Toronto of the 1950s

Clean - and famously boring. That's no myth. Its world-renowned dullness was probably one of the things that made it easier to build a subway by cut and cover construction. Though the exterior of the Flame restaurant looks fabulous!

Also, the Letros building (across from the King Eddy) was home to one of the city's most famous gay bars, apparently. (Learned this factoid on the Urban Toronto forum, BTW.) So there were things going on in dull, blue-law, Sunday closing Toronto (where my cousin ran a speakeasy in his kitchen on Sundays.) But it was all on the down-low.

That is Maple Leaf Stadium. The current "Stadium Rd" is located on what would have been the west side of the stadium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Leaf_Stadium

What is cool about that picture is seeing how much more landfill was required to create Queens Quay.

Thanks guys :) What a bummer that it was torn down.

The image of King and Yonge (3rd one down) is backwards, but a great picture nonetheless. Definitely one of the best streetwalls in Canada, albeit a short one.

Also, just look at how ravaged by industrial pollution our skyscrapers were, and that was only a few decades after their construction. The old Star Building is nearly black, though it was a bright off-white when constructed. Truly a tragic loss.

you're a jerk. Toronto would be a very nice place if jerks like you didn't live here.

It's amazing how much land has been filled in at Queens Quay! And how much space the railway took up.

A big thank you to BlogTO for this series. It is one of my favourite things about your website. You should consider amassing these entries into a book one day.

I was suspicious of that one, but it's labeled by the Toronto Archives as 1955, so I went with it. If it's definitely incorrect, I'll pull it.

Nice! One picture of Scarborough and it's a police car!

hello

I was thinking the same thing, although anyone can see this for themself, just by walking under the pigeon-crap infested bridges of Parliament or Sherbourne and see what a dank tunnel is created by the dozens of tracks only 10 meters or so over one's head. The Gardiner seems bright and airy by comparison!

This was the 1950s, people. I doubt Montreal or San Francisco were much more 'hip' in those days. There really was only 3 cities in the world that bore any resemblence to 'cool' in the 1950s, and that would have been New York, Paris and Hamburg (those parts not ravaged by bombing, that is.)
Judging by the trouble my parents got into in Malton and Rexdale in the 1950s and the parties that went until dawn, it's not like everyone lived to go to Church.
There were so many cultural explosions just over the horizon: the birth of rock'n roll, the Pill, the sexual revolution, the hippy movement, the drug movement, black power, etc. The '50s were just the calm before the storm. I don't think it was all that bad living back then. Everyone had a job and everyone knew their place. But in the quest for 'choice,' and 'rights,' have we really gained so much by having 120 pairs of $200 running shoes to choose from, or 12 phone providers, or 45 brands of mid-size sedans to choose from?

Has life gotten easier?

I've often wondered if the TTC always had ads on the cars or if that was a newer phenomenon. I guess that 1954 shot of a new subway car confirms yes, they have been there from the beginning!

Adam is right about the Letros photo being more '60's. Maple Leaf Stadium was a great old ballpark and we were given the afternoon off from St. Mary's S.S. to attend the Opening Day game as part of the "Knothole" Club in the early '50's. I remember that Little Norway still existed down on the Lakeshore just west of Tip Top building maybe. Yes Toronto was pretty boring and quiet especially on Sundays but we kids made our own excitment with freedom all day long in the summer and no adults to hassle us as long as we kept our nose clean (if you can imagine what that means!). There were what we called "gearboxes" around then (weird older kids and single men with wandering hands) usually found at Harrison's Baths, Cherry Beach changehouse, or in the toilets at the movie theatres, but we really didn't worry too much and the "gang" could usually sort these guys out quickly! The cops and teachers were really the authority figures although some dads really could do damage sober or drunk if you screwed up badly. The place was boring but safe and people seem to have been both more kind and tolerant although I know they were often racist and insulting with non-whites. The reason it looks so clean is that there was little throw away garbage. Bottles often had deposits and we kids collected and returned them; paper wrapping was common and we burned that in the furnace to light wood and coal. Remember that most of us had little money and we didn't seem to need much after being fed, clothed, sheltered. We made our own bikes from bits found and someone always had a ball and bat or football. You got skates for Christmas if you were rich or you bought used ones at the Salvation Army. I've said enough.

@Rajio, "I love how because its old photos some of the commenters romanticize that era so much - it was also a time of commonly accepted racism and bigotry."

Please, just stop. Enjoy the photos for what they are without making them negative.

Just think, back then the bank of Commerce building was the tallest building in the Britsh Commonwealth ! (34 foors I think! )

"Wow, look at all the white people in that one picture! You won't see that today!"

Actually, if that shot was taken at Yonge and Davisville, then things haven't changed *that* much demographic-wise.

