Electrohome's "Perception Modules"

 

Clairtone wasn't the only ultra-mod Canadian audio design in the 1960's.

In 1961, a Kitchener, Ontario-based company called Electrohome devised a modular high-end stereo system they named Perception Modules.

Designed by the John B. Parkin architectual firm, 7 standard size modules in 5 colors were available, offering literally hundreds of versatile (and re-arrangeable) configurations to suit any mod mood or groovy décor.

Quality craftsmanship and high-end electronics meant that Perception Modules sounded as good as they looked.

 

The Perception Module series:

1. Speaker Cabinet
2. Turntable Cabinet
3. 23" Television
4. Cellarette (i.e.: a bar supply cabinet!)
5. AM/FM Tuner
6. Stereo Amplifier
7. Intercom or Utility Cabinet

A tape recorder cabinet the same size as the Cellarette was also available, as were 3 sizes of metal bases (on legs) and 3 sizes of clip-on, room divider backs...

 

There were 5 fab finishes to choose from: Swedish Walnut, Sunburst Gold, Burnt Orange, Peacock Blue or off-white... I would have mixed both yellow and orange!

From the original catalog:

Perception Modules fit music into the scheme of modern living. Here we have presented only four ideas... Vertical for lodge or private club. Free standing as a room divider. Horizontal for the executive office. Built-in for the music room. But patterns and permutations are limited only by imagination.

Despite its forward thinking design and quality construction, Electrohome's Perception Modules were very expensive and sold poorly. Most of the modules were sent back to Electrohome to have their electronics recycled into more conventional home entertainment systems...

Special thanks to DC Hillier for images and info.

Inside the Expo-Express

Each Expo Express train could shuttle up to 1000 Expo 67 visitors at a time.

Check out these ultra-rare shots of the Expo Express at Expo 67, North America's first fully automated rapid transit system.

To avoid visitor uneasiness, operators from Montreal's transit union were placed at the front of the train to give the illusion that they were conducting the self-sufficient Expo Express. Operators performed mundane tasks, such as opening and closing the doors of the train, to reduce boredom.

According to Wikipedia, there was a minor incident involving an Expo Express operator during Expo 67... at the La Ronde station:

"The conductor had pressed the button to close the doors and proceed, but his train had already sensed an oncoming express from Île-Notre-Dame and automatically delayed the go command to let it roll in. In the meantime, the driver realized he had forgotten his lunch. However, he could not exit though the passenger doors because his train was in a "wait" state and would not allow the doors to open. Instead, he crawled through the small cab window. By the time he had fetched his lunch, however, the oncoming train had pulled in and his train had taken off on its own. It crossed the bridge over the Le Moyne Channel, proceeded along the seaway, and came to a smooth stop at Île-Notre-Dame station where an Expo official was waiting. This person crawled back through the cab window and pressed the button to open the doors and let the passengers disembark."

The interior of Expo Express, looking towards the front.

A front view of the train at Place d'Accueil terminal.

The system's control console seemed straight out of Star Trek... Beam me up!

images: wikipedia.org

Star Trek's Nurse Chapel

The soft-focus, platinum blonde loveliness of Nurse Chapel.

One of my favorite Star Trek ladies has always been Nurse Christine Chapel.

Nurse Chapel was played by Majel Barret, born Majel Leigh Hudec in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1932. In the 1950's and 60's, Barrett had secured bit parts in film and television before her stint as the USS Enterprise's competent but compassinate head nurse.

On contract at Lucille Ball's Desilu studios in the early 60's, Barrett had received comedy training from Ball herself, and appeared in The Lucy Show.

It was on the set of The Lieutenant in 1964 that Majel Barrett met Gene Roddenberry, father of the Star Trek franchise. The two became romantically involved, while Roddenberry was still married to his first wife.

Majel Barrett in her role as Number One.

During this time, Roddenberry was developing a pilot for what was to become Star Trek. Roddenberry chose Barrett (his mistress) to play Number One, the first officer of the Enterprise, in his initial pilot entitled "The Cage".

"The Cage" was initially rejected by NBC, but Roddenberry was given the chance to produce a second pilot. The network asked, however, that the steely Number One character be dropped, citing that audiences would never accept a woman being second-in-command of a ship. (The fact that Majel Barrett was Roddenberry's on-the-sly girlfriend didn't help, either...)

When Star Trek was picked up as a series in 1966, Barrett was given the role of Nurse Chapel. Like early episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Barrett donned a wig to dissociate herself from her previous role. She also went by the name "Majel Barrett" rather than "M. Leigh Hudec," as she had been credited in "The Cage".

Nurse Chapel appeared in 25 of the 79 original Star Trek episodes. Majel Barret also supplied the voice of the USS Enterprise's on-board computer.

