Lyn Cook (1918–2018) was a Canadian librarian, storyteller, poet and author of books for children and young adults. We preserve her archive as part of our Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books. Her fonds (collection of records) holds material related to all aspects of Cook’s professional life, including early writings and two unpublished novels.

Left: Lyn Cook, courtesy of Greater Sudbury Public Libraries and Heritage Museums. Right: Cook's archive at TPL's research collection for children's literature. 

Early life

Evelyn Margaret Cook was born on May 4, 1918 in Islington (now part of Toronto). She attended school in a two-room schoolhouse and didn't have access to a library growing up. However, her paren'ts Edward Frank and Emma (Crawford) Cook gifted her books on special occasions.

Cook graduated from Etobicoke High School, where she was encouraged to write by one of her teachers. With the help of multiple scholarships, she attended the University of Toronto where she studied English Language and Literature. She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1940 from University College and a Bachelor of Library Science in 1941 from Ontario College of Education. She was an active member of the University Players Guild.

Postcard of what became Ontario College of Education, approximately 1912. This is where Cook would have earned her degree in librarianship. View on our Digital Archive.

Start at Toronto Public Library

In 1941, Cook began her professional library career at Toronto Public Library’s Wychwood branch. Located at Bathurst Street near St. Clair Avenue, the building had a children's space known as the Boys and Girls Room. At TPL, Cook's career overlapped with influential children's librarian Lillian H. Smith, the first children’s librarian in Canada.

Boys and Girls Room in Wychwood branch in 1939, shortly before Lyn Cook worked there. View on our Digital Archive.

Military service

In 1942, Lyn Cook joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s Division as a meteorological observer and librarian at age 27. Military records in her archive document her appearance upon joining: five feet and five-and-a-half inches tall, blue eyes and brown hair. 

She was based in Centralia and Trenton in Ontario. When she received time off from her duties at the Centrailia airbase, she spent time on a farm near Dundalk, Ontario with her colleagues.

Corporal Cook was honourably released from the RCAF in 1946 at the end of the Second World War. We preserve a speech Cook read at the 50-year anniversary of her service. In part, it reads:

"[W]e served that men might fly but without a doubt we all came with a longing for adventure and new beginnings, and we were rewarded with both in such abundance that our lives were changed forever. In our barrack rooms we became a sisterhood with associations so deep and so meaningful that whenever and whereever we meet we are sisters still."

Sudbury and radio program

After the war, Cook was courted to be a children's librarian by two public library systems in Ontario: Hamilton and Sudbury. She chose to work in Sudbury, becoming the city’s first children’s librarian. 

Envelope from Hamilton Public Library, which was interested in hiring Cook. The blue handwriting by Cook reads: "Hamilton or Sudbury? I chose Sudbury! and the Bells on Finland Street!" From our Lyn Cook archive, file 1.4. 

In Sudbury, she started a half-hour Saturday morning story program called A Doorway to Fairyland on CKSO, a community radio station. She played the role of The Story Lady and invited local children to read parts of the featured stories on air. In 1947, the program was picked up by CBC and broadcast across Canada and parts of the United States.

Left: Lyn Cook conducting Story Hour in Sudbury, 1946. Right: Cook rehearsing her radio program A Doorway in Fairyland. Images courtesy of Greater Sudbury Public Libraries and Heritage Museums.

Cook moved back to Toronto in 1947 so that she could work on the radio program, which included child actors dramatizing a trip to a different country each week. She continued to write, direct and narrate A Doorway to Fairyland until 1952. Journalist Peter Jennings and actors Al Waxman and Garrick Hagon fondly remember getting their start in the media by way of Cook’s radio program.

In 1949, Cook married Robb Waddell, the secretary-treasurer of H. J. Motors in Agincourt. They first met when he was working as an aircraft mechanic in Trenton during the war. They raised their son Christopher and daughter Deborah at their home on Cedarbrae Boulevard, Scarborough.

Photo of CBC production with Lyn Cook (woman on right) and Garrick Hagon (leftmost boy in middle row). From our Lyn Cook archive, file 2.23.

Writing career

Cook’s first novel, The Bells on Finland Street (1950), was inspired by her time in Sudbury. Set in the familiar landscape of Sudbury’s Copper Cliff area, the story follows the daughter of a Finnish miner who dreams of becoming a champion figure skater. The novel reflects the area’s cultural diversity, featuring characters with Scandinavian and other European backgrounds. Cook was inspired to write the story after watching Joyce Salo, Northern Ontario’s 1949 senior ladies skating champion, perform at a winter carnival in Copper Cliff’s Stanley Stadium.

Newspaper clipping from the archive. Cook left several notes in her carefully-organized records. This one reads: "Joyce Salo age 10, Sudbury. Her skating was the inspiration of The Bells on Finland Street."

The Bells on Finland Street sold over 20,000 copies and set the tone for her writing—children engaging with their community in a recognizable Canadian setting with a regional flavour.

Cook’s books also touch on Canadian history. As she once described it, “I was fascinated with time past, what motivated people." One of the best examples of her historical works is Rebel on the Trail (1953), her third book. In this novel, the Cartwright family visits Toronto and experiences firsthand the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Though some of the names are different and much of the action is fictionalized, many of the characters and events are true.

Shooting of Col. Robert Moodie in front of John Montgomery's tavern, Yonge Street, 1837. This real event is described in Cook's novel Rebel on the Trail. View on our Digital Archive.

Cook's Pegeen and the Pilgrim (1957) follows its eponymous heroine, 12-year-old Pegeen, who lives in Stratford, Ontario and dreams of becoming an actress just as the first Shakespearean festival is getting underway. The novel features real-life figures such as actors Garrick Hagon, Alec Guinness, Tyrone Guthrie and theatre producer Tom Patterson, and portrays the financial struggle that marked the festival's inaugural year.

Left: Postcard of the large tents at Stratford Festival, 1953. View on our Digital Archive. Right: Stratford Festival tents illustrated on the cover for Cook's book Pegeen and the Pilgrim.

Garrick Hagon as a young boy on stage in Richard III at Stratford, 1953. Courtesy of Garrick Hagon.

Cook rose to popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, publishing more than 20 books for children, along with The Brownie Handbook for Girl Guides Canada. Her archive also includes two unpublished novel manuscripts. In addition to her fiction, she wrote poetry under the name Margaret Culverhouse.

Later life

Cook participated in weekly story hours and monthly library presentations at festivals at Bendale branch of the Scarborough Public Library (now part of TPL) from 1962 to 1976. She was also a frequent speaker in schools and libraries.

Television show "Libraries are…" with host Carol Fisher and guests Lyn Cook (far left) and Grace Lord, 1974. View on our Digital Archive.

As an older adult, Cook lived in West Port (near Ottawa) with her daughter Deborah. Later, she was a resident at the Pearly Rideau Veteran’s Health Centre in Ottawa. In 2018, Cook died at 100 years of age. Canadian editor Karyn Huenemann recalled Cook as "a bright, intelligent woman with a sharp sense of humour and a delight in sharing her life and thoughts."

Items that make up Cook's archive were donated between 1991 and 2021, before and after her death, by her and her son. Her archive is carefully preserved in our Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. Researchers and the general public are welcome to access everything in the archive—from her unpublished manuscripts to a giant key to the City of Sudbury.

Key to the City of Sudbury presented to Cook in 1950 by Sudbury Mayor Beaton after the publication of The Bells on Finland Street. From our Lyn Cook archive, file 1.6.

Explore more

• Finding aid for Lyn Cook archive at TPL (PDF)
• Lyn Cook books available at TPL

Note: This article includes historical materials from the collections of Toronto Public Library. Who tells the story, and how the story is told creates tensions when trying to present content written by settlers about Indigenous people. These materials can reflect offensive historic attitudes, and in some cases, were created by individuals directly involved in acts of cultural genocide committed against Indigenous peoples. These materials are included as part of TPL’s commitment to the 69th Call to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which recognizes the inalienable right of Indigenous peoples to know the truth of what happened and why.

