Remembrance Day in Canada was first declared after the Armistice of 1918 ended the Great War. Communities in Ontario celebrated in a variety of ways.
The Durham Review, meanwhile, recounts a multi-day celebration: “drugstores got out their stored-away firecrackers, flags and favours began to make their appearance, and though a muddy night some hundreds of spectators were on the streets and witnessed the burning of the Kaiser and a bonfire.”
At the same time, the effects of war continued on: articles about local enlistments sit aside advertisements for the ongoing need for War Bond purchases.
The Border Cities Star out of the Windsor area might have the most sensational approach to the news of the war’s end:
“Crowds swarm the downtown streets within few minuts of announcement of signing terms.”
“Western Ontario towns cut loose in a wild delirium of joy when the peace news came.”
The easiest way to check the news in your town is to head to INK, which carries all of our full-run newspaper pages, and browse around in November to see which newspapers were publishing then. To see headlines and more from indexes as well, check out the Ontario Community News portal.
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