Torontoist: Vintage Toronto Ads: A Two-Wheeled Nest Egg

Robert Lubinski

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:04:30 -0500

The former BCE (now Brookfield) Place is listed as 161 and 181 Bay St rather than 151. The 151 Bay St. listed in the ad was probably a building that was constructed after the fire of 1904. The buildings on the east side of Bay north of Front that were there before BCE Place looked more like 1920s-1950s office buildings so there must have been an earlier wave of redevelopment.

iantri

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:23:11 -0500

I guess this goes to prove that complaining about the TTC and the cost of fare is a time-honoured tradition in Toronto. :D

MariaPD

Tue, 27 May 2008 17:29:55 -0500

Thanks guys, really interesting!

redleaf

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:37:50 -0500

I googled and found: Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres 189 Yonge St., Toronto I also found a PDF of a letter to a lawyer addressed as follows: lawyer's name BCE Place 151 Bay Street Toronto ON http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/files/DEC/05010d1.pdf

Jamie Bradburn

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:53:31 -0500

The Junctions are related - the company was located in the town of Toronto Junction (founded as a village in 1884, upped to town status in 1892), which morphed into the city of West Toronto the year this ad appeared. The West Toronto Junction Historical Society has a map of the boundaries of west Toronto before it was amalgamated into the city in 1909 - it incorporated the Junction neighbourhood plus the Stockyards and Carleton Village areas to the north.

MariaPD

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:33:36 -0500

What's on those addresses now? Bay St. and Yonge St. Also what does "Toronto Junction" mean? is it the neighbourhood? (there is a part of the city called The Junction today, wondering if it is related).

redleaf

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:31:28 -0500

Thanks very much for a fascinating read. I never thought of the history of my skates before...