cityscape
Honest Ed’s Building Has Been Sold, But His “Storeys” Live On
A look back at the Bloor and Bathurst retail landmark's colourful, pun-filled history.
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- <strong>Honest Ed’s, 1960s. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 465.</strong><br /> <br /> In his 1993 autobiography <strong>How To Build An Empire On An Orange Crate or 121 Lessons I Never Learned In School</strong>, Mirvish explained why he called the store “Honest Ed’s”:<br /> <br /> “I’ve always hated hypocrisy. And to me, the honorific ‘honest’ always smacked of something shady. If not, why would so many two-bit politicians and snake-oil salesmen use the name? Unless, of course, they were trying to portray themselves as something totally opposite to what they were. It’s a name I just found ridiculous.<br /> <br /> Which, I think, is why I chose it. I wanted to give real deals, but I knew that most people were suspicious of bargains that sound too good. And most ads I saw in the papers simply preened with smugness. So again I opted to buck the trend. Rather than sound self-serving, I decided to take the mickey out of all the usual sales pitches and sanctimonious slogans—and call myself ‘Honest Ed.’<br /> <br /> I thought it sounded appropriately stupid. And everyone agreed. Few names could be more inane. But I figured if you knocked yourself, you’d get attention. And it did. It hooked ‘em.”<br />
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- <strong>Advertisement, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, April 8, 1949.</strong><br /> <br /> One of the earliest ads we found for Honest Ed’s demonstrates the cheeky attitude the store wore proudly from the start. <br />
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- <strong>Advertisement, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, January 5, 1950.</strong><br /> <br /> The “you name the price” offer in this ad was a lingering effect of the store’s original pricing policy, which was outlined in a sign above the entrance. Customers were soon greeted with another sign depicting a toothless local character named “Dirty Dick” MacDougal, whose visage served as the “Honest Ed” mascot.<br />
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- <strong>Source: the <em>Toronto Star</em>, December 24, 1957.</strong><br /> <br /> Long before the store annually distributed free turkeys, Ed Mirvish posted himself outside the Fred Victor Mission on Christmas Eve 1957 to hand out one-dollar bills to the down and out.
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- <strong>Advertisement, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, February 19, 1958.</strong><br /> <br /> One of the store’s most successful promotions was a 72-hour marathon sale held on February 19–22, 1958. Around 4,000 customers waited for the sale to start, hoping to be in the right place for spot sales that would offer lucky shoppers luxury items, like a mink stole or a television for $1.98. CHUM DJ Phil Stone broadcast his overnight show from a bed set up in the window display. Part of the store was roped off for a dance marathon, where the surviving couple received $1,000. Mirvish later admitted that the sight of agonized contestants made him sick.<br /> <br /> Despite a snowstorm, 80,000 shoppers spent $750,000 over the course of the sale. Mirvish had no problem absorbing the $200 in fines he paid for violating a bylaw that prevented stores from legally staying open after 10 p.m. A <em>Globe and Mail</em> editorial hoped the sale’s success would persuade other merchants to pressure the city to abolish the regulation, which it eventually did. <br />
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- <strong>Advertisement, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, December 4, 1958.</strong><br /> <br /> Honest Ed’s would use anything to boost sales and publicity, from attractive members of the Claus family, to roller skate races, to offering islands in Georgian Bay for $2.19.<br />
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- <strong>Bloor Street looking west from Bathurst Street, circa September 1960. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 100, Item 263.</strong> <br /> <br /> The store expanded numerous times over the years. When this picture was taken, it hadn’t crossed the laneway currently known as Honest Ed Alley. <br />
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- <strong>Mirvish Village, Markham Street, circa 1982. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 50, Item 5.</strong><br /> <br /> As the store expanded, Mirvish bought up homes along Markham Street. Alderman Harold Menzies, who had been stuck in heavy traffic caused by the marathon sale in 1958, suggested that Mirvish should raze the homes to build a parking lot. The proposal didn’t sit well with residents, resulting in a compromise where Mirvish’s new holdings had to remain intact. <br /> <br /> During the early 1960s, Anne Mirvish chose one of the homes to use as a studio. Along with her came artists about to be displaced from “The Village” on Gerrard Street due to redevelopment. It dawned on Mirvish that a classy street of boutiques, galleries, and artist studios would improve the look of the neighbourhood and, less altruistically, attract shoppers who would never normally set foot in Honest Ed’s.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://torontoist.com/2010/08/historicist_a_village_grows_on_markham_street/">Mirvish Village was born</a>.<br />
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- <strong>Source: the <em>Toronto Star</em>, May 4, 1978.</strong><br /> <br /> Toronto’s media has long loved articles based around fashions and lifestyle items one could pick up at Honest Ed’s. Here’s a late-1970s example.<br />
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- <strong>Honest Ed’s sign, May 21, 2013. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcdux/8772771933/">Grégory Thiell</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</strong><br /> <br /> The statistics: 636 feet long. 30 feet high. Over 200,000 pounds. 23,000 light bulbs.<br /> <br /> Honest Ed’s had always had flashy signs, but the topper arrived to mark the store’s expansion to Bathurst Street in 1984. Not everyone was impressed with the prospect of so much light. Alderman Jack Layton feared that the neighbourhood would “end up with an illuminated skyline. It may never be dark when I go to sleep at night.” In the ward to the north, alderman Ron Kanter felt that “the sign seems quite appropriate for a Las Vegas casino. But I’m not sure it is as appropriate for commercial streets cutting through residential neighbourhoods.” Kanter took his complaints to city planner Paul Bedford. When Kanter showed a picture of the proposed sign, Bedford, recalling the incident for the <em>Globe and Mail</em> in 2007, leaned back his chair and told the city councillor “I like it and I think it’s fine.” Eventually, the store's management began turning the sign off each night after a few hours.<br /> <br /> An <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/07/16/honest_eds_sign_too_damaged_to_save.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">article published in the <em>Star</em> this week</a> claims that the sign is brittle and may not survive the sale of the building.<br />
