Results tagged “1980s”

When voters go to the ballot box in St. Paul’s on Thursday their choices will include the latest in a long line of Toronto Sun columnists who have attempted to parlay their print personas into elected office, usually for parties that have matched the paper’s right-wing tilt.

Last year, we featured the television spots used during the latter half of the 1980s to encourage tourists to come to Toronto and "Discover the Feeling!" Today’s ad is an early print version of the campaign used to lure travellers from Motown into driving east on Highway 401. After a year of development by Camp Associates, the new tourism slogan was unveiled in 1984 as a replacement for "Toronto...Affectionately Yours," which had been used since 1972. Early reaction to the new slogan was summed up by Star columnist George Gamester: "’Discover the Feeling!’ doesn't sound like much for $50,000. But then 'I Love New York' probably didn't sound earth-shattering when first proposed, either."

These three local towers were...

Little-known fact: during the construction of the SkyDome, so many people stared down at the rising stadium from the CN Tower that the landmark occasionally came to life, with binoculars in hand, to see what all the fuss was about. Reports of the tower leaning over at a precarious angle were written off as mass hallucinations or proof of too much partying.

Three weeks, more than forty productions, four venues. Those were the stats for the first Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival, which marks its twentieth anniversary this year. Among the titles first-year audiences sampled: Blood Everywhere (You Should've Seen It), God is Dead as a Doorknob, Hurtin' and Hootin', and Siamese Twins Joined at the Smile.

You’re flipping through the entertainment options for a night on the town in 1980s Toronto. Let’s see...a cabaret musical about sex that employs a double-entendre for its title...and it has nudity...and it features tunes like "Fellatio 101" and "I'm Gay"...and it hasn’t been shut down by the morality squad yet.

The 1982 Grey Cup game was not a pleasurable one for Toronto football fans. The major disappointment was not that the Argonauts fell apart in the second half and lost to the Edmonton Eskimos 32 to 16—it was the bone-chilling, rainy weather. Downpours caused fans in fully exposed sections of Exhibition Stadium to risk injury in order to find shelter. Among the fifty-five thousand people in the stands observing the miserable experience were Metropolitan Toronto Chairman Paul Godfrey and Ontario Premier William Davis. As the Globe and Mail observed, as Godfrey "surveyed the scene from his dry seat in Section 42 at the 55-yard line, the falling rain brought a twinkle to his eye. There must have been visions of a domed stadium dancing in his head.” While Davis sighed that the Argonauts "played well," Godfrey told a Star reporter that “if you ever needed proof of the need for a domed stadium, this is your day.”

Hands up—how many of you read Chickadee or Owl during your childhood or purchased it for kids you knew? With features like the cartoon adventures of the Mighty Mites and the experiments of Dr. Zed (aka York Region science teacher Gordon Penrose), these magazines aimed to introduce scientific and environmental concepts to young readers.

"A Celebration of Friends" was the theme for Toronto's 150th anniversary festivities in 1984. Where better to meet your neighbourhood friends than the corner milk store, as the fine folks in today's ad are doing? One could have offered a toast to the city with a glass of milk from a freshly opened jug or debated the finer points of city politics over a carton of orange-flavoured Jungle Joose.

The night's journey could begin one of three ways. On this evening, it starts at Yorkdale subway station, where you take in the illuminated beauty of Michael Hayden's Arc en Ciel before boarding a train to head downtown. You stroll along the streets, eventually winding up on Yonge Street. Passing on buying a slice from any of the pizza joints south of Gerrard, you soak up the neon lights of record store giants A&A and Sam the Record Man. Another night, you take a similar journey from the comfort of a car, passing several of the same sights and ponder as you listen to the jazzy background music if you should check out that early Coen Brothers movie playing at the Rio.

Most ads for restaurants tout the eatery's virtues (smart decor, well-prepared food) or highlight special offers. Less common, unless the restaurant has bought ongoing advertorial space, are spots where the owner takes a stance on burning issues of the day. Ads for Oliver's in community papers usually highlighted the menu, but today's pick tackles the economic problems of the early 1980s with the subtlety of a talk radio caller, though modern callers would not tack on an apology to those who enjoy statutory holidays.

In this time of economic turmoil, isn't it reassuring that all you need to do to tell the world that your investments are secure and your confidence is strong is to show off a pair of pearl earrings? Never mind the corporate restructuring plan that you've worked on for the past two weeks to the detriment of your sleeping habits and stress levels—the world must know that you are alive and kicking!

Cumberland Terrace gets no love. While the 1970s time capsule of shopping mall design still sees excited holiday shoppers, most are passing through on their way to other nearby destinations to drop their dollars or to access the subway. Commentators on architectural web boards have dreamed of knocking it down. Even the centre's current owners have admitted that the site sticks out as an eyesore amid the current wave of redevelopment in Yorkville.

How does a company celebrate a century in business? If you're George Weston Limited, you hire a photographer to shoot corporate headquarters at sunrise, just as neighbours in Deer Park get ready to start their day with fine Weston's or Loblaws products.

As Halloween nears, costume hunters are descending on the city's vintage, resale, and thrift clothing stores looking for the right ensemble to dazzle their friends—we suspect that traffic reports will be required for Kensington Market, Goodwill, and Value Village locations this weekend. Someone may be lucky enough to find this gem from a quarter-century ago and channel its wit and vitality in any number of directions, including high-class fashion model, drag diva extraordinaire, or, with liberal application of muck and stage blood, a horrifying apparition.

Every Saturday, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.

If Reba McEntire and Tony Bennett come to Toronto to play, why shouldn't tourists follow suit?

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 and Stevie Wonder join forces to sing about the joys of piano duets and racial harmony.

We should have known! The culprits responsible for the Pac-Man recreation on a streetcar shelter outside Kensington Market have stepped forward, and they're neither advertisers nor immoralists: they're Teeth (responsible for this charming bear-woman) and our very own Posterchild (who is something of a fan of video games).

On Friday, reader Russ Morgan spotted Pac-Man on Spadina. Someone had converted one of the panels of the streetcar shelters between Baldwin and Nassau to depict a stand-off straight out of the classic video game: to the south, a big pixelated Pac-Man; to the north, Pokey, a big pixelated orange ghost; and, between them, a big pixelated cherry power-up. The yellow dots that always line the streetcar shelters, untouched by the artist, magically became pac-dots.

Shouldn't every mall should include a place to pose against an elegant concrete wall with your favourite magazine or a romantic hidden spot to meet that lawyer you're having an affair with while their spouse shops?

The holiday shopping season has descended upon the city, along with an early blast of winter. This combination may lead shoppers to unconsciously purchase items to cure their winter blues, even if the calendar shows that fall has a few more weeks to go. Today's ad offers a prescription from Simpsons and Esprit to keep free-spirited souls in an ecstatic mood come February. A trip down to the historic Queen Street department store promised...