Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Lone Primate]

Perhaps someone can refresh my memory, but was there something called "Italian Gardens" on the north side of Finch near Islington? We moved to the area in the early 60s when I was very young, but I clearly remember thinking I wasn't allowed to go to the gardens because i wasn't Italian (I may have this confused with a Baby Point memory ...)

Oddly enough I was at the North Central Library yesterday trying to see what I could find out about the bridges and roads in the area... I came across a newspaper article from around 1980 about Rowntree park that includes the follow:

"[Henry John Boulton] sold his mills in 1875 to James Rowntree (son of Joseph Rowntree) but three years later the mills were shut down. / James Rowntree then built a large brick farmhouse on the northeast corner of Finch and Islington Avenues, which in 1960 became known as the Italian Gardens. It was destroyed by fire in the mid-1960s and was later taken over for land development."

...Isn't it funny how often these historic old buildings seem to get mysteriously destroyed by fire whenever they find themselves on the eve of some proposed new development...? So regular you can almost set your watch to it.

 

[LowPolygon]

Then: Queen Street/Don River bridge looking NW. April 9 1913.

Now: November 2009.

beautiful! i love the mix of old and now in the Now for once. the line and colour of the Watt building is a great contrast with the lovely Victorian warehouse on Old Brewery Lane, which is also benefiting from the opening up of the surrounding land.

 

[Mustapha]

thedeepend. Thanks.

Lone Primate. Nice pair of the Leslie and Sheppard area. How rural it all was, and not that long ago.


March 1 addition.


Then: Danforth looking E at Logan. February 29, 1932.

Now: December 2009.

 

[Mustapha]

March 2 addition.



Then: Danforth and Coxwell looking E. January 11, 1935.

Now: December 2009.

 

[Aladone]

Feb 28 - Remix

Mustapha - Your recent posts match so well that I can not resist.

 

[Mustapha]

Feb 28 - Remix

Mustapha - Your recent posts match so well that I can not resist.

Nothing has changed much in sign advertising - they put them where eyeballs can see them






March 3 addition.



Then: Danforth looking E. from Parkmount. February 22 1937.

Now: December 2009. The Oxford Theatre is now the Cyclepath...

 

[dbailey62]

Agreed. Sometimes these old photographs just tear your heart out.

 

[Mustapha]

Agreed. Sometimes these old photographs just tear your heart out.

This section of King looks a bit like certain areas of Montreal today; to me anyways.






March 4 addition.







Then. February 22, 1937. Danforth looking E. Main street is a few dozen yards behind the photographer. Note the Duckworth's Fish and Chips.

Now: December 2009. Note the Duckworth's Fish and Chips.

 

[adma]

Now: December 2009. Note the Duckworth's Fish and Chips.

And note how the retail strip it's in has been thoroughly degraded from its original brick'n'bayed consistency...

 

[NomoreaTorontonian]

March 4 addition.







Then. February 22, 1937. Danforth looking E. Main street is a few dozen yards behind the photographer. Note the Duckworth's Fish and Chips.

Now: December 2009. Note the Duckworth's Fish and Chips.

[/QUOTE]

The difference between this pair and the Danforth and Logan pair are quite remarkable. Today's Danforth & Logan doesn't appear to have changed that much at all.

 

[Mustapha]

And note how the retail strip it's in has been thoroughly degraded from its original brick'n'bayed consistency...

One supposes that the original builder can only hope that the consistency stays as long as possible. But, the semidetached I live in - the elderly neighbour was upset that I didn't want to carry on the green and white paint on the porch and eaves. She said that our houses had matched since their moving in in 1957.

The difference between this pair and the Danforth and Logan pair are quite remarkable. Today's Danforth & Logan doesn't appear to have changed that much at all.

I would say taken overall - the Danforth hasn't 'changed' much at all. There are storefronts there that have to date to the original build in 1920 or whatever.




March 5 addition.


Then: August 29, 1941. Looking across Queen street to the NE corner of Queen and Victoria. So many "watch repair" stores in those old shots. Anyone here wear an old watch, even occasionally? Either the kind that uses a swinging weight to wind or the kind that you wind by thumb and forefinger? I have one of the latter. The act of winding it in public can occasion stares.

Now: December 2009.

 

[junctionman]

The difference between this pair and the Danforth and Logan pair are quite remarkable. Today's Danforth & Logan doesn't appear to have changed that much at all.

I believe there used to be an at-grade railway crossing of the Danforth just east of where the traffic lights are now. You can see the crossing bucks in the 1937 photo. This certainly would have impacted how this stretch of the Danforth evolved over time.

 

[Lone Primate]

Then: August 29, 1941. Looking across Queen street to the NE corner of Queen and Victoria. So many "watch repair" stores in those old shots. Anyone here wear an old watch, even occasionally? Either the kind that uses a swinging weight to wind or the kind that you wind by thumb and forefinger? I have one of the latter. The act of winding it in public can occasion stares.

I'm more impressed by "Passport Photos 25¢". Seems like something from the modern age retconned and priced accordingly... like "mobile phones $1.25/month". Don't tend to think of average people as needing passports much back then. Especially as that was in the midst of the Second World War. Where were they gonna go, Paris?

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

Then: August 29, 1941. Looking across Queen street to the NE corner of Queen and Victoria. So many "watch repair" stores in those old shots. Anyone here wear an old watch, even occasionally? Either the kind that uses a swinging weight to wind or the kind that you wind by thumb and forefinger?

A c.1950 Velux, which keeps excellent time and provokes interested looks whilst winding.

 

[thecharioteer]

March 5 addition.


Then: August 29, 1941. Looking across Queen street to the NE corner of Queen and Victoria. So many "watch repair" stores in those old shots. Anyone here wear an old watch, even occasionally? Either the kind that uses a swinging weight to wind or the kind that you wind by thumb and forefinger? I have one of the latter. The act of winding it in public can occasion stares.

Now: December 2009.

Another view of the NE corner of Queen and Victoria (1919):