Given the kind of neighbourhood that Mile End has become, Riddell’s storefront can easily be mistaken for work of installation art rather than a bona fide fishing gear store. Sadly, the curious storefront may not be around for much longer as the shopkeeper, George Riddell, passed away on June 30th at the age of 82 after keeping shop on Bernard street for 50 years.
Personally, I ventured through this door only once and quickly retreated, feeling as though I had stumbled into someone’s private living room. I suppose I had – according to the Gazette article, Riddell lived in the shop. I was impressed by the posters tacked to the ceiling.
This a short film by Tim Van Horn gives us a glimpse into the shop and shows off the custom fishing lures that Riddell created (although not the ceiling posters…did I imagine them?)
A few more memories of the old man have been collected on Stillepost. I wonder what will happen to the all this fascinating clutter now that its caretaker has passed on?
3 comments
I think a storefront like Riddell’s can legitimately be considered an installation as well as being a business (and a home). Why try to categorize too exclusively?
aw, this is sad! I remember my first day in Montreal, a beer lid came flying out of there and landed right in front of me on the street, so I picked it up and brought it in, and then Ridell and I had a really long conversation about fishing and all of the places he’d been. When I left, he gave me a photocopy of a gazette article about himself, rolled up in a paper towel tube that he had decorated with drawings of fish and his name. He/his shop/installation added a lot of character to the neighbourhood.
Well, people do die, and he had a good run. It would have been much sadder if he had been forced out of his shop. There are far worse fates than to die at home.
I doubt everything can be saved, but neighbourhoods can and should instal local museums including such fascinating artefacts (see Le Musée du Fier Monde in the Centre-Sud).
Unfortunately I doubt anything as quirky will be opened in this shopfront.