What skating used to look like in Toronto

Time to put away that fall gear - the skating season is officially upon us. Toronto's public rinks are now open for shinny and the first Bambi-like forays onto the hard stuff, despite a recent uptick in temperatures.

Unfortunately, there's no more skating on the Don or the Toronto Bay, as there was until around the 1930s and 40s - the temperatures don't get low enough and it was probably never all that safe anyway.

In winters of old, however, every patch of frozen water became prime real estate for skaters, even shallow puddles in vacant lots. Here's a look back at when skaters in Toronto looked like subjects in an L. S. Lowry painting.

Skaters on the Toronto Bay

A frozen Don River near Riverdale Park, looking south to Gerrard

Skaters at Christie Pits

Figure skaters put on an outdoor show

A group of girls take to the ice between 1910 and 1912

Women lace up beside Grenadier Pond in High Park

Skaters on Grenadier Pond

Nervous skaters cling together in High Park

Moss Park skating championships race

Another view of a skate race at Moss Park

Women on the ice at Riverdale Park

Wide shot of a frozen Riverdale Park

A makeshift rink on a vacant lot

Figure skaters show off for the camera at Varsity Arena

Heavy winter coats on display at Varsity Arena

Rinks at Christie Pits, then Willowvale Park.

Skaters at Withrow Park

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: City of Toronto Archives