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 I hope you enjoy my photos of Tattoo 1967 I took during a dress rehearsal of the blue train show. I've had these pictures all this time and thought I should share them so you can relive those memories of over 40 years ago. Whether you were on the blue or red train or on the stadium shows, the scenes will rekindle that wonderful military show we all played a part in.
I was on the red train and the stadium shows and remember the snowy winter I spent in Picton trudging back and forth from the barracks to the hangers for all those rehearsals. I was posted to Picton from the Royal Canadian Engineer Band in Chilliwack, BC in February (a four day train ride) in the cold of winter to be assigned to an eight man room at one of the barrack buildings, but I survived (I was in my twenties at the time) and made some good friends.  Have a look at my pages here and recall the scene(s) you were in and relive those times (if you dare) and share it with your family or if you weren't on the Tattoo but saw one of the shows when we travelled across Canada you'll also recall what you saw. I remember those wonderful standing ovations we were honoured to receive in almost every place we did our show. What a thrill it was!
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 You can also Google the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo on Facebook and see memories and pictures posted by members of the Tattoo and perhaps meet up with some one you knew back then. We would love to have you join us.
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| Tattoo 1967 Press Reports |
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Read more on Photos/Archives page |
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Barrie Examiner April 14, 1967
"Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo received a standing ovation last night from a packed house at the Barrie Arena. It was a fitting tribute to two and a half hours of breathtaking excitement, and probably will be repeated in every one of the 150 performances the Tattoo will play this year."
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The Moncton Daily Times, April 20, 1967
"The Tattoo - Manifique!
The thousands of people who viewed the performances at the Stadium probably more than adequately praised the Tattoo by their reactions to the show. The gasps from the crowd, the sudden thunderous applause, the excited chatter and the superlatives on every lip as the audience left the show was over - these said more perhaps than mere printed words.
That the forces could bring together men who are not born to the boards and build them into a group of such accomplished ability speaks eloquently of the plentiful talents to be found within the Canadian population. The whole Tattoo is a tremendous achievement and one in which all Canadians can be proud. Indeed, it may well be that if the Centennial Year does nothing else the Tattoo alone will have been well worthwhile.
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Winnipeg Free Press, May 5, 1967 by Christopher Dafoe
"The Grand Tattoo
We Canadians are often accused of being a staid lot. We are told that we have no feeling for our country's history, no sense of the dramatic, no patriotic fervor of the sort that makes men of other nations weep when stories are told of past glories. I was once inclined to believe this hearsay.
Thursday night, however, my son and I sat with several thousand other Canadians in the Winnipeg Arena and we watched the pageant of Canada sweep past us. It was a grand and a noble occasion; we were instructed, we were moved and we say clearly, for the first time, perhaps, that Canada's story is rich, colorful and important.
The Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo is about as spectacular as a show can be if it depends on mere men for its success. The northern lights, perhaps, excel it, the sight of a city in flames, perhaps, has more potent power to take the breath away, but of things that are merely man-made this magnificent creation is second to none. . . .
The Military Tattoo is a celebration of tradition, a dramatic and colorful pageant of our past. Mere words cannot describe its splendor.
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Calgary Albertan May 12, 1967
"Twenty million Canadians won't be wrong when they acclaim the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo which opened last night for a three-day run at the Corral the greatest single presentation of centennial year."
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The Daily Colonist, Victoria May 26, 1967
"The 21/2-hour show is a brilliant musical spectacular with the accent on history. This $1,000,000 production, with its cast of more than 500, must rate as the most lavish live show ever produced in Canada."
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The Toronto Telegram August, 1967
"If it isn't the Greatest Show on Earth, it certainly rates high as the greatest spectacle ever seen in Canada."
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The Toronto Telegram, September 6, 1967
"The Ex's Tattoo
The superb display of history and tradition, of pageantry, this wonderful exhibition of martial discipline, color and music, magnificently produced, stirringly proud, should convince the Department of National Defence and the CNE of two facts.
The first is that no spectacle seen in Canada has imbued crowds with a sense of belonging, an intense spirit of national pride, a sure feeling of being Canadian as has this Tattoo.
If the Department disbands this splendid organization it will be wasting, throwing away, the finest patriotic influence this country possesses.
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Hamilton Spectator September 9, 1967
"When the lone piper plays his last sad lament tonight at Civic Stadium and the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo comes to a close, it spells the end for the greatest spectacle ever seen in Canada."
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The Guardian, Charlottetown September 20, 1967 by Anne Bond
"If we had to find a simple phrase to describe the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo held last night at the Coliseum at the Provincial Exhibition Grounds, that phrase would probably be something like "a thrilling spectacular." One of the most pleasing side effects of the show, is the feeling of national pride and an appreciation of Canada's history that the show leaves with you."
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If you were apart of the Woman's Serice Group for Tattoo 1967, you are invited to attend one of the reunions to share your memories with the other woman who participated in the Tattoo. Check the guest book for Linda Mosson-Hockley or Lynda Rees and their contact information if you would like more information. They are keen to make contact if you have any information.
Tattoo 1967, the Canadian Military contibution to Canada's 100 birthday in 1967 toured the
country from coast to coast. The tour was made up of three parts, the first part of the tour comprised two identical shows, a blue train and a red train each with
about 450 men. These two shows toured across Canada by rail and performed in arenas. The show rehearsals took place in Picton, Ontario commencing in late February.
The train shows played across Canada starting at the end of March and finishing in May before both trains united in Victoria, BC which were then augmented by more
military personel to form a show of 1700 men and woman which became the second part of the tour.
The third part was a smaller contingent similar in size to the train shows that toured the Maritimes in the late summer of 1967.
More than three hundred years of Canada's Armed Forces history was portrayed by the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo, one of the largest spectacles of its kind ever presented in North America. The Tattoo shows started in late March 1967 and ended in October after approximately 150 performances.
