More Lost Toronto in colour

[Hipster Duck]

And really, it isn't like the "Broadway block" which Sheraton replaced wasn't pansy/freak/weirdo compatible, either--indeed, it seems to have been the effective south edge of Toronto's "Justice Weekly" heartland (I suppose the Ford Hotel was an epicentre). As cool as a lot of those Victorian and Moderne fronts may seem to modern eyes, I get cooties simply by looking at that image--when it comes to sheer, unadulterated scuzziness, nothing in modern-day Toronto compares...

Well, scuzziness didn't disappear, it just went online. Regardless, I don't think that scuzziness was ever in short supply; what seems to be completely absent in pre-1965 Toronto - as thedeepend recollects - is any sign of conspicuous wealth or luxury. Downtown Toronto seemed bustling enough, but it also doesn't look like the kind of place where restaurants had wine lists or where Italian leather goods could be displayed in a shop window. It doesn't look like the kind of place a single woman would want to walk around after 8PM, dangerous or not.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Toronto in basically the 60s...

Deepend: Good archive pics of Toronto from the 60s era here!

It is too bad that the Registry Building could not have been saved-many cities did not think "Preservation" back in those days-Toronto could have lost Old City Hall as well I recall reading.

I enjoy pics like these anytime! LI MIKE

 

[Observer Walt]

Agreed; as "iconic" as the new City Hall is, if it were being done today I'm sure the Registry building would have been retained, maybe even incorporated into the new structure. It takes a bit of imagination to visualize that.

This speaks of a time in the 1960s when progress, almost by definition, meant tearing down anything old. Thank God the prevailing attitudes have changed since then.

 

[adma]

Well, it would have been retained in the 1955 proposal.

Also remember that it wasn't really *that* old--the best chronological comparison today might be the Riverdale half-round. Indeed, it probably would have been *safer* were it older, i.e. about the age of St. Lawrence Hall: generic early c20 Beaux-Arts City Beautiful planning was at the nadir of fashionability even among the Eric Arthur types at the time...

 

[condovo]

I lived in Montreal for two years around 5 years ago, and I can attest that many Montrealers still look upon Toronto in much the same way Torontonians look upon Hamilton.

Having just returned from visiting family in Montreal last week, I can attest that many Montrealers continue look upon Toronto with utter contempt; an upstart, wannabe city whose entire fortune is built on Montreal's misfortune. Toronto just seems completely phony to many at the opposite end of the 401. In its defense, Montreal does have a certain, undefinable 'realness' that Toronto just doesn't possess. There is such a powerful sense 'Montreal-ness' to the place. It's uncanny and, to my mind, unparalleled in Toronto.

 

[Swamp Thing]

In its defense, Montreal does have a certain, undefinable 'realness' that Toronto just doesn't possess. There is such a powerful sense 'Montreal-ness' to the place. It's uncanny and, to my mind, unparalleled in Toronto.

Montreal does have a real "sense of place" that Toronto lacks.

Maybe because Montreal is relatively more homogeneous, with just a few distinct districts. Toronto seems to be more of an aggregate of districts, each with their own, smaller, sense of place.

 

[ganjavih]

Having just returned from visiting family in Montreal last week, I can attest that many Montrealers continue look upon Toronto with utter contempt; an upstart, wannabe city whose entire fortune is built on Montreal's misfortune. Toronto just seems completely phony to many at the opposite end of the 401. In its defense, Montreal does have a certain, undefinable 'realness' that Toronto just doesn't possess. There is such a powerful sense 'Montreal-ness' to the place. It's uncanny and, to my mind, unparalleled in Toronto.

No doubt Montreal has a certain charm that Toronto will never have, but I think much of Montrealers' contempt towards Toronto has some degree of insight that Toronto is in fact superior in certain domains and deserves its status as Canada's most important city. Many Montrealers dislike Toronto, but many, probably more educated ones, have a degree of admiration and respect along side the contempt.

 

[Anth]

I'm quite familiar with Montreal, but I don't understand the claim that it has a sense of place or charm that Toronto "will never have".

What's lacking about Toronto's sense of place or charm other than it not being rooted in French culture? Why can't this city's heterogeneity be charming in its own right?

This all smacks of romanticism from afar. Like always hearing that the women are more beautiful somewhere else.

