According to Glenn Garwood of the Toronto Railway Historical Association, two vices and a pollutant formed the backbone of puritan Toronto’s industrial economy in the early decades of the 20th century: “It was beer and liquor, with railroads in between,” he says, referring to the Gooderham and Worts distillery to the east of downtown, the [...]

The challenge: assemble a dozen speakers engaged in a wide range of cultural and heritage activities, give each of them five minutes to discuss their interests or the projects they’re passionate about, and add PowerPoint presentations consisting of 20 slides that change every 15 seconds—regardless of whether the speaker or the audience is ready to [...]

One of the great misconceptions about Toronto is that its past is boring. The city has seen its fair share of rebellions, grand celebrations, tragedies, ambitious plans, and unrealized dreams that in various ways intersect with our present. Teaching Toronto’s citizens about how the past and present connect is one of the goals of The [...]

In the ongoing battle over Toronto’s future, today is a critical day for reminders of its past. City council will vote on a proposal to close city-operated museums with low attendance and little financial reward, one that the City’s Executive Committee approved last week. Hanging in the balance are heritage sites with roots that go [...]

When most of us think of the ROM, we think of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, which is the museum’s instantly recognizable (if controversial) public face and main entrance. But go around to the opposite side of the building, just north of the mothballed and probably-soon-to-be-demolished McLaughlin Planetarium, and you’ll find a second, less inspiring, more [...]

Volunteer tour guide Jessica Duarte describes a painting of Maharana Amar Singh to Lynda Spinney (centre) and Joan Caswell (right). Photo by Lodoe Laura Haines-Wangda/Torontoist. The last time Joan Caswell visited the Art Gallery of Ontario, she could see. That was before a rare genetic disorder caused both her retinas to detach—the first when she [...]

One of two fully-articulated sperm whale skeletons featured at the Ontario Science Centre’s Whales / Tohorā exhibition. The front part of a sperm whale’s head accounts for nearly a third of its length, and contains no eyes, no ears, no brain, and almost no bone. Which raises the question: what the heck is it for? [...]

Museum staff couldn’t find, for purchase, the exact wallpaper that had hung in the Spadina House’s living room from 1905 to 1940 or so, but there was still a tiny scrap of it that had been peeled off a wall years ago and preserved. Using the scrap as a reference, they located an unused roll [...]

Kenojuak Ashevak, Enchanted Owl (green tail), 1960. Photograph: The Museum of Inuit Art. When you step into the Museum of Inuit Art, which is hidden at the back of the Queen’s Quay Terminal on the Harbourfront, you’ll probably recognize the first picture you see. This is the “Enchanted Owl.” According to the museum’s curator, Ingo [...]

The exterior of Montgomery’s Inn. Montgomery’s Inn is usually a quiet place. Located in the west end at Islington Avenue and Dundas Street West, the historic house and museum barely receives more than a few dozen visitors each week. While the Inn didn’t receive a Don Jail–style turnout during Doors Open, it did manage to [...]