Comments on: A century of story

By: shimaa galal

shimaa galal — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:47:12 +0000

Thanks, to learn more about Cleopatra’s double sided cartouche
…please enter her

By: Maria Jankovics

Maria Jankovics — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 17:58:12 +0000

Living twice so close to St.Lawrence and St.Catherine corner four times in my lifetime has left me wondering how could our family ever have lived there not once but four times. We lived on De Montigny the first time in the Jeanne Cooperation and we landed back there this time on St.Dominique; the 3rd time we moved to De Maisonneuve when my dad needed his own room as he was sick and the fourth time when my dad died and we weren’t allowed to have this place with the extra room; so we have a four and half apartment on the tenth floor. So many memories I have of the years we’ve spent here. Some good and some not. I grew up in this red light district near St.Lawrence and St.Catherine corner where a prostitute came running after me asking the price of my abstract painting. She was killed I learnt later on. I remember, Woolworth’s on the south corner where I would go with my friends and we’d buy things dirt cheap there. There used to be a cheap dusty-type store that sold beads and all sorts of knicknacks for making clothes. There were stores you wouldn’t want to enter as there were mice in the window display. One time when we lived on De Maisonneuve, a young prostitute was flung from a passing ominous black car. Someone had called the police and all he did was poke with his foot slightly at the poor young woman to see if she was actually dead or alive. And I remember when my dad saved me from the this same fate; as I had been walking along St.Catherine minding my own business; when out of nowhere a prostitute tried to pull me into a doorway. But my dad who was following me; exclaimed ‘What do you want from my daughter?’ So she relunctantly let me go. I grew up next to the Main but when one time I found myself in the red light district I was afraid and uncomfortable in that section of town and I wonder how my family could have ever lived there in the Jeanne Mance Cooperation when twenty five years later all their buildings were infested with roaches and mice.

By: Karen Sollazzo

Karen Sollazzo — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:49:37 +0000

I’m too young to remember the glory days talked about here, and there’s no guarantee I’d remember them the same way even if I was there. But fun as it is to look back nostalgically, when that’s all done, remember what’s still here. The main is still a dynamic place to be, with the little shops and maybe now more of the bigger ones. But change comes with time, be that a good or a bad thing, and its important lost to lose sight of what you do have by dwelling on what’s gone.

By: Dan Leznoff

Dan Leznoff — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 17:49:47 +0000

Of course a deterioration of hipness could be expected. Same goes for the now-burgeoning Mile End hangouts. Urban planners always expect rents to hike and gentrification to occur when places like Boulevard St Laurent attract business and activity. When I started going to two places I love on the main – Casa Del Popolo and la Sala Rossa – the northern corners of Villeneuve and the Main were empty unused fields. Now, condominiums are going up, rising like Phoenixes from the hardened soil of progress. Warsaw is a Pharmaprix. You can’t get foutons and croutons under the same roof anymore. But I know a secret street… Defection time!

By: Jesse Stacey

Jesse Stacey — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 14:55:53 +0000

It’s a shame that St. Laurent has become so mainstream that artists are still asked to vacate their grungy studios to make way for trendy maximum profit oriented lofts. This is the best way to degut the city of its pride, but one walk through “the main” will prove that unlike life in other Canadian cities that can be like living in a bubble, Montreal is still a doorway to the exotic and potentially to the rest of the world. It is a launching pad that will fascinate and inspire you to meet new people and cultures. It’s probably just enough of a displacement to comfort you with the idea of letting go of mainstream habits, so that when it comes time to see what’s beyond it won’t come as such a shock. To stretch things just a tad, you will feel as though you were a nomadic gipsy all your life! Every block is inspired by different artists; be it chefs, musicians, jugglers, and human anomalies (remember we gave birth to cirque de soleil) and that’s something special. Come to Montreal, for a little bit of everything, but leave your capitalist profit making plans behind.

By: Meghna Patel

Meghna Patel — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 23:22:23 +0000

On the Main, it seems that everyone comes out to have a good time. There’s just so much to do here. Its large variety of activities ranges from shopping, coffee houses, restaurants/lounges, terraces and niteclubs have something for everyone to enjoy. This place is just as bustling during the day as it is during the night.
I think every out-of-towner needs to experience the Main at least once. It’s a great way to show them Montreal’s melting pot of cultures. You can experience a little bit of Italy, Portugal, France, China and India (to name a few) just by walking up and down the boulevard.
When Main Madness comes along this weekend, I can’t wait to spend the day on a terrace just watching the day unfold. It’ll be fun to have a few drinks, eat some trendy meals, catch up with old friends and make new friends, all at the same time. Who knows, you just might even make a celebrity spotting!

By: Jeremy King

Jeremy King — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 20:02:15 +0000

Wow, quite an impressive history down The Main.
NOt to kick a dying horse while it’s down, but “If only the walls could talk” down st-laurent blvd.
That place is so rich in history with all the different events and places being constructed, and put into place.
It makes you feel so small realizing how much has gone on in 100 years.
Most of us, by the time we turn 100, won’t have come anywhere close to ever being able to compare how many events we can name, compared to such a renouned street.
Happy Birthday The Main, we love you.

By: Maria Cecillia Silva

Maria Cecillia Silva — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 14:33:05 +0000

Well of coarse we will celebrate St. Laurence street. Have seen at least 40 years of that 100 years on the Main. It was more immigrant like in my days. With all the clothing factories and all the shops from different countries. I remember the fresh food market on the corner of Rachel and St Laurence. There was Warshaw between Roy and Duluth, There was the Sheburts community swimming pool. Cantors bakery on the corner of Rachel and St Laurence. Some of those Restuarants have changed along the years. Most of the clothing stores carried bargin prices , clothing directly from the factories. Now you have the designer clothing boutiques and alot of bars and it took away the family oriented place. I guess thats why most of us moved away from the area , now we just go there to shop.

By: Stephanie Ein

Stephanie Ein — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 17:20:43 +0000

What with condos and Mini Coopers and uber-trendy restos, the multi-ethnic heritage of The Main has all but evaporated– mall-ified, if you will. So sad that the unique flavour of this district has been replaced with overpriced flash and pre-fab tinsel.
While I concede that this long stretch has always included its fair measure of sleeze (and always will), it was first and foremost Ground Zero for Montreal’s cultural communities, dating back to the 1800′s. Where else to find the perfect baking pan or spice? Where else to converge with homesick compatriots?
Throughout the 20th century, as upwardly mobile immigrants moved to the suburbs, new cultures gravitated to the area. The Main was the place where all things began– until economics and politics stripped the area of its traditions.
The Main used to be a powerful source of nostalgia for Montrealers. But I guess, as the saying goes, “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.”

By: Charles Montpetit

Charles Montpetit — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 08:04:30 +0000

How can an article entitled “A century of story” fail to mention the legendary spots that have failed to survive on the Main yet remain in memory to this day? If only in a brief sidebar, I’d have loved to light a candle for L’Androgyne’s lone gay beacon away from the Village, Danger’s unconventional bookshop and Warshaw’s oddball general store / ethnic supermarket, just to name three. They may be gone but, as far as I am concerned, the Main will always be synonymous with amazing experiments like these…