Dean McLaughlin (17 year-old) 1938 Dominion Champion receives the Diamond Calk Championship Trophy from Duncan Bull of the Royal Winter Fair.
This great picture is a courtesy of the late Dean McLaughlin, who at age 17 became the youngest champion ever, eclipsing the record set by Billy Struthers who was 18 when he won in 1929.
In 1997, Dean showed me the pair of hookless Diamonds that he used to win his 1938 title. Dean had kept them preciously not only because they marked his first major championship but also because the year 1938 was to be the last in which the hookless shoes were compulsary at the Canadian Championships.
Perhaps also because legend says those shoes were turned over to Dean by Ernie Beamis’s father, following Ernie’s death (young Beamis had tought Dean how to play). Here's also an interesting incident reported by the newspaper following Dean's win:
Gains Title But Loses Overcoat
In the almost-deserted coliseum of the Royal Winter Fair, Dean McLaughlin won the Dominion horseshoe pitching championship but lost an overcoat. While they looked for the 17-year-old Oshawa automobile worker to present the trophy to him, he was searching through tiers of seats for the overcoat he had laid aside while he won the singles crown. Someone had taken it while the youngster was beating the country's best at heaving cast-iron and the champion, clutching the big trophy, had to travel 30 miles home without a coat. But he still was happy.
You can the results of the 1938 Canadian Championships here.
Andre Leclerc.
see the previous picture of the month.
