Canadian Grenadier Guards Parading in Winnipeg in 1913

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard bearing no studio name. The image is a glossy real photograph.

On the divided back of the card is written:

"Grenadier Guards.
Winnipeg.
May 11 1913."

Sunday the 11th. May 1913 was the day of the Winnipeg Decoration Day Parade.

The Canadian Grenadier Guards

The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG) is a reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment is the oldest and second-most-senior infantry regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. 

Located in Montreal, its primary role is the provision of combat-ready light infantry troops in support of Canadian regular infantry. It is a Household Foot Guard regiment, and it also provides soldiers for public ceremonial duties (Ceremonial Guard), performing similar ceremonial duties to the Guards regiments of the British Army. 

This primarily entails mounting the guard on Government House (Rideau Hall), the Governor General's residence, and performing the "Changing the Guard" ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a task it shares with the Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa. 

The Canadian Grenadier Guards is an allied regiment to the British Grenadier Guards.

Decoration Day in Canada

Decoration Day is a Canadian holiday that recognizes veterans of Canada's military. The holiday has mostly been eclipsed by the similar Remembrance Day.

Decoration Day began on the 2nd. June 1890. Originally the celebration served as a form of protest for veterans of the Battle of Ridgeway who felt that their contributions to the protection of Canada during the Fenian Raids were being overlooked by the government. 

The veterans placed decorations at the Canadian Volunteers Monument near Queen's Park in Toronto on the anniversary of the battle. There were thirty thousand participants in 1891, the 25th. anniversary of the Battle of Ridgeway, and up to fifty thousand watched the accompanying parade. 

This became an annual event, taking place on the weekend nearest the original date, and accumulating more participants as further conflicts resulted in a larger body of Canadian veterans.

The actions of the Fenian veterans resulted in the British creation of service medals recognizing participants in the pre-First World War Canadian conflicts. Canada provided compensation to veterans of the rebellions, but not the Fenian raids; Ontario did however provide some recognition at the provincial level. 

Commemoration of Decoration Day became less prominent in the early 1900's, although it returned to some prominence when the Great War began. 

A Ridgeway monument was created in 1916, and made a National Historic Battlefield in 1921. 

In 1931, the Parliament of Canada fixed the 11th. November (Remembrance Day) as the official day commemorating military service in Canada. However, some recognition of Decoration Day still persists.

The Empire Hotel

Note the Empire Hotel in the background. The building on Main Street was originally conceived as the Cauchon Block, and then after the Canadian Northern Railway’s main line and yards were established at the rear of the site, it was converted into an up-market hotel in 1905 by architects Alexander and William Melville for the railway traveller.

However the Empire Hotel was unable to compete with the Royal Alexandra which opened in 1906, and later the Fort Garry.

The Empire eventually closed in the 1970's, and by the early 80's was scheduled for demolition.

The exterior skin, however was deemed a provincial heritage object by the Government of Manitoba. This was due to its unique construction - being essentially a cast-iron and zinc kit of parts. The rest of the hotel was demolished in 1981.

Eventually a good portion of the façade was dismantled and put into storage for planned re-use, and that is where most of it still remains. However part of the façade was reconstructed within the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre. For this, the St. Boniface Historical Society and Corbett Cibinel Architects were given a Heritage Winnipeg Conservation Award in 2000.

The site of the hotel still remains undeveloped, and is currently (2023) being used as a car park.
Taken on: March 3, 2023
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postcard
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Decoration
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