I promised last week that I’d reproduce some more lists from the Canadian Book of Lists, which was published thirty-five years ago. As with last week’s lists, I did not compile any of these, but the snide parenthetical comments are mine.
Top Ten Merchandisers (Ranked by sales)
1. George Weston Ltd.
2. Canada Safeway
3. Dominion Stores
4. Simpson-Sears
5. Steinberg Inc
6. Hudson’s Bay Co.
7. Woolworths
8. Oshawa Group
9. Provigo Inc.
10. Canadian Tire
The Ten Most Popular Breeds of Dogs in Canada
1. German shepherd
2. Doberman
3. Cocker spaniel
4. Poodle
5. Labrador retriever
6. Collie
7. Sheltie
8. Irish setter
9. Yorkshire terrier
10. Pomeranian
The Ten Best Canadian Vocalists
1. Dan Hill
2. Gordon Lightfoot
3. Anne Murray
4. Murray McLaughlin (Note the spelling error, which musical illiteracy probably accounts for Dan Hill being listed number one.)
5. Bruce Cockburn
6. Patsy Gallant
7. Rene Simard
8. David Clayton Thomas
9. Joni Mitchell
10. Burton Cummings
The Ten Best Canadian Rock Groups
1. Rush
2. Heart
3. Max Webster
4. Chilliwack
5. Good Brothers (A rock group?)
6. Prism
7. Trooper
8. Bachman-Turner-Overdrive
9. April Wine
10. The Hometown Band (This was Valdy’s backing group; hardly rock, and probably not even still together in 1978)
The Ten Best Journalists Living in Canada
1. Barbara Frum
2. Alexander Ross
3. Dennis Harvey
4. Robert Fulford
5. Trent Frayne
6. Walter Stewart
7. John Fraser
8. Harry Bruce
9. George Bain
10. Peter C. Newman
The Nine Best-selling Magazines (Couldn't find a 10th?)
1. Toronto Life
2. Harrowsmith
3. Weekend
4. Chatelaine
5. The New Yorker
6. Sports Illustrated
7. Reader’s Digest
8. Stimulus
9. Canadian Business
Ten People Most Likely to Influence the Course of Events in Canada
1. John Turner
2. Conrad Black
3. Brian Mulroney
4. Fred Eaton (If he ever influenced anything I missed it.)
5. David Crombie
6. Norman Webster (A journalist; so why wasn’t he on the list of journalists?)
7. Claude Frenette (I never heard of him either; but he was from Quebec)
8. Michael McCabe (The list says he was a civil servant who would revive Canada’s film industry; I suspect tax breaks and subsidies had a far greater influence.)
9. Rosalie Abella
(I dropped number 10 from this list because it was Jennifer Ashley Newman, the list’s compiler Peter C. Newman’s then fourteen-year-old-daughter. I hope she lived up to his expectations in some way.)
The Ten Most Popular Foods Consumed at Home by Canadians
1. Fried chicken
2. Roast beef
3. Baked ham
4. Spaghetti
5. Meat loaf
6. Fish
7. Pork chops
8. Pot roast
9. Macaroni and cheese
10. Steak