The Standard was a Saturday-only weekly paper that began in 1905 and continued until 1951.
Photographs from The Standard contain some of Canada's best photostories from the waning years of the medium, when photostories fell out of favour and were replaced by television as the preferred source of news coverage. Photostories most commonly appeared in The Standard's rotogravure section and were the focal point of the publication. Photographs from The Standard's other components, the newspaper and magazine, can also be found within this series as well.
Photographers such as Ronny Jaques, who had been on staff with the National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division, were Canadian masters of telling stories through narrative photographs. Ronny Jaques and Glay Sperling were two photographers who most frequently turned out photostories, though Ronny's brother Louis also created a significant number. Notable photostories created by Ronny Jaques include "Bonheur d'Occasion," a story done in collaboration with journalist Mavis Gallant, and coverage of General Eisenhower's tour of Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal (this was Ronny's first for the Standard). Ronny Jaques' coverage of theatre production "Strange Fruit," by Lillian Smith and directed by Jose Ferrar captured the attention of Harper's Bazaar editors in New York City; Ronny was quickly offered a position with Harper's which he took and left The Standard in 1948. Other talented photographers included Gordon Jarrett, Page Toles and Michael Rougier, who in 1947 accepted a position in New York with Life magazine.
As a Montreal-based publication, The Standard is an excellent resource for photographic images documenting Montreal during this time period. Among the many topics it covers, there are images of local sporting events, live entertainment performances, leisure activities and local industries such as textile design and manufacture. There are many stories covering returning veterans' settling back into civilian life (and also the establishment of old age pension and family allowance).
