>

Tag: Toronto Vintage

Happy 184th Birthday Toronto! Souvenirs of Toronto’s Past

1960s Original Air Canada Toronto Travel Poster

Today Toronto celebrates it’s 184 Birthday! Happy Birthday!!! As many of you know my adopted hometown is Toronto and I have lived here since 1999 when I moved here for school and instantly fell in love (with the city and later with my husband). Where I live in the city, I can walk to local grocerers, bars, restaurants and public transportation (that takes us to all the fun things in the city). Our little piece of paradise is perfect for our lives and it’s also a GREAT place to visit. So for today’s post I wanted to showcase some cool vintage sourvenirs/items from Toronto’s past that one might of collected to remember their visit or time in the big city (p.s. the items below are all for sale at time of this post, if you wish to take a piece of Toronto history home with you).

Lets begin!

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Note: If the item you clicked on is no longer available, don’t fret! The websites listed are updated daily with new product. Do a search and see what other fun vintage items you might find!

When you visit Toronto, attending the theatre was/is a must! Here is a vintage program from the Royal Alexandra Theatre (still standing) stating the upcoming announcements for the week of Dec 2, 1929.

Royal Alexandra theatre toronto vintage program 1929
Source: Etsy

Inside of the Royal Alex program.

Royal Alexandra theatre toronto vintage program 1929 inside page
Source: Etsy

Soldiers at Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Canada, which is showing the British film Balaclava (1928) after it was reissued as a talkie (Source).

1920s Vintage Photo: Soldiers at Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Canada, which is showing the British film Balaclava (1928) after it was reissued as a talkie
Source: Wikimedia

Postcards were once a very popular way of communicating with friends and family about the fun you were having on vacation (my husband and I still send postcards on our trips). This 1930s Toronto postcard featuring our city hall (this building still stands but is no longer our city hall), is a beautiful example of this mode of communication.

1930s vintage postcard for Toronto, Canada.
Via Etsy

1920/1930’s Felt Pennant for St. Hilda’s College. St. Hilda’s was founded in 1888 as a women’s college & residence affiliated with the University of Trinity College. Initially St. Hilda’s students took separate pass lectures, but in 1894 all Trinity classes were opened to women. By 1904 the colleges merged with the University of Toronto and eventually would cease to be used as a building for education (Source). The building still stands today.

Vintage Original 1920s Felt Pennant Sewn Letters for St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
Via Etsy

Vintage 1950s ladies wool school blazer jacket from Northern Secondary School in Toronto (avail as of July 20th, 2022 HERE).

Vintage 1950s ladies wool school blazer jacket from Northern Secondary School in Toronto

Source: Etsy

Sweets for your Sweets-Signed 1930’s Willard’s Chocolates Box. Willards is a Toronto brand that opened it’s doors in 1917 (In 1954 Willard’s was purchased and their named remained till 1968).

1930s Willards Chocolates Box Vintage Toronto History
Via Etsy

Canadians love their hockey but we also love our Baseball and in Toronto it’s all about the Toronto Blue Jays.

The below item is a Vintage 1930s Novelty Popcorn & Salted Peanuts Glassine Bags – Toronto Made, used at Maple Leaf Stadium.

RARE Vintage 1930s Novelty Popcorn & Salted Peanuts Glassine Bags - Toronto Made, Used at Maple Leaf Stadium
Source Etsy

Photo of a young boy with 2 members of the 1950’s Toronto Maple Leafs (not the hockey team).

Toronto Maple Leafs baseball 1950s vintage image
Source: Pinterest

Local magazines are a great way of taking home a piece of the city or country you were in. The Star Weekly magazine was founded by J.E. Atkinson, the publisher of the Toronto Star (newspaper) and began it’s life in 1910. It was an attempt to create a Canadian counterpart to the popular British type of Sunday newspapers. Initially the Weekly was a grab-bag of features, articles by the daily paper’s reporters, advertising and pieces purchased cheaply from syndicates. Before long, however, the Weekly had comic strips, good illustrations and cartoons, and by 1920 it was lavishly using colour (Source).

1940s Vintage Magazine Cover: Vintage (March 17, 1945) RARE! The Star Weekly | Toronto Star magazine WWII-era issue. Cover of a female soldier.
March 17th, 1945. Source: Etsy

Getting around the city is pretty simple (most times) because of our TTC system, the Toronto Transit Commission. We have streetcars, buses and subways to get you where you need to go and when you need to transfer onto another route, you need to take a ticket transfer. These tickets have been around for years like the vintage 1940s one seen below.

TTC 1940s Vintage Ticket - Instant Collection- Toronto Transit
Source: Etsy

The T. Eaton Company (Once Canada’s largest department store chain) welcomes you to early 1950’s Metropolitan Toronto. The below guide was created for the American tourist to easily get around the city and point them to the direction of the Eaton’s flagship store.

Eatons guide to Toronto in the 1950s
Source: Etsy

One more city guide from 1953 calling Toronto, The “Queen City” (never heard this nickname before).Cover Art: Toronto skyline as seen from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.

1953 Metropolitan Toronto Vintage Visitor's Guide
Source: Etsy

The Canadian National Exhibition is the last 2 weeks of the summer and is beloved by residents and visitors alike. It’s basically a giant fair, with rides, food building, exhibitors, shows and animals and so much more. The 1950’s souvenior scarf below is a marvelous way to remember the fun that was had.

