Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[Mustapha]

That first pic looks more like a simulated 1980s fake to me...

Hey adma and the lemur, the source of the card and the date associated was an online postcard seller. I'd like to know too as I now realize the tree and it's style of situation is not anything I've seen in 1950s Toronto pictures. The palm tree in the back of the restaurant may be a giveaway to the amount of simulation going on. The car of course fooled me from the start.

 

[Mustapha]

Ut-er 'Eddy' has asked me to post a couple of pictures for him.

The Ontario Specialty Company on Church Street - in the midst of Pawn Shop Row - recently closed.

http://www.ryersonian.ca/article/19296/

It's whimsical window displays obviously tugged a few nostalgic heartstrings because there has been a bit of internet discussion on its closure.

Eddy provides a couple of pictures of its present status; and a closeup of the most fascinating decal on the door. Thanks Eddy; and everyone please enjoy the pictures because I don't believe the new tenants or owners will preserve that old store frontage.

Heya, it's the weekend and time for some only-vaguely-related-to-Then-and-Now nonsense. Some more old signs:



College just E of Bathurst. Would be nice if re-wired and lit, no?

University just S of Dundas. Noble sounding stuff. Nothing about EBITDA or ROI.

Adelaide just W of Peter. Something about Macleans and maybe a magazine.

 

[Anna]

Hey adma, the source of the card and the date associated was an online postcard seller. I'd like to know too as I now realize the tree and it's style of situation is not anything I've seen in 1950s Toronto pictures. The palm tree in the back of the restaurant may be a giveaway to the amount of simulation going on. The car of course fooled me from the start.

Found it - 1960 - "Signs on Bloor transfer platform"

 

[Mustapha]

thecharioteer's Manning Arcade pictures...

I searched online for an interior picture without success.

Does anyone know if it was truly an arcade inside?

 

[Mustapha]

Found it - 1960 - "Signs on Bloor transfer platform"

Splendid, Anna. Thanks.

 

[Mustapha]

In the footsteps of Titanic survivors: Survivors landed in NYC. Retracing their steps a century later gives a sense of old and new Manhattan.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-titanicnewyork-20120415,0,5086528.story

 

[r937]

University just S of Dundas. Noble sounding stuff. Nothing about EBITDA or ROI.

i worked for new york life canada from 1987 to 1994, when they decided to get out of dodge (exit the canadian market), severed most of their staff, and sold their assets to canada life

"the company you keep" indeed

 

[thecharioteer]

thecharioteer's Manning Arcade pictures...

I searched online for an interior picture without success.

Does anyone know if it was truly an arcade inside?

Given that it was designed by EJ Lennox, there must be a ground floor plan extant (wwwebster?).

Is it possible it was an outdoor arcade, more like a mews?

This undated photo (1920's?) from the Toronto Star archives looks like a view from the north towards the rear of the Manning Arcade. If it was truly an indoor arcade, it would have been a very short one and would have provided a pedestrian through-block connection to the lane leading to the now-vanished Johnson Street:

Caption:

All-Canadian Syndicate to revolutionize Yonge-Bay, King-Adelaide Block. In the biggest real estate and construction deal ever announced in the city of Toronto, a revolution in the whole appearance and nature of the ABOVE block is foretold. The deal involves the purchase of several of the most important real estate sites in Toronto, including those on King from the Commander Law Estate to the Toronto Daily Star site, and on Adelaide from the Regent theatre to Opera Lane inclusive. The deal involves the putting through of a new street between King and Adelaide streets.

 

[thecharioteer]

I believe I have the mystery of the Manning Arcade by way of the Toronto Public Library digital collection. The following photo from 1910 (showing the building draped in mourning commemorating the death of Edward VII) shows what the French would call a passage, an outdoor walkway linking King Street north to Johnson Street. Given the value of real estate, it appears it was filled in by a drugstore later on.

 

[Goldie]

Thanks to thecharioteer for finding this old photo of the Temple Building (1910?).
I don't believe I've seen this one before.
It nicely compliments one of my favourite pieces at the Guild Inn.

P.S. I'm now surprised to note that this is not the identical piece from that building.

 

[jaborandi]

Found it - 1960 - "Signs on Bloor transfer platform"

In 1967, this building housed the Yuli of Switzerland Hair Salon

 

[Goldie]

Some of us who where downtown at 7:30 pm today were treated to the breathtaking visuals and sounds of this 81 year old aircraft doing lazy loops over University Avenue.

http://www.rimowa-in-the-air.com/en/junkers_f13.html

Here's another item on that plane you saw, Mustapha:

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/0...sky-high-view-of-the-city-courtesy-of-rimowa/

 

[Mustapha]

i worked for new york life canada from 1987 to 1994, when they decided to get out of dodge (exit the canadian market), severed most of their staff, and sold their assets to canada life

"the company you keep" indeed

Multinationals sometimes don't do well against the local - entrenched - competition.

AT&T came up to Canada in the 80s with a line of banking/financial technology, so did the Germans via Nixdorf, the Italians with Olivetti and the Dutch and their Philips.

Well, as you would know it, Nortel, NCR, the emergent Dell and IBM were already well placed. It was like knocking heads against walls trying to get into the large accounts.

 

[Mustapha]

Thanks to thecharioteer for finding this old photo of the Temple Building (1910?).
I don't believe I've seen this one before.
It nicely compliments one of my favourite pieces at the Guild Inn.

P.S. I'm now surprised to note that this is not the identical piece from that building.

It is. It's from the 'short' side...

 

[Mustapha]

I believe I have the mystery of the Manning Arcade by way of the Toronto Public Library digital collection. The following photo from 1910 (showing the building draped in mourning commemorating the death of Edward VII) shows what the French would call a passage, an outdoor walkway linking King Street north to Johnson Street. Given the value of real estate, it appears it was filled in by a drugstore later on.

Thank you for all your work, thecharioteer. Methodical, thorough and fast you are. You must have quite the reputation in your industry.