Whatever achievements the Saint restaurant on Ossington may earn, it will go down in history as the last spot Globe and Mail food critic Joanne Kates reviewed in her 38-year run with the paper. Like her or hate her, tracking her reviews over the years shows the changes in the Toronto dining scene since the [...]

Today’s ad may be one of the least visually dazzling we’ve featured, but the man behind it didn’t lack for colour or controversy. Anyone interested in investing in northern Ontario mining stocks might have wanted a second opinion before dealing with Charles Stoneham. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1876, Stoneham entered the financial [...]

Call it a populist romantic meal, 1970-style. Instead of buying a fancy vintage to accompany a luxurious feast of chateaubriand or surf and turf, you line up at the nearest liquor store, fill out the form (unless you’re lucky enough to be near the first self-serve LCBO outlet), bring home an affordable red wine with [...]

During the 1950s, York County would have seemed as big, fertile, and splendid to city dwellers as the ad above suggests. While suburbia was slowly making inroads, the area north of Steeles Avenue was still primarily rural, a gateway in the summer for those seeking recreation on Lake Simcoe. Little wonder that a program like [...]

Today’s ad appeared to be the bright beginning of a newspaper campaign designed to raise awareness among Torontonians, especially younger residents, about the environment. What idealistic youth could resist doing their part to build a better world by tracking their own efforts at helping Mother Nature, or by wearing an “I unpolluted” button as proudly [...]

Did you remember to celebrate Life Insurance Day earlier this year? Were the benefits you derived from the prudent savings of others at the top of your mind the last time you checked your safety deposit box or investment status update? Have you thanked your lucky stars and your broker that somebody else’s thriftiness has [...]

1912: Take a decent head shot of the store owner/employee/mascot and place it on a nattily-dressed cartoon body. Frame ad with promises of “free trousers.” Appeal to the customer’s sense of being a smart consumer who knows to spend money when he senses clothing that will make him the fashionable envy of his friends. Use [...]

How we imagine this magnetic hockey scoreboard was used: depending on newspaper delivery time, a dedicated young fan grabbed the sports section while drinking rich, chocolatey Ovaltine for breakfast, or after school. He flipped to the standings, noted any changes, then rushed over to the fridge to update his beloved board. Once the magnets had [...]

Public space activists are claiming a big victory today: the Ontario Court of Appeal has just upheld the validity of the City’s billboard tax, created in 2009 and challenged by the outdoor advertising industry. The background: in December 2009, after years of discussion and a concerted campaign by public space activists, the municipal government passed [...]

This week marks the end of an era for loyal CBC Radio listeners because, after 40 years of traffic reporting, Jim Curran will provide his last update for Toronto commuters on Friday. Part of the Metro Morning team since the show debuted in April 1973 as Tomorrow is Here (the name changed a year later) [...]

Following a police investigation into the sudden disappearance of bachelors at 555 Sherbourne Street, two one-bedrooms and a three-bedroom suite were held for questioning. All three were released, though the suite’s kitchen was charged with kidnapping after it was found to be hiding the Loblaws produce department. Based on the evidence in today’s ad, 555 [...]

Can you name all of the body parts represented by letters in the illustrations above? Do you think this ad makes crystal clear Dr. Blosser’s claims that his tobacco- and narcotic-free herbal smoke relieves catarrh? Are you confused by the length to which the illustrator attempted to prove Dr. Blosser’s superiority over other remedial aids? [...]