Town Crier Article on the Murmur Project
Murmuring the oral history of the Junction
Thursday, October 30, 2008
By Kris Scheuer
Want to know what it was like to work on local railroad? Or how The Junction ceased being an alcohol-free zone?
Generations of area residents recorded their memories for the Murmur project commissioned by The Junction Art Festival.
Murmur is an interactive oral history initiative in which audio stories are accessed online or by calling a phone number listed on a historic site.
At 3010 Dundas St. West participants on their cellphones can listen to Piera Pugliese describe how the community lifted a nearly century old ban on serving alcohol.
“It was dry from 1903 and remained dry until 1997,†she says. “There was a group of us interested in it becoming wet.â€
Pugliese helped gather signatures to bring the issue to a referendum. She says they needed 60 percent plus one to win on the ballot question.
“We met with a lot of opposition at the door,†she says. “It took city hall three days to let us know (we won).â€
Another story comes from Raymond Kennedy, a fourth-generation railway man who worked for Canadian Pacific Railway for 40 years.
His anecdote is recorded at the northeast corner of Dundas and Dupont Sts., where an old West Toronto rail depot was located.
“(The railway) served The Junction for many decades,†says Kennedy. “One time I remember looking out and noticed some small children climbing the side of switch engines.â€
His concern was that the crew on the other side of the rail cars could not see the kids, so he warned the children to be careful where they play. He says he even offered to introduce them to a railway worker who’d lost both his legs, but that scared the kids off.
J.R. Gratsby recalls The Beaver Theatre, which was an old movie house once located near Dundas and Medland Sts.
“In The Junction it was one of seven theatres here,†says Gratsby, who owns Big Daddy’s DVD Shop. “It was one of the most beautiful theatres I’ve ever seen. It was a 1920s art deco style with stain glass windows.â€
Wilfred Dunn, who grew up in the community, recalls another former theatre down the street at Dundas St. and Gilmour Ave.
“We are now standing where the Crescent Theatre was,†he says in his audio story. “I used to come here every Wednesday night with my mother. In approximately 1948, we used to get free dishware. If you came every other Wednesday night, you could accomplish the set.â€
More than two dozen audio stories are available now for listening with a second installment expected later this month.
You can hear all the stories either by going online to
http://murmurtoronto.ca/junction or by taking a stroll through the community and calling the number listed on the Murmur listening post.
Murmur also has similar projects in other countries, and more locally, in other parts of Toronto including Kensington Market, Little India and the Annex.
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