Huron-Perth Boomers Summer 2024

y Colleen Maguire
HISTORY
“The able-bodied assistant came forward with a
glass jar in which was the illumination compound in
a state of repose. The photographer at once took a
sight at the victim, and said, ‘A little more to the left,
please,’ and the Signal for once in his life turned from
the right. ‘Are you ready?’ said the artist! ‘Yes,’ replied
the able-bodied assistant, and before the Signal had
time to demure, a vivid flash was seen, which could
throw sheet lightning and electric light into a dull,
uninteresting, sickly, tallow candle flare. It didn’t take
a second, but it took a good negative… Mr. Sallows
is to be congratulated on introducing the system to
our town.”
The 1890s was the golden age of magic lantern shows,
so Reuben decided to invest in such an apparatus
and began travelling around the county. Sometimes
they were views of Egypt or other exotic places, or
stories with morals. By all accounts Reuben had
quite a wonderful sense of humour when presenting
these shows. Knox Presbyterian Church, of which
Reuben Sallows was a member and Sabbath School
superintendent, still possesses glass, magic lantern
slides of Sunday school stories.
On Feb. 15, 1891, Reuben’s daughter Florence Irene
was born. Flo was very photogenic and didn’t seem
to mind posing for her father, as she did so countless
times throughout her life. She can be seen posing
in canoes, on snowshoes, with tennis rackets, and
always in beautiful clothes.
“How did I get started?” Reuben says in a 1916
interview. “Accident again! It was civil Civic Holiday
in Goderich in August 1897. I had planned to
spend the day in a neighbouring town, but another
appointment at home prevented me from doing so.
However, I was free in the afternoon, so accompanied
by my daughter, and one of her lady friends, I drove
to Point Farm summer resort, six miles north of
Goderich. There, with my two companions posing
on a rocky ledge on the Lake Huron shore, (I) made
the negative which marked the commencement of
my career as a landscape photographer.”
He sold the photograph to a Rochester, New York,
lithographic firm. Later it was sold to the Buffalo
Express, Toronto Globe, and the St. Louis and
Canadian Photographer magazine.
Also in 1897, Reuben was the photographer for
the Canadian Souvenir Publishing Company’s
book on Goderich. It is a 156-page publication
that contains over 100 of his photographs, as well
as intimate descriptions of public buildings, private
residences, and high-ranking citizens. On the cover,
are printed the words, “The healthiest and prettiest
town in Canada,” proving Goderich was known as
the prettiest town in Canada from as far back as
1897. Local historian Dorothy Wallace always said
that Queen Victoria was shown views of Goderich
and exclaimed, “Surely this must be the prettiest
town in Canada!”
The moniker stuck. And since Queen Victoria
reigned over the Commonwealth in 1897, the views
of Goderich she was shown perhaps belonged to
R.R. Sallows.
Sallows entrepreneurial spirit always took him to
wherever iconic events were happening. In September
1904, the Contractor Pigott began working on the
north bank of the Maitland River in preparation
for laying down track and the building the railway
bridge. The following September, two landslides
occurred within a week that sent seven dump cars
and a steam shovel weighing 60 tons down the bank
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SUMMER 2024 • 7