1920s Vintage Photo of Toronto's CNE Princes' Gates. — Princes’ Gates 1920s

I have been living in Toronto now for almost 14 years and one of the events I have grown to absolutely LOVE is the CNE-Canadian National Exhibition. The CNE is basically a giant fair that runs for 18 days near the end of the summer and it’s known for its great shows, crazy food (anyone for a bacon, donut burger??), rides and all the cools things to see..bring on the Sham Wow guy! lol

The first Canadian National Exhibition took place in 1879, largely to promote agriculture and technology in Canada. Agriculturists, engineers and scientists exhibited their discoveries and inventions at the CNE to showcase the work and talent of the nation (Wikipedia). Apparently, prior to 1879, the fair had traveled throughout the province, but eventually settled where the crowds were after local stakeholders campaigned to make it a permanent city attraction (blogto.com).

That means that this year the CNE is celebrating its 135th season this year so I thought it would be fun if we checked out some vintage photos, advertising etc. of this historical event. So grab a bag of chocolate covered parmesan popcorn and lets take a trip down CNE memory lane…

1930s vintage ad for the Toronto CNE - 1937 Ad — Image courtesy of the CNE Archives

1940s Vintage Ad for the CNE in 1947. Go by the TTC

The Canadian National Exhibition-CNE

To start, I’m doing a blog series on the wonderful book “Lets Dance. A celebration of dance halls and summer dance pavilions by Peter Young” and one of the sections briefly covers the “CNE TENT” that was erected in 1938 to bring in top-notch entertainers. Acts like: Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee, Artie Shaw, Guy Lombardo and even the Tommy Dorsey Band made their way to this tent.

In Peters book he even mentions a story how in September 8th of 1939 the Tommy Dorsey band flew to Toronto on the American Airlines flagship craft to appear at the CNE. This was the FIRST time the entire band travelled by air so they marked the occasion by playing a few tunes right at the airport (“Lets Dance..”, pg 23, Peter Young).

1940s Vintage Photo of the Toronto CNE dance tent

The image above was from 1940 and you can see the dance tent in the background where apparently Eddy Duchin and his Orchestra were performing that very night (“take a ride back in history” by Mike Filey).

Then while scouring the internet for fun images/stories to share I stumbled upon the most AMAZING FIND! Did you know that the CNE created their own high-kicking dance troupe version of the Rockettes? The Canadettes and they made annual appearances from 1951 until 1967 at the CNE. How fun!

1960s Vintage Photo of The Canadettes, circa 1961 at the Toronto CNE — The Canadettes, circa 1961. CNE Archives, Alexandra Studio Collection.

Now for the random vintage CNE pictures I promised you…

Two adorable kids enjoying a coke break in 1959 at the CNE with their feet in a pail (must of been hot).

1950s Vintage Photo of 2 kids in 1959 at the Toronto CNE with feet in a pail having a cold drink. — Photo Courtesy of “CNE Facebook Page”

A cooking demo at the CNE in the 1940s.

CNE 1940 cooking demo in Toronto, Canada. 1940s vintage photo. — Photo Courtesy of: CNE Facebook Page

CNE-1937. I LOVE this photo! The couple in the front that stand out in the picture are just outstanding looking.

1930s vintage photo in 1937 of the Toronto CNE crowd photo. Super 1930s fashions on display. — Photo Courtesy of: CNE Facebook Page

CNE-1961. I’m enjoying eyeballing some of the great fashion in this over head shot of the midway.

1960s vintage photo of the Toronto CNE Midway grounds in 1961,. — Photo Courtesy of: CNE Facebook Page

Want to learn how to take care of your baby in 1918?

1910s vintage photo of a woman teaching people how to take care of their baby in 1918 at the Toronto CNE — Image courtesy of the CNE Archives

I will now leave you with a picture from my engagement photo session that was done at the CNE.

CNE Engagement photo Toronto Vintage Inn

Photo Courtesy of David Tom Photography

If you live in Toronto and are attending the CNE or have attended the CNE I would love to hear your stories of your favorite things to do there.

FURTHER READING: A collection of past CNE posts I have done and a link to my Toronto archive posts….

Vintage Toronto Blog Posts Archive
Vintage Advertising for the CNE – Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition is Here! The Vintage Edition (vintage images)
Step Back in Time with The Canadian National Exhibition (vintage images & advertising)
‘Let’s Dance’: The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) Dance Tent
Exhibits & Displays Seen At The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) From The 1920s-1960s

Liz 🙂

About a month ago I took a mini weekend getaway to Havana with my husband (love the sound of that) and I wrote a post about the first part of our trip so here is part two 🙂

The one thing about Havana that I absolutely LOVE is the architecture. So many different styles like Colonial, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Eclectic, Modernism, Revolutionary and Contemporary can be seen at every turn. Below is a collection of some of those buildings.

Very cool Signage

I LOVE this boat restaurant!

This reminds me of New Orleans

I love the sign and this place was pretty cool. NOT old but very new but I like how they are keeping with the styles around them.

The Bacardi building-a Art Deco landmark….my fav! I love Art Deco! Next time I’m in Havana I will visit this building up close.

After a long day of sightseeing it was time for a Bucanero Beer and some music at “Café Paris” on Obispo street.

Me getting all fancy pants with my iPhone 🙂 Like that huh? lol

After drinks we wanted to relax so we headed back to our hotel to lounge by the pool under the non existent sun 🙁 BUT it was still warm so that was good at least and the pool area was very enjoyable. They had the comfiest lounge chairs…ever.

Relaxing time done, now off to find some dinner. On our way we ran into some interesting sites. Like these guys playing a very concentrated game of Chess.

Then we passed the CREEPIEST Hotel…ever! Would you stay at a hotel with these guys greeting you every time you walked in (the other one is on the bench)? They are apparently Monks but scary monks is all I have to say.