Who in Canada doesn’t have at least one Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) memento tucked away somewhere at home? These little keepsakes have a way of embedding themselves into our homes and, over time, into our shared sense of Canadian identity.
In our household, we have more than a few, one of my favourite is a possible original photograph (it was numbered and contained other unique markers) I acquired many years ago at a thrift shop. It shows the Morgan’s department store located on Sainte-Catherine St. in downtown Montreal at the turn of the century, and later becoming The Bay.
This photograph is more than just a beautiful vintage winter scene; it’s a reminder of how Canada’s retail history is deeply intertwined with the growth of our cities and the shaping of our culture.