Medical Health Officer: Montreal Star

Craig St Dept: Dr. Louis Laberge, the medical health officer of the day, would have agreed. He was particularly concerned about recent immigrants - especially Italians - who sold food on the city streets as they did in their home countries. The hawking of an inferior variety of ice cream was especially problematic, according to Montreal Gazette. Many Montrealers were critical of the custom. Edward Davis wrote in May of 1907: "My contention is that ice cream sold in the streets, made under filthy conditions, constitutes poison. It is also well known that children have been poisoned by the same." A letter to the editor in the Aug. 18, 1906 edition of the Montreal Star lamented the many shortcomings inherent in the city's hygienic conditions, and in particular in its food supply. The writer complained about everything from the horrible condition of the city's streets to the quality of the edibles sold in the thoroughfares and public markets of the burgeoning town. Commonly known as "hokey-pokey" ice cream, this poor relation of the sweet creamy frozen food was frequently sold by the dab, indiscriminately placed on a piece of paper of questionable cleanliness. It was retailed for a penny, usually to local children by immigrant boys and young men peddling it from hand carts. A child would ask for a "penny wipe" and the purveyor would provide. In Edwardian Montreal, a favourite location for these vendors was St. Urbain and Craig St. today St. Antoine St. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.