November 27, 2007
Vintage Toronto Ads: Danforth Rising
As the 20th Century dawned, Danforth Avenue was a muddy road that served as the northern boundary for the eastern portions of the city of Toronto. Between 1909, when the city made its first major annexation on the north side of Danforth, and the appearance of today's ads in 1921, the area we now know as "The Danforth" rapidly changed from a semi-isolated mix of farmland, villages and church reserves to a series of residential neighbourhoods well connected to the rest of Toronto.
Two key factors that spurred growth were the implementation of streetcar service along a newly paved Danforth in 1913 and the opening of the Prince Edward Viaduct five years later. Market gardens that had filled the area were quickly replaced with homes, while businessmen such as Joe Barnes set up shop along Danforth (though we have no record of how many young men and their fathers were happy to shop for suits together). Names of landowners, such as the Playter family, lived on in streets and neighbourhoods.
Today's advertisers were among the businesses and real estate companies featured in a special advertising section spotlighting the neighbourhood in the long-defunct Toronto World. With slight modifications, the following introduction could easily apply to condo or subdivision projects 85 years on:
Toronto's growth in the last twelve years could not be more strikingly illustrated than by the phenomenal development of the Danforth district. Twelve years ago one or two stores only stood isolated along the Danforth highway; today the same highway is a bustling business street fully two miles in length, with the reputation of being one of the best shopping districts in the city, a claim well substantiated by a large and continuous patronage from outside points. Danforth is a residential district and promises to maintain that distinction. Sub-divisions offering the most attractive home-sites in the city are now being put on the market and these will prove highly remunerative investments, either for homes or for speculative purposes, for Danforth is the vanguard of Toronto's progress. Last week $40,000 in home-sites was the turnover of one land agency on Danforth Avenue. People are seeking to establish homes where land values are now reasonable and where they have the advantages of such a convenient shopping district as Danforth Avenue.Source: The Toronto World, March 11, 1921
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Anyone know how much 35 Playter Blvd. is worth today?
Danforth Ave has certainly improved in the past few decades - from photos in the 50s and 60s it was nothing but used-car lots with some stores in between. Only a few car lots remain, Toronto Honda being the largest. The retail area east of Pape is still struggling after the decline of the Italian immigrant population wiped out many of the old businesses (remember Danforth Italian Gifts, immortalized by SCTV?), but as long as new businesses keep giving it a try, there's life.
There may be life during the day, but the Danforth is dead at night. Even with the bistros and such, it's a ghost town after 7. And it seems like there are no convenience stores at all in the area.
There may be life during the day, but the Danforth is dead at night. Even with the bistros and such, it's a ghost town after 7. And it seems like there are no convenience stores at all in the area.
There are about four convenience stores between Greenwood & Coxwell. I can think of only a couple between Coxwell and Woodbine, and about the same between Woodbine and Main. To the west of Pape all the bistros and shops have pushed out convenience stores. Duke Variety was there for decades at Gough ... within weeks of the owner's retirement it became Starbucks. I agree that most evenings it's pretty dead along the whole street except maybe between Chester and Pape. Most stores are closed and a few restaurants are open ... then there are the good old-fashioned holes like the Linnsmore and the Crossroads that add character, and characters, to the street.
There's a store more or less across from East Lynn Park called "Convenience." So there's one. I know of at least one more, just east of Pape.
Maybe they all close early, I dunno, but it looks like they're reasonably numerous.