Canadian National Exhibition 1950s vintage scarf
Source: Etsy

Just like how the CNE marks the end of summer, it also ends today’s blog post. I hope you enjoyed browsing souvenirs of Toronto’s past. Happy Birthday Toronto!

Lastly, if you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I like to post about cool and fun vintage history posts on my city. I have done several over the years, and if you click on the link HERE you can check them all out.

Question Time: When you travel what things do you like to bring back that will remind you of your trip? Let me know in the comments below!

FURTHER READING ON VINTAGE TORONTO:

Liz 🙂

Vintage Photo Tuesday: 1930’s Art Deco Toronto

During the 1920’s and 30’s, Toronto experienced an Art Deco building boom. Today’s Vintage Photo Tuesday will showcase a collection of some of those Buildings.

Vintage Photo Tuesday_ 1930's Art Deco Toronto

Eglinton Cinema-1936 Is considered one of the city’s greatest examples of Art Deco Style. It cost $200,000 to build, which was a lot of money when the city was in the middle of the Great Depression. It had 775 seats and was in the cinema business till 2002. Today the building has been renovated, keeping many of its Art Deco design and is used for Weddings and other functions. You can see the remodel HERE.

1930s vintage photo of Eglinton Theatre in 1936 from the Toronto Archives
Source: Historic Toronto

Interior-Lots of Art Deco details to behold.

1930s vintage photo of the Interior of the Eglinton Theatre Toronto Archives
Source: Historic Toronto

View of one part of the Lobby. Even the lettering on the sign is in the Art Deco style.

1930s vintage photo of the Eglinton Cinema vintage image of lobby Toronto 1936
Source: Toronto Archives

Eaton’s 7th Floor Auditorium (image 1) and the Eatons Round Room (image 2) are recognized as a tour de force of Art Deco design. These spaces are located in the former Eaton’s College Street store (famous Canadian Retailer) in downtown Toronto (Source).

1930s vintage photo of the Eatons auditorium in the Art Deco style
Source: Historic Places

The series of Art Deco-style rooms, designed by French architect Jacques Carlu, muralist Natacha Carlu, and architect René Cera within the Eaton’s College Street department store, was built in 1930, opened in 1931 and sealed off by 1970 until they were restored in 2000 – 2003.

The series of Art Deco-style rooms, designed by French architect Jacques Carlu, muralist Natacha Carlu, and architect René Cera within the Eaton’s College Street department store, was built in 1930, opened in 1931 and sealed off by 1970 until they were restored in 2000 - 2003.
Source: Historic Places

1930s Photo: Here is John David Eaton and Lady Eaton, his mother, arrive at the opening ceremony for the company’s College St. store. Same store where the 2 rooms shown above are found.

1930s Photo: Here is John David Eaton and Lady Eaton, his mother, arrive at the opening ceremony for the company's College St. store. They are wearing 1930s fashions
Source: BlogTO

Toronto Stock Exchange (1937), now the Design Exchange is one of my FAVORITE Art Deco Buildings in Toronto. It’s truly stunning.

1930s vintage photo: Toronto Stock Exchange (1937), now the Design Exchange is a stunning Art Deco Building in Toronto
Source: BlogTO

Here is an image I took during a recent visit to the building. These are the images you see above the clock from the photo above.

Design Exchange Art Deco Toronto

The TSX is a fantastic example of streamline moderne, art deco and stripped classicism architecture. The architects produced an elegant yet sturdy looking edifice with classic art deco touches throughout (source).

Design Exchange Toronto Stock Exchange Vintage Art Deco Building
Source: Blog TO

Maple Leaf Gardens (1931) – Canada’s “Cathedral of Hockey”. It took the builders only 5 1/2 months to construct the building and it has been home to twelve Canadian sports teams since first opening its doors. Today it’s renovated and is now the Athletic centre for the University I attended, Ryerson. You can see the renovation HERE.

Art Deco Highlights: Decorative stonework around the massive vertical rows of windows and fancy brickwork.

Maple Leaf Gardens 1930s vintage image
Source: Mattamy Athletic Centre

Here is a renovated image of the front of the building in present day (better view of the design).

For a ‘Non Hockey’ history post on the Gardens, check out one I wrote HERE (P.S. It includes Elvis!).

Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto Art Deco Architecture.

Tip Top Tailors Building.(slips in as 1929 Building). A Canadian menswear clothing retailer founded in Toronto in 1909. It is now a renovated Condo Building (and my husbands dream, win the lottery home).

Art Deco Highlights: Colourful decorative tile above the upper windows, giant concrete piers with pyramidical roofs, and elaborate carvings of people and mythological animals around the main entrance (source).

Tip Top Tailers Building 1930s Art Deco Building-Tip Top Tailors Building.(slips in as 1929 Building). A Canadian menswear clothing retailer founded in Toronto in 1909
Source: Toronto Public Library

Here are some modern images of the building, so that you can see the design better. Starting with the Lobby.

Tip Top Tailors art deco lobby toronto
Source: Toronto Livings

The Art Deco front doors.

tip top tailers front of building Art Deco Architecture.
Source: Lomax Management

Ad for Tip Top Tailors as seen in the Vancouver Sun, Oct 18th, 1935.

art deco tip top tailers 1930s vintage ad
Source: Vancouver Sun

And there is a brief overview of just SOME of the Art Deco beauties we have in Toronto for Vintage Photo Tuesday. If you ever visit, make sure you check them out.

Question time: Do you like Art Deco Style? Architecture? If not, what is your favorite?

Further Reading:

Liz