Sandy and Peter Neilly, owners of the Wayback Times, check their mail daily for feedback from readers and advertisers.   They welcome bouquets - or barbs, feedback about content, questions about antiques and collectibles, suggestions etc.   When sending a letter by post, fax or e-mail, please include your full name, home town and a telephone number (for verification use only.)   When responding to a particular article, please note the heading and the issue, i.e. "Re Editorial, September/October."   Selected letters from the print edition will be posted on this web site and we will include contact e-mail addresses if provided.   Keep in touch

Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Letters to the Editor Readers' feedback     Re Camp Picton July/August 2008 Enjoyed your little blurb about Camp Picton, one of my favorite military places.Other neat military places to visit in Ontario are: The RCAF Bomarc nuclear surface-to-air missile site north of North Bay on Highway 11, closed in 1972; the old Cold War radar station at Foymount, closed in 1974 (and which is mostly intact); the old Radar and Communications School at Canadian Forces Base Clinton, south-east of Goderich (now called the town of Vanastra), closed in 1971. In terms of military properties, we had a helluva lot more in this province. Paul Ozorak Ottawa (Author of: Abandoned Military Installations of Canada, Volume 1: Ontario)   Re All Things Maud May/June 2008 I was loaned a copy of the Wayback Times and noticed your article in the May/June issue on L.M. Montgomery and "all things Maud" in Ontario this year. Thank you so much for compiling them. We hope to have a great time in Norval through the year (many events aren't even published yet) as we continue to highlight the work that the author did in the communities and in her literary career. I've seen your article online as well, and sent the link out to the Kindred Spirit society from the University of PEI, so it's now winged its way around the world to like-minded individuals.   Deb Quaile Norval, ON     Re a new subscriber My husband and I went to Port Hope a couple of weeks ago and browsed through the many antiques stores there. We picked up your (paper) and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. We would like to subscribe to it. I have sent payment for a subscription. Thank you.   Cathie H. Fraserville, ON     Re Cosway's Corner Niagara Falls daredevils I have enjoyed reading the most recent issue of the Wayback Times (January/February, 2008) and your article on page 8 regarding the Niagara Falls daredevils was of particular interest. I am sure, however, that the photo identified in the article as Jean Francois Gravelet - "The Great Blondin" is in fact William Leonard Hunt - "The Great Farini." The same photo appears among those listed in Shane Peacock's book "The Great Farini - The High-Wire Life of William Hunt" (Toronto:Penguin Books, 1995). You mention that Hunt was an artist, and I have one of his oil paintings, a rather sombre landscape. One of Farini's contemporary artists, F.M. Bell Smith, is quoted in Peacock's book as offering the following opinion to Farini: "Friend, you don't know how good some of your pictures are and how bad others are" (p.396). In truth, I have one of the latter! Thanks for the article. I look forward to future issues. Regards.   John F. Bird St. Catharines, ON     Re our Book Reviews and other Wayback stuff Hi there and thank you for publishing a great little newspaper. I would also like to comment on your Wayback Times book review section, which we find very informative and a great addition to your publication. As I collect old radios and see that most publications in this category are for U.S radios, I would like to suggest a review of a book called Radios of Canada by Lloyd Swackhammer from Alma Ontario. Lloyd has collected radios for years and has, like all other collectors, been frustrated by the lack of information on Canadian-built radios, so he decided to do his own research, along with radio club members. The book is on Canadian radios and their sources and history. We find your publication is the very best source for the avid collector or the occasional antique shopper. As you keep adding interesting and informative articles as Out to Lunch, Wayback Wheels and Ask the Old Guy, it truly enhances the publication and will increase the circulation, for sure. Thanks again for all your hard work and efforts that make it happen. R.L Bob Long aka "Bob's good junk"     Re Wayback Times advertising response Just a note to say 'thanks' for all of your help in putting our ads together these past months. The response has been great. We even got a call from Ottawa on one of the items featured in our last ad. Being new in the business, we tested the waters with all sorts of ads in the different media. By far, your publication has been tops. Last week, a customer dropped by to say thanks for putting the Wayback Times with her order. She had been looking for a few plates to complete her set - saw the ad for Old China Patterns, called them and found what she was looking for. I can't count how many times we refer people to Mantle Lamp Supply Co. when customers are looking for parts for old lamps. Your featured columns are a great resource centre for us as well. All in all - thanks again.   Darlene and Brian MacDonald Period Pieces, Norwood, Ont.     Re Ted Currie's Tom Thomson articles What a great pleasure it was to read the Ted Currie articles and all the research into the Tom Thomson saga. As an art student in the 1950s, the Group of Seven was a major theme in many of our lessons. My art director at Danforth Technical School, Fred Savard, taught us everything about those famous members and I know he had the greatest respect for all of them. He always got emotional when discussing the mystery surrounding the death of Thomson as he so admired the wealth of work he accomplished. This aspect has stayed with me all these years. I was fortunate enough to see A.Y. Jackson, although not meet him as he was so frail, when he was living at the McMichael Gallery in Klienburg. He was outside in the sunshine just painting his days away. Mr. Currie certainly did a lot of homework in order to present his in-depth report and I really enjoyed it. I would imagine it would be pretty difficult to ‘find’ any collectible Tom Thomson memorabilia or works anymore. But you never know. Some day maybe something will surface. I look forward to each issue and enjoy all your contributing writers as well. Thanks again to Mr. Currie. Well done.   