Category: Image

Of the things I’ve hoped to see more often appear on the CMHC’s FTP site since it began being indexed by Google a few years back, I must say that it is photographs that I’ve wanted to see more of. Although I love the slow (but consistent) digitization of print materials, there is something to be said for high-quality scans of colour slides from the Corporation’s archives that really make so much come alive. A small handful of images from Toronto taken in 1969 and 1971 has always been interesting to me.

Continue reading An Eastward View of the Wood-Wellesley Improvement Area, 1969

Image: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 213, Series 1464, File 29, Item 20.

Image: Google Maps, October 2015.

In 1955/56 the Etobicoke Council documented the location for the then-controversial sewage treatment plant along the Humber River. When looking through issues of the Etobicoke Guardian from the era, it was clear that, as a political topic, the plant soaked up much of the local government’s time.

I don’t have anything much to say about it other than I’ve been reminiscing lately about my visit to Casa Loma in the early 1990s. This is one of my favourite Boris Spremo shots (amazing how they tend to involve St. Clair in some way) and one that I would take myself today, given half the chance.

It was made effective April 1, 1982. The federal government designated Metropolitan Toronto as a bilingual service area. With a bit less than two years beyond it and the 1980 Quebec referendum, the government’s decision to take out some of the billboards en français seulment – in Toronto of all places – was seen by some as a political move. While it was to some degree, it was also a move that also recognized the presence of a Francophone community in the Toronto area.

Continue reading Sherbourne and Bloor E, 1982 and 2016

1981. Image: Boris Spremo / Toronto Star / Toronto Public Library, Baldwin Collection Item TSPA 0115270f.

Image: Google Maps, June 2016.

The former Canada Tavern at the southwest corner of Queen East and Sherbourne, 1981 and 2016. The stories some have shared at Vintage Toronto are pretty well expected. Though clearly on the dive side of the establishment ledger (and Moss Park had long been mixed), it was at least enough on the up to be the site of the Star’s New Years’ reporting in the late 1970s.¹”First baby greets New Year,” Toronto Star, January 1, 1978, A1; “Sunday goes with a swing in hotels and taverns,” Toronto Star, January 3, 1979, A3. By 1999, however, fortunes had waned, and the corner became better known for poverty and substance abuse.²Catherine Dunphy, “Crack corner: Drugs are turning a vibrant slice of Toronto’s downtown into an urban wasteland,” Toronto Star, February 20, 1999, B1, B4.

In more recent years, it was slated for replacement-by-condo, but things have since quieted on the site and it has been boarded up for years. Much like Norm’s Open Kitchen, the Canada Tavern has figured into the memories and imaginaries of Toronto writers.

The four-tower Main Square development was planned in 1968/69 and was part of an effort to deliver quality housing at an affordable rate. Situated on land that was held by the CNR, Main Square was expected to house 1115 families at completion. Half of the units were reserved for so-called “$5000 a year families” costing $125 per month at opening. The shopping concourse was expected to help depress the costs further.¹Mack Parliament, “East end high-rise expected to house 1,115 families,” Toronto Star, May 7, 1969, B38; “Housing Costs: Villains and Answers,” Toronto Star, April 13, 1971, 6.

I don’t have much to say with this one, other than I am an absolute sucker for images of Canadian cities with two or more modes of transportation visible. It’s in part why, when on business this year, staying at the Holiday Inn Yorkdale (at Dufferin) has been a joy.

It must have been all of those 1960s 16mm Ontario booster filmstrips I saw during the 1980s and 1990s in school. Far from bitter or even cynical, I actually cherish those memories and am always excited when I can get a glimpse.

Since this image was just taken immediately to the south of Toronto’s Parkdale, I’ll just link to the two things I’ve written about that neighbourhood. There will be more, of course.