A City Market Bride

By Connor DeMerchant - 7 October 2026

The City Market bell has traditionally marked the beginning and end of the working day. But on one Saturday afternoon in 1946, it rang to celebrate the upcoming marriage of one of the Market's own.

This was not the first time the Market community had gathered to celebrate a wedding. In 1936, the bell had been rung for market merchant P. C. McGrath, whose fellow Market workers and merchants surprised him with a wedding gift shortly before his marriage. The occasion established a precedent for using the Market's familiar bell to bring its community together for a more personal celebration. A decade later, the tradition was repeated for Miss Thelma Howe. 

On a Saturday afternoon in 1946, shoppers inside the Saint John City Market were surprised to hear the familiar bell begin to ring. This was not the measured, solemn sound that normally announced the end of the day's business. Instead, as a newspaper account observed, the bell was ringing “joyous, almost ecstatic” notes. The reason soon became clear. The Market staff had gathered to honour Miss Thelma Howe (1928-2017), a clerk who had worked at the Market for several years and was soon to be married.

The unusual ringing had already attracted attention. According to the newspaper account, business in the Market had come to a noticeable halt during the preceding fifteen minutes. Shoppers and employees whispered among themselves, with some being told to “wait a few minutes, something nice is going to happen.” The final notes of the bell were still echoing through the building when Percy C. Manning, the Market Clerk, and Frank Van Wart, the caretaker, hurried into Slocum and Ferris and brought out Miss Howe.

The two men escorted the bride-to-be to the centre of the Market. There, in the middle of the busy market hall, she was “enthroned” on the “big-scales,” alongside a crate of spring chickens. By this time, practically the entire Market staff had gathered around the improvised seat of honour. A handsome occasional chair and a large, brightly wrapped parcel were brought into the Market, and Manning called upon Mrs. E. E. Fowler or Fowler’s Flowers to explain what was happening.

Mrs. Fowler told those gathered that Miss Howe was being honoured on account of her approaching marriage. It was, she noted, the first time that the Market bell had pealed for a bride-to-be, although several prospective grooms had previously answered its summons. The staff had prepared gifts for Howe, and Mrs. Fowler presented them on behalf of her colleagues. She also expressed their good wishes for the future and spoke of the many friendships Howe had made during her years at the Market, both with her fellow employees and with the merchants and patrons who passed through the building every day.

To conclude the brief celebrations, the gathering then broke into song, singing “For She's a Jolly Good Fellow” as Miss Howe returned to her duties. Then, just as quickly as it had stopped, the Market's ordinary rhythm resumed. “The tide of market traffic flowed back into its accustomed channels,” the newspaper reported.[1]

Thelma Mina Howe married Gerald Clement Elkstrom on 31 July 1946 in a quiet ceremony at the home of her parents, 172 Hawthorne Ave. They were married for 67 years. 

[1] “City Market Bell Herald Approaching Wedding Day and Marks Presentation.” The Evening Times Globe. 29 July 1946, Pg. 9. 

Photo: Slocum & Ferris, c. 1980s (PANB - P225-9259)