This grainy image has very little information surrounding it. All that is said about it is that it was taken in 1923 in Cobalt, Ontario, and is supposedly of Old Yellow Top - a Bigfoot-like creature that is said to roam Ontario. Old Yellow Top is said to be called such because, unlike other Bigfoot sightings, this one always has blond colored hair on its head. It is thought to be the oldest known photograph of a Bigfoot-like creature.

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“In 1909 a group of miners at the Violet Mine in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada, observed a tall, man-like creature. Its entire body was covered with brown hair, except for the top of its head, which had a thick mane of bright yellow hair. All of the witnesses agreed on the appearance of the creature, but nobody knew exactly what it was.

The account made its way into the local papers, where reporters quickly nicknamed the mysterious creature “Old Yellow Top.”

For a decade and a half, there were no further confirmed sightings. Then, 17 years later, Old Yellow Top made his second major appearance. Again the witnesses were a group of miners working a local mine outside of Cobalt. They observed what they thought was a bear, except it appeared to be picking berries. One of the miners threw a stone at the creature.

Another miner, Mr. Wilson, said, “It kind of stood up and growled at us. Then it ran away. It sure was like no bear that I have ever seen. Its head was kind of yellow, and the rest of it was black like a bear, all covered with hair.”

Following this, Old Yellow Top seemed to disappear, until 23 years later, when he returned. On April 16, 1946, a woman and her son were walking along the railroad tracks that led into Cobalt when she saw a hairy, man-like creature with a head of bright blond hair walk “almost like a man” into the forest.

In 1976, yet another 30 years later, Old Yellow Top made one final appearance. A bus driver and 27 miners on their way to work the Cobalt mine observed Old Yellow Top as the creature crossed the road in front of them.

Says the bus driver, Aimee Latreille, “At first I thought it was a big bear.

But then it turned to face the headlights and I could see some light hair almost down to its shoulders It couldn’t have been a bear ..

The 1976 sighting of Old Yellow Top, if true, would mean that the creature was more than 70 years old...”

Excerpt from the book titled BIGFOOT, YETI, AND OTHER APE-MEN by PRESTON DENNETT

Quoted from the post, Country Furniture from the Canadian Encyclopedia.

The phrase "country furniture" aptly describes most surviving antique Ontario furniture held privately and in museum collections. Settlement began after the American Revolution and intensified during the 19th century. In those first years, the pressures of pioneering life ensured that most families had little time or money for high-style furniture, let alone access to it.

Ontario country furniture was fashioned of native woods (eg, walnut, maple, cherry, birch, oak, basswood, pine), by hand, usually with some skill. It can be divided into 3 categories: copies of high-style furniture of British and American derivation; furniture with form and decoration of French, German and other European ethnic origin; and sturdy utilitarian furniture that was used almost universally in town and country and in the less important rooms of city homes.

All of the Georgian, Empire and Victorian styles were reproduced, alone or in combination, with varying degrees of success. Ontario cherry and figured maple provided excellent substitutes for imported mahogany and satinwood. Stain and paint were employed to simulate costly woods, veneers, inlay and carving, when cost or lack of skill or tools forbade such embellishments. Especially during the early years, cabinetmakers were more likely to use hardware (ie, hinges, handles, etc) that was readily available rather than what matched the style of the furniture. Decorative motifs such as the German 6-sided star and French diamond-shaped panels sometimes were used on country furniture that was British or American in form and style.

Relatively few tools were needed to construct utilitarian furniture so it could be undertaken by most carpenters as well as joiners and cabinetmakers. Dual-purpose, space-saving forms included a chair with a back that could be lowered to form a table top, and a bench with a seat that unfolded to a full bed.

Country chairs fall into 3 groups: slat-backs, Windsors and Fancy chairs. Slat-back chairs had 4 turned legs, the rear ones extended and joined by several slats at the top to form a ladder back. A variation, the banister-back, had 2 slats, pierced by several vertical spindles. Woven ash splints or elm bark formed the seats.

The Windsor, a chair of English derivation, was constructed like a stool with a back attached to the seat. Such chairs were named according to either the style or the shape of the back, eg, Sheraton, loop- or bow-back, arrow-back, low-back or Captain's, comb-back, spindle-back, short spindle-back or chicken coop, and gunstock. Slat-backs and Windsors were made as side chairs, armchairs and rockers; most were painted.

Fancy chairs were side chairs with back, seat and leg patterns derived, at least in part, from Georgian and Victorian styles. Decorative, figured wood often was used; the seats were made of cane or rush. Many Windsors and Fancy chairs also were produced in early Ontario furniture factories.

The high, heavy, 4-post, rope-spring bedstead and accompanying trundle bed were succeeded by a lower, lighter spool-turned bed with slats. Hired-man cots, with spool-turned ends, became country settees when spooled or solid backs were added. Tables and stands of all sizes and for all purposes had tops that tilted, lifted, pivoted or were detachable, and leaves that could be dropped, drawn out or detached.

Country schoolmaster desks with slanted lift tops might be attached to or detachable from a long- or short-legged frame below and a postmaster cupboard with pigeonholes above. Drop-front desks were composed of a cupboard front that dropped to form a writing surface, supported by a table or a lower cupboard.

Country cupboards of one or 2 pieces, with glazed, solid, or no doors, some having a pie shelf sandwiched between the upper and lower parts, were built into corners or walls or were free-standing. They were made in many sizes and shapes for storage of food or dishes and as dry sinks. Linen presses and wardrobes were constructed with fixed parts or, for ease of relocation, detachable ones. Most cupboards were painted or stained dark. Lift-top box chests, the earliest and best made of 6 dovetailed boards, were numerous and even incorporated into the top part of early chests of drawers.

Written by Elizabeth Ingolfsrud

Elizabeth Ingolfsrud wrote several books about Ontario furniture.