Been in a cafe in Riverdale recently? Or the Kingsway? Or Mount Pleasant? The Distillery? The city south of St. Clair is whiter than it's been for decades.

So essentially, there wouldn't be racism if there wasn't so many non-white people in Toronto? Everyone would get along fine?

What an absolutely ignorant statement, that's completely out of whack with the history of racism and bigotry in Toronto.

Three words: Christie Pits Riots

Has anything even close to this ever happened in Toronto since 1970? Absolutely not.

You obviously have no clue what you're talking about, and have no idea how widely accepted anti-semitism was in Toronto, Canada, and pretty much most of the Western World prior to WWII.

After all, members of the Toronto Swastik Club (which was responsible for the riots) included city officials and policemen, and were famous for erecting signs in the beaches that read "No Dogs or Jews allowed"

What an absurd statement - that "people got along" until all the non-white folks started showing up.

I guess that you've now shown your true racist colors, Gadfly. Considering what you've said before, I shouldn't have been surprised.

Thanks, I enjoyed that!

I might also add that racism and bigotry were alive and thriving in those days, as they are today

The baseball stadium was at the foot of Fleet Street. Officially it was called Maple Leaf Stadium and unofficially it was theFleet Street Flats. There was a Sunday curfew and no new inning could begin after 5:50 pm. On the right field wall there was an ad for Stoney's which was a car dealership I think. There was a prize for hitting the ball through the O in the name. Whatever happened to Lew Moton, Sam Jethroe and Rocky.

Further to David's question, the Eastern Beach postcard shows Wineva through Scarborough Beach; the rectangular 3-storey building just right of centre is at the foot of Hammersmith (tinted yellow in the postcard, it's actually red brick). The buildings are still there.

This is directed to the 1940's. What a surprise to see my dad and his factory. Fabulous site. Has brought back many good memories.

Hello David:

glad you made that comment re Kew Beach - I cannot remember that part of Kew Beach. My grandmother lived on Buller Ave just north of the boardwalk- we crossed a park from that point to the beach. I recall no buildings along that part of the boardwalk. There was a pier at the bottom of Kippendavie Ave. where we played from. Also recalled many times of walking the boardwalk in the fair weather and yes during the winter months amazed at the icebergs along the waterfront. I left Toronto in 1959 for Ottawa and really all I have left of my birthplace is good memories but am not impressed with the Toronto of today.

Thanks,Lorraine, for the info. We learn something everyday, ie., 3 beaches made up the Eastern Beaches, Kew Beach, Beaches Park & Balmy Beach. Remember Balmy Beach Canoe Club Friday night dances ? And that special step "The Balmy" designed to move you around the oval ? Will look forward to reading your book.

My mother bought childrens tickets at 20 foe a dollar.I got 2.00 for the summer's spending money. That got me into a movie theatre and a box of popcorn every weekend for 8 weeks.

As a 79 year old I've seen Toronto grow up and .... a lot is not for the better. I helped electrify this once great city, and am still a member of I.B.E.W. Local 353, (albeit retired). I really liked the pictures from the '40's as they reflected Toronto as a great place to live. I could write a book about all the things I saw and did growing up in Long Branch, York Township and Toronto. Things I remember: going on the rides at Sunnyside Amusement Park, especially the ferris wheel when you could see the Lake and the smog free city, .75 cents for a ticket in the grays to see the Leafs at MLG (and saw all the oldtimers play when the Leafs had a TEAM), a baseball game at Maple Leaf Stadium (saw Jackie Robinson play for Montreal), wonderful trips to the CNE where you could eat for free at the food building, having a donut and coffee at Downyflake Donuts on Lakeshore Road near the Boulevard Club (remember their slogan "As you ramble on through life brother whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole" .... going to Union Station to see relatives and neighbours off to WWII in the '40's, joining the RCNR at HMCS York in Jan. 1951, and standing Royal Guard duty for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the old Malton Airport in Oct 1951, watching the soldiers rifle practice at the rifle range on Lakeshore Rd in Lakeview just West of Long Branch Small Arms factory (yes it was called Lakeview in those days) before their deployment overseas (we'd sneak up in the long grass that was next to the rifle range and watch these heroes get ready to kick the Hun out of France, etc) and yes Verna all branches of our military were stationed at the "Manning Depot" at the 'EX' during the war in the '40's, and as a kid in the Sea Scouts during the war and sailing out of the National Yacht Club on Station Road we saw the Norwegians fly out of "Little Norway" and the Island Airport.
I must stop now because the memories are so vivid I am almost in tears. Toronto WAS a great city.... not any more ..... regardless of what politician tries to tell us it is ..... those words are only for their own edification and how much money they can line their pockets with. Greatness comes from how people treat their neighbours, and if the G20 is any indication of how to do this, I really don't want to visit Toronto .... only when it is absolutely necessary. I do however believe there are a lot of good folks yet in "Toronto the Good"








