This great picture was taken 70 years ago!
It shows the participants at the 1938 B.C. Provincial Championships which were held in Vancouver on September 25. They are:
Hector (?) McKenzie (org.), Tom Nicholson, “Smokey” Joe Woods, Ed Hartley, Champion Art Kindlan (holding the shield), Andy Turriff, John Wallingham, Scott, Jimmy Porter and Rainford.
Both Hartley and Porter would eventually win the championship (see the list of
past B.C. champions here).
It is interesting to note that B.C. players were using shoes with hooks.
B.C. is probably the first province to have used these shoes perhaps due
to their earlier contacts with Washington State pitchers. At the Canadian Championships, hookless shoes were compulsary from 1927 to 1938 inclusively.
B.C. players made their debut at the Canadians only in 1970. But it is obvious that Art Kindlan, who won 10 provincial titles from 1931 to 1943, would have been a top contender for the Canadian title, if he would have had the chance to participate.
The second edition of D.D. Cottrell’s book “Horseshoe Pitching - How to Play the Game” published in early 1929, reveals us some precious details:
“The Greater Vancouver Horseshoe Pitchers Club was chartered last July by the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association.
The president of this club is Arthur H. Jones, 5306, Clarendon St., South Vancouver. Fred S. Davies, 1813 E. 33rd Ave., Vancouver, is one of the live wire, always up and at it fans in the Vancouver section and is doing much to popularize the game in southwest British Columbia.”
So the club was chartered by the NHPA in July 1928 but might have been formed before that year. Arthur H. Jones and Fred S. Davies are two of the first known promoters of the game in B.C. They were probably instrumental in organizing the first B.C. provincial championships in 1929 which was won by M.L. Calhoun from Vancouver. Legend says that the B.C. provincials were held about every year in the Vancouver area from 1929 to 1973.
They started moving around after that.
Two articles published in 1935 in the "Horseshoe World" provide details on activities from that era.
W.A. MacKenzie from New Westminster, perhaps the most important volunteer in B.C. during the 1930s, reported horseshoe pitching activities in the NHPA official publication. In the October 1935 issue (p.10), it reveals us some of the first Canada-USA matches, in this case B.C. versus Washington State.
“The Vancouver horseshoe tossers defeated an eight-man team from Bellingham 39 to 25, on August 25, 1935, to win the Northwest Horseshoe League and the Herald Cup. The winning team was made up of H. Gallant, Art Kindlan, McKenzie, Ed Hartley, J. Nimmo, Scott, Russell and Dinney. On the Bellingham linup were Winetrout, Jansen, McCallum, Martin, Siemons, Davis, Griffin and Heller.“
The same issue of the Horseshoe World also featured the 1935 Washington State championship results won by Roy Getchell with a ringer average of 65.1%. Very interesting because it gives us an idea of the caliber of the Bellingham squad and therefore, the B.C. players. J. Davis finished 3rd with 64.2%, H. Jansen 7th with 59.0%, Francis Winetrout 14th with 55.2%, A. McCallum 9th in the B Class with 43.9%. Kindlan, Hartley and company, Vancouver Boys, defeated Bellingham 39 to 25!
Also reported in the Horseshoe World (November 1935) was the opening of the Central Park horseshoe courts (they are still in existence today).
“Commissioner Hugh M. Fraser pitched the first shoe at the official opening of Burnaby’s latest horseshoe pitch in Cental Park, Westminster, British Columbia. The commissioner warmly commended the public-spirited community enterprise which brought about development of the new recreation grounds and formation of a Burnaby Horseshoe club.
The commissioner thanked all who have contributed to the success of the undertaking - those who volunteered labor, those who supervised the work and merchants who gave materials.
There was a large attendance at the opening of the pitch, including Municipal Treasurer Richard Bolton, Secretary Frank J. Russell of the School Board, Works Superintendent B.P. Scott, W.A. Mackenzie and other citizens interested in the development of the recreation grounds.”
It should be mentioned that the Greater Victoria Horseshoe Club was formed in 1935 and operated continuously since then (the longest continuously operating club in Canada). They hosted the 2008 B.C. Provincial Championships.
In 1933, the Vancouver Island Championships were started with George Ledingham the first winner...
see the previous picture of the month.
