Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"My next step was going to be research on Eugenio D'Angelo's "travel agency"."
QUOTE PapaBob.


MIGHT'S TORONTO CITY DIRECTORY - 1933
DUNDAS STREET WEST, S/S:

57-67 T Eaton Co parking station.

69* D'Angelo Eugenio.
71 D'Angelo Eugenio steamship agent.

73 Vacant.

75-85 Police Station No 2.

87 Bailey Sign Co.

89 Vacant.

91 Vacant.

Bay st crosses.


Regards,
J T

 

[wwwebster]

What' I've been trying to find is information on the former Tudor Hotel on Sherbourne Street.
Wynham Lewis - a leading english modernist - both writer and painter, lived there.

I have also been looking for information on that hotel. The address was 559 Sherbourne, which was the site on which Henry Mills Pellatt had a new house built in 1902. The architect was Beaumont Jarvis, and it’s mentioned in the May 1902 “Architects’ Edition†of Canadian Architect and Builder. Unfortunately, the online copy at McGill’s Digital Library is not the “Architects’ Edition,†so it doesn’t include the image. I suspect the Tudor Hotel was that house, perhaps expanded.

Of possible additional interest: Richard Baigent lived for a time at 497 Sherbourne; E.J. Lennox a little south at 487, and Frederick Brigden at (in today’s numbering) 529 or 531 Sherbourne, later at 103 Rose Ave.

 

[r937]

Now. May 2012. Ina Grafton Gage [nursing] Home. Two O'Connor Drive.

a couple more recent photos, taken three days ago --

also, just across the street, this monstrosity is up for sale -- notice "development potential" because the new owner will likely not want to keep it as is...

 

[donoreo]

Ugh. I have gone past that white brick house many times. Just horrid.

 

[saleen01]

yes, its soo ugly...i wonder what the story with it is...i read the mls listing a while back and i believe the house is chopped up into small apartments...

 

[PapaBob]

Greetings once again, Mustapha, Goldie, JT et al...
You guys are an amazing research team! I had been spinning my wheels searching online archives without a firm foothold for months – now, thanks to you, I’ve got traction.

The first photo I’d like to share is the vexatious “Number 2 Division Officers and Men, October 4, 1931â€. I say “vexatious for two reasonsâ€; first, because it has taken me so long to find any information about it – second, because it was a real b**ch to get out of the frame. Some time ago, before I acquired it, someone thought it would be a good idea to reattach the loose cardboard backing with a glue gun. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of heat to get that stuff off. It’s harder than oak and will not come off without a soldering iron or something similar. In any event, I got it all cleaned up without breaking anything and scanned it. The image is 7â€x29â€, so it took four scans. I’m not thrilled with the stitching, but I’m learning. Thanks to JT, I now know that the “Signs†sign at the right edge of the image belongs to the Bailey Sign Company at 87 Dundas St. W. It looks like the building with the tall doors is detached from the main police station, but I’m certain that image of Dundas shows the same building(s).

The second image is a lot smaller (5â€x21â€) and I took the easy route of scanning while it was still in the frame. No.1 ITS would have been “boot camp†for RCAF recruits. I think ITS meant “Initial Training School†but (apart from the two tired-looking officers wearing forage caps and the Sergeant beside them) everyone has the white flash in the wedge cap that signifies “aircrew traineeâ€. I recognize the building: 1107 Avenue Road, the former Eglinton Hunt Club. The building was taken over by the Air Force some time during World War II and remained in use by them after the war as the RCAF Staff College. With integration of the Canadian Forces in 1968, it became known as the Canadian Forces College. During the post-war years it was also the home of 180 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets. I was a cadet in that squadron from 1965 to 1971. I stayed on as an instructor and ultimately was granted a commission in the Canadian Forces Reserve in the Cadet Instructors List. By 1974 my new full-time job made it impossible to continue and I went to the Supplementary Reserve. My brothers and I have many happy memories of Avenue Road and our time in the squadron. The property was sold by DND in 1994. Since then, the educational facilities were incorporated into the new Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School and the original Hunt Club building (or part of it) (which had housed the RCAF Officers’ Mess) was incorporated into a condominium development. The original Hunt Club facade forms the backdrop for this photo.

post script... after presenting two "thens" I should at least attempt a "now" -here's 1107 Avenue Road via Google street view...

cheers for now...

 

[Goldie]

Do we have any "Now" photo to accompany this view of the Globe newspaper Building (1870)?
The Ontario Archive notes: "N. side King St., near Victoria St."
Anyone have a precise location?

 

[Anna]

Do we have any "Now" photo to accompany this view of the Globe newspaper Building (1870)?
The Ontario Archive notes: "N. side King St., near Victoria St."
Anyone have a precise location?

Here you go, Goldie, from 1880

It looks like 'Globe Lane' (on the right in your photo?) became the extension of Victoria Street and the Globe building was lost to the widening - some time between 1884 & 1890, based on the later Goads.

 

[Goldie]

Thanks, Anna - just what I wanted to know.

 

[the lemur]

Some of our police and Chief Draper posing for a 1930 era portrait. The Archive notes for this photo: "Item consists of one photograph. Chief Draper is at right. A researcher has identified the location as 69 Dundas Street West, east of Police Station 2, which was at #75-85, between Yonge and Bay streets."

