Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Goldie]

Toronto's minesweepers

I'm still admiring that great aerial photo submitted by thecharioteer.
I've identified the shipyard where I watched launchings in the 1940s.
My father helped build them.

click thumbnail to enlarge:

 

[thecharioteer]

I'm still admiring that great aerial photo submitted by thecharioteer.
I've identified the shipyard where I watched launchings in the 1940s.
My father helped build them.

click thumbnail to enlarge:

I had no idea there was ever a shipyard there. The waterfront (and Railway Lands) has become so sanitized, erasing most of the past. It makes it even more important that the Canada Malting Building remains as a connection to all the people who once worked there and to Toronto's industrial past.

 

[Mustapha]

Thanks for a fascinating glimpse into our culinary past. Looks to be early Sixties, no? That menu still stands up today, and I was glad to see a healthy selection of chop suey.

Also wouldn't mind quaffing a bit of that Parkdale champagne.

Yes, early sixties I would guess as well, going by the prices.

Note that the E'bound dormer was remanufactured; the slate also has been replaced.

Regards,
J T

Walking along Grange Avenue I was suprised to see how many slate roofs are still giving stellar service.

I'm still admiring that great aerial photo submitted by thecharioteer.
I've identified the shipyard where I watched launchings in the 1940s.
My father helped build them.

click thumbnail to enlarge:

The old shipyard office/ executive building is still in existence.






August 10 addition.



King and Yonge, SW corner.

 

[thecharioteer]

August 10 addition.



King and Yonge, SW corner.

This is one of the few shots in this thread where the "now" is actually better to the "then". That small Miesian office building at Jordan (I believe it was formerly Montreal Trust) is one of the best buildings in the Financial District.

 

[Goldie]

more Guild Inn

A very small detail of the Toronto Armouries.

click on attachment

 

[Towered]

I quite miss Lichee Garden. They easily had the best breaded shrimp I've ever had. I remember going to that location when I was very small. They relocated just down the street to the Atrium and stayed there for many years, which I had the pleasure of often visiting. After that they moved to Eglinton and Bathurst roughly, where I went once, and then they moved back downtown to University, near Dundas, which I also visited once. I've heard they since moved yet again to Thornhill several years ago - pity they fled to a sterile suburb. Don't know if I'll follow them this time.

 

[prosperegal]

I quite miss Lichee Garden. They easily had the best breaded shrimp I've ever had. I remember going to that location when I was very small. They relocated just down the street to the Atrium and stayed there for many years, which I had the pleasure of often visiting. After that they moved to Eglinton and Bathurst roughly, where I went once, and then they moved back downtown to University, near Dundas, which I also visited once. I've heard they since moved yet again to Thornhill several years ago - pity they fled to a sterile suburb. Don't know if I'll follow them this time.

According to their website, they're relocating back downtown, to the theatre district. Thornhill probably isn't the best place for that kind of Chinese food - people there want more of a "real" Hong Kong style, rather than a "Canadianized" menu.

 

[UserNameToronto]

Fascinating Flickr album. 'Baseball Place' - its a Toyota dealership now...

At Queen & Munro just east of the Don Valley. Note the Sunshine/Lever factory in the background (where the workers have been on strike for c.1.5years at Lakeshore & the Don roadway). The building to the right still exists.

I'm sure this tract of land made sense as a car dealership in the early 80s, but now it seems hopelessly out of place. Actually, the downtown east side has a lot of car dealerships, with several new ones being built in the last 5 years (Volvo, Audi, Infiniti, Porsche, Chrysler...more?...). Few types of businesses do less for their surrounding neighbourhoods than car dealerships.

 

[Edward Skira]

I'm still admiring that great aerial photo submitted by thecharioteer.
I've identified the shipyard where I watched launchings in the 1940s.
My father helped build them.

click thumbnail to enlarge:

They were building minesweepers in Toronto during the war? With no St Lawrence Seaway how did they get them out to the ocean? Were the Rideau or Erie Canals large enough?

 

[chriskayTO]

They were building minesweepers in Toronto during the war? With no St Lawrence Seaway how did they get them out to the ocean? Were the Rideau or Erie Canals large enough?

I believe that even prior to the St Lawrence Seaway's completion there were locks, albeit for smaller ships.

 

[Mustapha]

This is one of the few shots in this thread where the "now" is actually better to the "then". That small Miesian office building at Jordan (I believe it was formerly Montreal Trust) is one of the best buildings in the Financial District.

I like this building too. It's small, coolly elegant and very easy on the eyes. It's maintained in top notch condition as well.







August 11 addition.


Yonge and Wellington, SW corner.

 

[Mustapha]

August 12 addition.



Wellington looking SSE at S side of same. Yonge street in the distance just out of the left frame.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I remember how strange it seemed when they painted the red brick buildings on Yonge even redder - and made the buff coloured one red too. But I'd forgotten the old switcheroo with that frontage on Wellington, to fill in the gap to the east and make way for the new BCE Place building, and how that front appears to have gone buff coloured from red.

 

[Anth]

The Smart car is a nice touch

 

[Mustapha]

I remember how strange it seemed when they painted the red brick buildings on Yonge even redder - and made the buff coloured one red too. But I'd forgotten the old switcheroo with that frontage on Wellington, to fill in the gap to the east and make way for the new BCE Place building, and how that front appears to have gone buff coloured from red.

Still, they are lovely facades, and leave a nice link to the past. In some small way, these old facades seem to greet visitors driving or walking up from Lakeshore; as if to say: welcome to Toronto, this is the entrance to the old downtown, and we are its guardians. Ok, maybe someone else with a grip on literary expression could put it better, but I'm at work. Any takers?

The Smart car is a nice touch

It's nice to know that subtleties aren't lost on this clever group here at UT.