In 1068 at 8 p.m., the call "Couvre-feu!" might be heard in the streets of towns and cities under the rule of William the Conqueror. "Couvre-feu" - literally "Cover the fire" marked the time for blowing out all lamps and candles and extinguishing all street fires. This is the derivation of our modern term "curfew."
Curfews have a long history and obviously have had different purposes - some quite distinct from clearing the streets of youth, as we think of it now.
In Canada, youth curfews became popular in late 19th and early 20th century: to protect children's' innocence from the dangers of the night; to strengthen the family by making sure its members were at home; and to assuage adult fears created by a busier, more industrial, more populated world.
Closer to home, the city of Coquitlam decreed a youth curfew in 1925. It applied to all children under 16 years of age and prohibited them from being on the streets or in any other public place after 8:30 p.m. during from October through March, or after 9:30 p.m. from April through September. An exception was made for children "under proper control or guardianship, or for some unavoidable cause."
By today's standards, this seems quite draconian - but times change.
In 1954 , following approval of the idea by an overwhelming majority of residents in a public referendum, the city enacted a new youth curfew. The new law raised the curfew time to 9 p.m. for fall and winter months and 10 p.m. for spring and summer months. It also required that a whistle, to be known as the "curfew bell," sound every evening at city hall to announce the start of curfew. Police were authorized to warn any child found on the streets after curfew to go home immediately and, if the warning was ignored, to take that child home. Parents who "habitually" permitted their child to be out after curfew could be fined.
In 1955, city council directed that an air horn be connected and blown every evening at the start of the curfew. It was installed on top of the municipal works building behind the city hall, then located at 1111 Brunette St. (see photo). For many years, evenings in Coquitlam were punctuated by the curfew horn's blast. But in October 1966, this practice ended in response to complaints that the noise awakened young children.
In the 1960s, Coquitlam city council was having second thoughts about the wisdom of the curfew and it was repealed in 1969. But it returned in 1976, when council revived an amended version of the bylaw requiring anyone under 16 to be off the streets by 11 p.m. while children between 16 and 17 years were banned from the streets after midnight. In 1981, the curfew time for 16-year-olds was reduced from midnight to 11 p.m. But it all came to an end in 1992, when the provincial government repealed the section in the Municipal Act (as it was then called) that authorized cities to create such curfews.
Jill Cook is its executive director of the Coquitlam Heritage Society.
THANKS, AND LEARN MORE
If you are interested in learning more about Coquitlam's history, the book Coquitlam Then and Now published by the Coquitlam Public Library New Horizons for History Committee is an excellent resource. Contributions by John Perry (Coquitlam Heritage Society vice-chair) and Silvana Harwood (Coquitlam Public Library) to the book provided much of the text for this article and is used with their permission. Special thanks also to Don Cunnings for access to the photo.
CORRECTION
The last Your History column from Coquitlam ("Flipping the switch," Feb. 17) incorrectly listed the writer as Jill Scott. It should have said Jill Cook.
