Homes, Trades and Games of Long Ago · Drawing 25 of 40
At the public market
Around 1850
At the public market, farmers sold vegetables, eggs and chickens. Montréal’s Bonsecours Market opened in 1847. For more than a hundred years, people came to buy food and meet the vendors.
Look together
What is the person behind the stall selling?
An idea to try
Set up a little market at home with vegetables from the kitchen. Your child plays the vendor, the adult asks the price, then switch roles.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Bonsecours Market was inaugurated in January 1847, although work on its interior continued afterward. It remained an important Montréal market for more than a century. Public markets and shops existed side by side; this was not a time without grocery stores.
The background evokes Bonsecours, while the stall and people are imaginary. Compare the market baskets with the containers you use when shopping.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
Imaginary market evoking a nineteenth-century public market; the building is simplified.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Marché Bonsecours — HistoryOpened in January 1847; interior fitting-out and use as a market for more than a century.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Life in Old Québec to Colour
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