Victoria's Streetcar Era

Tay Wilson is an associate professor of psychology at Laurentian
University.

Just as it should be, Ewert’s chronicle of Victoria’s streetcar era
is packed with interesting photographs, advertisements for day trips,
and sample timetables from the first quarter of the 20th century.
Moreover, the author has obviously gone to considerable effort to
collect and arrange the factual material that makes a work of this
nature come alive. Because of its attention to detail the book can be
read profitably by rail- and public-transport buffs, and by those
interested in mass-transit policy issues. Anyone curious about an
important part of early social life in Victoria will find Victoria’s
Streetcar Era a great read. The story of the jitney entrepreneurs who
came on the scene in November 1915 to provide competitive trouble for
the streetcars is just one of many interesting tales in this thoroughly
enjoyable book.