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I MET MY WIFE AT BALMY BEACH CANOE CLUB THE SUMMER OF 54 .A FEW WEEKS LATER WE WERE THERE WITH HURICANE HAZEL HOWLING OUTSIDE! WE NOW LIVE 200 MILES NORTH WHERE LIFE IS MORE RELAXED

GREW UP IN EAST YORK..BUT WORKED DOWN TOWN $13.00 A WEEK,MARRIED ED GUEST IBEW 353 APPRENTICE. AND I STILL REMEMBER ALL THE FUN THING DATING IN THE 50S AND WALKING UP YONGE ST AFTER SEEING FATS DOMINO OR SOME OTHER 50 S WONDER, WATCHING TORONTO GROW. WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOUSE FOR 15,900 AT WOODBINE AND GERRARD.. LOL HAD A CAR COME IN THROUGH OUR FRONT WINDOW. THE BEACHES WERE OUR PLAYGROUND. MUSIC 3 NIGHTS AWEEK AND LADIES BASEBALL,,BUILDING TORONTO WAS A PART OF OUR LIFE..HANGING LIGHTS ON THE GARDINER IN THE FREEZING WEATHER AND TRAFFIC LIGHTS THAT NEEDED FIXING .PRINCESS MARG.HOSP KIDS UNIT.AND HAVING TO TEST RIDE STUFF AT THE EX..LOTS OF WONDERFUL MEMORIES

Grew up and worked in and around Toronto at Bryant Press and
Silknit loved EATONS AND SIMPSON xmas display leave your car or house unlocked no problem now ha ha try it any way EX was big attraction and centre island.Grew uo at the old WAC residents across from Army camp where the male soldiers where
corner of lakeshore and dixie road which was a gravel road.today l would not walk around Toronto after dark.You young people should have seen it back then it was amazing

My dad helped build the Yonge subway. My grandmother worked at Eatons in the 1890s and told us she remembered old Timothy Eaton coming around and giving her a silver dollar for a Christmas bonus. Johnny Bower was the only sports hero I had. Thanks for the memories!

I arrived in Toronto in l950, as a ten-year-old, from an outport in Newfoundland. My father had moved us so he could find work, which he did, building the Yonge Street subway. Toronto was a magical place to me: a 3-story brick school rather than a one-room school, tall buildings everywhere, going shelling-out on Halloween, the swimming pool at Sunnyside. But it smelled bad. One of my earliest memories is of waiting for the street car in the centre of St. Clair Ave. around Oakwood, and how bad the air smelled, compared to the pure air of Newfoundland. I'm sure there was lots of racism and bigotry then but at school we were encouraged to be kind and helpful to the many displaced immigrant children who poured into our school after the Second World War. There was also much kindness to me, a little girl with a funny Newfie accent.

Thank you for the correction Peter I appreciate you catching my error.

Scarborough had its own police force?!? That's awesome!

@Rajio - give the race baiting a rest you mong.

I joined the Telegram as a reporter/photographer in 1955 and rented a room in a house at Kingston Rd and Fallingbrook in Scarborough for $9 a week. And yes, Scarborough had its own police force with Wilf McLelland as Chief and Harold Adamson as Deputy (later to be Metro Police Chief). It was a great time to be in Toronto. Radio Artists club on Bay St., Cal Jackson and Peter Appleyard, playing in the Park Plaza Hotel, outdoor summer night dining in the greenery behind the hotel with a giant tree in the middle, rotating stand for the musicians at the bar in the Brown Derby on Yonge St. You could get your pants pressed for 50 cents at Yonge and Wellesley (had to take them off first), shoeshine a quarter. Ten cents for a six ounce beer in the taverns (men only, there was a women's and escorts entrance for couples.) A guy I worked with at the paper was partners in the Top Hat Club just off Yonge St, one of the first cocktail bars in town. Never bought me a drink though. Club is long gone and so is he. You think traffic is bad today? Shoulda been there when they tore up Yonge Street for the subway! The Telegram was at Bay and Melinda across from the Stock Exchange. Great old building, great place to work. Most of my pals -- men and women getting equal pay for equal work, believe it or not -- are gone now but I remember them well. Ted Reeve, Dorothy Howarth, John Maclean, Allan Kent, Phyllis Griffiths,Mad Sale.....Those rfeally WERE the days, my friends.

John Parker here, I was a driver for the TTC and Gray Coach and was on the Charter that brought the big wiggs to the ceremony that made the first shovel full of dirt to open the work on the subway. There were about 15 drivers from Gray coach standing to the rear of the podium. One of the high and mighty came back to us and told us that there was no smoking. As if that bothered anyone. John.

