Star Photos Studios, which specialized in weddings and portraits, was Joseph Galdzinski’s family business from about 1918 when he moved to Winnipeg until the mid-1940s when he relocated to Toronto. Joseph and his wife Pauline started the business from their home when they first moved to Winnipeg from Cranbrook, where Joseph also had a studio, circa 1918.
Star Photo Studios operated from different addresses over the years, with the Galdzinski family home often co-located with the studio. Joseph and Pauline operated the studio from their home at 202 Pacific Avenue (corner of Main) in downtown Winnipeg from about 1918 until 1923 when they moved to a homestead. They re-opened the business at 490 Main Street, Unit 6 in the Freeman Building when they returned to Winnipeg circa 1924. The studio remained at that address until 1934. In 1929 Star Photo Studio briefly had a “branch” location at 448 Portage Avenue, also downtown. Circa 1936 Star Photo Studio moved to 536 Main Street at the corner of James above a shoe store. Around that time the Galdzinski family moved to 402 Mountain Street. In 1940 the studio moved again to 530 Main Street
In 1940 Joseph opened Bison Studio* and operated under both Bison and Star names from his Winnipeg location at 530 Main Street. Around the same time the Galdzinski’s opened a Toronto studio under the Bison name at 328-1/2 Yonge Street in Toronto. Intially Pauline and her daughters moved to Toronto where Pauline ran the Toronto studio while Joseph remained in Winnipeg. Eventually Joseph closed the Winnipeg studio and the family settled in Toronto. Circa 1950 Bison Studios moved to 314 Yonge Street.
Joseph and Pauline’s daughters worked in the studio. Pauline’s nieces Anna Kondratiuk, Olga Bobowsky and Angela Bobowsky were also employed at the studio in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Both Olga and Angela went on to other jobs in photographic studios in later life.
Footnotes
*When Bison Studios appeared on the scene Joseph took out adds announcing the “amalgamation” of Star Photo Studios and Bison Photo Studios, implying that Bison was a pre-existing studio. However there is no record of any Bison Photo Studios operating in Winnipeg prior to 1940. Joseph may have decided to re-brand or was hoping that a second brand would generate additional sales. The Bison is a symbol of Manitoba