AGC Pronto Folding Camera

In addition to the records that I was all too happy to have, one of the treasures that I was fortunate to inherit from my Grandma was this vintage folding camera with an AGC Pronto shutter.  One of the interesting things that I learnt about many of these vintage folding cameras was that the body itself often wasn't branded.  They were promoted by the retailers who sold them, so it could have been a Sears folding camera or something along those lines.

This camera has no markings or details other than the Pronto shutter, which was manufactured by AGC (Alfred Gauthier Calmbach) in Germany.  Going purely by visual details it seems that the shutter was made sometime after 1948, and the family photographs from the mid to late 1950s seem to appropriately date the camera.

Not surprisingly, my Grandma shot pictures of her kids using this folding camera.  Just holding it makes the memories seem tangible and close.  It's really what I love about old cameras in general, you feel a connection to all of the things it must have seen, the places it was taken, and the people who used it.  My dad was her youngest child and is the guy on the right in the image above from 1959. 

The lens and shutter are in particularly nice shape, given that they were kept inside the folding case for decades.  However, the body is noticeably well worn.  This folding camera was never particularly valuable, it's just been made more interesting by time. The mechanical nature of it all, the hinges, the simple springs, etc. are all very cool to see up close.  It's a beautiful piece of memorabilia, and obviously for me, it's meaningful because of the family connection and the pictures that were taken with it.  I'm very happy to have this memento from my Grandma's life.         

Rolling Stones Live in Concert: Regina 2006

After the incredible experience I had had a year before in 2005 by seeing the Rolling Stones in Calgary, it was with the same enthusiasm that I reacted to the news that in October 2006 they would be making their first ever appearance in Regina, Saskatchewan.

The parallels between the spontaneous lead up to the Rolling Stones concert the year before and how the 2006 concert came to happen didn't escape me. Despite my excitement, I accepted early on that I wasn't going to be able to go. Even with the concert in the city where I was going to university, the demand and price of tickets and made it unrealistic for a broke student. I reasoned with myself that I'd seen them once already, and that was nothing to be disappointed about.

As the date of the concert approached, Regina was buzzing. It was on the news every night, papers were counting down the days, and talk around the university continually floated around who was going and how amazing it was going to be. I might have downplayed it in my mind up until then, but who was I kidding? I really wanted to go.

And then the news came in. Due to demand and enough time in their scheduling, the Rolling Stones were going to start selling tickets to a second Regina show. This was clearly a sign, although I was still on the fence about whether I could swing it. I asked my friend Dave, who always seemed willing to indulge my whims, and we kind of talked each other into it. The concert was a go if we could get tickets.

With both shows sold out, it was a little over a week before the concert that I started scouring eBay for tickets. The prices were still incredibly high and I wasn't convinced at that point that things would pan out. The concerts were taking place over the Thanksgiving weekend and I was heading home on the Friday night. It would still be possible to make the Sunday concert, and wouldn't you know it, on the Thursday night some last minute tickets became available.

I bid and won, and in a rare twist, because my purchase came so close to the wire I paid $30 below list price for each ticket. They were overnighted to me, and on Friday I had the two tickets in hand. It was actually going to happen! From there it was a rush trip back to Alberta to see the family for Thanksgiving, and on Sunday morning I was back on the road to make the October 8th Rolling Stones concert at Mosaic Stadium.    

That Sunday afternoon Dave and I met up to have some drinks before joining the crowds surrounding Mosaic. It was an incredible scene. People were selling parking space on their front lawns. Everyone from kids to grandparents were decked out in Rolling Stones gear. I've been to Roughrider games, and even went to the Grey Cup in Regina in 2003, but the vibe surrounding the concert made it feel so much bigger. You could tell even then that the Stones in Regina was momentous as much for its novelty as anything else.

Our seats were in section A7, which looked good when I saw them online, but I really had no idea how amazing they'd turn out to be. As we entered the stadium we passed one checkpoint, then were directed further down through another checkpoint, and then another. We were getting closer and closer to the main stage and it wasn't until we were there that it hit us that section A7, row 5, was actually the fifth row of the concert. We were literally just a few meters from the main stage, and were seated right along a central aisle with an unobstructed view. If the concert wasn't amazing enough, the reality of getting the chance to see the Rolling Stones live again, and from those seats, was an absolutely unforgettable, totally enthralling experience. 

Here's a bit of what I wrote on my old blog after the show in 2006:

The stage was overwhelming (especially from our vantage point) and the lighting, the pyro, and the sound was done to match. The heat from the explosions on the top of the stage was instantly felt. A giant blow up tongue erupting from the centre of the stage was almost as amazing as the final explosion where banners of fabric shot off of the structure and draped the entire frame of the stage. I got a huge rush from the spectacle of it all. While the Stones were on a stage I did a few 360s to take in the sea of people behind us and high up into the stadium who were just as mesmerized and caught up in the excitement. We were loving every minute of it.

What wasn't to love? I'll never forget that concert with Dave.

Cecil Hotel in Medicine Hat, Alberta

Constructed in 1912, the Cecil Hotel in Medicine Hat, Alberta celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. Located within a block of the train station, it used to be a popular place for travelers to stay. However, the hotel isn't what the location is known for today.

As the city expanded outwards and passenger service on the trains stopped, hotels like the Cecil became rougher around the edges. It's still in operation today, known mostly for the Octane Bar and Cecil Cafe. The vintage neon sign for the hotel was re-purposed a while back and painted with Octane's name, although the giant lettering on the roof still advertises the Cecil Hotel.

North Railway is one of my favorite areas in Medicine Hat because of the character surrounding the old brick buildings. In fact, the nearby Corona Hotel shares a fairly common history and was constructed in 1912 as well. I shot a few images around the Cecil Hotel earlier in the year featuring a rundown roadster and motorbike.  Stuff like this kind of sums up the neighbourhood for me. It's not a dangerous place, it's just in need of revitalization. Today's Cecil Hotel may be a bit of a shadow of what it once was, but it's cool it's found success as a bar.

Cecil Hotel ca. 1965

Image of the original Cecil sign I shot in 2003.

Ghosting image of my 2012 shot merged with an archival one from 1965.

Cecil Hotel ca. 1930

Cecil Hotel ca. 1965