I was born at 113 Withrow Avenue in April 1921 and we moved to the Main Gerrard area in 1923. That makes me 90 now and still with lots of memories of Toronto past. One of the vivid memories is the time in the mid 30's when many of the local Gentiles were determined to stop Jewish folks from using the eastern beaches. We used to go swimming at Balmy Beach and saw many signs that displayed the feelings of some of Toronto's less kindly citizens. Many of the square concrete lamp-posts along the boardwalk had black swastikas painted on ne or two sides. But one of the things I can still see in my mind's eye was a black painted message on the concrete breakwater wall at the Water Treatment Plant at the foot of Victoria Park, down by the lake. The sign could only have been painted by someone standing in a rowboat beside the wall. It said "Britain gave you Jerusalem, for God's sake, stay off our beach!" (The words may not be exact, but it is close). We used to take the Evening Telegram in those days and I am quite sure I saw a photo of that painting in the Tely in about 1935 or '36.
One day, if I get through with my retirement career of flying my Piper Cherokee and doing aerial photography for Conservation Authorities, (at 90+), I may go out to York Iniversity where they have the Telegram archives and see if I can track down that picture. Can anyone else remember this?

I was born in the Women's College Hospital in the early 40's. My family had a house on Rhodes Ave. near the tracks. My early memories are the warm feelings from neighbours and children my age. A few years later we moved to Riverdale Ave. where I "grew up", attending Withrow Public, delivering for the Toronto Star, going sledding in Riverdale Park, many Zoo trips, rafting down the Don River (stinky then), making out at Cherry Beach as as teen. Just incredibly great memories. I now live on the west coast.

I was born in the old Toronto Grace in 1932,born in the east end raised in the west end,Regal Road school,Oakwood Collegiate,Crangs swimming pool,Strathcona rollerdrome,Earlscourt park outdoor ice skating.I used to go from Dufferin and ST

My father in law was an inspector on the TTC in the 40s and 50s

ah my comment was for "gadfly", but I love reading all the commentsand I hope there are more recent ones from everyone:)

Im too young to remember that ,born in the 40's BUT my mom's best friend's name was Edna Wise, who had a son a year younger than me, named Brian. Mom and Edna are both long passed away but wonder if you were related and knew if Brian was still in Toronto?

OUCH I am sorry as I did not read that part of Gadfly's comment , I sure do not agree with that which you quoted him writing..that was not very nice of him.
actually if truth be told, head lice and other such nasties were around way back then in every community just as it is now especially come school time. Often my mom would say she thot the teachers brought the bugs to the school so they could get time off lol.

I agree that Gadfly's comments are bigoted. However, I don't think your homophobic slur in response is a an acceptable example of tolerance today, although it would have been in the 50's.

Hi Paula et al,

Though this comment is sent directly to Paula (I sent this to you, Paula, because your comment was the only one that had the term 'Chinese' in it!), I think this is a question that can be posed to everyone on this comment board.

I'm an Honours student at McGill writing a thesis on Chinese Restaurants, more specifically on perceptions of Chinese Food and People in Toronto from around 1940-1980. I want to track the change in attitudes towards Chinese food and its relation to attitudes towards Chinese Immigrants during this period (an important time in the modernization of Toronto/development of what we know as 'old chinatown'). I want to examine how these perceptions are related (if at all) to any kind of larger political events (Trudeau's visit to China in the 70's). The big picture of my project is to detect perhaps a kind of "practice of multiculturalism" that preceded official multiculturalism.

Does anyone have any kind of stories/memories they wish to share about restaurants, perceptions of chinese food or people, or even perceptions of Chinatown from this time period?

Any help would be much appreciated! Responses to this comment will be a gate way towards other questions I may pose later on and won't be reflected in my research (I'm not allowed to use these answers unless I actually conduct an official interview, which I very might ask of some of you!)

Thank you all in advance!

Kevin Lu
McGill University

Hello again, sorry I just got back online and saw your message. My mom and I visited the Mitchell's and Wilson's and Barker families at Malton and that building you mentioned sounds like the same as where they lived:) I too have been searching for photos of those buildings but have had no luck. I guess we would have to go to the library there and check out their old photos or newspapers. o
I also remember a Donna Campbell whose father was named Jphn or johnny he was called. She was same age as me so if she is out there would love to meet up again for coffee(or tea) or a drink lol. so many of the old places are now torn down. I too went to Palmerston Ave school when I lived on Clinton st. think it was grades one to 3or 4,then to Ryerson Public school.til we moved out of Toronto in 1954.

People are so conditioned to say Toronto was boring or ugly back in the '50's, when no one here actually seems to have experienced it! We have Canadian cities so well stereotyped that we have convinced ourselves of the truth without even knowing the truth.