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2579 Portage Avenue
Location Map
Winnipeg's oldest known Mural has been a city landmark for decades, with an origin that dates back to the 1930's. This photo is of the modern day, current incarnation of the Long Tramp.
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Location: NW corner Portage & Aldine; East Face
Occupant: Mode Leather; Envirothermics
District: Assiniboia
Neighbourhood: Booth
Artist(s): Leslie Charles Smith (1950's incarnation by Jack Andrews; 1977 incarnation by Harry Schimke; 1994 restoration by Alfred Widmer)
Year: 1936
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On the Northwest corner of Portage and Aldine stands what is unquestionably
Winnipeg's oldest existing Mural and, for decades, a Winnipeg Landmark as well.
The Long Tramp Mural has been like a beacon to travellers heading west from
Winnipeg, probably back as far as the mid 1930's, perhaps even earlier than
that.
John Steel (St James BIZ): "Carman Ruttan's drugstore stood out like a big sore
thumb because it was almost all by itself. It wasn't called a drugstore- it was
called an apothecary. There was nothing for development out there; you'd have
to take the streetcar. The windows were always covered- you could never see
inside them. The blackened windows added to the mystique. Going in there was
an experience and it was because he used to mix up potions and make up stuff for
poison ivy or drugs. You had to go inside the building to see what was on the
shelves and to meet this old character. People went to him, he did really well
he was there for a long time- perhaps 30 or 40 years. He put that long tramp on
the side of the building because the next drugstore was in Portage la Prairie.
It was a long tramp and 54 miles to the next drugstore. The original tramp was
quite impressive it was tall, two stories high and you could come around the
corner and see this great big tramp there."
Carman Ruttan was himself an icon; a herbalist and was very well known, and he
had some fabulous remedies. Dexter Boyd (Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association)
recalls that the store was a very dark place and smelled of organic drugs and
herbs. In a correspondence dated 1994 to Brian Webb (the more recent owner of the building),
renowned Manitoba feminist Berenice Sisler wrote:
"As a child, some 65 odd years ago I remember
that tramp as a landmark on the long drive that we made regularly from the north
end of East Kildonan to visit my grandparents in Sturgeon Creek. This was done
in a somewhat uncomfortable Model A Ford, winter and summer. Carman Ruttan was
well known to my family most particularly for his poison ivy pills. I, for one,
had poison ivy every summer until Mr Ruttan's pills were marketed. I suspect
they were a precursor to antihistamines." (Ed. note- Ms. Sisler passed away on April 5, 2019)
The earliest photographic record that we know of for the Carman Ruttan Tramp can
be seen in photo 2. This photo was printed on April 6, 1942; and given that
there is normally still snow on the ground at that time of year and the quite
dry conditions in the photo, we think it likely this picture was
actually taken in the previous year. Environment Canada's records show an 8 cm
dump of snow in Winnipeg on March 28th in 1942, with a further 2.5 cm of snow on
April 7th. In 1941, this building was pretty much off by itself, at or outside
the city limits. In terms of dating the origin of the Tramp, we do know that
Ruttan graduated with Honours from the University of Manitoba School of Pharmacy
in 1919. According to the old building plans the original building was
constructed in 1923. The Berenice Sisler letter, if her recollections are
accurate, would date the Tramp Mural at least as far back as 1929.
The Carman Ruttan Tramp must have been close to 15 feet tall. The bearded tramp
has a large nose and is holding a lit cigar or stogie in his left hand with the
smoke billowing out from it. A spotted handkerchief hangs out of his left coat
pocket. The coat has broad lapels and his hat has a small feather or other
adornment on it. Upon closer scrutiny and enlargement of the photo, one can
discern that his left big toe portion of his sock is sticking out of his shoe;
and that the vertical strip on the wall between the window and the Tramp is an
advertisement for Ex-Lax!
In the 50s and 60s, the Ruttans, or at least Grandma and her son and daughter-
in-law and their daughter lived on Kane Avenue in St. James. In the 50s, Ruttan
leased the building out to Jack Andrews for the operation of his pharmacy. The
Jack Andrews incarnation of the Tramp may be seen in Photo 3. The Jack Andrews
Tramp was also bearded; the hat and boots are slightly different; and his hand
is in his pocket so that the buttons on the coat are visible. The lettering of
the word 'it's' is also different that in the Carman Ruttan Tramp, as is the
shroud around his head.
The Jack Andrews pharmacy still operates today although not at this location;
with shops in Assiniboia and Charleswood. Jeff Nowatski (a current owner of
the pharmacy): "The '83' in the phone number (see Photo 3) was for Vernon (i.e.
the letters VE), which was the phone exchange. Back then all the exchanges were
names like Whitehall, Golden and Alpha. As the population grew our number
became 832-3456 which is still our phone number today!"
Dexter Boyd (Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association): "Jack Andrews became a tenant
in the building and he liked the long tramp sign, which had become faded by this
time. Mr. Andrews was a sign painter by trade also, so he repainted it!
