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Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

k10ery said:
The Chateau style was a wonderful expression of the tastes of our two founding peoples -- the French seigneur and the Scottish land baron. :) A picturesque building looks good perched on a cliff in Quebec or at the base of a mountain in Banff, or even along the Ottawa River, I think. But it certainly was retrograde and didn't work in Toronto.
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I suppose the high peaked roof of the Royal York was a token gesture in that direction, modest as it was.

Though actually, the problem with Chorley Park is that it was fairly cartoonish as Chateau went (i.e. didn't have that Bruce Price-y "kick" to it); and furthermore, even as a nominally "public" building, it was too deep in upscale-residential boondocks to figure in people's consciousness. (Generally speaking, Chateau succeeded best as a "public" style.) And on top of that was the inherent imperialistic prepostrousness of a Lt-Gov mansion of this scale and location--it's almost like Chorley Park was the offputting Smitherman to Casa Loma's goofily over-the-top Rob Ford "likeability". (Come to think of it, Casa Loma definitely disproves the notion of picturesque-on-a-cliff not working in Toronto--even if it's in a different league from whatever Bruce Price may have begat.)
 
Then and Now for June 1.


Then. NE corner of Lonsdale and Dunvegan Roads. c1921.

595aLonsdaleDunveganc1921.jpg


595LonsdaleDunveganc19212.jpg



Now July 2011. This side of the house faces west. The longer more impressive south facing side is hidden from street view by a dense hedge. I was wondering if the hedge dates back to the 1921 picture. Some of them can be very long lived.

596.jpg
 
adma said:
I suppose the high peaked roof of the Royal York was a token gesture in that direction, modest as it was.

Though actually, the problem with Chorley Park is that it was fairly cartoonish as Chateau went (i.e. didn't have that Bruce Price-y "kick" to it); and furthermore, even as a nominally "public" building, it was too deep in upscale-residential boondocks to figure in people's consciousness. (Generally speaking, Chateau succeeded best as a "public" style.) And on top of that was the inherent imperialistic prepostrousness of a Lt-Gov mansion of this scale and location--it's almost like Chorley Park was the offputting Smitherman to Casa Loma's goofily over-the-top Rob Ford "likeability". (Come to think of it, Casa Loma definitely disproves the notion of picturesque-on-a-cliff not working in Toronto--even if it's in a different league from whatever Bruce Price may have begat.)
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Well, not me. I think Casa Loma is a failure that should be demolished - and I'm a knee-jerk preservationist. I don't blame E. J. Lennox - Lenwil shows what he thought should be built on the edge of that cliff.

4475591325_9699d2af81.jpg


But rich people can throw away their money anyway they choose. When it's the public purse - as with Chorley and now Casa Loma - that's another matter.
 
Casa Loma is such a unique landmark with its grand architecture, fine interior craftsmanship, and beautiful gardens on the hillside that it would be foolish to demolish it. (The same could also be said about Chorley Park. Even if the architecture didn't reflect Ontario, it could have been repurposed for some private use.) I like being able to tell my family and friends in Europe that there's a spectacular castle in my city as well, even if younger. Why should we lower ourselves to those cities without such beauty? We need to make some streetscape improvements around it, for instance like on Spadina Road, which should have granite curbs, paver sidewalks and ornate street lights with the castle towering above. It should be a spectacular vista.
 
Mustapha said:
Fascinating.

Also fascinating is the author - Bill Sherk - one of the most beloved high school history teachers that ever lived [IMHO]. He taught at Northern Secondary in the 70s.
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Until he defected to that "other place" - North Toronto Collegiate (cue Corner Gas "Wollerton" response). I still have a copy of his book Brave New Words.
 
J T CUNNINGHAM said:
"If anyone knows, please pipe up."
QUOTE Mustapha.

I can't "pipe up" because I sold my Ridgid 535 to buy this confuser.
('Still have my aluminium, 10" - 4' pipe wrenches though!)

THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, 1944:

Children's Wear

Eclipse Whitewear Co Ltd.
322 King W
AD elaide 0986.

('Thought we had been there before.)
(LOL)


Regards,
J T
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I'm sure we've discussed it before - I seem to recall some snowstorm pictures, which were recently reposted on Vintage Toronto. The Eclipse Whitewear building was, of course, the first home of the Toronto Sun in 1971 - "not much like Bassett's old place" is how I remember Paul Rimstead describing it in his first Sun column.
 
Goldie said:
Anyone doing renovations today really should hide something behind the new walls - even if it's just a current newspaper.
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A good portion of the exterior walls of my house are insulated with various newspapers c. 1920-1922 (the only dates I've been able to read), the defunct Toronto World amongst them. They've mostly broken into small segments, a sentence or so at most.
 
Browning Avenue said:
I'm sure we've discussed it before - I seem to recall some snowstorm pictures, which were recently reposted on Vintage Toronto. The Eclipse Whitewear building was, of course, the first home of the Toronto Sun in 1971 - "not much like Bassett's old place" is how I remember Paul Rimstead describing it in his first Sun column.
Click to expand...

f1257_s1057_it0021.jpg
 
DSC said:
There is an interesting display of historic (mainly waterfront) photos in the Queen's Quay Terminal Building - I think it's there for the next couple of months. They are a bit hard to look at as they are hung above the main passageway but ..
Some are from the Toronto Port Authority and as far as I know their photographic archive is not available online. Others are from the City Archives and I have seen several of these ones on UT. Anyone know if the TPA photos are deposited somewhere or are digitised? I asked them but to date no response.
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In answer to my own question. The TPA tell me that their archival photos are not online - something I hope they will remedy one day!
 
Try this again

Hello again. Please forgive my fumbling posts earlier. I was reading through from the beginning and was so excited to be able to add something to this wonderful tome. I finally made it to the end and what a journey in and out of a time portal this has been. Thank you to everyone here for all the effort that has gone into this.

Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Paul and I am the author of several digital railway mapping projects. My passion lies with historical electric railways and thats what brought me here in the first place. I recently updated my map of the TTC streetcar system and have made great use of the Toronto Archive online to display the early track layouts. I use Google Earth to draw my maps and have linked these images directly to the map. A left click on an intersection detail usually brings up a historical image of that intersection. I have also marked out the footprints of related buildings like carhouses and power substations with polygons. A left click will also bring up images.

Recently I also began to attach image links to the map from the cameramans point of view. Double clicking a camera icon will put the image in perpective. I like this because you can switch to the street view for a then and now treatment. Try the Rogers road line or St.Thomas Ontario for examples.
This project has taken about 8000+ hours to do so far and I see no end in sight. My work is free and open to criticism so please visit www.cermc.webs.com for my latest work.

Paul... just call me faw
 
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A recent thread made mention of Col.Harland Sanders. He lived on Melton drive in Cooksville. I remember seeing him in my church at Applewood United on Stanfield road. He came here to attend to his Canadian operations after he was ousted from the U.S. company in a hostile takeover. He was a large contributor to the Cooksville General Hospital(now Trillium?) at Queensway and Hwy 10, a wing bears his name to this day. He used to film cooking shows for the CBC in his back yard and had one of the last horse stables in Mississauga, on what is now the Queensway at Dixie road. The people that bought his home from his estate found his trademark white suit and black bola tie in a closet. The garage of his house was built to mimic the restaraunt design of the time too and still stands. I would post a streetview but am still in the dark as to how to do that. http://goo.gl/maps/gLBf try this.
If you can find a copy,( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SplIHEeA4rA ) check out Dan Ackroyd's first feature film, "Love at first sight" filmed in Toronto and Niagara Falls in 1976. KFC was big then and is referenced 7 times in the movie as well as a cameo near the end of the Col. himself. Also some period shots of Toronto to see.

faw
 
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