Scarborough Photographs: Then and Now

[zanthope]

Wow...that is interesting to me. My best friend lived right across the street at 113 Commonwealth. They lived there in 1972 to about 1974, if my memory serves me right. Their house (a rental) was torn down a while back and a new house was built. While my friend lived there, the house next door was put on stilts to rebuild the basement. The work got delayed and everyone on the street was complaining to the building inspectors about the possibility of the house collapsing.

My friends mom was a sweatheart (she passed in the late 80's), but his dad was an interesting peice of work. I lost touch with my friend, unfortunately, but those memories are amongst the favourite of my late teen years. We spent a lot of time at Mr. Donut on Eglinton right across from Commonwealth Rd where I fell in love with Maple glazed donuts. The Mr Donut is now a car place now. Just thought you might be interested.

I lived across the street from the Supertest from about 1956 to 1958 in the middle house of a row of three that are long gone. Much of the surrounding area was empty fields, including the Mr Donut site and the NE and NW corners of Commonwealth. The Blake family lived in the east side northernmost home on Commonwealth that would have been about exactly across the street from our featured shack, perhaps the very house your friend lived in. Alan Blake is in the front row of this Walter Perry photo. He is or was a horrible bully who sometimes recreationally beat me up, probably working as an executioner now. The Mayne family lived two or three doors south of the Blakes on the same side. I hung out with Rolly Mayne sometimes, his older sister Cathy is also in this photo. She beat me up once as well. I was a wimpy child with a big mouth.

 

[lrookies]

I lived across the street from the Supertest from about 1956 to 1958 in the middle house of a row of three that are long gone. Much of the surrounding area was empty fields, including the Mr Donut site and the NE and NW corners of Commonwealth. The Blake family lived in the east side northernmost home on Commonwealth that would have been about exactly across the street from our featured shack, perhaps the very house your friend lived in. Alan Blake is in the front row of this Walter Perry photo. He is or was a horrible bully who sometimes recreationally beat me up, probably working as an executioner now. The Mayne family lived two or three doors south of the Blakes on the same side. I hung out with Rolly Mayne sometimes, his older sister Cathy is also in this photo. She beat me up once as well. I was a wimpy child with a big mouth.



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When my friend lived on Commonwealth, we were part of "The Loser Club"...we rarely had dates much less girlfiends, but there were girls in our bunch. We all smoked but none of us were EVER druggies or serious drinkers, except my friend's sister. I rarely had money, but my friend's Mom always made sure I had cigarettes when I stayed there. My first drunk was two weeks before I turned 18 (the drinking age back then). We had a small party at my friend's and I drank a ton of Black Velvet rye. I remember being in the bathroom with my head in an instrument not really built for a head, heaving and my friend's sister telling me to stick my fingers in my throat, assuring me I'd feel better afterwards...I did and I didn't feel better (liar!). But we had fun in that house. We probably wore out the records we played and for sure, the most popular song to dance to was a slow dance to Chicago's Color My World. Before my friend's parents got home, we cleaned the house top to bottom...it took 10 minutes...we emptied the ashtrays and got rid of the bottles...Commonwealth Avenue...What a great time in my life. Of course, if my kids or grandkids read this my image would be tarnished forever...ha ha.

 

[Koolgreen]

Well said H.D. When I went down there to take this photo I was actually shocked to see what T.D. had done. I would like to see a colour photo of the top one if possible one day.

yes sadly that is corporate homogenization.
everything has to follow the corporate design criteria. No imagination here.

 

[Stumack]

Yep. They were bought out by BP in 1974 or 75. I think they turned into Gulf and then PetroCanada. Not sure about the Gulf part. Cant quite remember. On long trips my parents would play "Gas Station". Of course my Dad always won because he always took Esso. But when Gulf Canada came along, we gave him a run for his money. Until my Dad lost his memory, he used to laugh every time we brought that up.

Close. BP acquired Supertest around 1971 and then phased out the Supertest brand by the end of 1974. It was British American (B-A) that was bought by Gulf in the late '60s. Both, along with Fina, ultimately became the retail arm of Petro-Canada.

 

[Conrad Black]

Which is now Suncor.

 

[Transportfan]

Birchmount and Lawrence looking west

Its neat the way those old *acorn* gooseneck streetlights were originally seen all over Metropolitan Toronto, not just in Old Toronto, where custom-made replacements where installed into the 90s and maybe still are. Even the traffic lights were urban-styled with many attached directly to poles. I didn't expect to see those installed in suburban areas.

 

[ShonTron]

Its neat the way those old *acorn* gooseneck streetlights were originally seen all over Metropolitan Toronto, not just in Old Toronto, where custom-made replacements where installed into the 90s and maybe still are. Even the traffic lights were urban-styled with many attached directly to poles. I didn't expect to see those installed in suburban areas.

Those street lights were all over Ontario, not just Metro. Fort Erie, Midland, Woodstock, Bramalea, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor, Orillia, etc. all had them too - a few still exist in these places but the acorn almost always replaced by a cobrahead. Brampton had a smaller version - the same size as those removed about a decade ago from the 1954 Yonge Subway.

 

[lrookies]

Close. BP acquired Supertest around 1971 and then phased out the Supertest brand by the end of 1974. It was British American (B-A) that was bought by Gulf in the late '60s. Both, along with Fina, ultimately became the retail arm of Petro-Canada.

LOL...am I the only one with the video of the "Chain of Life" (small fish being eaten by the bigger fish which is eaten by an even bigger fish) in my head?

 

[Toronto2gta]

You can really tell that Toronto really came from humble beginnings

 

[dwhopper]

Does anyone have any photos of the the south side of Kingston Road, between St Clair and Brimley?

 

[Goldie]

Does anyone have any photos of the the south side of Kingston Road, between St Clair and Brimley?

This mural is close to the St. Clair intersection:

And some others between St. Clair & Brimley (attached):

Looking West from Brimley

 

[dwhopper]

Maybe I should have been more specific. Does anyone have any HISTORICAL phots of the south side of Kingston between St Clair and Brimley?

 

[Anna]

Maybe I should have been more specific. Does anyone have any HISTORICAL phots of the south side of Kingston between St Clair and Brimley?

The Scarborough Historical Society?
http://www.scarboroughhistorical.com/

 

[brewster]

Here is a couple from that area dwhopper -- 2nd one is Kingston Road at Stop 16A, east of Brimley Road looking east, Scarborough Twp. - [between 1925 and 1940 -- 1st one is Kingston Road, at Stop 16A, looking west from east of Brimley Road, Scarborough Twp. - [between 1925 and 1940]

 

[junctionist]

That's an impressive road for the time with its dual carriageways.