Milk Bottle Water Tower

jeeff: 5th Jul 2006 - 20:04 GMT

i like that, and the owl tag on it. i was going to take some photos of it but i couldn't get the right angle.

EvilGentleman: 5th Jul 2006 - 20:21 GMT

Yeah, I know. I was not very satisfied with the angle I had, either. I wound up taking this shot from the parking lot at the corner of Rene Levesque and Mackay. I think I could do better if I climbed on top of one of the buildings nearby, but I have not figured out how to get there yet. I should just go into the Mariott and hope housekeeping does not mind me walking into an upper-floor room and taking a pic out the window while they work.

Chris Erb: 5th Jul 2006 - 21:48 GMT

I tried getting to windows in the Mariott but there were no windows from the hallways and I wasn't brave enough to walk into rooms that were being cleaned.

EvilGentleman: 15th Jul 2006 - 19:20 GMT

Hmmm, mental note, if we should ever organize "citynoise on the road" tours. Always book rooms in hotels with good views. Even if we do not need a room for accommodations, we should still pitch in together for a room with a good view to shoot from, and also to serve as a city-center oasis where we can refuel between photo-walks.

Ex-Montrealer: 30th Sep 2006 - 02:29 GMT

Moved away in 1985 - so even though names were already changed I will always think of Boul. Rene-Levesque as Dorchester, the Marriott as the Chateau Champlain, etc!

When did Farine Five Roses lose the "Flour"?

areacode212: 11th Dec 2006 - 00:02 GMT

Just like Ex-Montrealer, this will always be the "giant milk bottle on Dorchester" to me. When I was a little kid, I always looked forward to driving past this thing...I would stare at it, enraptured.

fctlmn: 28th Feb 2008 - 01:46 GMT

Used to work part time during high school, mostly summers, for a 'milkman' from Guaranteed. For me seeing that 'milk bottle' meant the long day was over. The milk part was on Aqueduct St (whatever it is now??) and the opposite building housed Purity Ice Cream - same company I believe. After the last summer I worked there I moved away. Never thought about the place shutting down. Not too far from the milk bottle I remember a billboard for cigarettes which 'blew smoke' from the guy's mouth.

EvilGentleman: 28th Feb 2008 - 20:32 GMT

fctlmn, thank you for sharing some memories of Montreal that I am too young to have.

Aqueduct Street is now known as Rue Lucien l'Allier, and has a metro station of the same name just down the hill from the old Guaranteed Milk building.

While trying to verify that Lucien l'Allier and Aqueduct Streets were one and the same, I found a 1907 street atlas of Montreal that I had previously lost. tinyurl.com/2x2bz6 I also found some really good maps at McGill University's website www.mcgill.ca/gic/collections/links/guides/subject/hist/

EvilGentleman: 28th Feb 2008 - 20:36 GMT

On the first website linked in the above comment, please note it is in French, and the word "télécharger" is French for "download". It's free, don't worry.