Page 2, March 16, 1977 - ‘North Shore News The gar-age is a curious place, purpose remains much of a mystery. salvaged from the ancient libraries tell us that garages were places to shelter cars, and, as we all know, cars were the wheeled devices that moved people around in that century. We have done many studies of cars, or auto-mobiles, as they are sometimes referred to in the old books, and little can be added to our knowledge of them. But garages, and their relatives, car-ports, appear to have some strange char- acteristics at great odds with their definitions in the old dictionaries. One of the anomalies we have discov- ered is that, while the - ostensible purpose of the. garage might be to shelter its car from the elements, there was no need for this during most of the century. Auto-mobiles, to use the old word, were made’ practi- cally weatherproof from the first quarter of the century. They could even be driven in — rains and high winds. without leaking and’ surely it. is *~ logical to suppose that they could be left outside the dwellings of the people of the time without becoming rain- soaked or filled with debris. Another have examined is the inci- dence of unauthorized use of the car, or car-theft as it was commonly called in the newspapers of the period. This would also not seem to be a logical reason to build gar-dages, as research into the ancient cars would indicate that they were built with locks and keys from a very early date. Some of the ones built during the middle period of the century even had devices which locked the steering disc to a central position. We therefore have concluded that gar-ages must served some hitherte undis- covered social need, and not’ been built © primarily — to shelter cars from weather and thieves. ‘VERIFIED CIRCULATION 46,000 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 | OFFICE/NEWS: (604) 980-0511 CLASSIFIED: 980-3464 CIRCULATION: 986- 1337 ancient records, research team possibility we. have | STRUCK RICHES Our research project -has delved deeply into the -history of the gar-ages and ‘their cousins, the car-ports. We have found--very little mention of gar-ages in the media of. the time...as a matter of fact, we have found little mention of them. any- where. Yet the vastness of the numbers of the gar-ages found in our excavations ‘indicate that these structures . were very very common, pérhaps even as common as our dar-flot. ‘into. the and our has struck. great riches in some old copies of a publication called ‘So. we: delved the North Shore News. This — publication, says a tattered front page, was delivered to every Shore. Our research team is trying to unscramble: that . -Significnt more on that later. Let us tell — statement, but you what we have discovered in the North Shore News. In the back section of the newspaper appears a section called Classified Ads. Our discovery is a little-known subsection of the classified section entitled ‘Garage Sales.’ Our researchers gave . a great whoop of glee when they found this. At last, a solid clue as to the meaning of these: strange structures. The first few paragraphs were ‘cryptic. Here is one example. Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Bob Graham/Managing Editor Noel Wright/News Guillermo Lam/Photos Ells- worth Dickson/Production Marna Leiren/Advertis- Ing Kristi Vidler/Classified Berni Hilliard/Circula- tlon Yvonne Chapman/Administration Barbara Haywood/Accounts Sylvia Sorensen. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent conmunity newspaper qualified under Schedule 111, and Part 111, Paragraph Itt of the Excise Tax Act, is published cach Wednesday by the North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mall Registration Number 3885. ENTIRE CONTENTS COPYRIGHT © 1977 NORTH SHORE FREE PRESS LTD. All rights reserved. said the historian. We have uncovered many of these structures buiit in the 1900’s, and yet their sociai door on the North - eet iii Dictionaries | NNN by Peter Speck | | RELIGIOUS PLACE? “Sat, and Sun. March 12 and 13. Across from the gas 7 station at Bellevue and Thirteenth. Lots of things.”’ This example led our researchers to think that perhaps this was some kind of a meeting place, perhaps | for a religious organization of. | some kind. But then some more examples came to light. “Our junk may be your | awnings, | treasure. Doors, curtains and tracks,- etc., from house - renovations. Baby and household items.”’ This strange advertise- ment caused our team some puzzlement.. .While pretty definitely putting a stop to the theory that the gar-ages were religious shrines, it _ raises other questions that . are difficult to’: answer. For _ instance, what is this fascin- ating reference to “baby and household items’? |The most signifficant clue came from a_ group of . advertisements in which the contents of the gar-ages was mentioned. Our researchers ‘deciphered the word ‘bar- _ with - ete.’ and hold items: were stored and , of the gar-ages periodically cleared out their accumula- “merce of the period. One can - historical and associated this ‘furniture, sporting goods, pet supplies, books, gain’ conclusion | that these gar- ages were actually miniature warehouses in which house- then marketed as the owners tions of artifacts. Further research into the aural history: records has_ estab- lished that another term for ‘gar-age’ was ‘ground floor attic.’ So the ‘mystery of the ‘gar-ages’ has finally been laid to rest. These strange structures, possessing nei- ther toilet nor’ telephone, heater or furniture, existed for reasons at least partly connected with the com- only reflect that the ortnodox portraits of the period. which are claimed to be so precise, have not mentioned this important facet of the commerce of the time. One can get an idea of the importance of _ this commercial structure by ex- trapolation on the number of gar-ages uncovered by our archaeologists. Truly, that such a significant part of the history of the 1900’s should be almost-.unknown is in itself very significant. maAlcohol is the drug used most frequently in Ca- nada. It has its own inherent dangers. When taken in combination with — other drugs there can be disas- trous results. Avoid danger- ous combinations to im- prove your Lifestyle. came to the 2 spring right now. It’s the time of the year. filled with exhilerating fash- - tons. At 0 you'li find colors that rival. the. rainbow: and prices that ‘make life easy. 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