W. K. Lis
Superstar
At least with Eaton's, most of the goods were actually made in Canada. Many of today's discount department stores have the goods made in foreign countries at very low wages in worse working conditions than here.
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Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now
- Thread starter Mustapha
- Start date
lenaitch
Senior Member
You absolutely could. I was in 'loss prevention' and responsible for transportation and walked up to the Hayter St. 'barn' on a regular basis and my colleague who covered College St. walked there from our office in the Annex building. Enroute, I could often see George Eaton's race car under a tarp and other family member's fancy fleet of vehicles.
In it's heyday, Eaton's was much more than a retail outlet. There wasn't much in terms of retail products or services that they didn't provide. Heck, back in the early part of the 20th century you could order a house (although that business was targetted at the prairies and based out of Winnipeg. There were carpentry shops, furniture refinishing shops, tailor and seamstress shops, furrier shops, cold storage, etc. along with all of the warehousing to support the stores and delivery. As I recall, the only Toronto warehousing that was outside the downtown core was the 'heavy goods' depot at 400 and Sheppard. There was a delivery depot in Scarborough but I don't recall much warehousing there.
Pretty much all retail back then was from Canadian or American manufacturers. Many don't realize how robust our manufacturing base was.
flonicky
Active Member
King East looking west towards Parliament.
Streetview 2009:
2023:
Streetview 2009:
2023:
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flonicky
Active Member
Yonge looking south from Rosehill.
2011 Streetview:
2023:
1953 view from 2 blocks further north:
2011 Streetview:
2023:
1953 view from 2 blocks further north:
adma
Superstar
Noteworthy presence in 2011, absence in 2023: newspaper boxes.
DSC
Superstar
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Yes, I am always amused when I see the City's Astral 'corrals' as they (finally) introduced them just as print publications started to vanish and the ones we have are virtually unused. Not really anyone's fault but ...
W. K. Lis
Superstar
DSC
Superstar
Member Bio
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2008
- Messages
- 18,579
- Reaction score
- 25,230
- Location
- St Lawrence Market Area
When did you last see a public phone booth. The Astral corrals are quite common.
jaborandi
Active Member
I think for many of us of an age, it was the demise of the newspaper honour boxes that signalled Toronto's decline into anarchy. For those unfamiliar with the term, honour boxes had no lock on them to be opened with coin, but rather had a slot into which the coin was deposited and ones honesty was then rewarded by removing a copy of the newspaper from the open box. I think a lot of popsicle sticks and slugs were offered as payment.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Back when the bus driver or streetcar driver sold TTC tickets.
LPCI
Active Member
And made change. I remember the honour boxes too.
Northern Light
Superstar
Bay and Queen, summer 1961, looking east:
Taken from the FB group Friends Who Like Vintage Toronto. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbi....3364219480561521&idorvanity=1579752435674910
Orientation: Front grounds of Old City Hall in the foreground on the left, followed by one of the Eaton's Queen St. buildings, foreground right is the Bay cinema, replaced a few years later by the Simpson's Tower.
Now:
Taken from the FB group Friends Who Like Vintage Toronto. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbi....3364219480561521&idorvanity=1579752435674910
Orientation: Front grounds of Old City Hall in the foreground on the left, followed by one of the Eaton's Queen St. buildings, foreground right is the Bay cinema, replaced a few years later by the Simpson's Tower.
Now:
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Richard White
Senior Member
Wasn't there a porno theatre here at one point?
thecharioteer
Senior Member
There were burlesque theatres west of Bay, which were all demolished for the Sheraton Centre.
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W. K. Lis
Superstar
Gee grandma, what did you do when you were young?