Paul Wilson: Hamilton Market turns 175 and deep-fries a turkey
In this untamed land, not yet a country of its own, the year 1837 was a nasty one. There were bloody rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada.
But here in the place that was soon to become a town named Hamilton, at least one good thing happened that year. The Farmers’ Market was born.
The exact day is not clear, though some believe it was likely spring. But now, Thanksgiving looming, is a more colourful time. The pumpkins and squash are big, the turkeys are plump and we haven’t yet lost all the flowers.
So the let the party begin this very weekend, and let it run all month. Happy 175th to the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, downtown’s oldest institution by far.
Sapphire Singh is the presentation coordinator for the market, and a foodie for sure. She even takes food vacations.
She knows she’s not alone. "There’s a large resurgence in getting excited about food," she says.
And shopping at the market is good place to take that excitement. The 70-odd vendors, she says, "are all small businesses and they want to know their customers." They have weathered much over the decades, and still they rise early and smile when you walk by and squeeze their wares – though you really shouldn’t do that.
Competition is coming, with a full-size supermarket to open in Jackson Square in the spring. "I’m just looking at that as more people coming downtown looking for food," Singh says. "Hopefully they’ll wander this way."
The market party runs each Saturday in October. There will be choirs, square dancing, musicians, puppet shows, free 175th Anniversary shopping bags, illustrated colouring books about the market.
This Saturday, the 6th, at 11 a.m. there will be a cooking demonstration called Fast & Furious Thanksgiving Dinner. You can witness chef Shane McCartney (from a great little restaurant on James North called Jack & Lois) perform a 50-minute miracle – deep-fried whole turkey, cranberry stuffing, sweet potato souffle and turnip.
There will be a historical slide show on the market’s history, pulled together from library stills like the one at the top of this item.
Moving pictures of the market from nearly a hundred years ago do exist, but unfortunately you won’t be seeing those at the celebrations.
Christopher Redford, the city’s heritage presentation coordinator, recently came across a little silent film called The Ambitious City. It was put together by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau, which became the National Film Board, or NFB.
The film is undated, but is probably Hamilton of the 1920s, with grand houses, the incline railway in action, schools, factories, parks. And there’s a short segment on the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. There are horsedrawn wagons, and Model Ts and great throngs of shoppers hustling about.
"Moving pictures do something no other medium can," Redford says. "I thought it was a no-brainer for the market anniversary."
That is, until he checked with the NFB. It was going to be something like $5,000 for rights to the film, not quite nine minutes long. That would have exhausted the entire promotional budget for the 175th.
Seems a shame they can’t roll it for the party. But you can watch it right here on YouTube, if you don’t mind looking through the NFB stamp on the screen. Then get yourself down to the market, watch a man deep-fry a holiday bird. Wonder if they ever did that in 1837?