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by Thorold J. Tronrud and David Nicholson
Everybody loves a quiz. For years now, on Canada Day, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been running a history quiz in the pages of the Chronicle-Journal newspaper. Many of the questions in this book got their start there. But this book has much more. Almost every question is illustrated with photographs or drawings and it also  contains crosswords and other puzzles. Learn history, and have fun doing it.

9" x 7", 60 p. and 86 images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-50-6

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Order your membership online!

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Videos of five stories that changed Thunder Bay. (DVD only. Approx. 50 minutes)

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Wild on the Superior Frontier: A Romance of Settlers' Lives. Lake Superior 1845-1900

by James R. Stevens

With the opening of the Michigan State Canal in 1855, thousands of westernized people migrated into the grand Lake Superior watershed. They came from the eastern states, Upper and Lower Canada, and Europe, all of them seeking new lives and opportunities in mid-continent. They brought their love stories, their religious faiths, their personal skills and industriousness, their fables, and their hopes for rewarding lives. Their endeavours were many whether they were prospectors, lumbermen, coastal sailors, madams involved in the sex trade, women looking for equality, or newspaper editors promoting their towns. This is a book for those who desire a large picture of the past in Superior Country. It contains stories with humour, deceit, awry cases of justice, rough voyages on the Big Lake, amazing finds of mineral wealth, and loving and strained relationships between men and women on the nineteenth-century frontier.

(240 pages)

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by Jim Lyzun
For down-to-earth, consitent contributions to Canada's aviation heritage, few cities can match Thunder Bay. Yet very little of that history is known. This book will change all that by showing how much we owe to the city's aviation pioneers, pilots, mechanics, engineers, politicians and businessmen who contributed so significantly to the development of aviation in Canada.

Throughout his life Jim Lyzun had a passion for airplanes. He worked as an aeronautical engineer for DeHaviland Aircraft in Toronto before becoming a teacher in Thunder Bay.  Though aviation was only a hobby thereafter, Jim devoted years researching and writing  about Thunder Bay's place in aviation history. He completed this manuscript in the late 1990s but died before it could be published. Updated and organized by Dr. David Kemp of Lakehead University, the book is now available for the first time.

10.75" x 8.5", 88 p. and 201 b&w and colour images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-52-2

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Greed and Corruption in Northwestern Ontario's Timber Industry, 1875-1960 (eBook version)
by J.P. Bertrand

NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK (When ordering please specify format - EPUB, MOBI or PDF - and include email address for upload.

The fascinating story of the pioneer loggers, pulpwood operators, timber speculators and mill promoters, many of whom the author knew first hand. Their devices to obtain exportable pulpwood, without having to pay Crown dues, their trespassing on Crown Reserves, and their intrigues behind the scenes to gain favour with political leaders come to life in the pages of this book. Timber Wolves is an indispensable and highly entertaining study of Northwestern Ontario's timber industry.

J.P. Bertrand came to Northwestern Ontario in 1900 and quickly built a successful career in the timber industry. This book was written in 1961, three years before his death, but has  never been published until now. Bertrand is also author of the best-selling history of the region, Highway of Destiny.

ISBN 978-0-920119-72-3

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Edited by Rob Neff:

A collection of 64 short articles taken from the Society’s extensive collection of newspaper contributions since 1976, written by 26 different authors and edited by a long-time contributor to the column. 

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Edited by Jean Morrison
The focus of Lake Superior to Rainy Lake is the fur trade along Northwestern Ontario’s southern margins, the Voyageurs’ Highway from Lake Superior to the Manitoba border. Spanning over three centuries, from the French era to the 21st century, the book covers such aspects of North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company history as fur trade rivalry and relationships, trade goods and transportation logistics, mixed-blood families and daily life, and the strategic roles of Michipicoten, Fort William and Rainy Lake. It concludes with a brief look at issues facing the fur trade since 1900. The writings of academics and post-graduate students, of professional researchers and keen amateurs are gathered  here. Together they give us a new understanding of the significant role this part of North America played in the development of an important industry. Culled largely from journals and government files, these articles and reports together make a noteworthy contribution to the literature of the Northwestern Ontario fur trade.

Jean Morrison performs an admirable job of weaving together the research of a variety of writers to present a fascinating look at how the Canadian fur trade affected the evolution of Northwestern Ontario. Her latest work is a welcome contribution to the history of this  region and a timely celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Great Rendezvous, and the 30th anniversary of Fort William Historical Park.
Sergio Buonocore, General Manager, Fort William Historical Park

8" x 10.25", 172 p. and 37 images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-48-4

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by Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu
An exploration of early film-making at the Lakehead prior to 1932.  Filled with many images from the films themselves.  This book is a wonderful addition to any film enthusiast's library or coffee table.

