This album is a collection of sentimental journeys into Edmonton’s past - a time when a dime was all that was needed to see a movie, and couples skated across the glassy surface of a frozen lake that is now gone.

These photos illustrate many important historical events and changes in Edmonton, from its fur-trading beginnings through decades of tremendous growth. Through the lens of a camera we revisit soldiers returning home from war; the first train rumbling into town; the first school, hospital, and business; the building of the Legislature and demolition of the original fort; the desperation of the "Dirty Thirties"; and the success of the initial oil boom.

More than one hundred and fifty black-and-white images allow us to travel back in time to revisit Edmonton’s growth and its people. Through these photos, moments in Edmonton’s past are captured eternally, rich with details that characterize the era. An Edmonton Album is the city’s memory - in pictures.

As a child, A.S. Mott didn't like to play outside. Born with the nocturnal instincts of a vampire, Mott preferred the dark confines of his parents' basement. There he fed not on the blood of others but on a steady diet of scary movies and the most frightening books he could find. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that this enemy of sunlight would choose to write about the supernatural.Mott cites among his current influences such writers as Martin Amis, Stephen King and Joss Whedon (creator of the TV cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Mott still can be found spending most of his time in the dark, either watching another cheesy horror movie or working on his latest book.

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Dennis Shappka is an electronics service technician with a life-long interest in history and photography. The authors were both born in Edmonton, and currently live there with their two children.

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"While An Edmonton Album will certainly bring back memories for those life-long Edmontonians who gave so much of themselves to the city, it also provides a casual stroll through the past for subsequent generations of armchair visitors."

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