In the 1790s, Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe (née Gwillum) drew hundreds of sketches and kept a diary during her time in Canada, providing a settler's account of early York (now Toronto). We preserve rare versions of Simcoe's drawings and early published editions of her diary in our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

The following passages from Simcoe’s diary describe a notable landmark in the colonial town of York: Castle Frank. Learn about the log house and surrounding land—both referred to as Castle Frank—through her first-hand accounts.

Left: watercolour of Castle Frank based on a sketch by Simcoe. Right: portrait of Simcoe, 1790.

The woman behind Castle Frank

In 1792, Elizabeth Simcoe accompanied her husband Colonel John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor, to the provincial capital of Newark (Niagara-on–the-Lake). They brought their two youngest children, Francis and Sophia. The family later moved to York due to the threat of an American attack. In York, the Simcoes stayed in a small village of tents with the soldiers beside Fort York on the east bay shore of Garrison Creek. In her diaries, Simcoe repeatedly details her travels between her lodgings at the Garrison and Castle Frank.

The Simcoes named the log house they used as a secondary residence—and the land it stood on—after their son, Francis. Despite its grandiose name, the building of Castle Frank was quite small, with just two rooms. Elizabeth Simcoe documents its construction and surroundings in the entries below. Although the building no longer exists, the name "Castle Frank" lives on in Toronto—as a street, brook and subway station.

Left: The Diary of Mrs. Simcoe with contributions by John Ross Robertson, 1911. Right: portrait of John Graves Simcoe, 1791.

Finding a spot to build a summer residence

September 11, 1793

"We rowed six miles up the Don to Coons’, who has a farm under a hill covered with pine. I saw very fine butternut trees. The nuts are better than walnuts; gathered berries of cockspur thorns. I landed to see the shingles made, which is done by splitting large blocks of the pine into equal divisions. We found the river very shallow in many parts and obstructed by fallen trees. One of them lay so high above the water that the boat passed under, the rowers stooping their heads. It looked picturesque, and a bald eagle sat on a blasted pine on a very bold point just above the fallen tree. The Governor [John Graves Simcoe] talks of placing a canvas house on this point for a summer residence."

October 29, 1793

"The Governor having determined to take a lot of 200 acres upon the River Don for Francis, and the law obliges persons having lots of land to build a house upon them within a year, we went to-day to fix upon the spot for building the house. We went six miles by water from the Fort and east along the Bay shore to the Don, and up that river, landed, climbed up an exceedingly steep hill, or rather a series of sugar-loafed hills, and approved the highest spot, from whence we looked down on the tops of large trees and, seeing eagles near, I suppose they build there. There are large pines around it, which, being without underwood, I can ride and walk on, and we hope the height of the situation will secure us from mosquitoes. We dined by a large fire on wild ducks and chowder, on the side of a hill opposite to that spot. Our long walk made it late before we had dined, so that, altho’ we set out immediately afterwards and walked fast, it was nearly dark before we reached the surveyor’s tent.”

January 14, 1794

"There is a great deal of snow on the River Don, which is so well frozen that we walked some miles upon it to-day, but in returning I found it so cold near the lake that I was benumbed and almost despaired of ever reaching my own house, and when I came near the hill was frightfully slippery. Near the river, we saw the track of wolves, and the head and hoofs of a deer. The workmen, who reside in a small hut near the place [Castle Frank], heard the wolves during the night, and in the morning saw the remains of the deer. The Indians do not kill wolves; they seldom take trouble that does not answer to them, and the wolves are not good to eat and their skins are of little value.”

Garrison (1793-1813) at foot of Bathurst Street in York by Elizabeth Simcoe, 1796. Simcoe's diary frequently describes travelling between this location and Castle Frank. View on our Digital Archive. 

Visiting Castle Frank during its construction

January 23, 1796

"We walked on the ice to the house which is building on Francis’ 200 acre lot of land. It is called Castle Frank, built on the plan of a Grecian temple, totally of wood, the logs squared and so grooved together that in case of decay any log may be taken out. The large pine trees make pillars for the porticos, which are at each end 16 feet high. Some trees were cut and a large fire made near the house, by which venison was toasted on forks made on the spot, and we dined.”

January 28, 1796

"Drove again to Castle Frank, and dined again in the woods on toasted venison. The ice is excellent. The berries of the mountain tea or winter green are now in great beauty, their bright scarlet berries peeping thro’ the snow and the rich colour of their green leaves; they taste like orgeat (or barley syrup), but are of a very warm nature and raise the spirits.”

February 2, 1796

"Mrs. Richardson went with me to Castle Frank; it is not yet floored; the carpenters are building a hut for themselves. I gathered fox berries. They grow like small red currants on a delicate plant. The water elder berries are here called tree cranberries, and are less bitter than in England. We had an immense fire to-day, and dined on toasted venison.”

February 5, 1796

"The ladies did not catch cold, and were delighted with the novelty of dining in the air in winter, so to-day we went to Castle Frank. Mrs. Macaulay joined the party. The ice was not quite so good, and the snow melted. It was so mild we could not wear greatcoats. Francis has a small sleigh, which the servants have taught a goat to draw; he is the handsomest goat I ever saw, and looks very well in harness. It is a very pretty sight to see Francis drawn in this car. They used the animal to draw the sleigh by making him draw it full of wood. At first he was very intractable."

February 18, 1796

"We walked to the town, and from thence drove on the ice to dine at Castle Frank; the ice was good. I made a small sketch of the house.”

March 3, 1796

"Walked to Castle Frank and returned by Yonge Street, from whence we rode [on horseback]. The road is as yet very bad; there are pools of water among roots of trees and fallen logs in swampy spots, and these pools, being half frozen, render them still more disagreeable when the horses plunge into them."

April 18, 1796

"Francis has not been well. We therefore set off to Castle Frank to-day to change the air, intending to pass some days there. The house being yet in an unfinished state, we divided the large room by sailcloth, pitched the tent on the inner part, where we slept on wooden beds. It is quite a summer’s day. Mosquitos arrived at three o’clock. A large wooden canoe was launched here to-day, built by one of the men who ought to have been busy working at Castle Frank."

April 20, 1796

"The porticos here [Castle Frank] are delightfully pleasant, and the room cool from its height and the thickness of the logs of which the house is built; the mountain tea berries in great perfection. Francis is much better, and busy in planting currant bushes and peach trees. There is an insect which is not to be got rid of; it bores into the timber and is heard at night; it is like a very large maggot. I have seen them taken from under the bark of trees to bait fishing hooks."

Ink drawing of Castle Frank by an unknown artist based on a sketch from Elizabeth Simcoe, 1880. View on our Digital Archive.

Visiting during the summer months

June 1, 1796

"I went in a boat to Francis’ estate, Castle Frank. I drank tea at Playter’s."

June 30, 1796

"Sent the children to Castle Frank in a boat. We rode there through those pleasant shady pine plains, now covered with sweet scented fern. There is no underwood under the pines so it is good riding."

July 1, 1796

"A large party from the garrison to dinner [at Castle Frank]. A boat with music accompanied them; we heard it in the evening until they passed the town. It sounds delightfully."

July 3, 1796

"The Governor went to the garrison and returned to supper. Some heavy thunder showers fell this evening and the mosquitos more troublesome than ever. It is scarcely possible to write or use my hands, which are always occupied in killing them or driving them away. This situation being high does not at all secure us from mosquitos or gnats. Mon. 4th—I descended the hill and walked to Skinner’s Mill through the meadows, which looked like meadows in England. Playter was haymaking. Going down the hill some dragon’s blood seed fell out as I passed, which I collected. Wed. 6th—I passed Playter’s picturesque bridge over the Don; it is a butternut tree fallen across the river, the branches still growing full leaf. Mrs. Playter being timorous, a pole was fastened through the branches to hold by. Having attempted to pass it, I was determined to proceed; hut was frightened before I got half way.”

