What I Miss About Toronto In 60's

[steveintoronto]

Well, first of all, MisterF, lets set the record straight. I didn't say I resent the person. I resent the act. Huge difference in what I said and what you interpreted. Why do I feel that way? Well, the way I was raised, the dinner table was a place for family discussion. How can you talk to people if you cannot see their faces because they are hiding behind a hat? You may think its old fashion, but if you attended a classy dinner table, the wearing of a hat is considered a complete violation of proper table etiquette...it makes one look like a classless hick. The wearing of a hat inside is generally considered an etiquette no no.

http://www.advancedetiquette.com/2010/04/hat-etiquette/

I also think families who sit in front of the tv with their food on their laps are missing a golden opportunity to connect with their family...especially the children. As a child of the 60's, my family spent a great deal of time around the kitchen table talking. My parents took interest in our lives and no subject was taboo...politics, school, life, neighbourhood events, news and current events. That is only possible when your family interests are focussed on each other and not the fantasy of tv shows. Its a great way of letting your kids know that there is a place in the world for them instead of having your kids or the adults buried in their electronic devices at the table.

As very poor immigrants from the UK in the late fifties (the straw that broke the camel's back to emigrate was my folks not having the money to buy my older sister a uniform for school, it was hard times with many in the nation still recovering from the War, I remember my mother's tears to this day)...anyway, not only was it forbidden to talk out of turn at the dinner table, you were expected to eat everything on your plate. We were astounded at the North Am habit of 'leftovers'.

Wear a hat at the table? Whoa...my folks were died in the wool atheists, but still, decorum was tantamount at the table. As time went on, the rigid habits softened, and my younger brothers were allowed freedoms we never even dreamed of.

In the event, my family moved back to the UK some forty years ago, they never got over talking of "back home". As the brash North American, I stayed.

 

[steveintoronto]

Civic politics! It was actually civil back then...

 

[Admiral Beez]

A little outside of the old city, but looking at the GTHA in the 1960s, we see some great manufactured products, such as:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studebaker_Canada

Beyond a Toronto-only matter, but national rail coverage in the 1960s would have been interesting.

 

[steveintoronto]

Ouch! Up until very recently, the "Studebaker Club of Canada" (I might have that wrong) still had meetings at the Hamilton plant. A friend of mine in Guelph has a Golden Hawk preserved. He was a regular attender. Unfortunately the model shown above was close to the end for Studebaker. They were such an incredible product!

Btw: Did you know they also made refrigerators there too with Studebaker's name proudly attached?

[...]
During the 1963 model year, Studebaker of Canada made some changes to its product mix. In mid-year the Canadian plant began assembly of the Daytona convertible and the Cruiser sedan, both imported to that point. The Studebaker Avanti was never built in Canada and the Canadian firm never offered the mid-1963 Standard series to Canadians. When the 1963 model year came to an end, the Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk became an imported vehicle.

Following the closure of the South Bend, Indiana factory in late December 1963, Studebaker shifted all of its production to Hamilton, where it was felt the company could be profitable on production of around 20,000 units a year. Because of limited plant capacity, the decision was made to focus on the Daytona, Cruiser, Commander and Wagonaire, which were all Lark-type platform variants. Studebaker would not shift production of the Hawk, Avanti and truck series to Canada.

For the remainder of the 1964 model year, engines continued to be built in South Bend (until the expiration of union contracts at year end), but without casting capabilities in Hamilton, the company shifted to small block Chevrolet V8 and I6 engines for the 1965 model year. The engines were produced by McKinnon Industries, a GM subsidiary located in nearby St. Catharines. [...]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studebaker_Canada

Edit to Add: Trying to reference my claim to Studebaker putting their own name on the refrigerators they made, it may have been limited, as the vast majority were sold as "Kelvinator":

March 28, 2014 10:14 pm
They also manufactured a lot of Kelvinator refrigerators in this facility. I grew up in the next town to Hamilton, namely Oakville and a high school friend had a 1962 Studebaker Lark. A very pedestrian looking car, but it was a V8! Sorry to see the end of this era.

https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php...nt-torn-down-to-make-way-for-industrial-park/

 

[Admiral Beez]

Ouch! Up until very recently, the "Studebaker Club of Canada" (I might have that wrong) still had meetings at the Hamilton plant. A friend of mine in Guelph has a Golden Hawk preserved.

IIRC, the Golden Hawks were never made in Canada, as the Hamilton plant, open only from 1963 to 1966, made only Larks, itself in 12 variants, as shown below in the 1964 brochure.

 

[Admiral Beez]

1964 Daytona convertible with 210 hp 289cu'in V8 has to be one of the best looking cars made in 1960s GTHA.

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2006/07/Daytona-Delight---1964-Studebaker-Daytona/1303568.html

 

[steveintoronto]

IIRC, the Golden Hawks were never made in Canada, as the Hamilton plant, open only from 1963 to 1966, made only Larks, itself in 12 variants, as shown below in the 1964 brochure.

Correct, my friend's is US made.

I must have my thick skin protection off right now, because those pics hit me where I wasn't expecting it. Oh man...my older brother used to buy Popular Mechanics and build AMT car models, he'd read Car and Driver and other auto mags, sometimes the UK ones....

 

[Admiral Beez]

The made-in-GTHA 1964 Wagonaire was cool too. Check out the sliding roof opening that would have made pre-minivan trips to IKEA (or whatever we had in 1964) more useful.

 

[steveintoronto]

Over half a century ago...my God.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Over half a century ago...my God.

At least you had cool cars. I was born in 1971, and the cars I remember looked like these POS....http://ca.complex.com/sports/2013/02/the-50-worst-cars-of-the-80s/triumph-acclaim

But to be fair to the cars, the 1980s were terribly ugly all round http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/31/1980s-ugliest-decade_n_4179811.html

 

[lrookies]

I'm a bit late to the game here but I'd like to mention that my brother and I attended Mrs. Band's Nursery School at 478 Huron St. during the early 1970's. My parents still live on Admiral Rd. nearby. My mother would drop us off there on her way to her teaching position at the U of T. I have very faint memories of playing in the back yard there, as well as in the front room. It was/is indeed a grand old house! I had no idea the nursery was only on the first floor but I suppose that makes sense.

Awesome...Thanks for posting that. I vaguely remember from my Dad Mrs. Band passing sometime in the mid 80's.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Health restrictions or knowledge was less known in the 1960's.

As a kid, if I had a fever or cold, I was given Children's Aspirin (80 mg). Today, it would not be recommended for children.

Peanut butter? We kids had peanut butter sandwichs at school. Today, it would be forbidden.

 

[Johnny Au]

PB&J sandwiches have declined in popularity as well, unsurprisingly enough.

Funnily enough, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital still permits the consumption of PB&J sandwiches within the facility.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Peanut butter? We kids had peanut butter sandwichs at school. Today, it would be forbidden.

And yet we survived.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Heaven forbid if we are given juice, or worse a soft drink, for our school lunch.