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by Wayne Pettit and Dave Maclean
This book provides a short history of the dairies of Fort William and Port Arthur (now known as the City of Thunder Bay) and the nearby towns of Nipigon, Beardmore and Geraldton. Here you will also find detailed descriptions of individual bottles along with related items and advertisements used in the dairy business, giving collectors, historians and the general public a unique insight into the way milk products were handled in the early days of the industry.

Wayne Pettit and Dave Maclean are long-time bottle collectors with a speciality in those from dairies in Northwestern Ontario.

8.5" x 10.5", 62 p. and 125 images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-46-8

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Greed and Corruption in Northwestern Ontario's Timber Industry, 1875-1960
by J.P. Bertrand

The fascinating story of the pioneer loggers, pulpwood operators, timber speculators and mill promoters, many of whom the author knew first hand. Their devices to obtain exportable pulpwood, without having to pay Crown dues, their trespassing on Crown Reserves, and their intrigues behind the scenes to gain favour with political leaders come to life in the pages of this book. Timber Wolves is an indispensable and highly entertaining study of Northwestern Ontario's timber industry.

J.P. Bertrand came to Northwestern Ontario in 1900 and quickly built a successful career in the timber industry. This book was written in 1961, three years before his death, but has  never been published until now. Bertrand is also author of the best-selling history of the region, Highway of Destiny.

6" x 9", 188 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920-119-26-3

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A collection of papers presented to the Thunder Bay Historical Society are now available on microfiche. These reports begin in 1908 and continue until 1928 and include a solitary report from 1967. Publication began again in 1973 and these volumes are available separately. (See Papers & Records). Papers presented in the earliest years of the historical society include topics that range from flooding in Fort William and Port Arthur to grain handling and transportation to personal reminiscences of local residents. Many of the papers are illustrated with photographs and are wonderful examples of early history in the Thunder Bay area. Includes an excellent index. The index, compiled by F. Brent Scollie, is also available separately in paper copy.

PDF copies of these early papers and reports are now available for download at
www.Archive.org: 1908-1920; 1921-1928.

F. Brent Scollie has contributed to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and has written
extensively on the history of Northwestern Ontario.

Microfiche $15 plus S&H
Separate Index in paper $12 plus S&H

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by K.C.A. Dawson

Nine thousand years of Northern Ontario prehistory from the Palaeo-Indian period through the Archaic and Woodland periods to historic times are covered in this short introduction by one of Canada's leading archaeologists. The book is complete with drawings, diagrams, and bibliography.

K.C.A. Dawson is retired Professor of Anthropology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

6" x 9", 40 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-00-X

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Edited and Introduced by Jean Morrison

Simon McGillivray's notebook, recording his visit to Fort William in 1815, is an invaluable document in the history of the North West Company, the great Canadian fur trading company that rivalled the Hudson's Bay Company. Not only does it include references to issues debated and decisions made at the 1815 Council meetings, it also provides a rare insight into the human aspects of the trade with its tensions and personality conflicts. Jean Morrison has prepared an introduction which sets the events recorded in the notebook into their broader historical context. and has included biographical notes on all individuals mentioned by McGillivray.

Jean Morrison is a former research librarian at Old Fort William Historic Park, Thunder  Bay

6" x 9", 50 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-08-5

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Catalogue of a special exhibition presented by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum
Author and researcher, Patricia McLellan
Photographer, Theodore Johns

A written and pictorial review of historic artifacts used in many different religions within Thunder Bay. Both black and white and colour pictures are included. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism, Native, Islam, and Baha'i are all represented and reference  is made to each religion's place in Thunder Bay.

8.5" x 8.5", 26p.
Paperback

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by M. Elizabeth Arthur

Simon Dawson (c.1820-1902) was a civil engineer, explorer, treaty negotiator, and politician. He was responsible for constructing the famous Red River Road which opened up Western Canada to settlement and represented Northwestern Ontario as M.L.A. and M.P. from 1875 to 1891. Simon J. Dawson C.E. is the first biography of this important pioneer.

Dr. M. Elizabeth Arthur was Professor of History at Lakehead University and the Honorary President of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1983-1986.

6" x 9", 40 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-929119-00-X

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The early 20th century was time of great growth and change at the Canadian Lakehead. This book captures the spirit of that era with a series of photo essays compiled from the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society's extensive collection of photos. Individual topics such as, the place, the people, culture and recreation, industry, the railways, and the harbour are preceded by short introductions that place them in their broader contexts, but the emphasis in on the photographs. Many are previously unpublished and provide a new insight into the communities with became the city of Thunder Bay.