July 10, 1796

"Rode very pleasantly through the pine plains; gathered tea berries. I saw mosquito hawks’ nests, at least the eggs and young birds lying on pieces of bark on the ground. Query, whether the mosquito hawk is not the “whipper will” (whip-poor-will), so called from the resemblance of its notes to the words—which makes such a noise every night. We had company at dinner. I walked down the hill in the evening and gathered dragon’s blood, a plant or dragon root, from which you get resin of darkish red color; Lychnis de Canada, a plant with scarlet flower; tryliums, which resemble lilies; toothache plant, like toothache grass. It has a pungent taste. Licorice, wild lilies, etc."

July 14, 1796

"Walked through the meadows towards Coon’s farm on the Don—saw millions of the yellow and black butterflies, New York swallow tails, and heaps of their wings lying about. Gathered wild gooseberries, and when they were stewed found them excellent sauce for salmon. In the afternoon the Governor received his leave of absence, and information that the frigate 'Pearl,' Capt. Ballard, is at Quebec, and is to take him to England. She sails August the 10th."

Winchester Street, bridge over Don River by Elizabeth Simcoe, 1794. It is the "Playter's bridge" mentioned in Simcoe's diary entry from July 3, 1976. View on our Digital Archive.

Castle Frank after the Simcoes

The Simcoes left Castle Frank for the last time on July 20, 1796 and returned to England. The property's namesake, Francis Simcoe, never returned. He was killed in a battle in Spain while still in his early 20s. The government official Peter Russell occasionally used Castle Frank until 1807. After years of standing unoccupied, fishermen accidentally burned it down in 1829. Forty years later, there was no trace left of the house.

The name Castle Frank is now used for a road, brook and subway station, just northeast of the original location. The promontory on which the house sat is now part of St. James Cemetery at Parliament Street and Bloor Street East.

Notable Toronto resident Henry Scadding near the location of Castle Frank decades after its building had burned down, 1880. View on our Digital Archive.

More to explore

Blog posts from TPL

• Selections and Full PDFs of "The Jesuit Relations": Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons and Beyond

Items on our Digital Archive

• All items related to Castle Frank
• All items related to Elizabeth Simcoe

The current Canadian flag cemented the maple leaf as the country's most recognizable symbol. But ties between Canada and the maple leaf long predate February 15, 1965, when the maple leaf flag officially became the national flag.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag, we're highlighting rare historical items related to the maple leaf prior to 1965. These rarities span over a hundred years and are preserved in our scholarly Special Collections.

1. The Maple-leaf literary publication (1847 to 1849)

The Maple-leaf, or, Canadian Annual, a Literary Souvenir was a yearly periodical published in Toronto. It not only showcases a maple leaf on its cover, it also references the maple leaf as “the chosen emblem for Canada." This publication is among 24,000 books, pamphlets and periodicals from before 1900 held in our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

This version of the the literary publications contains three volumes over three years. View on our Digital Archive.

2. Fabric maple leaf badge (1860)

This badge adorned a small number of troops who were born in Canada and were part of the Prince of Wales’s procession to Toronto in 1860 — possibly the first time maple leaves were worn as a national symbol of Canada. The 22 troops in attendance either wore this badge pinned to their uniforms or put natural maple leaves in their buttonholes.

Rare maple leaf badge, donated to TPL in the 1970s. View on our Digital Archive.

3. First edition of The Maple Leaf Forever sheet music (1868)

Only 1,000 first editions of the sheet music for The Maple Leaf Forever were printed — and we’re privileged to have one of them. This popular patriotic song was written by Torontonian Alexander Muir for Canada's Confederation in 1867. It’s one of 15,000 pieces of sheet music that we preserve as part of our Special Collections in the Arts.

Cover of the sheet music. View on our Digital Archive.

4. Pin for returning soldiers of the Boer War (1900)

TPL board members wore this to welcome home soldiers to Toronto who fought in the controversial Boer War, Canada’s first foreign war. The medal on top is a version of the badge found on the hats of Canadians in this war. (Toronto city councillors wore almost identical pins.) This item is one of 1,000+ digitized items from our archive of TPL's own history.

Artifact from our Toronto Public Library Archive. View on our Digital Archive.

5. Photo of the Maple Leaf soccer team (1902)

This was one of multiple sports teams that used maple leaf in its name before it was adopted by the NHL hockey team we know today. The Maple Leaf Football Team played in the Village of Ellesmere, which was part of the Township of Scarborough. They won'the Ontario Championships in 1890, and this portrait commemorated their victory in the East York League in 1902.

Portrait of the Maple Leaf Football [soccer] Team. View on our Digital Archive.

6. Land of the Maple postcard series (1905 to 1917)

Published in Toronto, this series framed Canadian landmarks with a maple leaf border. In a 1907 ad, publisher A. H. Cooper described his work as "the best ever produced in Canada and they clearly proved the fallacy of foreign importations." Out of 122 in the series, we preserve 30. (Thanks to Toronto Postcard Club for information about this series.)

Land of the Maple postcard featuring Queen's Park, Toronto, approximately 1908. View on our Digital Archive.

7. "Greetings from Toronto" leather postcard (approximately 1905)

The many maple leaves on this postcard were created by a technique called pyrography, which used heat to burn designs onto different materials. Leather postcards were a fad during the postcard boom in the early 1900s. In 1910, Canada banned the postcards because of damage to the postal service’s sorting machines. See other leather postcards on our Digital Archive.

"Greetings from Toronto" leather postcard. View on our Digital Archive.

8. Flag designs submitted by Toronto Star readers (1945)

After the Canadian government announced it was considering a new flag, readers of the Toronto Star sent in designs that were shared in the paper. Many featured a maple leaf. We've digitized 16 designs, which are part of our archive of a million images from the Toronto Star across the 20th century.

Flag design submitted by Toronto Star reader J. Kosyn. View on our Digital Archive.

9. "This is our Canadian flag" pamphlet (approximately 1963)

Before Canada's current flag was official, groups like the Canadian Patriotic Association advocated to keep The Red Ensign, with its much smaller emphasis on the maple leaf. Below is one of their flyers from our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana. It's one of 28,000 pieces of ephemera (i.e., items made for a specific purpose and then often discarded).

Cover of pamphlet in favour of a flag with a union jack. View on our Digital Archive.

10. “Canada’s Own Flag” commemorative coin (1964)

Look closely and you'll spot the date when the new Canadian flag was officially approved: December 15, 1964. The vote in the House of Commons, following the Great Flag Debate, passed with 163 to 78 votes. Two months later, Canada raised its new national flag — with the maple leaf front and centre. In 1996, the government declared February 15 as Flag Day.

The backside of this coin features Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. View on our Digital Archive.

Further reading online

History of the Maple leaf

• Timeline: The Maple Leaf (Government of Canada)

Blog posts by TPL

• Coronation Celebrations in Canada: 6 Rarities from Our Archives
• Ontario's Past: 8 Interesting Items
• Cure-Alls & Cure-Naughts: 6 Vintage Ads & Pamphlets for Medical Remedies

During the First World War, several comedy-musical troupes entertained the Canadian Corps. The most famous was the Dumbells from the 3^rd Canadian Division. Like similar variety-act groups, known at the time as “concert parties,” the Dumbells featured men in drag as part of their morale-boosting shows. The troupe became a hit back home in North America and toured until 1932.