Pharmacists in those days would do their own signs, and Jack was quite talented
at it. Eventually Andrews got into a dispute with Carman Ruttan about the
tramp, because Ruttan wanted to be paid a royalty on the use of the Tramp; he
saw that the Tramp was 'working' for Andrews. Andrews, on the other hand, had
the feeling that he had brought the Tramp back to life and was already
paying rent to Ruttan- he wasn't about to pay any more. That is certainly part
of the reason that Jack Andrews moved out at the beginning of October of 1957."
In the late summer of 1957, Jack Andrews sent out a postcard picture of the
Tramp to his customers. On the reverse side was the notation "The Tramp is
Taking a Short Trip", meaning that the pharmacy itself (but not the Tramp) was
relocating on September 30th to a new modern store at 2029 Portage, next to the
St. James Dental Centre.
During this time, Carman Ruttan had relocated to a 2 storey glass and brick
building at where the Kenaston Portage overpass now stands. When this building
was expropriated for the overpass, Ruttan moved back to Aldine. Mr. Ruttan
himself did not retire right up to the time of his death in December of
1973. Ten years previous, Ruttan had the end of the building expanded northward
along Aldine. There was also an apartment set up on the second floor.
Al Jacks (Xuberance Financial Group): "My father, Donald Jacks, bought this
property from the estate of Carman Ruttan. That location became our national
headquarters for our chain of tax preparation offices (U & R Taxes). We
thought it was a great location for the office; but there was also the
sentimental value it held for my Father and the childhood memories of passing
this building. My dad used to live in Brandon as a kid and he used to come in
for Dentist appointments and he can remember that building standing on its own-
it was the last landmark as you left the city. When we first bought the
building we were approached by the media and asked if we were going to paint
over it. No way! It's a historic landmark!"
"I was given the task of cleaning out the building. I found all kinds of old
recipes, and racks and racks of bottles with stuff in them that didn't have
names on them, only numbers- he must have used some kind of code system to keep
his works a secret."
"The Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature came to the building and retrieved what
was of historical interest to them, and then the bulk of his estate was donated
to the Republic of China. Being a herbalist, there was much interest from that
country as to his practice and they were very encouraging and were appreciative
of his efforts and methods. I've been told that he used to make trips over
there."
"We had Harry Schimke, my wife Evelyn's father, repaint the Tramp. (Ed note-
Harry Schimke passed away Oct.3, 1998) He was a
masonry serviceman that did bricklaying, but was also an artist and was willing
to try his hand at repainting the tramp. We repainted it right away very soon
after taking possession of the building in about 1977."
Donald Jacks: "I just loved the tramp. As a kid, I used to come into Winnipeg to
see Manley Bowles whose specialty was in straightening teeth. Whenever I got a
ride into Winnipeg in the 30's, I always watched for the Tramp; it was part of
the whole attraction of coming to Winnipeg for me. Chapman & Chapman handled
Ruttan's estate. I was so anxious to get ownership of that building for its
historic and sentimental value to me. When we took over, the inside wasn't
modern looking at all- it was still very quaint and it still had the old cage he
sold from. We did put a new tramp up there but we didn't want to deviate
significantly from the earlier one. It was fading and I wanted to restore it.
Harry was a talented painter; maybe not so much for caricatures but more for
farm and nature scenes." (Ed. Note- Donald Jacks passed away Friday Feb 12,
2010 at age 85)
The U & R Taxes version of the Tramp is essentially the current version.
Schimke painted a lankier tramp that extends higher on the Wall than previous
incarnations. Even the hat is a bit taller than those before. Both are visually
consistent with the notion of the 'long tramp'. The stogie, missing from the
Jack Andrews era Tramp, is back. The patches on the pants are new for the
tramp, and a nice touch, we think. This new Tramp is clean-shaven, unlike the
previous versions; and the type of footwear is more ambiguous. This hobo is
walking in a patch of grass (there is no relief in either of the earlier
versions). Like the Ruttan Tramp, the front buttons aren't visible due to his
posture. Now that the building was no longer a drug store the reference to the
drug store was switched to a reference to Portage itself. Portage was still 54
miles away, and it was still a long tramp (similar to those "last gas for x
miles" signs) to get there; as well as acting as a highly visible BEACON for the
store. The beacon became a landmark, and in 1994 the Long Tramp became a
trademark. Brian Webb, who owns a refrigeration company called
Envirothermics, is the present day owner of the building.
Brian Webb: "My wife and I bought the building in 1992. It was previously owned
by the man that owned U & R Taxes. My wife wanted something along Portage
Avenue, and we both really liked this one when we saw it. It had great
potential for us and had great accessibility between all areas of the building.
We put a substantial amount of money into getting it all fixed up on the inside
that first year. The second year we started on the outside. We had plasterers
and stucco people and contractors coming and looking at it. You wouldn't
believe the number of people who stopped either in their cars or on foot and
asked 'you're not going to remove that Mural are you'! I think we would've
been tarred and feathered if we had! We didn't have any reason to remove it
anyway, so I realized I wanted to have it restored professionally. So I got in
touch with the city about this Mural that obviously had great historical value
to the people or else we wouldn't have gotten so many requests about it. I
wasn't able to get any funding from them but they did help me get publicity. We
were also able to get in and secure the 'Long Tramp' trademark. My wife's real
estate company is known as Long Tramp Holdings. My stepson Clint designed our
logo and did the artwork for it, utilizing the Long Tramp image. The city also
had the restoration notice plaque made for the wall that is there now."
