Evocative Images of Lost Toronto

[Goldie]

Great collection - love the elephants!

I vaguely remember the fish market.
That's Mary Margaret Chambers at her store (307 Danforth Ave.) in 1917.
My mother shopped there in the 1940s.
Was a restaurant in Feb/2012.

 

[chriskayTO]

I find it very intriguing that the crossing guard (?) in the last photo of the set shows a bilingual STOP/ARRÊTEZ sign. I didn't realize bridging the two solitudes was such a concern back then. I doubt there were even any francophones in the city at that time.

 

[LowPolygon]

.

 

[Goldie]

I find it very intriguing that the crossing guard (?) in the last photo of the set shows a bilingual STOP/ARRÊTEZ sign. I didn't realize bridging the two solitudes was such a concern back then. I doubt there were even any francophones in the city at that time.

Could the reason be that the man was employed by one of Canada's national railroads?
"Just following the rules, ma'm!"

 

[spider]

What is the 2 storey wooden building with the mansard roof? The luggage and chalkboard (schedule?) say Railway station but the Pier 2 sign in the background suggests a waterfront location.

 

[LowPolygon]

What is the 2 storey wooden building with the mansard roof? The luggage and chalkboard (schedule?) say Railway station but the Pier 2 sign in the background suggests a waterfront location.

caption reads: Yonge St. Wharf, Esplanade E., s. side, from Yonge to Scott Sts.; looking n.w.

 

[the lemur]

That one kind of gets to me. One of those old photos that communicate a lot but bring up so many unanswerable questions at the same time. It appears to be fall, maybe in the morning, judging by the shadows if the photo is looking west. The boy is moving slightly, the man appears to be standing still ... why has he stopped? Do his sloping shoulders convey reluctance, resignation? Perhaps he doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to accept the reality within the walls of the building. Are they visiting someone? Someone who he knows will probably never leave this place ... the boy's mother, perhaps? How much does the child understand about where they are, what it means?

Or ... are they waiting for someone to emerge? Are they just strolling, walking up the drive out of curiosity, with no connection to the residents?

 

[k10ery]

Great pictures, thedeppend. Unusually for the "Lost Toronto" thread I get to post some "Now" pictures.

 

[Goldie]

I'm not sure if this is a Toronto item but it caught my attention at a recent 'flea market'.

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"I'm not sure if this is a Toronto item but it caught my attention at a recent 'flea market'."
QUOTE Prof Goldie.

According to the Fire Department Manual, FIRE ALARM BOXES. - 1945:

King & Fraser, H.9.13.15:A.15.C.4
(If indeed.)


Regards,
J T

 

[LowPolygon]

That one kind of gets to me. One of those old photos that communicate a lot but bring up so many unanswerable questions at the same time. It appears to be fall, maybe in the morning, judging by the shadows if the photo is looking west. The boy is moving slightly, the man appears to be standing still ... why has he stopped? Do his sloping shoulders convey reluctance, resignation? Perhaps he doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to accept the reality within the walls of the building. Are they visiting someone? Someone who he knows will probably never leave this place ... the boy's mother, perhaps? How much does the child understand about where they are, what it means?

Or ... are they waiting for someone to emerge? Are they just strolling, walking up the drive out of curiosity, with no connection to the residents?

You’re right, it is one of those kinds of shots…
The fact that it depicts figures approaching an insane asylum certainly adds to the punch and the poignancy. As does the fact that the institution was the site of such well-documented horrors…

 

[Goldie]

The fact that it depicts figures approaching an insane asylum certainly adds to the punch and the poignancy. As does the fact that the institution was the site of such well-documented horrors…

I was not aware of "such well-documented horrors."
Is the documentation available on the net?

 

[LowPolygon]

I was not aware of "such well-documented horrors."
Is the documentation available on the net?

there is a lot out there, not all of it is digitally available...

Accounts of Abuse of Patients at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1883-1937
http://www.cbmh.ca/index.php/cbmh/article/view/390/389

THE NATURE OF THEIR BODIES: WOMEN AND THEIR DOCTORS IN VICTORIAN CANADA
http://www.utppublishing.com/The-Na...en-and-their-Doctors-in-Victorian-Canada.html

Narrative of the recent difficulties in the Provincial Lunatic Asylum
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL2016...difficulties_in_the_Provincial_Lunatic_Asylum

Committed to the State Asylum: Insanity and Society in Nineteenth-century Quebec and Ontario
http://www.amazon.com/Committed-State-Asylum-Nineteenth-century-Mcgill-Queens/dp/0773521895

Brick Walls, Bed Restraints, and Behavioural Modification: The Incarceration of Mad Persons
http://www.yufreepress.org/features...odification-the-incarceration-of-mad-persons/

an interesting article:
"Images of the Toronto Provincial Asylum, 1846-1890"
http://www.erudit.org/revue/scientia/2009/v32/n1/037628ar.pdf

 

[Goldie]

This is not a Toronto story, but still, an interesting history lesson.
Does anyone have a source for a higher-resolution map similar to this (attached)?
I'm curious about the date - North America appears to be under the jurisdiction of Britain, America, Mexico and Russia.

 

[Goldie]

there is a lot out there, not all of it is digitally available...

Accounts of Abuse of Patients at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1883-1937
http://www.cbmh.ca/index.php/cbmh/article/view/390/389

THE NATURE OF THEIR BODIES: WOMEN AND THEIR DOCTORS IN VICTORIAN CANADA
http://www.utppublishing.com/The-Na...en-and-their-Doctors-in-Victorian-Canada.html

Narrative of the recent difficulties in the Provincial Lunatic Asylum
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL2016...difficulties_in_the_Provincial_Lunatic_Asylum

Committed to the State Asylum: Insanity and Society in Nineteenth-century Quebec and Ontario
http://www.amazon.com/Committed-State-Asylum-Nineteenth-century-Mcgill-Queens/dp/0773521895

Brick Walls, Bed Restraints, and Behavioural Modification: The Incarceration of Mad Persons
http://www.yufreepress.org/features...odification-the-incarceration-of-mad-persons/

an interesting article:
"Images of the Toronto Provincial Asylum, 1846-1890"
http://www.erudit.org/revue/scientia/2009/v32/n1/037628ar.pdf

Thank you for that extensive research material, 'thedeepend.'
There's plenty to be digested here.
I appreciate it!