J T's find points to an interesting history of the building behind the officers and its occupant. According to Library and Archives Canada,

Eugenio D'Angelo, Secretary to Italian Consul, violinist, one of the first Italian immigrants to Toronto, arrived in 1889. A musician with nine years of formal training, his career included solo violin performances at Massey Hall in Toronto. From 1907 to 1918, D'Angelo was secretary to the Italian Consul. He combined his consular work with a steamship tickets agency. He was treasurer of the Italian Red Cross during World War I and was awarded a gold medal by the Italian government. After 1919, he served the Italian community as a notary public.

The window on the left reads 'biglietti d'imbarco' - more or less 'boarding tickets'. At the time of the photo he would have been combining the travel agency business with the notarial side of things, I suppose.

 

[the lemur]

I've been doing some digging around about artists in Toronto - I'm amazed to find that a number of them lived or visited around where I have my home.

Oscar Wilde spoke at the Allan Gardens pavilion in 1882. David Milne - the great Canadian painter - lived at the Sheldrake, and his sketches of it's interiors are now visible in the AGO's David Milne area.

What' I've been trying to find is information on the former Tudor Hotel on Sherbourne Street.
Wynham Lewis - a leading english modernist - both writer and painter, lived there.


From Canadian Literary Landmarks
By John Robert Colombo:

"The Lewises took a room for $14 a week at the Tudor Hotel on Sherbourne Street, south of Bloor. In his novel Self Condemned, in which Toronto is satirized as 'Momaco' he depicted the Tudor Hotel as the Blundell Hotel, and when the Tudor Burnt in 1943, he described the conflagration. (He referred to this time as his 'Tudor Period.') Thereupon the Lewises rented a room at the nearby Selby Hotel, which is still standing. Lewis also rented a bed-sitting room further south on Sherbourne which he used as his studio for his portrait and other painting.
...At one point he rented a studio at 22 Grenville Street.

That sounds pretty interesting - I wonder why a satirical modernist take on Toronto wouldn't be better known.

 

[the lemur]

If it's okay to post then-and-nows of other cities occasionally, and I apologize if this has been posted before, you might like this set of modern and WW2-era shots of Amsterdam. The 'then' pictures come from a set of negatives found at a flea market, starting here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hab3045/4475792146/in/pool-amsterdam4045

 

[Mustapha]

If it's okay to post then-and-nows of other cities occasionally, and I apologize if this has been posted before, you might like this set of modern and WW2-era shots of Amsterdam. The 'then' pictures come from a set of negatives found at a flea market, starting here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hab3045/4475792146/in/pool-amsterdam4045

Most fascinating. The SS recruiting office on Dam Square... there's a bakery/coffeeshop there now - many cuppas there when I travelled for work. The street to the left is the famous Kalverstraat.. then and now still Amsterdam's main downtown promenade.

 

[Mustapha]

Greetings once again, Mustapha, Goldie, JT et al...
You guys are an amazing research team! I had been spinning my wheels searching online archives without a firm foothold for months – now, thanks to you, I’ve got traction.

The first photo I’d like to share is the vexatious “Number 2 Division Officers and Men, October 4, 1931â€. I say “vexatious for two reasonsâ€; first, because it has taken me so long to find any information about it – second, because it was a real b**ch to get out of the frame. Some time ago, before I acquired it, someone thought it would be a good idea to reattach the loose cardboard backing with a glue gun. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of heat to get that stuff off. It’s harder than oak and will not come off without a soldering iron or something similar. In any event, I got it all cleaned up without breaking anything and scanned it. The image is 7â€x29â€, so it took four scans. I’m not thrilled with the stitching, but I’m learning. Thanks to JT, I now know that the “Signs†sign at the right edge of the image belongs to the Bailey Sign Company at 87 Dundas St. W. It looks like the building with the tall doors is detached from the main police station, but I’m certain that image of Dundas shows the same building(s).
View attachment 9439

The second image is a lot smaller (5â€x21â€) and I took the easy route of scanning while it was still in the frame. No.1 ITS would have been “boot camp†for RCAF recruits. I think ITS meant “Initial Training School†but (apart from the two tired-looking officers wearing forage caps and the Sergeant beside them) everyone has the white flash in the wedge cap that signifies “aircrew traineeâ€. I recognize the building: 1107 Avenue Road, the former Eglinton Hunt Club. The building was taken over by the Air Force some time during World War II and remained in use by them after the war as the RCAF Staff College. With integration of the Canadian Forces in 1968, it became known as the Canadian Forces College. During the post-war years it was also the home of 180 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets. I was a cadet in that squadron from 1965 to 1971. I stayed on as an instructor and ultimately was granted a commission in the Canadian Forces Reserve in the Cadet Instructors List. By 1974 my new full-time job made it impossible to continue and I went to the Supplementary Reserve. My brothers and I have many happy memories of Avenue Road and our time in the squadron. The property was sold by DND in 1994. Since then, the educational facilities were incorporated into the new Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School and the original Hunt Club building (or part of it) (which had housed the RCAF Officers’ Mess) was incorporated into a condominium development. The original Hunt Club facade forms the backdrop for this photo.
View attachment 9440

post script... after presenting two "thens" I should at least attempt a "now" -here's 1107 Avenue Road via Google street view...
View attachment 9441

cheers for now...

Fascinating. PapaBob, since this are the first time these have seen the light of day on the internet... I wonder if our Toronto Police wouldn't be interested in seeing this post. Anyone here have contacts on the force?

 

[Mustapha]

My, but it's been a busy past 24 hours on this thread.

No rest for us wicked.


Here is the Then and Now for October 10, 2012.


Then. Beach, E of McLean Ave. Dec 5, 1917.

Now. May 2012.