"In 1994, the tramp had been vandalized a bit but it wasn't in bad shape. The
project Chief was Alfred Widmer; the city recommended him to me. He had done
the inside Mural of the old Bank of Montral building downtown. His two
assisting artists were Mike LaBelle and Stef Johnson, who I remember was German.
The wall was taped so there would be no damage to the Tramp while the stuccoing
was done; and then the artists came in and did the restoration work (Photo 4) on
the tramp which actually took only a day. The final result is that the Tramp
and supporting lettering is an impression or indent in the stuccoed wall. It was
revitalized; nothing was changed from when I 'inherited' it."
The Winnipeg Free Press sent Manfred Jager to do a piece on the Long Tramp.
Immediately after the article appeared in print (October 5, 1994), Webb began to
receive congratulatory correspondence from several sources. Bernie Wolfe, in a
congratulatory letter from Heritage Winnipeg wrote: "I can remember seeing the
Tramp on my way out of Winnipeg. At that time, it signalled the edge of the
city. Our organization advocates the preservation and restoration of heritage
buildings and sites, and over time the tramp has become a part of the city's
heritage and we appreciate the work you have done to preserve this landmark."
Webb also received a mysterious unsigned postcard from New York City with a
picture of the statue of Prometheus at the Rockefeller Centre: "Thank you Mr.
Webb for keeping the tramp in shape. He is always vivid in my mind when I think
of Winnipeg. May he become as rich as the Rockefellers who keep this guy
Prometheus rolling in gold."
2008 Update: In 2008, the identity of original rendering artist of the
original incarnation of the Long Tramp has been positively made known to us as
Leslie Charles Smith (Photo 6). Leslie painted the Tramp when he was
approximately 21 years of age. Smith knew Carman Ruttan because his parents,
Charles Smith and Annie Frances Smith, were customers of the store. Mr. Ruttan
asked Leslie to paint the Mural, but it is unknown whether or not he received
any form of compensation for doing it.
Leslie Charles Smith died March 19, 1983, but is survived by a daughter, Helen
(Smith) Kamakani in California who has been helpful in providing us with a few
more details about his life. Helen states that herself and all those in her
extended family "have known of The Tramp my entire life, and I recall
conversations from time-to-time about Dad painting it."
Helen Kamakani: "Dad was born October 23, 1914. He was born and raised in
Winnipeg. My mother, Lillian (nee: Lloyd) Smith died in March of 2008 at the
age of 92. At 92 she could still recall Carman Ruttan by name, though her
vision was failing (so she was unable to see clearly a photo of the Long Tramp).
She also recalled that her best friend received a cure from poison ivy from Mr
Ruttan. The friend's name was Irene (Hazel) Watson, who resided in Winnipeg
until her death in about 1999. Right up to her death, my Mother was extremely
pleased and excited to know that Winnipeg places such significance on Dad's
Tramp."
"My Dad was in the RCAF; he also worked for MacDonald Aircraft and Winnipeg
Paint & Glass. My Mother was a nurse at MacDonald Aircraft and that is how they
met. She did not know him at the time of the mural painting. My parents met in
July, 1941; they became engaged in December, 1941; and they were married on May
1, 1942, in St. Giles Church. They first resided with my Grandfather (Harold
Lloyd) on Boyd Avenue. I have a scrapbook that shows a picture of my Dad in
uniform showing he was in the Air Force from 1942 - 1945."
"I was born in Winnipeg General Hospital on 5/16/47.
In May of 1950 (when I was 3 years old) we were living on Rosewarn Avenue, and
we were in a flood when the banks of the Red River overflowed. We had to leave
our home for about 6 weeks and stay with friends. Even though I was only 3 at
the time, I somewhat remember this happening. In December of 1950 we moved to
California.
My Father's father (Charles Victor Smith) worked as an electrician for the
Police Department."
"In California my Dad operated his own business (Smith's Fuller Paint Center) in
San Bernardino until his retirement. I know he was an excellent sign painter and
artist. Unfortunately, my parents lost their home in a fire in 1980 (San
Bernardino, CA), and so much (memorabilia) was lost."
For us, it's good to have the mystery solved of who the original artist of the
Carman Ruttan Tramp was. For a time we had considered the possibility that the
artist had been Ruttan himself, since a lot of the early druggists were also
sign painters. This new information has carefully been considered and accepted
by us. This new information has necessitated revising our way of thinking as to
when the original Tramp was painted- several years later than we had originally
thought; but our revised year of 1936 actually fits better with other known
information. In the 1941 photo (Photo 2) the Mural seems too pristine if the
painting had dated all the way back to 1929- if it was done in 1936 it would
still be in good shape, as is the case.
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