A visual history of Yonge and Bloor

Looks so much more interesting in the past. It's a shame about what should be one of the best corners of the city. Also wonder what happens to the old neon signs like the uptown. They should keep them somewhere like they do in Vegas or even the Guild Inn in Scarborough which has so much of Toronto's history or parts of it that they tore down.

I would love one, but didn't come across any I could use.

I remember when the south east corner was a Canada Permanent Trust (had an account there) and before that a Burger Joint. What was the name of it? And on Yonge just south of the corner was a Toby's Burgers. North of Bloor on the west side was the original location of the Pilot Tavern and the Uptown Nuthouse.

I was there today; had to go to the Toronto Reference Library. While strolling along and looking at the architecture (as I usually do) I couldn't help but notice the few early buildings that were still standing along Yonge. They aren't the prettiest in the city, but compared to the monstrosities around the Yonge/Bloor intersection, they are quite charming. Wouldn't it be great if at least a small stretch of Yonge (or any street, for that matter) could have its architecture preserved for future generations? If we keep neglecting what we have, photos will be all that's left of these buildings.

I miss the Harvey's.

Oops... no, the Harvey's was one door down on Bloor... I should dig up some of the other photos from that day in 1980 to see what was on the south side of Bloor - I remember the theatre to the East - the Yorke?

amazing photos...i ate in that steak and burger...on wooden plates with steak knife..then saw the movie..little big man in that theatre..what memories..thankyou for sharing them

I was walking by the Yonge & Bloor HARVEYs on the afternoon in which the workmen were taking down the sign from the facade, and on a whim I bought the letters from the workers and they were kind enough to transport them to my house in their flatbed truck. The letters are larger than they appear- each is a piece of furniture in its own right. Inside, they were each fitted with neon tubing, which had been custom made for the letters. The glass tubes still had waxpencil markings on them made by the craftsperson as they bent the glass to measure. Nowadays they probably just cram signage with LEDs... so much easier, I'm sure.

Thanks for the photos. Super to see them. Going back a few years from times remembered by your other correspondents, McIlwraith's Drug Store used to occupy the south/east corner of Bloor and Yonge, with entrances on both streets. It had a super soda fountain, as did Woolworth's, which was on the east side of Yonge just north of Bloor, quite close to Britnell's book store. The Britnell building is still there, but it is a Starbuck's now. Roy Britnell was the proprietor, and I believe the business may have been started by his father. Another member of the Britnell family had an antique business across the road just south of Davenport, and again, the building remains, but the business is gone. Stollery's, which began many years before the 19492 and '50s, was still active, operates still. I didn't know Frank Stollery, but he and Roy Britnell were very active in the Bloor/Yonge/Bay business community. Mr. Stollery has a parkette named for him on the west side of Yonge, south of Davenport, and, until excavation began on the south/east corner of Bloor and Yonge, there was a Roy Square, which, I assume, was named for Mr. Britnell. Somebody mentioned cinemas. There were five in the area (six if the Cumberland. or some earlier incarnation thereof, was around, but I don't remember it): the York, on the west side of Yonge just north of Bloor; the Towne, on the south side of Bloor just east of Yonge; the Uptown, on the west side of Yonge just below Bloor; the Embassy, on the east side of Yonge just south of Charles, and the University Theatre on the north side of Bloor west of Bay. Of the five, only the Embassy remains, but now it is used for live theatre and is called something else. And for the correspondent who remembers paying less than $3.00, it used to be cheaper; when I was a kid, it cost 12 cents to get into the York, and that was for a double bill, a cartoon, the news, and a short subject. Mind you, you could buy cigarettes for 15 cents a pack in Buffalo at the time, and, a few years later, a single guy could live quite reasonably on $25 a week. Back to cinemas. The Uptown was a picture palace. Like a few other cinemas in town, it sometimes had live entertainment. Organ music was popular, both at the Uptown and the Odeon Carlton, but I also saw the Ink Spots at the Uptown and Mickey Rooney, Sally Rand, Olsen & Johnson and others at a little flea pit on the south side of Queen just west of Bay. This, mind you, between films. Apart from the retailers already mentioned, there was also a tobacconist/newsagent called Rohr's, which did a great line in English magazines, comics, and exotic cigarettes; Ely's,an up-market men's clothing store; the Woman's Home Bakery, which had amazing chocolate cake; the Wimodausis shop (wives, mothers, daughters, sisters) which was like the Junior League Opportunity Shop. (The latter, by the way, used to be on the north/east corner of Yonge and Price streets, just south of the Summerhill liquor store. The building, which is still there, was occupied by Patachou for quite a while, until they moved across the road. Then the Montreal Bread Company took it over, but soon left, and another restaurant has it now.) Back to Yonge and Bloor. There were two restaurants worth mentioning: the Pilot Tavern, on the west side of Yonge just north of Bloor, which had, without doubt, the best prawn cocktail ever made, and the Fifth Avenue, on the south side of Bloor just east of Yonge, an above average greasy spoon which was a great hang out for people living in the area. Enough. Ain't nostalgia grand?