 

[Tewder]

Toronto is always too busy deconstructing itself to generate or impart any true sense of uniqueness. Multiculturalism is just one example, or at least our approach to it. Having recently come back from France I can attest to just how truly multicultural, in the general sense of being diverse, France is. Unlike here, however, diversity in Paris still feels to be anchored by the strong centrally uniting identity of what is valued to be 'French'. This brand of pluralism felt no less real to me, however, and in fact I would say it felt more so in terms of there being a collectivity of diverse peoples coming together to engage in a shared common cultural experience. As an example it dawned on me that I was seeing far more racially or ethnically mixed couples and groups there than I typically see here where our 'Multiculturalism' seems to have the opposite effect by encouraging cultural fragmentation.

At dinner parties there it was interesting that my speaking of how multicultural Toronto is would literally seem to fall on deaf ears in an "il en va de soit de nos jours" sort of way, whereas talking more of what was perceived as Canada's uniqueness (vast unimaginable wilderness, big clean and modern cities, mountains and scenery etc) would truly capture the imagination and engage conversation.

 

[Roy G Biv]

I typically see here where our 'Multiculturalism' seems to have the opposite effect by encouraging cultural fragmentation.

I don't remember weekly riots in Toronto suburbs...

 

[ladyscraper]

Unlike here, however, diversity in Paris still feels to be anchored by the strong centrally uniting identity of what is valued to be 'French'.

You have got to be kidding. I've been to almost all the major world cities and nowhere came close to Paris for giving me the impression of multiculturism failing badly.
There was some REAL tension there. The new immigrants rioting against the French.. the immigrants fighting amongst each other.. lots of bad things going on there.

 

[Tewder]

You have got to be kidding. I've been to almost all the major world cities and nowhere came close to Paris for giving me the impression of multiculturism failing badly.
There was some REAL tension there. The new immigrants rioting against the French.. the immigrants fighting amongst each other.. lots of bad things going on there.

To be fair the French riot and fight about everything Workers strike all the time too but this does not mean their system is broke. The French embody the antithesis of Canadian apathy...

Not sure when you were last there but the France I saw again after several years away felt far more diverse and comfortable in its diversity than I knew it before, understanding that theirs is not a 'multicultural' approach but one of assimilation more akin to that in the USA.

 

[urbanboom]

To be fair the French riot and fight about everything Workers strike all the time too but this does not mean their system is broke. The French embody the antithesis of Canadian apathy...

Not sure when you were last there but the France I saw again after several years away felt far more diverse and comfortable in its diversity than I knew it before, understanding that theirs is not a 'multicultural' approach but one of assimilation more akin to that in the USA.

Have you ever been to Marseille, or outside of downtown Paris? Have you seen the Arab ghettos there? Have you seen the blatent hatred towards immigrants there? Have you heard of Jean-Marie Le Pen?

I'm sorry, but if there's a country that we should be taking immigration tips from, it's sure as hell not form France. I'm sure as a tourist, the French system looks great from your view from the Eiffle Tower, or on les Champs-Elysee, but if you've ever spent a great deal of time there, like I have, and see the outer ring of Paris, and you'll see that grass is not always greener.

One thing about living abroad, it sure solidifies you appreciation of Canada and how we truly live in one of the most successful societies on the planet.

 

[Uncle Teddy]

This was a great thread before the talk of France started. Anybody with old shots to revive the initial intent of this thread?

 

[LowPolygon]

This was a great thread before the talk of France started. Anybody with old shots to revive the initial intent of this thread?

agreed! the random 'drift' that threads take is often kind of perplexing...

i forgot that Birks became a Canadian Tire in the 80's! very palatial digs as i recall.

i love the moderne lettering for the Daffodil Tea Shop

haven't seen many shots of this block--with the two fabled art galleries--Isaac's and Carmen Lamanna, as well as the famous Fiesta restaurant, run by Sandy Stagg. at the top of the block you can see the Pickering Farms Market--now the site of 18 Yorkville.

the Sword Restaurant at King and Bay. i wish there were more photographs of the interiors of some of these places! i am sure they were totally cool..

i love this shot--there's something so evocative about the details--the woman with the pink sweater, the Coke sign on the diner, and the image of that man looking through the glass at the magazines on display. the green Export sign, the newspaper box out front. the GORGEOUS doorway with the gold leaf 43! a classic image of a fleeting moment from a long distant time...