11" x 8.5", 36 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-10-7

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Member of Parliament for Fort William, 1917-1935
by R.H. Piovesana

Robert J. Manion was a medical doctor in Fort William who accepted the Conservative nomination to the federal parliament in 1917. He was the first representative from the Fort William riding to be elected to the House of Commons and the first representative from Northwestern Ontario to hold a federal cabinet post. This publication focuses on Dr. Manion's successes, the issues he faced, the benefits he brought to Northwestern Ontario from his post as Minister of Railways and Canals, and his defeat in his own riding in 1935.

Roy Piovesana, a retired teacher of history, is a past president of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, and from 1977 to 1986 was editor of the Society's Papers & Records.

6" x 9", 72 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-12-3

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Boosters and Boosterism in Thunder Bay, 1870-1914
by Thorold J. Tronrud

Guardians of Progress is a study of the ideas and techniques of those energetic and often colourful boosters - land developers, speculators, real estate promoters, pioneers, journalists, and merchants - who, between 1870 and 1914, made it their business to transform two small settlements on the shores of Lake Superior (Fort William and Port Arthur) into a Canadian version of Chicago. Ultimately they failed, but, in trying, they left an indelible mark on the character of the community they helped to create, the City of Thunder Bay.

Dr. Thorold J. Tronrud is Curator/Archivist at the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, a former editor of the Society's Papers & Records, and an Adjunct Professor of history at Lakehead University.

8.5 x 11.5, 74 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-16-6

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Edited by Thorold J. Tronrud and A. Ernest Epp

The city of Thunder Bay was only created in 1970. Yet for over 9,000 years settlements have existed on the sheltered bay that bears the same name. Europeans arrived and established permanent buildings there as early as 1683 and the site achieved significance far beyond its borders almost 200 years ago! Even as an urban centre, the community (formerly Fort William and Port Arthur) is well into its second century.

This co-operative history utilizes the expertise of historians, archaeologists, geographers, sociologists, and urban planners to provide a well-rounded description and analysis of the communities on the shores of Thunder Bay. It explores the site's changing terrain, the story of its first peoples, and the fascinating era of the fur trade. It recounts with verve the boom years of the early 20th century when progress knew no bounds, and reveals the deadly impact of two World Wars and the Great Depression. The community's cultural spirit, its sporting heros, and its political and economic life emerge with fullness and richness in these pages.

Dr. Thorold J. Tronrud is Curator/Archivist at the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society and an Adjunct Professor at Lakehead University

Dr. A. Ernest Epp is an Associate Professor of History at Lakehead University. He served as Member of Parliament for the Thunder Bay-Nipigon riding from 1984-1988.

8" x 10", 278 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920119-20-4

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by Gene Onchulenko and Skip Gillham

The Ships of the Paterson Fleet is another in the Great Lakes Marine History series published by Riverbank Traders of St. Catharines. The Paterson Fleet was owned by a family company situated in Thunder Bay and is truly the story of hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. The book describes each of the company's vessels from 1915-1995 with excellent black and white pictures and useful appendixes.

Gene Onchulenko of Thunder Bay has worked most of his life in the grain transportation business and is a noted ship photographer. Skip Gillham has written numerous books about the shipping fleets on the great lakes.

8.5" x 11, 141 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-969-7606-4-7

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by Diane Grant
This book describes the origins of the names of each and every street in Thunder Bay. The CD-ROM version also contains images of many of the streets or the persons after whom they were named as well as maps showing their locations. An indispensable research tool and fascinating to read.

Diane Grant is a researcher and writer living in Thunder Bay.

8.5" x 11", 140 p.
ISBN 0-920-119-32-8 (pbk.);
0-920-119-34-4 (CD-ROM)

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An Illustrated History of Great Lakes Paper and its Successors, 1919-1999
by Roy Piovesana, Beth Boegh and Thorold J. Tronrud

This illustrated history details the evolution and development of Great Lakes Paper Company from a local Thunder Bay operation to part of an international forest products corporation. It is based on thousands of negatives, slides and photographic prints, taken over a fifty-year period by professional photographers. Every operation of the mill and the company's woodlands are depicted, documenting the exceptional relationship between  Great Lakes and its employees. Throughout the mergers, structural changes and takeovers, the traditions of technological innovation and competitive spiritedness have allowed the Thunder Bay facility to remain one of the leading pulp and paper complexes in North America.

