Before my boyfriend and I went back to the Ex for a second time this year, we talked about packing some food. Snacks, we thought, and maybe a couple of sandwiches. But it was a brief conversation, as we quickly realized that eating things which aren’t particularly healthy is a CNE highlight for both of us. On the first trip we indulged in sausages, fried chicken and those waffle ice cream sandwiches. For round two, our biggest indulgence turned out to be a block of fudge we shared as we wandered through the Direct Energy Centre.
While enjoying our sugar high we came across the display “Women’s Work and Child’s Play that was assembled from the CNE Archives. Old photos, posters and flyers were hung beside small notes that explained these tidbits from the history of the Ex. The thing that really caught my eye however was a newspaper clipping from the Globe and Mail dated August 26th, 1965. It tells the story of three young siblings who ran away to visit the Ex and eluded both police and their parents for 43 hours before their father finally cornered them. And how did they get by for so long on their own? Apparently they were living on free samples they got inside the Food Building — although they were still hungry enough to wolf down a few hot dogs right after they were found.
Suddenly the guilty thoughts we’d had before we left the house that day seemed downright wrong. Making a meal out of an all-day sampling of the delicious food at the CNE isn’t just fun, it’s tradition.
