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Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

Earlscourt_Lad said:
Also, "A World Lit Only by Fire", an examination of the medieval world, worth a look and usually cheap at BMV.
Click to expand...

I know we're wandering off-topic here...but...

Actually, it's awful as a book about the medieval world. It relied on outdated sources (largely Will and Ariel Durant's multi-volume generalist history of Western civilization, which was, at the time Manchester wrote, about 40 years old) and makes preposterous generalizations in its first couple of chapters as it sets up how awful the Middle Ages were before suddenly, poof! it was the Renaissance and humanity was suddenly bathed in light. It does a little better when it starts to move into discussing the life of Magellan.

Manchester was a talented writer and journalist. He was not a historian, and he had no significant knowledge of the period he was writing about in this particular book.

Medieval and early modern historians often referred to it as "That Book" when it first came out, since it was inevitably the only book many non-specialists had read about their period.
 
Earlscourt_Lad said:
Also, "A World Lit Only by Fire", an examination of the medieval world, worth a look and usually cheap at BMV.
Click to expand...

FAC33 said:
I know we're wandering off-topic here...but...

Actually, it's awful as a book about the medieval world. It relied on outdated sources (largely Will and Ariel Durant's multi-volume generalist history of Western civilization, which was, at the time Manchester wrote, about 40 years old) and makes preposterous generalizations in its first couple of chapters as it sets up how awful the Middle Ages were before suddenly, poof! it was the Renaissance and humanity was suddenly bathed in light. It does a little better when it starts to move into discussing the life of Magellan.

Manchester was a talented writer and journalist. He was not a historian, and he had no significant knowledge of the period he was writing about in this particular book.

Medieval and early modern historians often referred to it as "That Book" when it first came out, since it was inevitably the only book many non-specialists had read about their period.
Click to expand...

Barbara Tuchman is good too. Always lots of her titles floating around the shelves at BMV. I need to get to New York again. The Strand bookstore there makes BMV look like a bookstall.
 
Then and Now for March 19.



Then. Dupont and Christie. Looking W across Christie along Dupont. April 30, 1925. An unspectacular enough 'Then' scene - I was fully expecting at least one or both of those bank buildings to have been lost down through the years, or, some sort of 60s glass pavilion replacement. Imagine my surprise...

s0071_it3742.jpg




Now. March 2012.

Here are both bank buildings posing for individual portraits by their proud portrait taker - me - below. I decided to do this instead of the usual same-old-recreated-perspective because: a) Both survived. b) The BOM has a delightful brass plaque of a scale and apparent originality which took my breath away.

Now, while many of you may be saying: stop gushing and let's see the pictures already... I will agree because it is very late as I post these. :)

DSC_0091.jpg


DSC_0087.jpg


DSC_0093.jpg
 
FAC33 said:
I know we're wandering off-topic here...but...
Click to expand...

In the spirit of staying off topic....:D

I would agree that as a work serious history, it's not on par with work done by academics. In fact I don't think anyone would call it a history, per se. However, what I think it does do is present some fairly basic ideas about the medieval world in a comparatively easy read.

Or to put it this way, certainly form my experience, his observations on the conditions of life in the medieval world might be a little primitive and lacking in finer touches, but for the most part if you can get it for $5 at BMV its worth a go. Much in they way one might read some of Hugh Trevor-Roper's discredited stuff, every thing is worth a read if only to see the other side.
 
Plenty of colourful BMO identification in that photo, however I'm constantly puzzled by the acronym BMO - what do the letters stand for?
The Bank doesn't seem to let us know in any of their communications.
I'm sure it can't be "Bank Montreal OF."
Am I just too dense to understand? What's the answer?
 
Goldie said:
Plenty of colourful BMO identification in that photo, however I'm constantly puzzled by the acronym BMO - what do the letters stand for?
The Bank doesn't seem to let us know in any of their communications.
I'm sure it can't be "Bank Montreal OF."
Am I just too dense to understand? What's the answer?
Click to expand...

BMO is their stock symbol and I always assumed that came first (but maybe not!)
 
Goldie said:
Plenty of colourful BMO identification in that photo, however I'm constantly puzzled by the acronym BMO - what do the letters stand for?
The Bank doesn't seem to let us know in any of their communications.
I'm sure it can't be "Bank Montreal OF."
Am I just too dense to understand? What's the answer?
Click to expand...

Gotta be Bank of Montreal
 
"BMO is their stock symbol and I always assumed that came first (but maybe not!)"

"Gotta be Bank of Montreal"

Guessing and speculating is fine but what's the real answer?
Why wouldn't the stock symbol be BOM?
 
"Guessing and speculating is fine but what's the real answer?
Why wouldn't the stock symbol be BOM?"
QUOTE Pfof Goldie.

It would remind too many of the English word "BOMb", - FLQ et all.

(LOL)


Regards,
J T
 
DSC said:
BMO is their stock symbol and I always assumed that came first (but maybe not!)
Click to expand...

The stock symbol definitely came first.
Back in my stock-broking days we always referred to it as Bee-Mo - not B-M-O. And BOM wouldn't work for Banque de Montréal.

And of course the reason is to 'internationalize' or 'de-locationalize' the name. See also
RBC (stock symbol RY)
TD (TD)
CIBC (CM)
BNS (BNS)

Does anyone else think it is odd that two substantial bank buildings were built on what isn't a substantial corner?
 
I hate to drag this 'out-of-context' issue on any further, but it's becoming curiouser and curiouser with each post.
RBC, TD, CIBC and BNS all have well-known words associated with each letter.
I repeat - What's the meaning of "O" in BMO?
I'm not referring to "stock symbols" at all. BMO is the identification on the outside of buildings!
Why is it so difficult to interpret?

Oh well, let's just get back on track!
 
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"it is odd that two substantial bank buildings were built on what isn't a substantial corner?"

FOMOCO, n/w corner, Canada Bread, n/e corner, Vets Hospital, n/w - north of rail line. Hamilton Gear, Ossington Ave, n/e corner,

John T Hepurn, n/w Ossington corner, Frankel Steel, Shaw Street north of rail line, east side, . . .


Regards,
J T
 
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