Roy Piovesana is a historian/photographer living in Thunder Bay. He is the author of a
biograhpy of Robert J. Manion. Beth Boegh is co-editor of the Thunder Bay Historial Museum Society's Papers & Records and chair of its publications committee. Thorold J. Tronrud is Curator and Archivist of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society and author of several books and articles.

9.5" x 12", 182 p.
Hardcover or Paperback
ISBN 0-920-119-28-X (bound);
0-920-119-30-1 (pbk.)

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by Elinor Barr
The PAD&W began as an international railway, running from Port Arthur to Fort William,  Westfort, Slate River, Stanley, Silver Creek, Hymers, Silver Mountain, Whitefish Lake, North Lake, Leeblain and Gunflint terminating at Paulson Iron Mine in Minnesota. This is the story of the political intrigue that swirled around its beginnings, and the fascinating individuals who guided its destiny.

Elinor Barr has written about many aspects of Northwestern Ontario's past including railroading in Ignace, logging along the Pigeon River, mining at Silver Islet, the mystique of White Otter Castle, and the Swedes who founded the Scandinavian Home Society. She is  a graduate of Lakehead University and a member of The Writers' Union of Canada. This is her sixth book.

8.5" x 11", 151 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920-119-36-0

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Emigration to Thunder Bay from a Small Town in Calabria
by John Potestio

Grimaldi is one of the great sending towns of Calabria, a region of the south of Italy from which thousands of people have emigrated to Canada and the rest of the world. Thunder  Bay is home to the largest immigrant community of Grimaldesi anywhere in the world. In this work, the author examines the reasons why so many of these people have settled in the Lakehead, and describes the process of integration in an area of Canada that was vastly different than the Calabrian town from whence they came. In addition, relying on personal and family experiences, the author sheds some light on the significant changes that have occurred within the Grimaldesi immigrant community and offers insights into the significant phenomenon of returnmigration.

John Potestio was born in Grimaldi, Italy, and came to Canada in 1953. He received his B.A. from Western University and his M.A. from Lakehead University. He taught social sciences for thirty-three years in various secondary schools before retiring in 1996. Some of his publications are The History of the Italian Mutual Benefit Society, The Memoirs of Giovanni Veltri, which he edited, and The Italian Immigrant Experience, and Thunder Bay's People which he co-edited with Antonio Pucci.

6" x 9", 182 p.
Paperback
ISBN 0-920-119-38-7

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Including Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario (1884-1945) and their predecessors the Municipalities of Shuniah (1873-1884) and Neebing (1881-1892): A Biographical and Genealogical Dictionary and Electoral History
by Frederick Brent Scollie

A comprehensive biographical and genealogical dictionary of all 414 individuals who served in municipal public office in the communities that make up Thunder Bay, complete with maps and over 300 illustrations. Also includes electoral histories of each community.

Available in hardcover and CD-ROM versions (hardcover includes CD-ROM).

Frederick Brent Scollie is an Ottawa-based scholar who has contributed biographies to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and has written a number of articles on Northwestern Ontario history. He has been a member of the editorial board of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society for many years. This work is the result of ten years of meticulous  research.

8.5" x 11", 254 p.
CD with optional hardcover
ISBN 0-920-119-40-9 (hardcover);
0-920-119-42-5 (CD-ROM)

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by W.S. Piper
We are just beginning to realize the charm and importance of Indian legends. "Too late, perhaps," wrote W.S. Piper when he first published this book in 1924, as many of the old-time Ojibways, who translated freely, had passed away. By pen and camera the author tried to preserve some of the stories told to him years ago by his Indian friends, Chief Skeet, Luke Bushy, Chief Penassie, Chief Blackstone, and Joe Turtle, among others. There is an unmistakable fascination about Indian legends which is greatly increased when they are heard amidst the surroundings that gave them birth.

William Samuel Piper was born in Kircubbin, Ireland, in 1863 and emigrated to Canada with his family nine years later, settling on a farm near Wardsville, Ontario. An enterprising  young man, he left home at 18 and traveled west to Fort Garry and later to Fort William  where he opened a hardware business. His love of exploration led him to travel the countryside extensively, and he developed many close relationships with the Indian people of Northwestern Ontario. W.S. Piper died in 1927.

6" x 9", 134 p. and 29 images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-44-1

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by Penny Petrone
Penny Petrone’s first memoir, Breaking the Mould (1995) told the story of growing up in Port Arthur as the daughter of working-class immigrant parents. The second volume, Embracing Serafina (2000), recounted her continuing search for identity. With Schoolmarm, her life’s narrative is now complete.

In Schoolmarm, Penny recalls a teaching career that began at North Bay Normal School  and culminated at the Lakehead University Faculty of Education where she, in turn, trained teachers. Along the way she taught in Europe and Africa, in big cities and rural communities across Ontario, and at virtually every level from one-room schoolhouses to university classrooms.

