On February 26, 1964, shoppers dressed in their Sunday best walked through Yorkdale Shopping Centre for the first time. With over 1.2 million square feet of retail, restaurants, and services—although not all of them were yet leased on opening day—Yorkdale was briefly the largest indoor shopping mall in the world. With three anchor stores—Simpsons at [...]

How would you open a profile of Toronto for one of the U.S.’ most popular general interest magazines? Well, if you were the Saturday Evening Post 60 years ago, you would start with a joke that originated in a rival city, Montreal: a Toronto magnate was summoned to appear in court. On the appointed day [...]

9:30 a.m., January 2, 1969: a group of police-escorted limos filled with three generations of the Eaton family arrived at their Queen Street department store. As two of President John David Eaton’s granddaughters opened the store with a gold-plated key, fireworks exploded from the roof. Blasts were fired every four seconds until 100 went off. [...]

Ballenford Books. David Mirvish Books. Pages. This Ain’t The Rosedale Library. All established book stores that have closed within the past four years. With The Book Mark joining that list, Dragon Lady Comics shutting its physical store, and Glad Day Bookshop up for sale, it feels as if Toronto is experiencing a cycle of closures [...]

Every Saturday at noon, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Postcard of the Eaton’s store and factory complex at Yonge and Queen streets, 1920, from Wikimedia Commons. In the late 1960s, author and journalist Harry Bruce wrote a regular column for [...]

Every Saturday at noon, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Eaton’s in 1919. A Souvenir of Eaton’s Golden Jubilee 1869–1919 (Toronto: T. Eaton Co. Ltd., 1919). The scene: the complex of retail space and factories on the northwest side of Queen [...]

Every Saturday at noon, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Holiday shopping at Yorkdale in the 1960s. Illustration by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist. Christmas shopping is upon us, which means it’s time for the claustrophobic to avoid approaching most of Toronto’s shopping malls. [...]

Source: The Globe and Mail, September 30, 1971. Once upon a time, the managers of Eaton’s men’s clothing department were preparing a hiring call for designers for their 1971 fall line. Just as they were about to post the position, an eccentric designer approached the retailer with a portfolio of exciting ideas. The man called [...]

Every Saturday morning Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Santa Claus Float, Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade, Toronto, 1930. Archives of Ontario Reference Code: F 229-308-0-814 Torontonians have little time left to determine if their names are on Santa Claus’s naughty or [...]

Imagine that you’re an advertising representative assigned to handle a spot for Eaton’s in a magazine distributed to audience members enjoying classical music at Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. The department store giant wants to spotlight their fine collection of pianos. As you struggle for ideas, you flip on the radio and hear Paul McCartney [...]