Recollections: July 2026

Murray and Hazel Fraser were inveterate newspaper readers. If Dad wanted to head somewhere in the evening, Mom would often resist, saying, “I haven’t read the paper.” It remains a Fraser-ism.

Reading the paper also meant a daily scroll through the classified ads, looking for bargains. Dad would mark a line down a column of ads, circling any that looked interesting.

In 1949, this listing for an affordable starter home caught his eye.

Sold to the Frasers! In May 1949 a $500 down payment was all it took to put a roof over your head.¹

Mom at the door of her new home. She felt the neighbourhood was “pretty much like the country” because it was so far from downtown.

The cozy cottage with its large lot was a good starter home for the newlyweds. They were happy to make it their own and settle into married life.

The Frasers would have been checking out ads like these in the spring of 1949.²

Hazel was thrilled to find a second-hand stove in the classified ads (of course). In a letter to her father thanking him for his wedding cheque that paid for it, she drew a little picture of the stove, writing, “It was one of the big items we had to get immediately & as the new ones that I like run well over $200 I looked for a second hand one & was very lucky indeed. I found a new model Moffat, 4-burner in perfect shape, not a chip off it.”

Used furniture ads might have led the couple to the July 1950 listing below. After welcoming their first-born one year later, they'd be considering a larger house, too.

The casual last line just happened to mention, “Also property for sale, 86 St. Charles St., St. Charles.”³

In 1952, the Frasers found their next house. This was no cottage; it was a spacious property that would accommodate four more children.⁴ The house, likely the largest in the neighbourhood, was hard to miss while driving past it to the ferry.

The sale was actually a swap: their $3,000 small bungalow for the big brick house in St. Charles, priced at $5,000. Lawyer Walter Newman confirmed completion of the sale on August 25, 1952.

First look at 86 St. Charles Street

The 120 x 250-foot property at 86 (later 400) St. Charles Street encompassed five lots. Lots 50, 51 and 52 off Sansome Avenue were at right angles to Lots 48 and 49.

The two southern-most lots were sold to the Sokalski and DeBeer families in 1961. The small building mentioned was an original horse and buggy barn from 1915, on lot 49. A third, wider lot was sold to Henri Bohemier about eight years later.⁵

In the 1960s, three homes were built in the former south yard of 400 St. Charles Street. [Google maps, 2014]

In 1981 the Frasers put the house up for sale. With their five children grown up and gone, it was time for the empty-nesters to downsize to a smaller home.

April, 1981: “Kids grow up healthy here!” A brief open house listing; it’s the photo that entices buyers. An angle showing the kitchen would be a better choice.⁶

May, 1981: a later ad, but with a winter shot (storm windows), and it’s a good photo, but still not the preferred view. Realtors should be more attuned to a home’s best angle.⁷

The home sold in good time to Tony Harwood-Jones and his wife Heather-Ann Dixon. The family loved the home for 21 years, and took good care of it before selling it in 2002. New kitchen cabinets, extensive foundation repairs, and new shingles were needed investments. They posted photos of it on their own blog.⁸

Their kids grew up heathy here, too!
This photo taken by the Harwood-Jones’ appraiser recognized the home’s best angle.

We can only hope that current owners will remedy the damage caused by the group home that occupied the property ahead of them and for too long. There is much work to do.

In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye on the classified ads.

______________________

Sources (retrieved July 20, 2026)

“$500. CASH,” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, May 16, 1949, p. 32
Classified ad, Winnipeg Free Press, April 3, 1949, p. 24
“No Dealers” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, July 29, 1950, p. 25
“Home sweet home,” Recollections blog, December 24, 2013, https://frasertrunk.blogspot.com/2013/12/home-sweet-home.html
“St. Charles – 2 Adjacent Lots” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, April 24, 1961, p. 37
“Kids grow up healthy here!” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, April 25, 1981, p. 100
“400 St. Charles” ad, Winnipeg Real Estate News, May 15, 1981, p. 15
“400 St. Charles St. Winnipeg,” Harwood-Jones blog, https://www.tonyhj.ca/400/House.html

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