brochure
Source: PicClick

Here is another 1950s travel brochure featuring all that fishing you could do on the cover.

vintage Ontario Travel Brochure from the 1950s.
Source: Flickr

And that friends was your virtual visit to Ontario. Hope you enjoyed your trip!

FURTHER READING: You can also check out my archived blog posts on all things Vintage Travel HERE.

On an end note, there will be no blog post next week as I will be in London, UK and Paris, France celebrating my husband and I’s 5th wedding anniversary and my Big 4-0 birthday. March 30th, 2022 Update: Here is the link to part of my Paris Trip.

Liz

The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm-Ina Ray Hutton

She had rhythm, she had style and she was the leader of the first all-female swing band to be recorded and filmed during the 1930’s. World meet Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears!

1930s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton
1930s Vintage PHoto of Ina ray hutton and her melodears -first all-female swing band to be recorded and filmed during the 1930's.

For further reading please check out all the posts I have done on the subject, “Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know“. (Jan 2024 update)


The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm-Ina Ray Hutton

First up a little bit of information on Ina’s early years:

* Hutton was actually born Odessa Cowan in 1916.

*She grew up with her half-sister June (also a successful singer) in a black neighbourhood on Chicago’s south side.

*Historians have theorized that she and her family were of mixed white and African-American ancestry. When Hutton was a child, United States Census records called her and her family “negro,” and “mulatto,” when the Bureau used that term.

*Her mother, Marvel Ray was a local pianist and entertainer in Chicago.

*Iva would go on to study dance with Hazel Thompson-Davis and received a rave revue in the Chicago Defender when she was only 7.

*In 1930, at age 14, she made her Broadway debut with Gus Edwards at the Palace Theater in New York.  As Ina Ray, at age 16, she was a featured singer and dancer in George White’s “Melody;” at 17, she joined the Ziegfeld Follies (Source).

1930s vintage photo of female singer Ina Ray Hutton in a showgirl outfit.
Source: Alchetron

The Melodears…

In 1934 at the age of 18 she was approached by Irving Mills to lead an all-girl orchestra called the Melodears. At the same time she was also encouraged to change her last name to Hutton, to take advantage of the notorious reputation of the Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton (Source).

1930s Vintage Photo of Orchestra Leader and creater Ina Ray Hutton in a 1930s evening gown.

THE BAND IS A HIT! and would go on to tour solidly for five years and became one of the first all-girl bands to be filmed for Paramount shorts. Those shorts were:

  • Feminine Rhythm (1935)
  • Accent on Girls (1936)
  • Swing, Hutton, Swing (1937)

The Glamorous Style of Ina Ray

The band and Ina’s style never made them wallflowers. The Melodears’ outfits ranged from boyish trousers to long, ultra-feminine, sequined outfits. Downbeat magazine reported that Hutton’s stage wardrobe included 400 gowns (Impressive!).

1930s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton in a 1930s sequined evening gown.
1930s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton
Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton in a sequined evening gown.

The end of the Melodears but not the end of Hutton’s career….

1939 saw Ina disband the Melodears, due to being tired of being seen as a ‘Novelty Act’ and also being tired of “all the glamour”. She formed an all-male band in 1940 and dyed her hair brunette to really emphasis the “done with glamour” part (that will do it! Ha Ha). This new band would perform together till 1949 and would even appear in the 1944 movie ‘Ever Since Venus‘.

1940s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton as a brunette.

The ‘Ina Ray Hutton TV Show’

From 1951 to 1956, Ina had her own TV show that saw the return of her All-Girl Orchestra (yay!) and the return to being blonde as well.

1950s vintage photo of The 'Ina Ray Hutton TV Show'

From 1951 to 1956, Ina had her own TV show that saw the return of her All-Girl Orchestra
Ina and some of the band. Source: Ebay

Here is Ina on her show with her singer sister (who had a good career herself), June Hutton (Link to video).

The Music of Ina Ray Hutton

Hutton’s last recorded performance came in the 1975 film ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’.

Throughout her career Ina did not cut very many records, but she did have a lot of radio play, which has allowed future generations to be able to enjoy her talent. Below is a sampling of her songs and a link to where you can buy her collection of music.

Ina Ray Hutton collection of music 1930s to 1940s
  • What’s the Good of Moonlight
  • Truckin’
  • Georgia’s Gorgeous Gal
  • Witch Doctor
  • How’s About Tomorrow Night
  • Tess’ Torch Song
  • PLUS MANY MANY MORE! Buy/listen to her collection HERE

Her Personal Life

She married and divorced Lou Parisotto, Randy Brooks and Michael Anter (seen below in their 1958 wedding photo).

Ina Ray Hutton marriage photo 1950s
Source: eBay

Her fourth husband, Jack Curtis, preceded her in death. Ina died in 1984 at the age of 67 from complications from diabetes.

Ina’s Legacy

While Ina’s story may not be as well-known to the world (I’m helping to fix that!), you cannot deny that she paved the way for a wave of female bands who took off in the 40s, as well as being a pioneer in fashion and television. She was a true talent and an amazing light in the world of music and was truly “The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm”.

What did you think of Ina friends? Wasn’t she just remarkable? I will be adding her to my collection of swing music greats, that is for sure.

FURTHER READING:

Liz


Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from  eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.