Torontoist: Historicist: The Old Lady of Melinda Street

impresa

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:08:46 -0500

I can confirm that the pink Tely was the final, and it was only the outer form that was on pink paper; my grandfather, who was a barber in the Globe building, took the pink Tely home every day on the King car. Missing now from the streetscape were the corner news vendors, one of whom sang out "final Star and Tely" starting about 3:15 until the day the Tely folded (which was a sad, bad day for Toronto journalism). It was a paper one could detest for its politics yet hugely enjoy for the joy with which it went about its work. One of the other associated landmarks in the neighbourhood, by the way, was the Lord Simcoe Hotel, a sort of neutral corner into which Globe, Star and Tely staff could retreat to drink at the end of the work day.

TokyoTuds

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:35:00 -0500

What a beautiful building! Six stories, a public clock, a balcony for public addresses, windows that open, a clear entrance .... .... we don't have to build them exactly like this anymore, but this is the result of incremental changes in architecture for centuries. The building has human scale. Concrete, glass, and steel can free the architect, but hey shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath-water and design buildings that are inhumane. Tuds

Jamie Bradburn

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:14:30 -0500

My father was a Tely paperboy as a kid and always claimed he delivered copies in the middle of Hurricane Hazel!

David E

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:43:34 -0500

Pink Tely and Five Star final Star were the last editions of the day. They were the editions with the closing stock market figures. The Financial Times, the British newspaper is printed on coloured paper for all its pages every printing day. I'm fairly certain that it was just the cover page of the final Tely that was the distinctive colour so that persons would know that it had the final financial figures.

mila

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:04:22 -0500

love the idea of this being a weekly column - keep up the good work!

MariaPD

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:42:02 -0500

Thanks Jamie, this is great.

cg

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:12:31 -0500

David E, I'll defer to your superior memory skills of the logic behind the Pink Tely. Mine are foggiest at the best of times. However I do clearly recall that as a Toronto Daily Star paperboy, once a week I would collect 10¢ for each M-F paper and 25¢ for the Saturday Star. Of that, I'd get to keep the grand sums of 2-1/2¢ and 5¢ respectively. I think I used to make about 6 bucks or so a week. Which, for a kid of 12 wasn't bad considering that a Superman or Detective comic book and a bottle of pop were each only a dime.

David E

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:47:33 -0500

I distinctly remember the "Pink Tely" as being the final issue of the day. The front page was that colour to distinguish it from previous editions of the day. The rest of the newspaper was--to the best of my knowledge--printed on regular paper. The Toronto Star had the five star final with its five-star symbol near the top of the front page.

cg

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:28:09 -0500

It was also known as the 'Pink Tely' because they'd go through periods of using pink newsprint for the front page spread.