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- <strong>A selection of Elvis busts. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/squiddity-of-toronto/328725528/">Nadia Halim</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</strong><br /> <br /> One of the store’s iconic aspects is its stock of Elvis busts, some of which bear less-than-skillful paint jobs.<br /> <br /> Just as kitschy are the cheesy puns and groaners that adorn the building, and that have been a staple of the store’s advertising almost from the beginning. Many were submitted by customers, who earned a cash prize if their rib-tickler was printed. A sampling of lines we uncovered while flipping through old ads in the <em>Star</em>:<br /> <br /> Honest Ed’s Ugly! But His Bargains Are Cute! (August 24, 1951)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's All Wet—He's Surrounded by an Ocean of Bargains!! (December 11, 1953)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's Stomach's Weak—Nothing Stays Down But His Prices (January 22, 1954)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's Not Bright—But His Bargains Shine Like Stars! (<em>Star</em>, February 12, 1954) <br /> <br /> Honest Ed Belongs in Jail—He Murders High Prices and Steals His Customers' Hearts!!! (February 19, 1954)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed’s A Bad Egg—But Though He’s “Cracked.” His “Cheep, Cheep” Prices Are No “Yolk!” (March 23, 1956)<br /> <br /> You’ll Have a Dime Fine Time At Honest Ed’s (January 19, 1961)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's a Fat Man!!! He's Tried to Diet, But Only His Prices Reduce (September 16, 1978)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's a Crumb!! But His Bargains Save You Bread!! (February 29, 1984)<br /> <br /> Honest Ed's No Bowler!! But His Bargains Leave You Cash to Spare!! (May 30, 1984)<br />
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- <strong>Signage in Honest Ed’s, June 22, 2012. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetone/7491361564/">Neal Jennings</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</strong><br /> <br /> The store’s hand-drawn signs add to its colour, and occasionally offer political commentary. <em>Torontoist</em> <a href="http://torontoist.com/2009/04/boards_of_ed/">interviewed the artists behind the signs back in 2009</a>.<br />
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- <strong>Honest Ed’s on fire, January 15, 2010. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ektoplazm/4275425897/">Alexander S.</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</strong> <br /> <br /> Honest Ed’s has suffered a few mishaps over the years. On June 18, 1962, up to 20 sticks of dynamite were set off by a bomber at the rear of the store. Police believed it was connected to similar explosions at apartment buildings around Metro Toronto. Windows shattered on houses for two blocks around.<br /> <br /> The blaze depicted here broke out in a storefront window just after midnight on January 15, 2010. Fire crews quickly put it out. <br />
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- <strong>Memorial outside Honest Ed’s for Ed Mirvish, July 12, 2007. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fermata_daily/796829678/">Fermata Daily</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</strong><br /> <br /> The store’s future was questioned following Ed Mirvish’s death in 2007. While his son David kept Honest Ed’s open, the store has gradually shrunk. The leftover space has been rented out to retailers like Sonic Boom. Rumours about an eventual sale of the property have circulated for years, because of its high value and ideal location. It remains to be seen if the site will wind up as condos, retail, or a mix of elements as varied as the products inside Honest Ed’s. <br />
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Our Building is a dump!
Our Service is rotten!
Our Fixtures are orange crates!
But!!!
Our Prices are the lowest in town!
Serve yourself and save a lot of money!
With that enticing bit of advertising, Ed Mirvish welcomed shoppers to his bargain house at Bloor and Markham Streets when it opened 65 years ago. Thousands of corny jokes later, the curtain is likely coming down on Honest Ed’s, with the announcement that the ramshackle collection of buildings cobbled together from houses and storefronts has been sold to a Vancouver-based developer.
Honest Ed’s lineage can be traced to Sport Bar, a women’s sportswear shop Mirvish and his wife Anne opened in a 15-foot-wide space on Bloor near Markham soon after they married in 1940. The shop slowly took over neighbouring storefronts, changing its name to Anne and Eddie’s within a few years. Mirvish soon tired of selling ladieswear and bought the entire leftover stock from a burned-out Woolworth’s in Hamilton. In 1948 he converted the store into what quickly became a busy discount retailer.
In part because of crazy marketing gimmicks and cheesy advertising, Honest Ed’s became a community icon. It was a store that catered to those on tight budgets. It welcomed immigrants, even offering a consultant to help newcomers. Its daily opening doorcrashers provided a social outing for diehard bargain seekers. To this day, its walls are a gallery of publicity shots of entertainers ranging from icons to the long forgotten.
Who couldn’t use a one-stop shop for groceries, housewares, clothing, and Elvis busts?
Honest Ed’s might be going! But its history is anything but boring! Take a look at our gallery of archival images, you lucky people.
Additional material from Honest Ed’s Story by Jack Batten (Toronto: Doubleday, 1972), How To Build An Empire On An Orange Crate or 121 Lessons I Never Learned In School by Ed Mirvish (Toronto: Key Porter, 1993), the February 20, 1958, February 21, 1958, June 19, 1962, October 10, 1984, and July 14, 2007 editions of the Globe and Mail, and the February 22, 1984 edition of the Toronto Star.
We first published this article when Honest Ed’s went on the market; today the Globe confirmed that it had been sold, and we’ve updated the headline above to reflect that.
