The Picnic King
In September 1924, more than 3,000 excited children gathered at Exhibition Park in Toronto to meet a kindly gentleman who was known across Canada as the Picnic King, the Summer Santa Claus or the Orphans’ Friend. Each child who visited the park that day received an orange, some peanuts and candy, a large scoop of ice cream and a thick slice of cake. The children also came away from the picnic with a nickel and a "shin-plaster". The latter was the name given to a Canadian banknote that was worth 25 cents.
The amount of money that was given to each child may not seem like much by today’s standards, but at the time it represented a small fortune to the children who were mostly orphans or from disadvantaged families.
For many of the youngsters the highlight of...