Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Mustapha]

Absolutely worth reading

Nice to read everyones recollections of street vendors. I will just add furnace fuel oil delivery and ice cream vendors on those tricycle affairs.

Some of the popcorn vendors are still pushing around equipment that seems to be several generations old. You can always find a couple of them at the CNE in front of the Better Living Centre.


coco, hello and welcome.



July 1 addition.


Then. The archival description is wrong; this is Alice street, not Terauley.

Now. June 2010.

 

[ReiwaMagi]

Hmm, was it overcast that day in the '50s or is that some very heavy smog?

At least the now pic is more attractive. Good riddance to those warehouse type buildings..

 

[adma]

At least the now pic is more attractive. Good riddance to those warehouse type buildings..

Sarcasm, I presume.

Though given another decade, I'd reckon that the ledger would have worked t/w the retention and reuse of the Eatons warehouse buildings, instead...

 

[LowPolygon]

At least the now pic is more attractive. Good riddance to those warehouse type buildings..

I guess you're a big fan of beige precast concrete. Then you must be as happy as a clam these days.

Also, you're absolutely right, nothing says 'attractive' like a dark entrance to an underground parking lot on a major thoroughfare.

by the way, those "warehouse type buildings" were uh, warehouses. and if they had survived they would have more in common with this:

than this:

 

[Goldie]

Here is something I found in my sealed up milkbox during a kitchen renovation in 2002. The milkbox opening outside was caulked and screwed down; the inside was covered over by drywall and tile. When we removed the drywall this came to light.

I love the idea of "time capsules" and that's what was created when your milk box was sealed.
I once built a new wall in my home and filled the insides with artifacts, documents and collectables.
I hope it will only be discovered when the house is finally demolished - many, many years hence, I presume.
I recommend that everyone create their own time capsule when an opportunity to renovate comes along.
Such an effort may become a wonderful surprise for someone in the distant future.

By the way, it's rumoured that the location of this time capsule (see thumbnail below) is now in doubt because the site of the New York World's Fair has been altered by 70 years of redevelopment.

 

[Anna]

Then. The archival description is wrong; this is Alice street, not Terauley.

After Teraulay Street was renamed 'Bay', Alice was renamed 'Teraulay', so in this case, the archival description actually may be correct. This is from the U of T Map & Data Library.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Here is something I found in my sealed up milkbox during a kitchen renovation in 2002. The milkbox opening outside was caulked and screwed down; the inside was covered over by drywall and tile. When we removed the drywall this came to light.

Mustapha: I always find this section interesting and there is just too many neat pictures and topics to mention here!

This looks like it dates from the 60s noting the box art and what this is - I noted the term "Pop" used - when I began to travel outside the northeastern USA I realized not everyone called this "Soda"...
Is this box dated in any manner? It's still a neat find here as we enter Summer 2010...

LI MIKE

 

[Long Island Mike]

Thanks Anna. Hee-ey, how do you get a 'sunglass smiley'?



June 19 addition.



Then. Front looking W past Bay. September 20, 1954.

Now.

Mustapha: GW and me noticed those flourescent-tube streetlights outside the Union Station area-perhaps they were installed with the Yonge Subway construction - I wonder if any other streets were lit up with these fixtures and if anyone knows when they were removed...
I definitely don't remember them from 1979 on...

LI MIKE

 

[Goldie]

After Teraulay Street was renamed 'Bay', Alice was renamed 'Teraulay', so in this case, the archival description actually may be correct. This is from the U of T Map & Data Library.

Anna, Do you know the date of this very useful map?

 

[thecharioteer]

Anna: What a great map! Thank you!

Interesting to compare the section of the Eaton Centre blocks to an aerial photograph published in the Toironto Telegram March 1, 1966, as part of the origonal Eaton Centre debate:

 

[Goldie]

Interesting to compare the section of the Eaton Centre blocks to an aerial photograph published in the Toironto Telegram March 1, 1966, as part of the original Eaton Centre debate

Many thanks to anna and thecharioteer for those two images.
Does anyone have access to a recent aerial photo of the Eaton Centre (from the same angle) so that I could complete this layout?

 

[Goldie]

Canada day

Happy Canada Day to all!

 

[Mustapha]

reetdoontoon, I had to watch chickens getting dispatched too. The dispatcher was my grandma. I rode home with gramps on the subway with the live chicken rolled up in newspaper - head out one end and feet out the back. But we knew really where our food came from.

Anna, that Map, thank you.

LIMike, there is no date on the popsicle making set, but on the back of the box it says: "The Dominion Comb and Novelty Co., Warwick Quebec, Made in Canada". By the way, in some parts of Pennsylvania they say "pop". I was having lunch with someone in Pittsburgh and this very topic came up.

Goldie, I haven't thought about the 1964 New York Worlds Fair in ages. I went, but don't remember much. I do remember the "It's a Small World" ride; which is now at Disney's Florida Magic Kingdom. Still neat to fly over the UniSphere on the way into La Guardia...




July 2 addition.



Everyone, don't miss the artillery salute at Queen's Park tommorrow July 1 at 11am; it might be 12, I can't be sure, just to be sure, get there at 11am. The guns are located on the north side of Queen's Park, on the exit road to Wellesley. Great fun for the little ones. Terrifying noise but fun. Get off at Wellesley station and walk west - it's a 15 minute walk. Don't be late, it's over in 10 minutes.



Then. June 14, 1950. Terauley Street again. This time looking west. Note the doorway as our reference at the end of the street on the far side of Bay street.

Now. June 2010. There is our doorway again. A Now shot from the same perspective is impossible owing to Terauley being built over.

 

[thecharioteer]

Anna: What a great map! Thank you!

Interesting to compare the section of the Eaton Centre blocks to an aerial photograph published in the Toironto Telegram March 1, 1966, as part of the origonal Eaton Centre debate:

From Google Earth:

 

[Anna]

I knew you guys would like that map – how many Honey Dews can you spot?

All I know for the date is 1945-1956 (it’s stamped in the bottom right corner) That is a pretty broad range. Just noticed the subway stations are marked on the map so it might be closer to 1956 than 1945.
Here’s the link – there are zoomable files if you’re interested.
http://maps.chass.utoronto.ca/cgi-b...le=Business+section+City+of+Toronto+1945-1956

I had a professor at U of T (a lawyer) back when the Eaton Centre had just been built who said that he was involved with the land assembly. He said that some of the parcels were bought in his name so that no one would know that it was Eaton’s that was buying up the block (or rest of it). A few years later I saw drawings (plan & section) of the land ownership of the centre – done because it was so complicated – some parcels owned directly by the joint venture, ground leases, ground leases on top of ground leases, former streets still owned by the city(?), land still owned directly by Eaton’s…