The fathers of The Strand
The Strand has stood proudly in our quaint office on 150 Charles St. W for about a decade, but we’ve been Victoria College’s student newspaper since approximately 1953 (more on this later). The “mediocre millennial paper striving to be the tasteful, artsy, light academia version of the Garg” it is now is far from its modest Vic student life origins in Middle House of Upper Burwash. The origins of The Strand are elusive, even to the Masthead. Most of what we have to draw on comes from the piles upon piles of old issues stacking up to be a real fire hazard inside the office. But this summer, as we were putting together a collage to display at freshman orientation, a mysterious typewritten pamphlet appeared on the coffee table, signed “J.D.R. (5T4).” Is there…a story here?
In its six pages, it detailed the humble origins of your beloved student newspaper. J.D.R.’s account begins in 1953, with Volume 2 of the Vic Strands. There is speculation about previous newsletters titled The Strand appearing shortly after Victoria University moved from Cobourg to Toronto in 1890, but no one can say for sure. The Vic Strands began as a weekly endeavor, produced each Wednesday afternoon and evening to be distributed the next day. It was printed on an A.B. Dick (or Gestetner) Mimeograph machine with an “ad hoc” team of editors, gophers, reporters, proof-readers, typists, contributors, stencil cutters, writers, cartoonists, publishers, and distributors. Their budget for the year was $75; printing stopped when the money did. The Strands were circulated in the Wymilwood Coffee Shop and had a close partnership with Vic’s comedy club, The Bob Revue. Its main purpose was to print reports from various Vic clubs, but it “quite often had a life of its own.” I guess some things never change.
However, I’m more interested in the people who were involved. J.D.R. named Phil Cooke, Doug Ross, and Carl Anderson as the first co-editors of the Vic Strands for Volume 2 in 1953-1954. I suppose it’s right to bestow upon them the title, “Fathers of The Strand.” Phil Cooke, specifically, took up the weekly chore of producing the Vic Strands. He was a linguistics student, enrolled in a Modern Languages honours course, and presumably in his fourth year. Phil was the only one to remind the typists to name the editors and assistants. When his course load became too heavy, Doug and Carl stepped in to save the day. All that was said about Carl Anderson was that he was a Vic sophomore, came from the township of Hornepayne, had a gripe with mandatory cadet training in secondary schools, and was forced to write an article for Vol.2 No.14 when some “staff” went MIA. But, after scouring Google, LinkedIn, and the E.J. Pratt photo archives, not much more about Phil and Carl could be found.
Doug Ross was a different story. His personal website contains a plethora of photos and interesting tales about his life. He was generous enough to include sections on his times at Vic, including 1954 copies of the Vic Strands and the 1953 burning of Senator McCarthy’s effigy. At the Vic Strands, Doug and other Vic volunteers chipped in whenever Phil was too busy with academics. As a co-editor, publisher, and distributor, he was often sent as a scapegoat to attend Victoria College Union (VCU) meetings. Perhaps as an act of rebellion, Doug wrote a spoof/exposé about the VCU and drew a satirical cartoon which was published in Vol.2 No.7. At a subsequent VCU meeting, he was accused of drawing more cartoons under the table, but claimed he lent his only pencil to a friend. VUSAC, watch out.
From his autobiography, I was able to glean many details about who Doug Ross is. For starters, his full name is John Douglas Ross, born May 11, 1930, in Oshawa (any guesses as to who J.D.R. is?). His career began in his teen years with an apprenticeship in eavestroughing, then a gig in construction, and finally a job as an assistant at a medical research lab—which he quit, because they weren’t paying him enough. His journalistic career also began in high school, when photos he took of a local fire at an auto parts building were sold to and printed by The Globe and Mail for $15 in 1947. Doug Ross graduated from the Toronto Normal School for teacher training in 1951. Subsequently, his legacy at Victoria College was made. Besides the Vic Strands, he wrote science fiction that was read by Northrop Frye and published in Acta Victoriana. On October 30, 1953, he helped lead a demonstration against McCarthyism with other Vic students in the Vic field. Photos of this endeavour made their way into Times Magazine, reaching as far as Thailand. After graduating from UofT with a B.A. in 1954, he went on to a fulfilling career of teaching and has published two books. But, more importantly, The Strand would not be what it is now without his contributions. Volume 2 of the Vic Strands concluded on March 5, 1954. Doug and Phil graduated that year, but Vic sophomores assured them that the tradition would continue smoothly—and look where we are now: Volume 68. The current Strand budget sits at around $20 000—a bit more than the $75 it used to be, even accounting for inflation. The circulation has reached around 600, and the production is now a month-long endeavour. Though our production process remains in need of fine-tuning, the chaotic weekly production they followed in the 50s is completely unattainable and would probably be a complete disaster. Then again, I doubt they did three rounds of copy editing back then. The Strand has developed lofty ambitions over time, striving to establish itself as a “respectable” newspaper, even as people keep treating us like Reddit. Though the appearance of this six-page pamphlet by J.D.R. remains a mystery, the rusty staple holding it together provides a slight hint as to its age, and the age of the newspaper that’s in your hands. Rest easy, Phil, Doug, and Carl. We’ve kept your tradition alive.