Barrett and Roddenberry were married in August of 1969, two months after the final Star Trek episode was aired.

One of my favorite Star Trek episodes featuring Nurse Chapel is "The Naked Time", where a mysterious virus causes the crew to lose their inhibitions.

Afflicted by this illness, Nurse Chapel confesses her unrequited love for Mr. Spock... all while sporting a stunning sideswept, silver bouffant!

Check out the scene below:



images: (1) flickr.com
(2) acavill.com
(3) "The Naked Time" screen capture
(4) elevenfreakinthousand.com

PLB's "Expo 67" T-Shirt

Hot on the heels of the fab Montréal t-shirt, designer Pier-Luk Bouthillier proposes another Montreal-themed design for PLB's fall 2010 collection.

This time, the inspiration is the ultimate symbol of 60's Montreal: Expo 67!

The t-shirt pays homage to the groovy Pulp and Paper pavilion at Expo 67 (above), a structure in the form of a stylized forest.

While 1967 saw trees as little more than raw material destined for consumption, hindsight has taught us the importance of healthy forests: trees are living, breathing plants which remove unwanted greenhouse gases from the air, replacing them with life-sustaining oxygen.

PLB's design taps into the optimism and design aesthetic of Expo 67, making it relevant today. Organic cotton and water based inks complete the message.

And who better to model an Expo 67 t-shirt than yours truly...?

Click here to order.

images: (1-4) Bonnalie Brodeur, photographes
(2) PLB Design
(3) library and archives Canada

The Vienna Kindergarten

During Expo 67, some 3200 children attended the Vienna Kindergarten.

Located on Île-Sainte-Hélène near the China pavilion, the Vienna Kindergarten looked like a collection of giant red, green, yellow and brown building blocks with huge circular or half moon windows and skylights.

Sponsored by the city of Vienna, the building was designed by Karl Schwanzer, who was also responsible for the Austrian pavilion at Expo 67.

Pre-selected groups of 10 children, aged 3 to 6 and spanning all cultures, spent 2-week periods at the kindergarten. On a first-come, first serve basis, another 20 children could be accommodated daily, at an entry fee $2.50 per half-day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Using the Montessori method, the Vienna Kindergarten at Expo 67 was a replica of one of more than 200 in the Austrian capital. Under discreet supervision by multilingual Austrian teachers, children's creative processes and problem-solving abilities were nurtured through a fascinating variety of activities: painting, drawing, building... whatever struck their fancy.

Most importantly, it was the child who decided what to do and how to do it.

A miniature cooking area in the brightly-lit playroom included a low-heat stove with tiny saucepans where various edible mixtures could be prepared. A large sunken area was devoted to water, where children could happily splash themselves. A spacious grassy playground included a sandbox, swings, and various modern playground equipment.






images: (1-5) personal collection
(2) flickr.com
(3) Dixon Slide Collection (mcgill.ca)
(4) Bill Cotter Collection

"Montreal in the 60's"

Like The Memories of Angels, this fab little film by Jimmy Deschênes uses vintage NFB footage to capture the effervescence of Montreal in the 1960's.

My favorite part is the Expo 67 Monorail ride at the end of the film... Enjoy!

France Gall

French pop singer France Gall was born in Paris on October 9, 1947.

She was born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall, daughter of Robert Gall, a French performer and producer famous for his work with such French music legends as Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour.

In 1963, at the age of 15, France Gall recorded her debut EP, "Ne sois pas si bête" under her father's guidance. The four-track record sold an impressive 200,000 copies in France, becoming a huge hit, thanks in part to its irresistible title-track and stunning cover photo. Though Gall's young voice was high, breathy and somewhat limited, she made the most of it, and her commercial appeal was immediate.

After a series of similarly successful records, France Gall entered the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (literally "doll of wax, doll of sound"). Written by Serge Gainsbourg (famous for his lyrical double entendres and wordplay), "Poupée de cire" could be interpreted as France Gall being "singing doll" controlled by others.

In 1966, another Gainsbourg-penned song called "Les sucettes" ("Lollipops") caused a veritable scandal for the young songstress. On the surface, it was a pretty little song about a girl enjoying lollipops, but the implied sexual innuendo was unmistakeable. Gall was too naïve to understand this double meaning at the time of recording, and "Sucettes" proved to be the beginning of the end of her collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg...

The following year, Roger Gall reasserted his presence in his daughter's career by producing a psychedelic album simply titled "1968". Arguably her best from the period, the album borrowed heavily from British psychedelia, immersing France's perky voice in kitschy Sgt. Pepper-esque musical arrangements...











images: (1-8) flickr.com
(2) wikipedia.org
(3-5-6) "Les Années Philips 1963-1968" cover art
(4) playitasitlays.net
(7) thetruevinerecordshop.com
(9) digilander.libero.it

Expo 67 Special Passes

A general press pass was to be on Yves "at all times while on Expo 67 property".