In 1978, the estate of one of the original Dumbells, Ivor E. "Jack" Ayre, donated his memorabilia to Toronto Public Library. Preserved in our Special Collections in the Arts, this archival material comprises photos, letters, sheet music and keepsakes that shed light on the formation, performances and legacy of the once-famous Dumbells.

Our Jack Ayre fonds, "The Dumbells Collection (1917–1976)," comprises 603 items and is part of our Special Collections in the Arts.

Formation of the Dumbells

Captain (honourary) Merton Plunkett, a YMCA entertainment officer, assembled the Dumbells from serving members of the 3^rd Canadian Division. Formed in France, they put on their first performance in August 1917 and entertained frontline troops until June 1919.

The original eight members included:

• Merton Plunkett (1888–1966), managing director and comedian
• Albert "Al" Plunkett (1899–1957), baritone and brother of Merton Plunkett
• Edward "Ted" Charters (1882–1958), assistant manager and comedian
• Ross Hamilton (1889–1965), famous for crossdressing as “Marjorie”
• Allan Murray (1893–1967), famous for crossdressing as “Marie from Montreal"
• Jack Ayre (1895–1977), pianist and music director

Two more members joined shortly thereafter: tenor Bill Tennent and bass baritone Bert Langley. Following their first show, the Dumbells’ numbers increased to 16. These additional members were Bill Redpath, Elmer Belding, George Thorne, Andrew Catrano, J. McCormick and D. L. Michie.

Jack Ayre recounted the origin of the group and its name, as documented in our archival transcript for a CBC broadcast:

"Back in July of 1917, while fighting in France orders came down from Canadian Third Division Headquarters for a Canadian arts entertainment show. Those of us who were selected came from various units and regiments; some of us were literally pulled from the front line trenches, including me.

We got our name The Dumbells from our divisional patch, which was a red dumbell on a French blue/grey field. I’m sure some thought we really were dumbells for getting involved in such a crazy venture but frankly, we never did. We tried to put on the best damn show we possibly could for all those courageous lads and we worked very hard – three and four shows a day."

Postcard of the Dumbells with their signatures on the back, dated between 1917 and 1918. View on Digital Archive.

A troupe performing for troops

The Dumbells worked together to come up with a program of popular songs and skits about life in the trenches. The performers mocked the military system and its high-ranking officials, which senior officers let slide due to the positive impact on morale.

The troupe carried their curtains, costumes and an upright piano to where the troops were located—even the front lines. They liked to perform in the early evening. It was late enough to use stage lights but not so late to be disrupted by common overnight bombing raids. Troops saw their fellow soldiers cover songs, act out humorous scenes and enjoyed what was perhaps most cherished component: the female impersonators.

The Dumbells made do with makeshift stage elements and second-hand costumes. They made wigs out of horsehair from furniture in bombed-out houses. They used German shell cases for footlights. The character of Marjorie got her first dress from a sex worker in a beer garden, and other dresses came from London stage stars. Since many of the later Dumbells were members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Princess Patricia of Connaught, daughter of the Governor General of Canada, donated clothing discarded by her ladies-in-waiting along with some of her own pieces.

Ross Hamilton of the Dumbells as Marjorie, 1918. View on Digital Archive.

Allan Murray of the Dumbells as Marie, between 1920 and 1925. View on Digital Archive. 

The Dumbell Rag

The Dumbell’s theme song was The Dumbell Rag, which Jack Ayre wrote when he first went to France. For many young Canadian soldiers, it may have been the last music they heard before they died. You can hear a recent instrumental rendition of The Dumbell Rag on YouTube.

Here are the lyrics, transcribed from one of a sheet music manuscript found among the archival items:

Hi Boys
Hear our latest rag. It's a sort of raggy drag
Just listen while we sing it once for you
We hope you'll sing it too
If anyone has the "blues"
His "Blooming Blues" he will lose
Oh that Dumbell Rag. That "Dummy" Dumbell Rag
Sing it high or sing it low
Just sing it together and let 'er go Hi!
Oh that Dumbell Rag. Don’t let your voices lag (what do we care)
If it's shine or rain. This makes you think you're home again
"D" "U" "M" "B" "E" "L"
That everloving Dumbell Rag

Handwritten sheet music for The Dumbell Rag, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive.

Canadian copyright notification for "Dumbell Rag", 1920. View on Digital Archive.

Cover for Dumbell Rag sheet music, 1979. View on Digital Archive.

From wartime to peacetime

The Dumbells' popularity allowed them to transition from the theatre of war to actual theatres. A newspaper clipping from our archival materials reveals that the Dumbells were such a big hit that, even during the war, they were furloughed to play in theatres in London, England for four weeks. (That same article reveals that the Dumbells, at some point, offered to return to their combat roles. However, their offer was denied because their work as entertainers was deemed too important for morale.)

After the war ended, the Dumbells returned to Canada and became a leading Canadian vaudeville troupe, performing as civilians. Members from the early days of the Dumbells who performed as civilians included Al Plunkett, Ross Hamilton, Bill Tennent, Bert Langley, Allan Murray and Jack Ayre. Members from other Canadian concert parties had also joined the troupe.

The Dumbells at London Coliseum in London, England, 1918. View on Digital Archive.

The Dumbells in performance at the London Coliseum in London, England, 1918. View on Digital Archive.

The Dumbells opened the revue Biff, Bing, Bang on October 1, 1919 at the Grand Opera House in London, Ontario. They then performed at the Grand Theatre in Toronto for 16 weeks and completed 12 cross-Canada tours over the next 13 years. (Our archival materials include Jack Ayre's detailed log books of where they travelled.) In May 1921, a revised Biff, Bing, Bang opened at the Ambassador Theater in New York. It was the first Canadian musical revue to appear on Broadway. The show ran for about 12 weeks and Jack Ayre became the first Canadian to conduct an orchestra on Broadway. In November of 1921, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author of Anne of Green Gables saw Biff, Bing, Bang in Toronto when she visited for Canadian Book Week. She wrote in her diary: “It was incredibly funny and I laughed as I haven’t laughed in years. The female parts were all played by men and three of them were the most stunning beauties I ever beheld.”

The success of their tours and the popularity of their music in Canada resulted in 27 recordings and the distribution of sheet music songs.

The cast of Biff, Bing, Bang at Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1921. View on Digital Archive.

Some of the dates for the Dumbells' 1920 Canadian tour. View on Digital Archive.

End of the Dumbells

The Dumbells disbanded in 1932 in the face of financial difficulties brought on by the Great Depression and competition from talking pictures. At their peak, the Dumbells made national stars of the crooner Al Plunkett, comic singer Red Newman and drag star Ross Hamilton. Hamilton was a particularly notable figure of the Dumbells because, after volunteering to serve in the Second World War, he was discharged for  “a reason other than medical,” a phrase  often used to remove members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community from the military.

The troupe reunited for concerts on a few occasions and has been the subject of several documentaries and reenactments. As well-known as they became, perhaps their most important legacy was the laughter they were able to give to young Canadian soldiers facing the unimaginable horror of war. Here's how Jack Ayre put it, as documented in our archival transcript for a CBC broadcast:

"I can'tell you the hardest and saddest part was playing for an audience at 5:30 and knowing that at 7:30 some of them might be killed. I guess we thought ourselves lucky to be out of it. I often figured that being able to play the piano probably saved my life."

Ivor E. (Jack) Ayre, 1972. View on Digital Archive.

Explore more

Archival materials at TPL

• Finding aid for The Dumbells Collection (1917–1976) (PDF)
• Digitized items related to the Dumbells on our Digital Archive

Encyclopedias and books

• The Dumbells on The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War
• Canadian Expeditionary Force: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War

Add a touch of Toronto history to your next video call with these 12 vintage virtual backgrounds. Download these free backgrounds of interior photos of Toronto landmarks and other spots from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — and discover a bit of history as you find a favourite!

