Glimpses of Calgary Past

Michael Payne is head of the reasearch and publications program,
Historic Sites and Archives Service, Alberta Community Development, and
co-author of A Narrative History of Fort Dunvegan.

In 1994, Calgary celebrated the centennial of its incorporation as a
city. This book is one of a number of centennial histories of Calgary
published specifically, as then-Mayor Duerr notes in his preface, to
celebrate those things that “make Calgarians proud of their city.”
Given the intent of the book, it is not surprising that it does not
concentrate much on Calgary’s urban problems.

Jean Leslie’s glimpses of Calgary’s past are anecdotal,
occasionally personal (she moved to Calgary in 1928 and is married to a
former mayor of the city), and generally benign. Much of the material is
familiar. It seems all books on Calgary have to include an account of
Fred McCall’s crash landing on a merry-go-round at the Calgary
Exhibition in 1919, along with a story or two about Calgary’s
legendary fire chief Cappy Smart, and the equally legendary newspaperman
and drinker Bob Edwards. What distinguishes Leslie’s book is her
obvious affection for Calgary and her personal reminiscences of an
earlier time, before Calgary made itself over as a metropolis in
waiting.

The book begins with a somewhat unusual disclaimer: “while every
effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher accepts no
responsibility for historical inaccuracies (sic).” This is hardly
reassuring to readers, and the author deserves better. Surely the
publisher might have subjected the final copy to a proofreading that
would have caught typos and spelling errors like “occassion,”
“Gretsky,” and General “Ankra” or “Ankrah” of Ghana (whose
name appears in these two forms on consecutive lines).