Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

" The old men who hung out there taught me how to swear in Chinese, and told me to go home and repeat same to my mother. What an upbringing."
Mustapha.

It's been a long time, and I only recall the last part, but I do remember what it is in English.

Bad; BAD; Really BAD; REALLY, REALLY BAD!
LOL

Regards,
J T

 

[adma]

Then. St. Andrews Presbyterian Church former manse on Simcoe south of King August 25 1973.

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Worth noting: the 3rd TD tower (Commercial Union) in the background, before its curtain wall got its final black-matte treatment...

 

[adma]

Then. Toronto's 2nd Chinatown. Elizabeth Street. [The 1st was on lower York street; according to my gramps]. Looking SW at the W side of the street from a tidge S of Dundas. 1970s; going by the sideburns.

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Other c1972 giveaways: the Holiday Inn under construction (of course), as well as Canada Post box sporting its "modern" red white & blue stripes.

And I find something seems rather strange about how the CIBC's crammed into the middle of the Lichee Gardens block--though going by the stonework, it looks like there was *always* a bank there. (Maybe the storefront-like location was a reflection of this being "The Ward", i.e. too lowly for fancy-wancy purpose-built corner banks.)

 

[Goldie]

Early photograph of Eglinton Ave. in Scarborough (S. of Kingston Rd.) before the name was changed to Guildwood Parkway.
Guild Inn entrance at left.

 

[Mustapha]

[QUOTE="J T CUNNINGHAM, post: 1115490, member: 4771.....
It's been a long time, and I only recall the last part, but I do remember what it is in English.

Bad; BAD; Really BAD; REALLY, REALLY BAD!
LOL

Regards,
J T[/QUOTE]

Yep, nothing tops cursing your mom in Chinese, or I suppose, being cursed in it.

So, apparently, you didn't hang at the RCYC in your youth either.

 

[Mustapha]

http://nikkeivoice.ca/memories-of-nikko-gardens-one-of-torontos-finest-japanese-restaurants/

Article is a couple years old but I just found it.

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"So, apparently, you didn't hang at the RCYC in your youth either."
Mustapha.

I more "identify" with The MYC, Mimico Yacht Club, than The RCYC,
even though The Toronto Archives picture site has us on The River Humber.

Regards,
J T

 

[Mustapha]

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/jade-doskow-lost-utopias-sites-from-the-world-s-fairs

 

[Mustapha]

http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/12/that_time_when_star_trek_fans_invaded_the_skydome/

This too is a couple years old but I just found it.

 

[Goldie]

Mustapha, I absolutely love the detail you captured in this "Now" image of the former manse of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.

So typical of a Toronto street scene today.

 

[Mustapha]

Spadina and Nassau. NW corner.

'Now' is today. Run and go see the old sign.

Dunno how long it'll survive. They're hammering away inside.


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And... they're gone.

 

[Mustapha]

Mustapha, I absolutely love the detail you captured in this "Now" image of the former manse of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.

So typical of a Toronto street scene today.

View attachment 75640

Thanks Goldie.

Smartphones, as distracting as they are, pass for something like magic for me. Just an amazing tool. I can't live without mine. Nor it seems, can that lady in the picture.

 

[Goldie]

Markham Rd. bridge, N. of Eglinton Ave. E., c.1963

 

[Oldcamera]

Then. Toronto's 2nd Chinatown. Elizabeth Street. [The 1st was on lower York street; according to my gramps]. Looking SW at the W side of the street from a tidge S of Dundas. 1970s; going by the sideburns.

The Lichee Gardens was patronized by Canadians. Chinese Canadians would go to Kwong Chow [cut off sign on the right]. A Chinese restaurant still occupies the old Kwong Chow space, so that makes it the only 'surviving' restaurant on Elizabeth.

Warning; paragraph to follow is me mounting pulpit to air my pet grievance. Everyone has a pet thing right? Mine is this: Chinatown was halved in the late 50s by appropriation for New City Hall. We all got a New City Hall. Some of us lost a community. Being a" flaneur" of every Chinatown that I visit, I can't but help appreciate those that have remained intact. Sorry, that's my background and my 'thing' and thanks for reading.

Before the Japango, before the Chinese Express, it was a grocery store. The old men who hung out there taught me how to swear in Chinese, and told me to go home and repeat same to my mother as a practical joke. What an upbringing. I can still picture some of their faces in my minds eye. Back to our regular programming.


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Now. Evening. May 12, 2016.

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My wife worked at the CIBC in the early 1960s. She is amazed at the "today" photos

 

[adma]

I'm also wondering if said CIBC was one of the likelier "orphans" created by the Commerce-Imperial merger in 1961, or if its lasting into the early 70s at least had something to do with its serving the Chinatown marketplace...