We preserve these images on our Digital Archive, a treasure trove of 180,000+ digitized items.

1. Queen's Park (1893)

Welcome to the reception room of Ontario's Legislative Building. Did you know there was a derailed design competition for the building in 1880? Or that Queen's Park (as a park) was originally part of University of Toronto?

Download virtual background

2. Massey Hall (1894)

Please take your seats, the concert will begin shortly. Until the 1920s, Massey Hall was the only facility in Canada designed just for musical performances. Industrialist Hart Massey gifted the venue to the city in memory of his late son.

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3. Toronto City Hall (1898)

Go ahead, chair a session inside the council chamber of the City Hall of yore. Predating the Old City Hall, the city hall seen below was eventually incorporated into what's now St. Lawrence Market South.

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4. St. Lawrence Hall (1898)

Don't let the emptiness fool you, this venue was full of lively events. Opened in 1850, this Historical Site of Canada hosted cultural and social gatherings — including important meetings for the Abolitionist Movement.

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5. TPL's first branch (1900)

Did you know that TPL's first branch opened way back in 1884? Before 1884, this location at Church and Adelaide streets was home to the Library's forerunner, the Toronto Mechanics' Institute.

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6. Cut Rate Drug Store (1910s)

What can I get you? Located in the Kensington Market area, this shop's storefront was in English and Yiddish. The market was known as "the Jewish market" early on because many residents were European Jewish immigrants.

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7. Allan Gardens (1914)

Your office might have a plant or two — but nothing like this. This image of the always-lush Allan Gardens Conservatory is actually of its second incarnation. The first conservatory burned down in 1902.

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8. Dufferin/St. Clair branch (1920s)

Behold the interior of our Dufferin/St. Clair branch. The pictured murals were painted by George A. Reid, principal of the Ontario College of Art, and by two of his former students, Lorna Claire and Doris McCarthy.

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9. Royal York Hotel (1930)

Enjoy your stay at "the largest building in the British Commonwealth." Well, at least that's how this hotel was advertised when it opened in 1929. Canadian Pacific Railway built it as part of a plan to dot hotels along the train line.

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10. Maple Leaf Gardens (approximately 1932)

Go Leafs Go! Did you know that the Toronto Maple Leafs played their first game in Maple Leaf Gardens on November 12, 1931? Just don't Google the score of that game against Chicago.

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11. Toronto Stock Exchange (1937)

Buy! Sell! Buy! Sell! Can't stand the heat of trading? Not to worry, the 234 Bay Street location of the Toronto Stock Exchange is said to be the first building in Toronto to have air conditioning.

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12. Bookmobile (1948)

Talk about working remotely. Take a seat in York Township Public Library's bookmobile, which began service in 1946. In 1998, York Township Public Library Board was one of seven library boards to form an amalgamated TPL.

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Related posts

• Phone Wallpapers for Toronto History Geeks (And Everyone Else)
• Pieces of History: 70 Digital Puzzles of Items in Our Special Collections
• Ontario History: 40 Colouring Pages from Our Special Collections

In 2022, Susan Anderson donated a set of postcards to TPL from her grandfather William Alfred Anderson, a photographer and postcard maker from Muskoka, Ontario. We've digitized many of these vintage views of cottage country, dating back to 1911.

Read on to learn about Anderson and to see highlights of his bucolic postcards — and other rarities. You can also browse the postcards online via Digital Archive Ontario or see them in person as part of our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

Left: Photograph of William Anderson, courtesy of Susan Anderson. Right: Postcard of Muskoka, which depicts Anderson with a companion, approximately 1921. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Early life and arrival in Muskoka

William Alfred Anderson was born in Yorkshire, England on December 21, 1880. He had an older sister and three younger brothers. As a young man he sailed a good part of the world, heading to South Africa to participate in the Boer War. However, it had ended by the time he arrived.

He took up photography after returning to England and in 1907 he emigrated to Canada with one of his brothers, Harry. They intended to make their new home in British Columbia. During the sea voyage, Anderson met a man who persuaded him to interrupt his journey to visit Muskoka, a burgeoning tourist destination in Central Ontario. Anderson fell in love with the natural beauty of Muskoka and never left. (Harry ended up in California.)

View from Buck Island, Back Channel, near Beaumaris, Lake Muskoka, approximately 1930. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Muskoka in the early days

People of European background started visiting the Muskoka area in the mid-1880s, staying in tents and building small cabins. Couples and families from the Toronto and Hamilton area would usually come between May and October.

Land was very inexpensive until about 1910. Influential Canadians and Americans started to build impressive homes and resorts along the shorelines of Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau, Lake Joseph and the Lake of Bays. These lakes in Muskoka fast became a favourite summer paradise for well-to-do tourists who came up by train to Gravenhurst and then boarded steamboats to various resorts.

Muskoka: A Land of Lakes and Valleys, approximately 1917. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Setting up shop and putting down roots

When Anderson arrived in Muskoka, John Willmott and his brother-in-law Edward Prouse had already established a summer community in Beaumaris on Lake Muskoka. Anderson set up a photography business in the Beaumaris Hotel owned by Prouse.

In 1909, Anderson married Frances Wilmott. They built a house and photographic studio in Beaumaris. In their early years, the couple went to Daytona Beach, Florida in the winter where Anderson set up a second photographic studio. As their family grew to three children, the Andersons remained in Muskoka all year round, with William also working as a photographer on cruise ships. He also tried out a job as a staff photographer for the Toronto Telegram newspaper but he did not stay long — his heart was in Muskoka. He continued to travel in Canada and the United States and made one trip back to England.

Beaumaris Hotel, approximately 1911. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

View from Broadley Bay in Beaumaris, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Card dealer

Prior to the First World War, Anderson took many photographs in and around Lake Muskoka, Lake Joseph and Lake Rosseau. He used them to make sepia-coloured and colourized picture postcards to sell to summer tourists.

When the war was over, Anderson was able to employ a printer in Germany to reproduce his postcards using rich colours. Expensive copper engravings of his photographs were made in Toronto. They were mounted on wooden blocks and sent overseas to the German publisher where thousands of copies could be printed from one engraving. Postcards from the “Anderson’s Muskoka Series" and “Anderson’s Lake of Bay Series" became highly sought after souvenirs.

Each spring he would travel the lakes in his boat, taking orders from lodges, hotels and stores. After his sales trips, the younger members of his family would help him put together shipments of postcards. They were sent to his customers by steam boat and sold in sets of two for five cents. He produced no fewer than 250 unique Muskoka postcards.

Bridal Veil Falls, Shadow River, 1922. Part of Anderson's Muskoka Series. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Skiff sailing on the Muskoka Lakes, approximately 1930. Part of Anderson's Muskoka Series. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Left: Lakeshore trail in Muskoka Lakes, approximately 1925. View on Digital Archive Ontario. Right: "Queen Victoria Rock", Lake Rosseau, approximately 1932. View on Digital Archive Ontario. Both are part of Anderson's Muskoka Series

Bigwin Inn on Bigwin Island, Lake of Bays, approximately 1924. Part of Anderson's Lake of Bays Series. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Card tricks

Anderson was an early Photoshopper. He often added boats and even biplanes to his images to make the postcards more appealing. You can sometimes spot these “improvements.”

For example, take a close look at the two postcards below. The large white boat in both pictures is the same boat. One of them was copied into the scene.

Island View House, Lake Joseph, approximately 1920. The same large white boat is seen below. (Fun fact: the smaller boat on the bottom right appears in many other Anderson postcards.)  View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Windermere, Lake Rosseau, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

An encounter with a famous Canadian

After a season’s batch of postcards was mailed out, Anderson devoted the rest of the summer to regular photography. He was frequently asked to photograph people’s boats, summer homes and club functions. One time, a man who owned a seaplane approached him to capture some aerial views. The man was Billy Bishop, the great Canadian flying ace.

