Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Browning Avenue]

January 8 addition.


Then. Weston Road and Lawrence looking N. "1963" according to the Toronto Archives' sometimes iffy estimations of date.

Now. December 2010.

That Scotia Bank looks mostly unchanged, apart from bricking up what looks like a window next to the letters and the addition of I'm not sure what underneath. Wonder if it's the original letters?

 

[Long Island Mike]

January 8 addition.


Then. Weston Road and Lawrence looking N. "1963" according to the Toronto Archives' sometimes iffy estimations of date.

Now. December 2010.

Mustapha: I think that the "before" pic here dates from later in the 1960s due to the lack of 50s cars (I only see two) and those "Cobra" light poles look newer then 1963 to me...
This could even be about 1970 or thereabouts noting also car types in this pic that are newer then 1963 also...LI MIKE

 

[Goldie]

Here today, gone tomorrow!

1920's:

How many of those Eaton's structures have avoided demolition?
Is the example on Coxwell Ave. be the only remaining piece of the Business Empire?

 

[Stumack]

Mustapha: I think that the "before" pic here dates from later in the 1960s due to the lack of 50s cars (I only see two) and those "Cobra" light poles look newer then 1963 to me...
This could even be about 1970 or thereabouts noting also car types in this pic that are newer then 1963 also...LI MIKE

Mike - I tend to think 1963 is correct. The newest car I can identify is a 1963 Pontiac (two back and left of the Beetle). The cars also appear to have black plates, which is correct for '63. Other cars include '58 Chev following the Beetle, a '61 Pontiac heading the other direction - the two waiting at the intersection are a '61 Plymouth (the dark one) and I think a '58 Studebaker (not common, even then).

The letters on the bank clearly look to be the same - most excellent!

 

[Mustapha]

How many of those Eaton's structures have avoided demolition?
Is the example on Coxwell Ave. be the only remaining piece of the Business Empire?

There is certainly nothing left of those Eaton's structures. I'm not entirely sure if I'm filled with regret.

The warren of streets and old factories could have been renovated and "loft-ed", but at least has been replaced by something climate controlled - the Eaton Centre - which provides a warm pedestrian oasis in winter and a cool one in summer.

I was a big fan of the Yonge street summertime closures in the 70s, and the Eaton Centre has given me something approaching or substituting for a closed pedestrianized Yonge street. I don't wish to minimize the contribution of a vibrant Yonge street outside the Eaton Centre - they both need each other.

 

[FAC33]

I'm curious--I know it's been touched on tangentally in some other posts, but was there a particular reason why Eaton's left the three buildings at the corner of Queen and Yonge intact? (This would be the Woolworth's building and the two to the north). Or did they just not acquire those buildings and so built around them?

 

[Mustapha]

There is one of granite up YONGE Street . . .

Regards,
J T

You mean the former Eatons College street store now College Park?

That old place has some charming details within, some original, some reproduction. This staircase and the mirror to its right are original. I like how these stairs go up and end at a blank wall.

 

[Mustapha]

Here is another Eatons Annex shot; from the link that wwwebster provided.

That old escalator survived until the store was demolished around 1980. The slats were wooden, and the whole contraption had a Jules Verne vibe going for it.

 

[Mustapha]

January 9 addition.


Then. "1963". More Weston road and Lawrence avenue. Looking E along Lawrence.

Now. January 2010.

Looking SE.

Now. Looking SE.

 

[Mustapha]

"You mean the former Eatons College street store now College Park?" QUOTE Mustapha


Truth be known, I had never thought of "College Street"; was thinking more of

Yonge, north of St Clair.


Regards,
J T

You're still keeping me guessing; although it's getting easier; you must mean the Eaton family mausoleum in Mt Pleasant cemetery.

 

[adma]

Seems from those Weston/Lawrence pictures that the Lawrence grade separation must have been something like brand new in 1963...

 

[Mustapha]

Seems from those Weston/Lawrence pictures that the Lawrence grade separation must have been something like brand new in 1963...

I wonder what business that massive barn affair housed? It looks ancient even in 1963.

 

[Mustapha]

January 10 addition.


Then. Weston Road and Lawrence 1963 again. Looking NW. There are two "Then" views below. I suppose the 1963 photographer came back later to document the new apartment building.

Now. January 2010.

 

[adma]

And notice to the right of the mid-photo, the illustration to the right of *that* corner's ultimate replacement.

Interesting shift in Seaboard signage, too (from the neon into the backlit age we go)

 

[NomoreaTorontonian]

Looks like the last time they repaved the intersection was in 1963!