Big Bands and Baseball: The Good Old Days at the D.I.L. Recreation Centre

 

Photos courtesy of Pickering-Ajax Digital Archive

 

Leisure time was a luxury when you had to work eight-hour shifts on your feet per day. Even weekends would be often spent catching up on some sleep or doing your laundry. On occasion, the Ajax D.I.L. workers had some leisure time and perhaps the energy, and would enjoy a dance or a game of bowling at the old Recreation Center.

This building was one of the most beloved and memorable places of Ajax’s wartime years, and throughout the following decade. The Recreation Centre was always present in the collective memories of former workers and residents who grew up there when Ajax was starting to transition from a factory town to a dormitory community. Built in 1941 and fondly remembered as Rec Hall, many Ajacians recall it as a beautiful place with shiny, hardwood flooring, and a place where memories of going dancing flourished. There was a stage about sixteen-feet big, complete with a concert organ, which hosted several touring big bands, during that time. Its director, Harry Brock, became a local celebrity, who was the person who brought this level of live entertainment to the men and women of D.I.L. Overall, it was a great social hub in between the long weekdays of shift work, as well as a space for sporting activities, both for men and women. It also hosted a bowling alley, a tennis court, and a field for a women’s baseball team.

Unfortunately, the building was destroyed by a fire in 1966. However, memories of Rec Hall are just as vivid today as it was in its heyday. Images, such as the ones shown above, carry on its legacy as a vigorous place filled with music and fun, an escape from the harsh realities of wartime. Shortly afterward, a new community centre was built on Centennial Road, just north of the hospital. It still runs today as the Ajax Community Centre, for all Ajax residents to swim, play ball, or enjoy endless activities during their spare time.

Big Bands and dances

 

 

Something fishy used to go on down by the lake…

When you think of Ajax’s history you think factory, bombs, warship, wartime homes and fish? During the postwar period, fishing for smelt was one of the most popular pastimes, and there were hundreds of them!

Many of those who grew up in Ajax between the 1950s to the 70s remember going to the lake in their spare time with friends and fish for smelt with nets in the evening during the springtime. We’re not really sure what happened to them, and why they disappeared. However, memories of these tiny fishes run fresh today, and it makes Ajax’s waterfront even more unique.

Mapping Historic Ajax

I decided to try out Google My Maps to create a miniature Ajax Timescapes. This consists of notable DIL-era buildings, memorable shops and schools, and buildings and spots which still exist today, and residents remember fondly. A big part of remembering places in Ajax is imagining the community back then through a geographical perspective. Maps are helpful in asking questions about how a town has changed throughout the years, especially since many residents recall their experiences growing up in Ajax through changes in its geographic makeup, buildings, and boundaries.

 

 

Snapshots: Veteran’s Point Gardens

Summer picture of Veteran’s Point Gardens, built to commemorate the legacies of HMS Ajax and Defence Industries Limited. Located at the Waterfront, south of Harwood Ave., the Gardens’ ship-like architecture is no coincidence (notice how the street lights look like masts).

 

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The Ajax Bomb Girls At Work

The video below is exclusive footage of Defence Industries Limited, provided by YouTube as well as the official Town of Ajax website (www.ajax.ca). The video explains how Ajax ultimately became the ideal spot for DIL to operate, and an overview of the experience of its workers, who were predominately women. As you watch this video, consider anything that catches your eye – anything from the nostalgic affects of the video, to questioning its overall purpose.

Most of all, I have been predominately interested in the efforts of the Bomb Girls community, from the war effort to today’s commemorative efforts. One of their most recent projects has been a two-year fundraising campaign to construct a monument. This exclusive footage is an excellent starting point to start asking questions about the social, cultural and political implications of Ajax history and public memory.

You can also learn all about their campaign and their donors (and even donate if you wish!) right here: Honour Ajax Bomb Girls

Objects and History

Material culture can tell complex stories about a person or community’s history. Below is an object that gives a window to the history of Ajax and Defence Industries Limited. A daily routine for Ajax Bomb Girls was filling cordite shells, a task which was often dangerous and laborious. It is crucial to remember the relationship between the munitions and workers who made them.

Photo of a shell made at Defence Industries Limited, 1941. Photo courtesy of Pickering-Ajax Digital Archive

Munitions rounds from Defence Industries Limited. Courtesy of Pickering-Ajax Digital Archive

Conceptualizing Pierre Nora’s Lieux de Memoire in Ajax

Stretching from Harwood Avenue North to South once was the nucleus of Defence Industries Limited, an Allied munitions factory that was demolished after the Second World War. Today, the Town of Ajax is hoping to designate the area as a National Historic Site. As the site itself, a true remnant of its past disappeared, the fear of modernity—perhaps the development the  sprawling suburbs—propels memory keepers to create, in Pierre Nora’s words, a lieu de memoire. However, some may argue that Ajax’s traditional past still lives in its true form, that material over memory keeps the town’s history alive. In fact, many wartime houses where the DIL workers lived, stand today, and the anchor of the infamous HMS Ajax stands outside of the Royal Canadian Legion. However, the stories of these places or events continue to be passed down, and they possess many individual or collective memories. Therefore, it can be argued too that the intangible aspects can create lieux de memoire.

In 2007-2008, a national telephone survey was conducted across Canada, consisting of over 3400 respondents. Through questions about how Canadians engage in activities related to the past, surveyors discovered many patterns of memory. Most Canadians placed their trust in museums as sites of memory, while others relied more on activities related to their local or family’s history. This suggests that there is perhaps a sense of responsibility among Canadians to remember the past out of fear of a collective amnesia.  As moments in history become more distant, the public relies on lieux de memoire—such as museums or monuments—to prevent this memory loss.

Pierre Nora’s phrase is highly popular within the field of public history, yet it can incite an incredulous amount of debate. Nora equates the lieux de memoire with the fear of losing grip of our traditional past amidst a society in trajectory towards modernity. This also means a rupture of the folk and rural history and modern memory. However, this complex term is easier understood when contextualized in Canada, and specifically Ajax.

 

Below are some photos that, in my example, exemplify a lieu de memoire.

Veterans’ Point Gardens – Harwood Avenue south on the waterfront (photo from from http://www.ajax.ca)

The bell from the HMS Ajax rests in the Town’s Council Chambers (photo from http://www.hmsajax.org)