The Stone Age: A Social History of Curling on the Prairies

The "Top 10" developments that changed the face of curling forever1. George Cameron, a Winnipeg businessman, persuaded Walter Stewart of the Macdonald Tobacco Company of the merit in supporting a Canadian Curling Championship. The Brier was born.2. Nipawin, Saskatchewan, staged a car bonspiel in 1947.3. Ken Watson discovered, by accident, that removing the toe rubber from his forward foot gave him a longer, smoother slide.4. Joyce McKee joined the Hub City men's league in 1952, curling with her father and brother.5. Winnipeg introduced matching rocks, coloured rings, and more ceremony and media coverage to the 1940 Brier, the first staged outside Toronto.6. Calgary Brier champion Howard Palmer convinced his employer, the T. Eaton Company, to sponsor a Western Canadian Women's Championship (1953).7. Clubs began to install artificial ice.8. Manitoba's Bruce Hudson deliberately blanked an end at the 1928 Brier.9. Gordon Craig, President of TSN, decided to give curling greater prominence on television.10. Ernie, Arnold, Sam and Wes Richardson competed in the 1959 Scotch Cup.Pezer, Vera is the author of 'The Stone Age: A Social History of Curling on the Prairies', published 2003 under ISBN 9781894856294 and ISBN 1894856295.