Billy Bishop, approximately 1917. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Disruption to his postcard business

Anderson enjoyed a good business with his postcards until 1936. At that time, he could not get a response from his publisher in Germany. The publishers were Jewish and they had been put out of business in Hitler’s Germany. The copper engravings — the keys to his business — were lost. He tried to carry on using a gelatin process but the colour reproductions were poor and their cost double. He then tried selling black and white glossy cards. They were also expensive to produce. Anderson stopped making postcards before the start of the Second World War but he continued to capture images of Muskoka.

Reflections along the Oxtongue River, Lake of Bays, approximately 1925. As with so many other postcards, the copper engraving for this postcard was likely lost when the business in Germany was shut down. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

A royal gift 

In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured Canada in an effort to shore up support for Britain as war seemed more likely in Europe. Although a stop in Muskoka was planned for June 6, it was sacrificed in order for a stop in Windsor, Ontario. Perhaps sympathetic to the missed opportunity, Monck Township commissioned Anderson to produce an album of 20 lake view photographs. A Photographic Glimpse of the Famous Muskoka Lakes, The Highlands of Ontario was presented to the King and Queen on May 22 in Toronto by Lieutenant Governor Albert Matthews. This sole copy is held in the Royal Photograph Collection at Windsor Castle in England.

Anderson never lost his love of Muskoka and continued to live in Beaumaris until he died at the age of 82. He loved to be in his boat and enjoyed nature to the full.

Susan Anderson holds her grandfather's photo album A Photographic Glimpse of the Famous Muskoka Lakes, The Highlands of Ontario. After learning about the album in newspaper clippings, she wrote to Windsor Castle to see if the item was there. A year later she received a reply it had been located. She visited to see it in April 2010. Courtesy of Susan Anderson.

Related blog posts

• Muskoka's Early Tourists
• Ontario's Cottage Country: A Bit of History
• Ontario's Tuberculosis Sanatoriums, 1897-1960
• Carnegie Libraries in Ontario: Vintage Postcards
• Lucy Maud Montgomery's Inspiring Trip to Bala, Ontario in 1922

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to Susan Anderson, granddaughter of William Anderson, for the donation, extra photos for this blog post and a biography written by her father, William Everritt Willmott Anderson.

This year, Toronto Public Library celebrates 140 years. However, lending libraries have been part of the city for more than two centuries. We preserve rare items on our Digital Archive that showcase the history of these 19th-century libraries in what is now downtown Toronto. A big piece of this history is the little-known forerunner to Toronto Public Library — the Mechanics' Institute. Read on to see these rare items, learn about the history of TPL and find out how the city’s early libraries stack up against those of today.

Church Street location of Toronto Mechanics' Institute, the building that would become TPL's first branch. Painting from 1904. View on Digital Archive.

First lending library

The city’s first lending library, Toronto Library, was a private subscription library, established on December 9, 1810. It was located in the Elmsley House at the southwest corner of King Street West and Simcoe Street.

Unfortunately, the library didn't survive the War of 1812. American'troops looted its shelves during the occupation of York (now Toronto) in April 1813. Isaac Chauncey, U.S. fleet commander, later returned two cases of books with a note of apology.

Elmsley House, home of Toronto Library from 1810–1813. Known as Government House from 1815–1860. View on Digital Archive.

Beginnings of the Mechanics' Institute

Mechanics’ Institutes grew out of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. In the first decades of the 19th century, tradesmen ("mechanics") needed specialized training in their respective fields. The institutes met this need with educational opportunities for the urban working class.

On December 24, 1830, a small group of men met at the Masonic Hall on Colborne Street near Church Street to organize a Mechanics’ Institute for the town of York (Toronto), which had a population of 2,860. The Institute's most active founders were Joseph Bates, a watchmaker from England, and James Leslie, a shopkeeper from Scotland. Once established, the Institute was housed in a rented space on the second floor of the Masonic Hall.

When it opened in 1830, the Institute's library comprised 1,300 volumes. Like its counterparts in Edinburgh and London, the facility also promoted education in the arts and sciences by offering lectures and night classes. The annual subscription was seven shillings and six pence, and the library was open every evening to members.

A sketch of the city in 1835 at King Street West and York Street — about a ten minute walk from the first location of the Institute. View on Digital Archive.

In 1834, the town of York became the City of Toronto and the York Mechanics’ Institute was renamed the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute.

We preserve a copy of the constitution and rules of the Toronto Mechanics' Institute from 1842, which define its purpose as "the diffusion of Scientific and Literary Knowledge." One of the five library rules limited members to borrowing a single book at a time. (Today, you can now borrow up to 50 at a time.)

In 1845, the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute relocated to the upper floor of the new Central Fire Hall on the north side of Court-house Lane (now Court Street), which was west of Church Street between King and Adelaide streets. You can examine the Institute's annual report from 1845 on our Digital Archive.

Central Fire Hall, 1860. The second storey housed the Toronto Mechanics' Institute, accessed by an exterior staircase. View on Digital Archive.

Ceremonial trowel used in laying the cornerstone of the Central Fire Hall on August 27, 1845. Presented to Robert Beard, Chief Engineer of the Toronto Fire Department, by the building’s architect William Thomas and two other builders. View on Digital Archive.

A brand new building for the Mechanics’ Institute

In 1853, a building site at the northeast corner of Church and Adelaide streets was purchased at public auction from the University of Toronto for $6,529.

Architectural firm Cumberland and Storm designed the building, donating their services. It was an impressive space, featuring a music hall, classrooms and library — ideal for events and a wide range of programs. (Unlike today’s programs at TPL, which are free, attendees paid to attend lectures at the Institute. In some cases, members received free or discounted tickets as part of their paid membership.)

Stereoscopic photo of Toronto Mechanics' Institute on Church Street, 1859. View on Digital Archive.

 Left: Poster for lectures in the Institute for the winter of 1854/1855. View on Digital Archive. Lecture topics ranged from agriculture to ancient books. Right: Protestant Orphans' Home Ball in the Institute's music hall, 1870. View on Digital Archive.

Challenges for the Mechanics' Institute

The new building, which cost $48,380.78, plunged the organization into debt. The Institute relied almost entirely on membership fees, which were set at a low rate, and fundraising events fell short of expectations. To ease its financial programs, the Institute leased out office space. The Institute was only able to take full possession of the building in July 1861.

Money problems impeded the development of the library's collection. Maintaining and expanding a diverse collection directly correlated with the Institute's ability to attract and keep subscribers. By the 1880s, more than 80% of borrowed books were “novels and tales,” which didn't support the original intent of the Mechanics’ Institute. Also, the rules of the library were not enforced for fear of losing members, resulting in theft, damaged books and long overdue books.

The Institute's library committee also faced continual struggles with requests for particular magazines, books and newspapers from subscribers as well demands not to purchase “unacceptable” books such as the works of Jonathan Swift.

Board of Management for Toronto Mechanics' Institute in 1882 and 1883. View on Digital Archive.

Campaign for a free library

By 1882, the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute library held 10,500 books with an annual circulation of 27,000. But, while the city’s population grew, its membership stagnated. The Institute tried different ways to raise money, even renting its reading room walls for advertisements.

John Hallam, a former Lancashire mill hand turned successful wools and leather dealer in Toronto, recognized the need for change. Having been the treasurer of the Mechanics’ Institute, Hallam, who was also a city alderman for many years, was well aware of its problems. His solution was to establish a new institution supported by municipal taxes, which became possible in 1882 when the Ontario Free Libraries Act, modeled on British legislation, passed. It was the first act of its type in Canada.

Broadside advocating for a free Toronto library, 1882. View on Digital Archive.

Piece of ephemera promoting the vote for a free library alongside an ad for baking powder and a meal in James Park, 1882.