Penny Petrone published many works during her lifetime including three volumes of memoirs, "Breaking the Mould," "Embracing Serafina," and now "Schoolmarm." Penny won the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations' Teaching Award in 1988, Lakehead University's first Distinguished Teacher Award in 1989, and the Elizabeth Kouhi Award in 2004.
She died in 2005.

4.5" x 7", 224 p. and 31 images
Softcover
ISBN 0-920-119-54-9

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by Jean Morrison
Through painful struggles and changing relationships, Thunder Bay’s working class defined itself during the tumultuous years before World War I. Labour Pains looks at many responses to the harshness of industrialism: trade unionism and labour politics, unrest and violence, the Social Gospel and socialism, mediation and conciliation. Alliances and conflict, many ethnicities and various expressions of class consciousness all contributed to the making of the working class whose members and defenders embraced many remarkable individuals, known and unknown.

Jean Morrison has written on Thunder Bay’s labour history and the local fur trade for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, The Beaver, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum  Society’s Papers & Records and other publications. Her recent works include Lake  Superior to Rainy Lake, Three Centuries of Fur Frade History, and Superior Rendezvous-Place: Fort William in the Canadian Fur Trade.

6" x 9", 176 p. with b&w images
Softcover
ISBN 978-0-920119-56-3

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by Jonathan Kirton
This book tells the story of how a long closed factory, reopened just a few short years before World War II, helped to fulfill a nation's desperate need for new aircraft. Included are
comprehensive records and photographs of the aircraft Can-Car initially assembled, and the subsequent design and manufacture of the Gregor FDB-1, the first prototype fighter aircraft ever to be built in Canada. Here as well is the story, only now fully told, of the Grumman G-23 and the design and building of the Maple Leaf I and II Trainer prototypes.

Jonathan Kirton, a keen aeromodeller, has had a long career in the field of industrial  aircraft design having worked in senior positions for such companies as Timmins Aviation, Atlantic Aviation, Innotech Aviation, and Bombardier/Canadair. He is the author of The British Falling Block Breechloading Rifle from 1865, a history of the early British long range rifles. He continues to publish article on antique and historical firearms for journals in both the UK and the US.

8.5" x 11", 184 p. and over 200 b&w and colour images
Softcover
ISBN 0-978-0-920119-58-7

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by William C. Millar
This book is a highly personal account of Millar's amazing six months in combat with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion in 1916. His is a first-hand telling of the months of stalemate following the 2nd Battle of Ypres, a period when Canadian forces, under persistent attack,
gained valuable tactical and command experience.

William Chisholm Millar emigrated from Scotland to Fort William, Ontario, early in the 20th century. He joined the 52nd Battalion in late 1915 and landed in France in February of the following year. He worked as a scout, mostly in the Ypres sector, until August 1916 when he was invalided to England. He wrote this book in 1918.

5.5" x 7.75", 176 p., illustrated
Softcover
ISBN 0-978-0-920119-60-0

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by Thorold J. Tronrud
Everybody loves a quiz. We found that out with the overwhelming success of our first Quiz Book. Now, with the publication of Thunder Bay Quiz Book 2, there are over 100 more fascinating questions about our city's and region's history. Filled with pictures, crosswords and other puzzles, this book will both entertain you and challenge your knowledge of history.

9" x 7", 64 p. and 126 images
Softcover
ISBN 978-0-920-119-66-2

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by Wayne Pettit
This book covers all of the known makers of soda pop in the region of Northwestern Ontario from 1875 to the present and describes both their histories and the bottles
they used.

Wayne Pettit is a past president of the Sleeping Giant Bottle Club. He had been collecting bottles and other artifacts for many years and that interest has culminated in this work. Wayne has also written a history of milk bottles and dairies in Northwestern Ontario, also published by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society.

11" x 8.5", 72 p. with many images and an attached CD-ROM of images
Softcover
ISBN 978-0-920119-62-4

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by Monica Belluz
Find out what goes on behind the walls of the Thunder Bay Museum from a long-time employee. From happenings in the dark to personal offers and museum creatures, Ms. Belluz shares stories never before told. Learn what people do when they don't know they are being watched on sercurity cameras. See what frightens children in the galleries.

Monica Belluz has been an employee of the Thunder Bay Museum since 1993. The favourite part of her job is interacting with the public on a daily basis. She is also an artist. Examples of her work are printed in the pages of this book.

9" x 6", 48p. with images
ISBN 978-0-920119-64-8
Softcover