As director of public relations at Expo 67, Yves Jasmin had certain privileges and special accesses during the summer of '67.

A number of special passes identified Yves and ensured these privileges.

Click on the images to see both sides of the cards.

"Lock your car" was inscribed on the back of this parking pass.

This pass granted free entry to the Expo 67 site for Yves and his guests.

An admission pass to the Air Canada pavilion and its lounge.

Yves' Automotive Stadium press pass did not necessarily "entitle him to a seat".

Yves' Expo Club membership card was "not valid for credit".

images: private collection

My Expo Experience

An elaborate botanic display in the heart of Pudong, Shanghai's financial district.

From May 8th to the 22nd, I lived out a dream: visiting a real world's fair.

We arrived in Shanghai, China Sunday evening, May 9th. Already in our first moments off the plane, we were greeted by a "Welcome to Shanghai and Expo 2010" display in the airport. As we soon found out, billboards, posters and signs advertising Shanghai's Expo were omnipresent throughout the city. One cannot visit Shanghai this summer and not be aware of Expo 2010.

Our first visit to the fair itself was Monday morning, May 10th. I had high expectations: China's first ever world expo has been touted as one of the biggest in history... and as we saw with the 2008 Olympics, when China decides to host the world, they go all out.

While Expo 67 was accessible from 2 entrances, Expo 2010 was designed with no less than 8. We arrived via the West Gaoke Road Metro station, on the newly built line 6 subway, conveniently located on the same line as our hotel. Although each entrance at Expo 2010 was equipped to handle huge crowds, the security measures (similar to those in airports) meant that waiting was inevitable. Our first in a long series of lineups...

The imposing China pavilion.

China's inverted pyramid was by far the largest and most imposing pavilion at Expo 2010. Visible from way off-site, it was the first Expo structure I saw on that first day. The first pavilion I visited was the Nepal pavilion.

Over 2 weeks, I visited Expo 2010 a total of 10 times. Some of my most memorable national pavilions were India, Israel, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. European pavilions were generally quite sought after, as Europe is considered exotic in China. Lineups were long for these pavilions, but they did not disappoint.

The India pavilion roof was an intricate dome of herbs and copper.

The Israel pavilion featured an ultra-modern video presentation.

Germany's bold pavilion had a 2 or 3 hour lineup at any given time.

Visiting the UK pavilion was like walking through a huge, modern chandelier.

Italy's pavilion showcased its refined culture and advanced technologies.

The Urban Planet theme pavilion presented an urgent environmental appeal.

Strong environmental messages sought to invoke action upon the visitors of Expo 2010's theme pavilions, which explored in-depth the "Better City Better Life" theme. They were truly inspiring.

Corporate pavilions such as the GM pavilion and the Information and Communication pavilion had optimistic displays showcasing the fascinating technologies of tomorrow. "The future" has always been a popular subject at world expos.

I enjoyed these theme and corporate pavilions as much as the national ones.

This theme-pavilion hallway was like something out of Star Trek.

The GM pavilion invited visitors to "Take a Drive to 2030".

The Information and Communication pavilion gleamed in the sunlight.

The German pavilion served typical Deutsch food and drink. I went twice!

The food at Expo 2010 was as diverse as it was fabulous: a vast majority of pavilions served fare from all over the world.

Our first meal on-site was a delicious curry dish as the India pavilion restaurant, followed by refreshing frozen mango lassis.

Traditional sausages and beer pleased our palates at the German pavilion restaurant on another occasion, and a chic dinner at the Swiss pavilion was the end of yet another day of pavilion visiting.

Naturally, Asian food of all sorts was available everywhere, while KFC was the western fast food of choice. We saw dozens of KFC outlets all throughout our trip; there was one around the corner from our hotel and at 5 on the Expo site itself...!

The Italian pavilion restaurant had 2 seperate sections: buffet or à la carte.

An autograph and a photo with Gerald Tremblay.

The mayor of Montreal Gerald Tremblay was visiting Shanghai and Expo 2010 the same week that we were. We were fortunate enough to be invited to a cocktail party hosted by Montreal expats now residing in Shanghai... where the mayor himself was present. I took the opportunity to shake hands with the Mr. Tremblay, and asked for a photo and autograph...!

The entire Expo 2010 site was especially beautiful lit up at night.

Click on the mosaic above to see more photos from Expo 2010.

The pavilion of Spain chose "From the City of Our Parents to the City of Our Children" as its central theme. To illustrate the "children" aspect, a 6.5-meter giant motorised baby was installed in the final exhibition hall.

Below is my video footage of this striking (and albeit, creepy) display:

images: authors own