But the provincial act did not guarantee free libraries in Toronto. A bylaw vote on January 1, 1883 was set to determine if Toronto would have a free library system. Hallam campaigned vigorously in favour of the bylaw, but many people disagreed with public funds being used for recreational reading. Newspapers published many letters both for and against the vote.

Ultimately, the bylaw passed 5,437 to 2,932. More people voted on this bylaw than any other previous bylaw in Toronto. The first library board meeting convened in February of 1883. As chair, John Hallam spoke about the aspirations of Toronto Public Library to play a central role in fostering pride in and spreading knowledge about all things Canadian.

Left: Petitions for a free library in Toronto signed by nearly 2,000 men and women. Right: Portrait of John Hallam, approximately 1890. View on Digital Archive

The first Toronto Public Library location

Toronto's newly-established library did not have to erect a new building. In March of 1883, the Mechanics’ Institute offered its building, books and other possessions to Toronto Public Library. The offer was accepted and the Toronto Mechanics' Institute ceased to exist.

On March 6, 1884, the 15th anniversary of the incorporation of Toronto, Lieutenant Governor John Beverly Robinson formally opened Toronto Public Library. James Bain, a former bookseller, was chosen by the library board as its first chief librarian. He served in the role until his death in 1908.

Photograph of the first Toronto Public Library location, formerly the Toronto Mechanic's Institute, approximately 1890. View on Digital Archive.

Invitation to Toronto Public Library's official opening ceremony, 1884. View on Digital Archive.

Despite renovations prior to opening, the building had limitations. Quarters were cramped and ventilation was bad enough to warrant an examination by the Medical Health Office. Plus, the building had to function as the library “system” headquarters as branch libraries in St. Andrew’s Market (Western Branch) and St. Paul’s Hall (Northern Branch) were opened in February of 1884.

Undeterred by these hurdles, library staff implemented several important services. The acquisition of non-Canadian books in languages other than English began with the addition of books in French and German in 1885, Italian in 1888 and Spanish in 1894. Service to persons with disabilities started in 1895 with the purchase of 70 books in braille. (Today, TPL offers materials in dozens of languages, vital newcomer services and offerings of accessible formats.)

Staff at the Toronto Public Library's first location, approximately 1895. View on Digital Archive.

Left: News room of Toronto Public Library's first location, approximately 1900. View on Digital Archive. Right: Main space for books in the same building, approximately 1900. View on Digital Archive.

Legacy of the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute

Eventually, Toronto Public Library moved its headquarters in August 1928 to the Downtown Branch at 42 Adelaide Street West. But that wasn’t the end for the former Mechanics' Institute building. It was used during the 1930s as a government aid distribution centre. It was demolished in 1949, making way for a gas station in October 1957. The site is now home to a multi-use building.

The Toronto Mechanic's Institute wasn't the only Mechanics' Institute relevant to our history. Though separate at the time, other Mechanics' Institutes were formed beyond the downtown core: Weston (1858), Scarboro' (1878), Parkdale (1880), West Toronto Junction (1888), Highland Creek (1890) Islington (1890), Don (1896) and Bracondale (1898). Their respective communities are now served by today's 100-branches-strong TPL.

We're fortunate to preserve artifacts from some of these Mechanics’ Institutes as part of our Special Collections. Next time you visit our Marilyn and Charles Baillie Centre of Special Collections on 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library, take a seat at the sturdy table from the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute — a perfect spot to reflect on TPL's long legacy.

Table from the Toronto Mechanic's Institute on the 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library. View on Digital Archive.

More from TPL

Books

• A Century of Service: Toronto Public Library 1883-1983 by Maragaret Penman (digitized copy)
• Notes By the Way on Free Libraries and Books, with a Plea for the Establishment of Rate-Supported Libraries in the Province of Ontario by John Hallam (in-person only)

Webpages

• History of Toronto Public Library

Blog posts

• "The Luminous Appearances of the Sea" and Other Old Library Programs
• History of Toronto Public Library's Staff House (1928–1964)
• History of the Music Library at Toronto Public Library (1959–1977)

Blog posts

• Early Library Service in Scarborough
• History of Toronto Public Library's Staff House (1928–1964)
• History of the Music Library at Toronto Public Library (1959–1977)

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Nobel Prize in Literature. He's known for titles such as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea.

What you may not know is that Hemingway had a four-year association with Toronto and its newspapers. Many credit Hemingway's time in Toronto as being pivotal for his transition from newspaper to novel writing.

This post looks at Hemingway's ties to Toronto and includes historical photos and rare materials from our Special Collections.

Postcard of Toronto (approximately 1921) and passport photo of Hemingway (1923).

Hemingway arrives in Toronto

In the summer of 1919, Hemingway caught the attention of Harriet Connable while vacationing at Walloon Lake in Michigan. Harriett and her husband Ralph lived in Toronto. Ralph oversaw the Canadian operations of department store chain F. W. Woolworth Company.

The Connable family were looking for a caretaker and tutor for their 19-year-old son who had a disability. Harriet was impressed by Hemingway’s stories about his service as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I (although the born-storyteller embellished his experiences). Hemingway's relationship with his own family in Chicago had become strained, so he accepted the job.

On January 8, 1920, Hemingway arrived in Toronto for the first time. He moved in with the Connables at 153 Lyndhurst Avenue in the Casa Loma area of Toronto. He was 20 years old.

Hemingway stayed at 153 Lyndhurst Avenue when he first arrived in Toronto. Here's the home in 1982. View on Digital Archive.

The 1920s was a decade of great change for Toronto. The city was becoming more prominent, but many residents worked long hours for low wages. It was heavily industrialized. Automobile ownership increased, congesting the downtown streets.

When Hemingway arrived, the Toronto Transit Commission had not yet been established. The current Union Station and the Royal York Hotel had not been built. Prohibition was in effect. The population of the city passed half a million, with 62% born in Canada and nearly 30% born in the United Kingdom. 

Postcard of Toronto's old City Hall, 1919. View on Digital Archive.

Hemingway's interest in newspapers

Hemingway always had ambitions to become a fiction writer. His family encouraged him to attend university, but he believed the best way to learn the craft was by writing for newspapers. Many of his literary heroes — Stephen Crane, Mark Twain, Ring Lardner, George Ade and Jack London — began their careers as newspaper reporters.

He had a brief apprenticeship as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star in Missouri in 1917. This experience taught him how to mine the facts of a story and describe them simply and directly using the paper’s style sheet.

Hemingway was anxious to continue his practical education. He asked Ralph Connable for an introduction to the Toronto Daily Star (renamed Toronto Star in 1971). It was one of five newspapers in Toronto at the time. The others were The Globe, The Mail and Empire, Toronto World and the Toronto Telegram, which was the Star's main competitor.

Left: The Toronto Daily Star, the largest newspaper offices in Canada, at 18-20 King Street West in 1913 (view on Digital Archive). Hemingway worked on the second floor. 
Right: Cover of Toronto Star Weekly from the 1920s, held in our Special Collections at Toronto Reference Library.

Starting at Toronto Star Weekly

Hemingway was given a chance to be a freelance reporter with Toronto Star Weekly, a weekend publication affiliated with the Toronto Daily Star newspaper.

The publication tried to compete with Sunday World, a highly successful magazine that offered inspiring fiction, humorous sketches, comics, children’s tales and advice for the lovelorn. To draw readership, the Star Weekly began to pay for popular fiction and entertaining human interest stories. This was a perfect time for Hemingway to come on board.

Hemingway’s first story was about Mayor Tommy Church, a long-serving politician, but it was rejected for publication due to its heavy-handed tone.

Hemingway scholars believe his first story in a Toronto paper was published on February 14, 1920. It was a short, unsigned Star Weekly piece titled “Circulating Pictures a New High-Art Idea in Toronto.” It was on March 6 that Hemingway had a story for the first time under his byline — “Taking a Chance for a Free Shave” — about getting a free shave at a barber college.

