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Posts Filed Under: Historicist

2 Comments

Historicist: “The Warmest Welcome, At An Inn”

For more than 100 years, a modest hotel graced the northeast corner of King and York Streets.

By Kevin Plummer

Shakespeare Hotel, c. 1865, from {a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare_Hotel,_northeast_corner_of_King_and_York_streets.jpg"}WikiMedia Commons{/a} (Originally from the {a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torontohistory/4504689658/"}City of Toronto Archives{/a}).
1 Comment

Historicist: The Crash of Streetcar Number 1502

A streetcar accident led to a tragic Christmas Eve a century ago.

By Jamie Bradburn

Map of accident site, the Telegram, December 26, 1911.
3 Comments

Historicist: The Two John Boyds

A father-son photography duo captured 80 years of Toronto's history.

By Kevin Plummer

Freezing rain with cars parked on the street, ca. 1925, by John Boyd Sr., from {a href="http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=000003194988"}Library and Archives Canada{/a} (PA-104956).
4 Comments

Historicist: Hospitality Without Pretension

From first nights in Toronto to one-night stands, the Ford Hotel saw a broad cross-section of life.

By Jamie Bradburn

Postcard of the Ford Hotel. Image courtesy of {a href="http://www.oldstratforduponavon.com/toronto.html"}Postcards of the Past{/a}.
7 Comments

Historicist: Armed with a Felt Pen and a Sense of Humour

Master of the cartoonist's pen but burdened by inner turmoil, George Feyer is a long-neglected mid-century pop culture figure.

By Kevin Plummer

Photo of George Feyer on CBC's {em}Razzle Dazzle{/em}, 1961, by Albert Crookshank, CBC Still Photo Collection.
1 Comment

Historicist: A New Home for Coaches

As the Toronto Coach Terminal approaches its 80th anniversary, a look back at its beginning.

By Jamie Bradburn

Acting Premier, Attorney-General W.H. Price, severing silk tape that officially dispatched the first coach from the Bay Street motor coach terminal, December 19, 1931. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 9028.

Historicist: The Lasting Legacy of Darling and Pearson

Frank Darling and John A. Pearson defined an era in Canadian architecture.

By Kevin Plummer

2011_11_19_ImpBank_415
3 Comments

Historicist: The War Is Over

As a Mail and Empire headline put it when word spread that the First World War was over, the "city celebrated in orgy of joy."

By Jamie Bradburn

Family reads Armistice Day headlines, November 11, 1918. Pictured left to right: Mrs. J. Fraser, Jos. Fraser Jr., Miss Ethel James, Frank James, and Norman James. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 892.
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Historicist: Arch Enemy of the NHL

A renegade Toronto hockey team owner, and the contentious path to the creation of the National Hockey League.

By Kevin Plummer

Photo of a typical Ontario Hockey team, 1915, by George Irwin, from Provincial Archives of Ontario (C 119-1-0-0-42).
4 Comments

Historicist: In Potter’s Field

Toronto's first non-denominational cemetery.

By Jamie Bradburn

Plaque on 2 Bloor Street West commemorating Potter's Field.
3 Comments

Historicist: Storm’d At With Shot and Shell

Canada's first Victoria Cross recipient, Alexander Roberts Dunn, was a native of York, Upper Canada, who fought in the Crimean War and charged with the Light Brigade.

By Kevin Plummer

Richard Caton Woodville's {em}Relief of the Light Brigade{/em}, 1897, from {a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relief_of_the_Light_Brigade.png"}Wikimedia Commons{/a}.
2 Comments

Historicist: I Sing The Body Hygienic

In his typically over-the-top style, veteran Toronto newspaper columnist McKenzie Porter's provided pointers on when and where to use the bathroom.

By Jamie Bradburn

Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova.
1 Comment

Historicist: Shuffling the Provincial Political Deck

One party got the boot. One party launched a dynasty. One party became the first to have female MPPs in its caucus. The tale of the 1943 Ontario election.

By Jamie Bradburn

Source: the Globe and Mail, July 28, 1943.
3 Comments

Historicist: A Perfect Crime, Forgotten

"We're completely in the dark," a Trans-Canada Air Lines official admitted after thieves took gold bullion from Malton Airport in 1952 in a seemingly perfect and still-unsolved caper.

By Kevin Plummer

Globe and Mail of September 26, 1952.
4 Comments

Historicist: Birth of a Public Transit Provider

As the TTC faces budget cuts during its 90th anniversary month, a look back at its beginnings as the successor to a decrepit, underfunded transit provider.

By Jamie Bradburn

Unveiling the streetcars of the future, courtesy of the Toronto Transportation Commission. The Telegram, August 24, 1921.
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Historicist: Queen of the Great Lakes Aflame

The 1949 fire aboard the SS Noronic took 199 lives. As the worst disaster in Toronto's history, the tragedy led to both heroism and a grisly aftermath.

By Kevin Plummer

2011_09_10_a136452_640
3 Comments

Historicist: Extending Church Street

How a traffic-relief plan for a growing city became reality.

By Jamie Bradburn

Source: the Mail and Empire, July 17, 1931.

Historicist: Patriotic Fervour at the CNE

At the Canadian National Exhibition during the First World War, Torontonians on the home front got a glimpse of the war effort overseas.

By Kevin Plummer

CNE Midway, 1914. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 877.

Historicist: Lord Simcoe’s Folly

Old world charm, new world challenges.

By Jamie Bradburn

3 Comments

Historicist: Hailey’s Comet

Arthur Hailey's 1950s teleplay Flight Into Danger, which inspired the film Airplane!, was one of the “most gripping, tension-packed” plays of its time

By Kevin Plummer