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Posts Filed Under: history

3 Comments

Historicist: The Assassination of George Brown

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time proved fatal for the founder of the Globe.

By Jamie Bradburn

Illustration by Henri Julien, the Canadian Illustrated News, April 10, 1880.
3 Comments

Pitching Your Tent at The Encampment

Stories of civilians who lived through the War of 1812 will be turned into a giant art installation for Luminato.

By Jamie Bradburn

Digital rendering of Fort York during The Encampment by Thom Sokoloski.
4 Comments

Historicist: The Symphony Six

Finding Communist "Reds" in the woodwinds and strings.

By Kevin Plummer

Toronto Symphony Orchestra, 1931-1932, from the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 329, Series 1569, File 8.

Historicist: The World of William Findlay Maclean

Every morning for over 40 years, a maverick thinker and politician presented his views to Toronto and the nation.

By Jamie Bradburn

John Ross Robertson, unidentified man, and William Findlay Maclean, between 1916 and 1918. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 657.
1 Comment

Prehistoric Toronto: The Missing Rock Record

All manner of fantastical creature populated the Earth for 450 million years between the mid-Paleozoic and late-Cenozoic eras. Unfortunately, placing any of them in Toronto is simply impossible.

By Daniel Sellers • Illustration by Chloe Cushman

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3 Comments

Historicist: “Room At The Top”

An Oshawa native scores the men's world figure skating championship by landing the sport's first triple lutz.

By Kevin Plummer

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Ron Wilson’s Recent Departure From the Leafs Was Not His First

Friday's firing of the Maple Leafs coach might have been nostalgic for him.

By Jamie Bradburn

How a 1979/80 hockey card of Ron Wilson might have looked. Photo taken from The Toronto Maple Leafs 1979/1980 by Stan Obodiac (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979).

Historicist: Dora Hood’s Book Room

Toronto's pioneering female bookseller supplied collectors and libraries with Canadian treasures.

By Jamie Bradburn

Dora Hood and her daughter Glen. The Side Door (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1958).
4 Comments

Historicist: Yorkdale Mall and the Aesthetics of Commerce

Beloved by shoppers and blasted by critics, Yorkdale opened 48 years ago this week.

By Kevin Plummer

Yorkdale Shopping Centre, ca. 1965, from the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 217, Series 249, File 197.
3 Comments

Lampy Versus Big Daddy

As TTC General Manager Gary Webster awaits his fate today, a look at a past power struggle over the TTC.

By Jamie Bradburn

Allan Lamport and Frederick Gardiner in happier times, during the official opening of the Yonge subway, March 30, 1954. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 8963.
6 Comments

Historicist: Test Drive a Metropass

After years of study by the TTC, Torontonians were finally able to purchase a transit pass in 1980, even if it cost more than Montreal's.

By Jamie Bradburn

Source: the Toronto Sun, April 6, 1980.
1 Comment

Vintage Toronto Ads: Gems of Canadiana (and Toronto the Good)

Before the Internet Archive, the Coles Canadiana Collection revived out-of-print historical works.

By Jamie Bradburn

Source: the Toronto Star, February 2, 1970.

“A Voice That Can Scale Mountains”

Audiences and critics were smitten with Whitney Houston during her first live Toronto appearances in the mid-1980s.

By Jamie Bradburn

Source: the Toronto Sun, August 17, 1986.

Historicist: Empire State of Mind

Struggling writers from the University Of Toronto to the Big Apple.

By Kevin Plummer

Photo of Fifth Avenue on Sunday, New York City, 1898, from the {a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?801628"}NYPL Digital Gallery{/a}.
3 Comments

The Elegant New Sutton Place Hotel

The downtown landmark awaits reincarnation as condos. Let's take a look at its explosive beginning.

By Jamie Bradburn

Advertisement, the Globe and Mail, June 16, 1967.
3 Comments

Rebellious Councils

Today's special meeting is not the first time city council has acted against a mayor's agenda.

By Jamie Bradburn

City Hall, Front Street East at Jarvis St., north elevation, 1895 (now the site of the south St. Lawrence Market). City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 98.
6 Comments

Historicist: Post-ing About Toronto

A 1952 profile of our city in one of America's most popular magazines reveals we liked money. A lot.

By Jamie Bradburn

Cover of March 22, 1952 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. Illustrated by Amos Sewell.
2 Comments

It’s All Yours at Ontario Place

The landmark's evolution from a showcase of the province's achievements to a family amusement park.

By Jamie Bradburn

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5 Comments

Casa Mendoza Comes Down

From shipyard to sizzling food, the story of the last classic Humber Bay hospitality spot.

By Jamie Bradburn

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1 Comment

Historicist: Nights Out At The Naaz Theatre

From a village in Punjab to the first dedicated Bollywood theatre in North America.

By Kevin Plummer

The Naaz Theatre, 1430 Gerrard Street East, 1981, from the Toronto Public Library.