Yesterday's Toronto, 1870-1910 / edited by Linda Shapiro.

Toronto : Coles Pub. Co., ©1978.

149 pages : illustrations ; 23 x 29 cm.

Coles looking back series

Yesterday's Toronto, 1870-1910 gives us a witty, entertaining and accurate picture of ourselves over this 40 year period and will fascinate all those interested in photography, history, nostalgia, architecture, human behaviour, Canadiana and Torontonia. Packed with delightful tidbits of well-and little known facts about our city, Yesterday's Toronto is trivia at its best! Do you know the name of the person whose entire driveway used to be Spadina Avenue? What famous actress, born Gladys Marie Smith, lived at 211 University Avenue? Which motorcar was build by CCM in 1905? Who was the winner of the Toronto fly swatting contest in which 3,367,680 flies were killed for total prize winnings of200 dollars? Who owned the diving horse at Hanlan's Point on Toronto Island? Name the King Street West restaurant that served free ice cream to celebrate Toronto's first electric lights. Through the over 150 photographs and commentaries of the times, we get vivid and startling impressions of how we worked, played lived and survived in an era very different from our own. We discover that where the elegant Park Plaza Hotel now stands was once a little one-storey log cabin known as the Tecumesh Wigwam hich was a favorite resort for young men of elevated social tastes and habits. Fun on a typical Toronto Saturday night consisted of taking a ride on the Belt Line streetcar which some doctors even prescribed as a refreshing bedtime stimulant and diversion. Turkey shooting on the Don River was an annual fete among Toronto sportsmen. The hotels located in the village of Little York in the Danforth and Main area were popular rendezvous spots filled with Torontonians on wild weekend sprees. Respectable people were never seen on the streets of Toronto the Good after 11.00 pm. When crossing the road, a proper lady delicately lifted her long dress only to the ankle, while a proper gentleman always held her elbow. But there was a dark side to those good old days. Poverty filled many downtown streets and the grandeur of the city and Toronto Island was scarred with slums and squatters. Wages were pitifully low; working conditions and treacherous. Average yearly salaries included 355 dollars for factory workers,720 dollars for male teachers and324 dollars for female teachers. In 1907, permits were issued to 817 peddlers, 508 rag collectors and 60 junk collectors. Many others worked illegally because they couldn't afford the permit. Homeless children wandered the streets looking for food, shelter and work alongside despondent adults. There were few trade unions, no minimum wage laws, unemployment insurance, old age pensions, welfare, baby bonuses or medical health insurance. In Yesterday's Toronto, 1870-1910, we become eyewitness to 40 years of events and emotions. The give an awareness and appreciation of where we came from. Once opened, the book and the times will be difficult to forget!

0774026782
9780774026789

Manners and customs
Toronto (Ont.) Pictorial works.
Toronto (Ont.) Social life and customs Pictorial works.
Toronto (Ont.) History Pictorial works.
Toronto (Ont.) Description and travel.
Toronto (Ont.) Histoire Ouvrages illustrés.
Ontario Toronto

Pictorial works

Shapiro, Linda.
Coles looking back series.

Location: Library main canada 79482
Call No.: ID CAN; ID:86-B14945
Status: Available