Monday, July 30, 2012

Steve Canyon

Some part of me wonders whether Steve Canyon plays a role in my love of riding.

When I was five years old, my Dad returned from a business trip to Rochester New York.  He brought me a Steve Canyon helmet.

At the time, Steve Canyon was my favourite comic strip in the weekend paper.  We called them the "funnies".  In my young mind there was nothing funny about Steve Canyon.  He was right up there with the Lone Ranger as far as I was concerned.

How I loved that helmet.  I would have worn it day in and day out, if my mother had let me.

As quickly as the helmet came into my life, it left.  Its fate is one of those childhood mysteries that, with the passing of my mother, and my Dad's memory issues, is safely and forever locked away in the vault of time.

Over the years I thought about that helmet.  From time to time I rummaged through old boxes of toys searching in vain for it.  It was that cool.

Oddly, I never thought to Google it, until today.  I don't know what possessed me to do it.  I didn't expect to find any web references to something so old and obscure.

Hah! Shame on me for thinking so little of the power of Google.

Click these links to see what Steve Canyon and that helmet (more SC helmet images) were all about.

And, just so you know, my Nolan N-103 modular is way cooler than my missing Steve Canyon helmet ever was.

Here's a shot Sonja took.
 If you don't think I look way cooler than Steve Canyon in that shot, please don't burst my bubble.  There's a little kid inside me who still thinks that Steve Canyon was very, very cool.

4 comments:

Dar said...

We used to call the comics the funnies too. I think your current helmet is way cooler! It looks like Steve Canyon was a pretty cool dude. I can see why a young fella would love the helmet. I think we have all experienced a beloved toy disappear and wonder where it went. Maybe you could find one of these on the Internet & buy it, but then I know it wouldn't be the same because it wasn't yours.

Trobairitz said...

Thanks for the education David. Before reading your post and link I don't think I'd ever heard of Steve Canyon.

Oh and as cool as Canyon's helmet is I do like your Nolan better.

Keith - Circle Blue said...

I will admit I not only remember the comic strip, but the TV show.

I bet that helmet took you to some remarkable places. And, I know your Nolan has, and will.
~k

David Masse said...

Dar, when I saw the pictures of the helmet, I realized immediately that I had, over the years, embellished that helmet well beyond reality. So reality pales, as it too often does. Besides, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that it's important to severely limit the 'stuff' in your life. An amazing amount of our time and money is devoted to looking after our stuff. I now aspire to ultra-modern spartan digs. The only stuff I really want is: minimal modern furniture, iMac, iPhone, iPad, a good set of digital cameras (SLR, GoPro), a scooter, and art. Everything else is an encumbrance. I'm thinking of photographing the stuff I can't bear to part with and then selling it in a garage sale or just chucking it. Radical I know, but oh so liberating if I can bring myself to do it.

Trobairitz, thanks for the compliment. I've been going through the many IMBC posts on your blog, Bob's, Sonja's et al, and all I can say is thank heavens for bloggers who share great adventures.

Keith, isn't that strange. Until I googled it, I thought that Steve Canyon disappeared in the late 50's. I had no idea there was a continuation, much less a TV show. Growing up in Canada in those days, 'American TV' was the holy grail of entertainment. Before the miracle of cable TV, unless your parents had a 75' motorized antenna, it was unatainable. Sometimes on a clear night, with steel wool and tin foil, you could catch a snowy flickering installment of the Tonight Show. Those were the days.

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.