News   Mar 28, 2024
 992     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 554     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 848     0 

70's-era CN Tower photos wanted: inside construction, antenna signing, opening day...

lansd

New Member
Member Bio
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
68
Reaction score
40
Hello all,

February 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the CN Tower's construction. I am heading up a project to recreate the proper and full history of the tower's design, engineering and construction, as presently outlined here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/40744368@N04/sets/72157632200955200/

While I have the photogtaphic history covered well I am looking for any photos available from Torontonians such as:

- Signing of the antenna segment at Harbourfront in March 1975

- Opening day in June 1976 and October 1976

- Any interesting photos such as taken from the TD Centre's Observation Deck.
 
Last edited:
Lot of photos available on the Toronto Archives site. Library and Archives Canada does have a CN archive, but given the severe budget cutbacks there I'm not sure how much of that collection is accessible. The Star also has some archival material through its library, and if you have access to Pages from the Past (university/school/TPL) then you might find some gems there also.
 
CN Tower Photos

My father worked for CN at the time, and was their Photographer and P.R. manager.
He had special access to all the forbidden places and took all kinds of photos. I just went down in the basement and found around 60 photos. Here are a few I just scanned. I know we have more, it’s just I have to try to find them.

My Fathers name was Fraser Fairlie. He was well known to the press in those days as he was the one they all came to for the press kits

The photos I’m about to show you have been in a box for 40 years, and have never been seen by the public, until now.

I'll upload more if you like.
 

Attachments

  • cn_tower1.jpg
    cn_tower1.jpg
    94.5 KB · Views: 1,426
  • cn_tower3.jpg
    cn_tower3.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 1,446
  • cn_tower2.jpg
    cn_tower2.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 1,414
Last edited:
Fantastic! Please scan and post more photos if you can. That first photo of the model looks very familiar to me, where was that taken? I do remember a very large, Lego model at the entrance to the tower itself (no idea if it's still there) but does that model in your photo still exist? Have you thought about donating these photos to an archive?
 
It appears that you have an amazing historical collection of CN Tower photos, CNR.
They can easily be colour-corrected (see attached).
Please post more.
The model of the Tower may be in a theatre lobby???
 

Attachments

  • cn_tower3x.jpg
    cn_tower3x.jpg
    91.3 KB · Views: 1,240
  • cn_tower1x.jpg
    cn_tower1x.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 1,267
  • cn_tower2x.jpg
    cn_tower2x.jpg
    97.6 KB · Views: 1,207
I think it's the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at the Ex
http://www.queenelizabeththeatre.ca/photo.html

From what I remember as a kid, the tower model spent time in many different display locations in Toronto including the CNE.

This model was not lego… it was an architecturally correct scaled model built for display to show Toronto what the tower would look like when completed. The model was even equipped with lights that ran off of a low voltage transformer.
 

Attachments

  • cn_tower4.jpg
    cn_tower4.jpg
    94.2 KB · Views: 1,240
Last edited:
Here are some more photos I scanned tonight... I also colour corrected them as they had turned red over the years.
 

Attachments

  • cn_tower8.jpg
    cn_tower8.jpg
    68.1 KB · Views: 1,267
  • cn_tower7.jpg
    cn_tower7.jpg
    95.5 KB · Views: 1,287
  • cn_tower9.jpg
    cn_tower9.jpg
    97.7 KB · Views: 2,027
  • cn_tower6.jpg
    cn_tower6.jpg
    79.7 KB · Views: 1,288
  • cn_tower5.jpg
    cn_tower5.jpg
    74.1 KB · Views: 1,362
  • cn_tower11.jpg
    cn_tower11.jpg
    93.8 KB · Views: 1,285
  • cn_tower12.jpg
    cn_tower12.jpg
    65.9 KB · Views: 1,285
  • cn_tower10.jpg
    cn_tower10.jpg
    92.1 KB · Views: 1,252
From what I remember as a kid, the tower model spent time in many different display locations in Toronto including the CNE.

This model was not lego… it was an architecturally correct scaled model built for display to show Toronto what the tower would look like when completed. The model was even equipped with lights that ran off of a low voltage transformer.

The tower model looks highly complete and very well made.
Where is it located now ?
 
These are fantastic, thanks for sharing them!

I was always intrigued by the dark lines on the side of the tower from the forms, they made me think of the rings of a tree.
 
From what I remember as a kid, the tower model spent time in many different display locations in Toronto including the CNE.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who provided their input on my CN Tower heritage project. That input lead to an expanded network of key personnel who had worked on the tower, and who are still alive. I have not come across any people who took pictures of the antenna signing yet, but I know such pictures must abound.

As for the CN Tower model, let me add in some images I took in April 1974 at Simpson's downtown store. They were holding a contest and hence I made sure to get downtown to see the model and enter the contest. In the coming months I'll be asking the tower's architects who made this model, but right now I'm still unsure.

simpson1.jpg
simpson2.jpg
 

Attachments

  • simpson1.jpg
    simpson1.jpg
    68.4 KB · Views: 2,111
  • simpson2.jpg
    simpson2.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 2,167
I was always intrigued by the dark lines on the side of the tower from the forms.

I had always thought that they were due to different qualities of concrete or its content. So, as one of the first questions I asked the tower's slipform designer in my interviews with him this year, he said "No, the lines are due to the workers who just didn't put enough curing compound on the concrete. They would not always do a consistent job.".
 

Back
Top