If you grew up Catholic in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s, you probably have memories of having a favourite fish-and-chips shop, serving halibut, haddock or cod, along with French Fries, maybe some coleslaw and a wedge of lemon.
Now true enough, Pope Paul VI had proclaimed Paenitemini (Apostolic Constitution On Penance) on Feb. 17, 1966, which allowed episcopal conferences to permit Catholics in their jurisdictions to substitute some other penitential practice aside from abstaining from meat on Fridays, a prescription which had been in force in the universal church since Pope Saint Nicholas 1, also known as Saint Nicholas the Great, in 851 (with the exception in Canada of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday in accordance with the prescriptions of Canon 1253, proclaimed in 1983. Fridays are days of abstinence, but Canadian Catholics can substitute special acts of charity or piety on this day).
The fact such substitutional acts of charity or piety have never really been spelled out in any great detail or emphasis by most bishops in Canada or the United States has meant that the Friday-abstinence story has been cast not surprisingly by reporters since 1966 primarily in terms of “no more going to hell for eating a hamburger on Friday,” as Daria Sockey wrote in “What Ever Happened to Meatless Fridays?” in the National Catholic Register on June 1, 2003, “rather than a call to continue the tradition of Friday penance, embraced out of love, and with leeway for more variety.”
Following the lead of the Vatican and national episcopal conferences in France, Canada and Mexico earlier in 1966, the U.S. norms (which are similar but not identical to those in Canada) were approved in “On Penance and Abstinence,” a pastoral statement of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 18, 1966. The first day Friday American Catholics could eat meat on Friday under the new regulations was the first Friday of Advent on Dec. 2, 1966.
I was nine years old, growing up in Oshawa, Ontario, when all this came to pass in 1966. As far as I can remember, it didn’t really change our family practice and the fact that for years, well into the 1970s anyway, my dad still picked up fish-and-chip dinners for us on Fridays after work.
My earliest memories of that were fish and chips from the Rose Bowl that operated at the corner of Bond and Prince streets for many years, memories that include malt vinegar and newspaper wrapping.
Sometime in the early 1970s, an H. Salt, Esq. Authentic English Fish and Chips franchise came to Simcoe Street North in Oshawa, and we enjoyed their fish and chips also for a time. Haddon Salt had operated his fish and chips store in Skegness, in the northeastern corner of England, before moving to the United States and, along with his wife, Grace, opening their first shop in Sausalito, California, under the name of Salt’s Fish & Chips in 1965.
At its peak in the 1970s, there were close to 60 H. Salt, Esq. Authentic English Fish and Chips restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including Oshawa. Today, the company is headquartered in Monterey Park, California, and has about 18 remaining locations operating in Chino, Corona, Covina, Downey, Long Beach, Gardena, Garden Grove, Hollywood, North Hollywood, Orange, Rancho Palos Verdes, Reseda, San Fernando, Temple City, Upland, West Los Angeles, and Westminster in Southern California.
When I went off to Trent University in 1976, my love of fish and chips followed me to Baker’s Seafood (now gone) at 262 Hunter St. W. on the edge of downtown and an old residential neighbourhood fronting Hunter at the corner of Bethune Street. A sign midway between the first and second storeys of the Hunter Street side of the building had a white background and red letters proclaiming Baker’s Seafood. On the side facing west on Bethune Street was a similar sign reading “Fish and Chips” and on the wall next to the front door was a sign with a cartoon-like blue fish in the middle holding a knife and fork and a lemon that said: “Est. 1954. Seafood. Chicken. TAKE OUT. Shrimp – Scallops. Salads – Veggies. HALIBUT Fish and Chips. Peterborough’s Tradition.”
Another great Peterborough fish and chip is Jeff Purvey’s Fish & Chips, which has two locations, although I am more familiar with the older Rubidge Street restaurant.
The Purvey tradition started in 1919 when Henry Purvey went into business on Dundas Street in Toronto. Henry’s son, Jeff Purvey, was born there. After serving for six years in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Jeff joined his father and together they expanded into three Toronto locations on Yonge Street, Danforth Avenue and McRae Avenue in Leaside.
In 1956 Jeff moved to Peterborough and opened the Rubidge Street location with just 12 seats originally.
And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention The Pilot House in downtown Kingston, Ontario, established in 1981 at the corner of King and Johnson streets, where I spent some cheerful Friday evenings during my graduate school days at Queen’s University from 1993 to 1995, and the pints were as famous as the fish and chips.
You can also follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/jwbarker22
soundingsjohnbarker 