Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[adma]

Sorry, you're right not Berton, I was thinking of Sinclair.

And remember that for years Berton/Templeton positioned themselves as a point/counterpoint radio duo.

Any "right wingness" in Pierre Berton would be more Red Tory...

 

[Goldie]

Here's a nice little video story (2 minutes) with a Toronto "Then & Now" theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-AJjsEUCBU&feature=player_embedded
However, I don't think it has quite the same historical significance of "Then & Now" as we have here with our still-photos on Urban Toronto.
Worth watching, nevertheless.

 

[Mustapha]

Then. 129A Dundas St. W. Something different today.

A bit of 1970-ish Chinatown history via an old news article; itself taken from a book the name of which escapes me that I have in my library somewhere. [Sorry, it's late and only a few spare hours between consulting jobs].

Now. March 2012.

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

From today"s National Post:

http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/06/21/its-sad-to-witness-a-tacky-renovation/

As per a number of above postings.


Regards,
J T

 

[bigdaddyhame]

Then and Now for June 21.


Then. 58 Avenue Road (at Lowther, SW corner). c1910. Residence of John H. Eyre.

I wonder when the Eyre house was torn down.. When I was a kid living in the area in the 1970's-1980's it was a service station and later the Rodeo Detailing/Wash.

 

[k10ery]

Then. 129A Dundas St. W. Something different today.

A bit of 1970-ish Chinatown history via an old news article; itself taken from a book the name of which escapes me that I have in my library somewhere. [Sorry, it's late and only a few spare hours between consulting jobs].

Very cool. It's interesting that the article relates gambling among older men to the immigration rules 50 years erarlier, which made it impossible for them to bring wives to Canada.

Kew Dock Yip, the first Chinese Canadian lawyer (Osgoode Hall, 1945) and leader of the campaign to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, definitely thought there was a connection. Here he is in 1960:

Here he is (I believe), appearing a tong leader in The Year of the Dragon (1986).

 

[adma]

I knew the name "Faye Leung" rang a bell.

 

[Browning Avenue]

I knew the name "Faye Leung" rang a bell.

Yes, she became rather famous a couple of decades ago for wearing loud hats and yelling even more loudly at a certain W. Vanderzalm about a real estate transaction that went sideways.

Jack Chow, or at least his insurance agency, continues to operate out of the same Chinatown building, which purports to be the world's narrowest building, with a Guinness citation in the window to support the claim.

 

[ergonome]

Next block north of Britnells......

...that is, the buildings knocked down to build the massive Metro Toronto Reference Library...one of these buildings was, I believe, 801 Yonge St., and that's where Reg Hartt's Little Queen Victoria Theatre was - the first in town, I believe, that ran revivals of silent and early sound films. Reg went through a few locations, as I recall, but the 801 Yonge St. one was in use in late 1967-early 1968 in any case. Reg is still around and so far as I know, still showing movies...

 

[ergonome]

As I mentioned in another thread, the pioneer in screening silents in Toronto was Reg Hartt, who went through a few different locations including 801 Yonge St. (now demolished to make way for the huge Metro Toronto Reference Library). I believe Reg would have started screening films as early as 1966. As a very strange ten-year-old I remember attending a screening of "Birth of a Nation" at one of his earlier locations. But Reg was a one-off, and you're right, the re-screening of old films really took off from the 70's onward.

 

[ergonome]

A. Stork and Sons stank unbelievably, as befit a slaughterhouse. I couldn't walk by without feeling like throwing up. I was amazed that they EVER got the stench out of there. How people worked there without going mad or driving their families mad is anyone's guess.

 

[brewster]

Its been a while. I miss this site. Took a stroll down Avenue Road from St.Clair to Bloor. Love the area , lots of change.

61 AvenueRoad 1959--2012

85 Avenue Road 1959--2012

90 Avenue Road 1959--2012

98 Avenue Road 1959--2012

103 Avenue Road 1959--2012

182 Avenue Road 1959--2012

183 Avenue Road 1959--2012

209 Avenue Road 1959--2012

236 Avenue Road 1959--2012

 

[brewster]

249 Avenue Road 1959--2012

253 Avenue Road 1959--2012

256 Avenue Road 1959--2012

270 Avenue Road 1959--2012

281 Avenue Road 1959--2012

283 Avenue Road 1959--2012

291 Avenue Road 1959--2012

294 Avenue Road 1959--2012

316 Avenue Road 1959--2012

396 Avenue Road 1959--2012

 

[Mustapha]

And here we have COLES, owner of the property.

(Get over it Heather, time to move.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coles_bookstore


Regards,
J T

Speaking of property... a block to the west of the WBB; still on Edward; at the northeast corner of Edward and Elizabeth, is a vacant lot.

It's been vacant so long I can't remember what was there. My point being... if the WBB is worth 38 million dollars, why is a parcel of land one block away of about the same size allowed to lie undeveloped so long?

 

[Mustapha]

A. Stork and Sons stank unbelievably, as befit a slaughterhouse. I couldn't walk by without feeling like throwing up. I was amazed that they EVER got the stench out of there. How people worked there without going mad or driving their families mad is anyone's guess.

ergonome, Hi and welcome.