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Evocative Images of Lost Toronto

Urban Shocker said:
The Victorians have a lot to answer for. The exhibits in the Great Exhibition of 1851, for instance, were a horror show of what mass-production combined with the spirit of Mock Goth unleashed upon a world used to restrained Georgian minimalism in design and home furnishings produced by craftsmen.
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All true, but more importantly, the Great Exhibition of 1851 is remembered for Paxton’s Crystal Palace, one of the most significant buildings of the modern era, often cited as the industrial antecedent of minimalism, and every bit as ‘Victorian’ as the fondness for neo-historical embellishment.

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Urban Shocker said:
The Victorians have a lot to answer for. The exhibits in the Great Exhibition of 1851, for instance, were a horror show of what mass-production combined with the spirit of Mock Goth unleashed upon a world used to restrained Georgian minimalism in design and home furnishings produced by craftsmen.
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But did the Georgians ever produce giant sculptures of bare-breasted Amazons on horse-back being attacked by lions?

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The 'other' piano factory however, still stands at 193/5 Yonge Street; the Heinzman Piano Co.

Regards,
J T
 
thecharioteer said:
But did the Georgians ever produce giant sculptures of bare-breasted Amazons on horse-back being attacked by lions?

1851.jpg
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No, thank God. And to be fair to those organizing The Great Exhibition, they did exhibit a plaster model for Paolo and Francesca, a charming little sculpture I saw today in the The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy exhibition at the Ashmolean.

http://www.preraphaelites.org/the-collection/1960p29/paolo-and-francesca/

... though horror at the mass-produced commercial dreck in the Exhibition only served to inspire the PRB, and maybe the arts and crafts movement that followed.

http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/tag/great-exhibition-of-1851/
 
Interesting about the Mason and Risch Building... just two days ago, on the 5th, I posted this photo of the Rialto Theatre, across the street, back in 1916... Can't wait for the City of Toronto Archives to be totally digitized and reconstructed like this... pick a spot and scroll through the years, then move through the city in that year.

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And then a very similar shot, 34 years later, with the theatre gone, with '??? Adams' taking over the space:
s0372_ss0058_it2087.jpg


You can see all the photos I've geo-tagged, around http://wholemap.com/map/index.php?pin=TORARCHV-753
 
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seemsartless said:
And then a very similar shot, 34 years later, with the theatre gone, with '??? Adams' taking over the space:
s0372_ss0058_it2087.jpg
Click to expand...

I think the "???" is "Furniture"--a northward annex/extension of Adams Furniture next door on Yonge.

Interesting to note the early version of a TTC "rapid transit" logo--that bar-over-circle form in fact made its way into early subway door handles (a few of which survived into the 90s)
 
From http://www.400eleven.com/barrie-history.html

Canada's Ice Capital

It is hard to imagine Lake Simcoe Ice as being a high demand commodity in the late 1800's. The Lake Simcoe Ice and Fuel company was one of the main suppliers of ice to the city of Toronto...mainly because of the high quality. Electricity eliminated the delivery of fresh ice to the "Ice Boxes". Ice was stored along the shoreline by Mary Street. Now kids play with the ice blocks at the annual Barrie Winterfest.Now kids play with the ice blocks and build forts and ice houses at the annual Barrie Winterfest. The Barrie-Lake Simcoe region was home to many many different locations where Ice was being harvested. See Lake Simcoe Ice Company and a bit of the history of ice as a commodity in Ontario. Barrie's rail conections provided the main point of departure for the ice to southern destinations.

Not much help finding location of photo but interesting, maybe.
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA - 1944.


Lake Simcoe Ice and Fuel:
Refrigerator Store, 136 Dupont Street. KI ngsdale 2178.

Soole Printing Co. - not listed.

Name-on Stationery Co. - not listed.


Regards,
J T
 
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