Jean P. Pollock Birkenbrae Enterprises, Bobcaygeon, Ont.     Re online Wayback Times web site articles I am an antiques and collectible dealer and would like to thank you for providing this site free online. I have soooo many books already and I am constantly buying more, but I do believe it is virtually impossible to cover every aspect of the antique collecting field with just books (unless you have unlimited funds, space and time, that is.) I really appreciate others who are willing to share their knowledge. After reading many of the articles on your site, I have added a shortcut for your site right on my desktop so that I will remember to check it periodically for new articles.   Thanks again Victoria Kritikson   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2008 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster         Submitting Letters to the Editor   By Post: This Is Livin' Publishing, 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON K0L 1Y0   By Fax: 705-696-1833   By e-mail: waybacktimes@xplornet.com     Re Wayback Wheels January/February 2007 Thank you very much Aaron Neilly for your extremely informative article about the Studebaker Avanti.You have certainly given me more information about a car I saw 32 years ago in Listowel, Ontario, than I ever could have imagined. My sister and I were looking for a "good, affordable used car" that our father would approve of. The Avanti was not this car, but all three of us were drooling over it. Even though the car was 10 to 12 years old in 1975 when we were looking at it, it was far ahead of anything available at the time.The overhead switches/console looked like an airplane cockpit. The actual dash looked sort of like a Corvette Stingray our neighbour had. This car is so rare that I was surprised to see one, owned by a man from Belleville, at a car show in Marmora during their fall fair a couple of years ago. My enthusiasm for this car is not truly shared by my husband, but he was persuaded to go to this show as there were also muscle cars there from the fifties and sixties. We enjoy your paper.   Carol Armstrong Belleville     Re Matthew and Scott Russell November/December Editorial Thank you, thank you, thank you. To our many dealer friends and customers, we offer our deepest gratitude for your kind words, generosity, gestures of friendship and whispered prayers in support of our sons, Cpl. Matthew Russell and Sgt. Scott Russell, and all of our troops in Afghanistan. Through your acts of kindness, donations and sincere concern for all of us, these men and women feel the support and care they need and deserve. Blessings upon all of you.   With much Gratitude, Frank & Mary Russell Peterborough     Re Roy Bassett medals research Nov/Dec 2006 column Mr. Bassett, thank you so much for your research. My husband, his grandfather's namesake, just received his grandfather's medals. They came to him because they were the only two men in the family that fought in combat. WWI, and Viet Nam. With your invaluable help, I have identified three of the five (medals).   Donna Kahren   Medals 2 I read your article in the November-December issue of the Wayback Times. It was well written and very informative. I was not aware that the War Medal was also issued in bronze. Now, I'll have to keep shopping for one. I have been looking for a Victory medal with a Mentioned in Dispatches oak leaf. If you know of one for sale, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. Living in Prince Edward County, I don't get to go to military and collectors' shows as I did when living in Toronto. I will keep watching for your articles and maybe I'll learn some more about medals and their history. Best regards. Brian McLaughlin Wellington, ON     Re Wayback Times And Editor Sandy As an antique dealer and collector, I have always looked forward to new issues of the Wayback Times. Recent changes have boosted my interest and curiosity. Sandy Neilly, with family support, has undertaken this new endeavor with enthusiasm and insight. Congratulations on continuing to publish a quality antique newspaper. Advertisements provide opportunities for treasure hunts; articles are always interesting and informative and Jay's Blog keeps us chuckling about his trials and tribulations. Let me know when Peter is Out to Lunch again, and who is The Old Guy? This Is Livin' - take a bow.   Terry Ronkko T&B Antiques, Toronto     Re Drive-In Theatres September/October 2006 My wife and I were in St. Jacob's recently and picked up a copy of the Wayback Times. I read the entire paper while drinking my coffee this morning and was especially intrigued by the article, A Tribute to The Drive- In, by John Cosway. I have never seen a history of this great American and Canadian icon anywhere before and I was filled with nostalgia. Not intending to be critical, I would like to make a clarification to one area of this wonderful piece. Toward the end of the article, a mention was made of the first drive-in in Canada, the Skyway in Stoney Creek, Ontario. Mr. Cosway (said) the Skyway closed in 1970.The Skyway actually ran its last show on the Dusk to Dawn Thanksgiving weekend in October 1975. I can't remember the movies or exact date, but I was there for the entire show. At the time, I was assistant manager of the Tivoli theatre in Hamilton, and was part-time relief manager one day a week at the Skyway. I decided to attend the last show as I knew the closing would be the end of an era in the Hamilton area. I stayed with the theatre business for another decade, moving up in the managerial field, until video and television started to change the landscape of the movie theater business forever. As an added piece of trivia, the Skyway Drive-In was owned continuously from 1946 till its close by Famous Players. Thank you again Mr. Cosway for a wonderful article that not only took me back to my youth, but (is) an important piece of North American entertainment history. Brock King Thorold, Ontario   Return to Editorial Page