Unlike his eight months at the Kansas City Star (where he never received a byline), Toronto Star Weekly editors mostly left it up to their reporters to suggest ideas. Hemingway's distinctive style was encouraged, and his writing flourished. His features were closer to fiction than hard news. He often wrote about sports, a theme that would appear in his novels.

Hemingway's first byline appears at the top, just to the right of the centre crease in the Toronto Star Weekly on March 6, 1920 (click image to enlarge). This original newspaper is preserved in our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.  We encourage researchers to use our Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive to help reduce wear and tear on the original newspapers.

Moving abroad

In May of 1920, Hemingway’s job in Toronto as a companion to Junior Connable ended. He went to Michigan and later Chicago, where he met his first wife Hadley Richardson.

He continued to write stories for The Star. In February 1921, one of his former editors offered him a job as Toronto Daily Star’s foreign correspondent in Europe. Six months later, out of financial necessity, Hemingway accepted the job and moved to Paris with his new wife. He was known on the Paris literary scene, becoming part of a group of American writers and poets known as The Lost Generation.

Hemingway's travels through the continent and the company he kept inspired the next phase of his writing. Hemingway wrote about bullfights, drinking and conflict as well as other topics that he later included in his fiction.

Hemingway's article "Bull Fighting Is Not a Sport — It is a Tragedy" in an original October 20, 1923 issue of Toronto Star Weekly. Part of our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana. Read it online.

Return to Toronto in 1923

Hemingway and his wife Hadley stayed in Paris until the late summer of 1923 when they moved back to Toronto. They were expecting their first child and wanted him to be born in Toronto. The city’s hospitals had an excellent reputation for caring for newborns and their mothers. Hemingway had been offered a position on The Star’s daily edition, which meant steady work. The Hemingways stayed briefly at The Selby Hotel at 592 Sherbourne Street.

Hemingway found working for the Toronto Daily Star’s city editor Harry C. Hindmarsh difficult. Hemingway was constantly sent out of town on what he felt were menial assignments. On the first week on the job, Hindmarsh sent him to Sudbury, Ontario to write a story about an alleged swindle involving a British coal company. Leslie McFarlane, the first author of the Hardy Boys stories, was a reporter at the Sudbury Star at the time. He told Hemingway that there was no coal in Sudbury — so there was no story. McFarlane later wrote that Hemingway, trying to salvage something from the trip, wrote a piece about Sudbury that accidentally implied it was full of sex workers.

Postcard of Selby Hotel in Toronto, approximately 1920, where the Hemingways briefly resided in 1923. Today, the building still thrives as a hotel and restaurant. Hemingway’s name can be found on the menu. View on Digital Archive.

The Arts and Letters Club

Hemingway was set to become a member of the Toronto’s Arts and Letters Club, an organization founded in 1908. Many key figures in creative and performing arts in English-speaking Canada belonged to the private club during the first half of the 20th century, including members of The Group of Seven.

On September 10, 1923, Hemingway was nominated for membership by William Main Johnson, Toronto Daily Star's promotions manager. Hemingway’s membership was seconded by painter Thomas Garland Greene. Unfortunately, Hemingway didn't pay his initiation dues, so he never officially became a member of the private club. (A photo of Hemingway paired with this anecdote hangs in the basement of the club.)

St. George's Hall at 14 Elm Street, built in 1891, is home to The Arts and Letters Club. Photo from 1979. View on Digital Archive.

Hemingway's first child is born in Toronto

On October 10, 1923, Hemingway returned to Toronto after covering a news story in New York. An employee of The Star met him at Union Station to let him know that his wife Hadley had given birth at Western Hospital. The Hemingways named their son John Hadley Nicanor. (John Hadley was one of Hemingway’s favourite pen names, and Nicanor paid homage to a matador Hemingway admired.) They nicknamed the baby Mr. Bumby, later shortened to Bumby.

Left: Postcard of Western Hospital in Toronto, 1910. Right: Birth certificate of John "Bumby" Hemingway, December 10, 1923  from Ancestry Library Edition.  View larger version of certificate.

Final Toronto residence

The Hemingways had been looking for a suitable home before the birth of their son. After staying three weeks in the Selby Hotel, they found a small apartment in a then-new Cedarville Mansions. Located at 1599 Bathurst Street, it was not far from the Connable residence, Hemingway’s first home in Toronto.

Hemingway signed a year-long lease for Unit 19, paying $85 a month. However, the lease was broken when Hemingway quit the newspaper on January 1, 1924 following an altercation with editor Hindmarsh. When he left, Hemingway had filed almost 200 stories for the newspaper, and he had published his first two volumes of fiction: Three Stories and Ten Poems and In Our Time. The literary world was beginning to pay attention.

Hemingway’s last article — "Must Wear Hats Like Other Folks If You Live in Toronto" — appeared in Toronto Star Weekly on January 19, 1924 under the pen name John Hadley. The publication coincided with the Hemingways return voyage to Paris.  

During his association with the Toronto paper, Hemingway was provided with money, mobility and access to people and places that he later turned into fiction. Many credit his time with the newspaper as pivotal for his transition to novel writing.

1599 Bathurst Street, 1980. Hemingway lived here and there's now a heritage plaque dedicated to him at the residence. View on Digital Archive.

Explore further with additional TPL resources 

Databases

• Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive

Nonfiction books

• Hemingway: The Toronto Years
• Dateline, Toronto: The Complete Toronto Star Dispatches, 1920–1924
• The Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway: The Early Years
• J. E. Atkinson of The Star
• The Letters of Ernest Hemingway, Volume 1
• The Letters of Ernest Hemingway, Volume 2
• Too Good to Be True: Toronto in the 1920s

Fictional tributes

• Hemingway in Toronto: A Post-modern Tribute
• The Blue Ontario Hemingway Boat Race

Videos

• Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea
• Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling with Life
• Hemingway: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
• Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure

King Charles III was crowned on May 6, 2023 at the age of 74. As a constitutional monarchy, Canada recognized this historic date — the first coronation in 70 years for Commonwealth nations. In an earlier blog post, we highlighted six rarities from our archives that document past coronation celebrations in Canada. 

In this post, we'll look back at photographs of Charles III's tours to Canada in the 1970s. At the time, he was a prince in his 20s and early 30s. The Prince of Wales visited Canada in 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979. This decade's trips predate Charles's popular visits to Canada alongside Princess Diana. All of the photos below are part of the Toronto Star Photograph Archive and are available on Digital Archive Ontario. 

1970

Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne accompanied their paren'ts Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to North America in 1970. Their father was still recuperating from an arm injury received while playing polo. 

Prince Charles (rear) and family disembark from an Air Canada flight, 1970. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Prince Charles speaks to quarterback Ron Lancaster after watching the second half of a Canadian football game. Ottawa, Ontario, 1970. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

With an aid's help, Prince Charles signs the guest register at Fort Prince of Wales. Manitoba, 1970. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Prince Charles talks to Chief Joe Saddle Boy and his son Gerry at McNiven Beach in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, 1970. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

1976

In 1976, Prince Charles went back to Canada with brothers Princes Andrew and Edward, and his mother Queen Elizabeth II. Charles, now 28, was waiting for another Royal Navy assignment. According to biographer Sally Bedell Smith, this trip was a respite for the prince. In the Northwest Territories, he enjoyed snowmobiling, riding on a dogsled and eating raw seal meat. He even dove in scuba gear under the ice in Resolute Bay.

Princes Andrew (left), Charles (centre) and Edward (right) on royal yacht Britannia, 1976. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Princes and the Queen, 1976. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

The king-in-waiting seen behind his mother. The Queen went to Olympic equestrian competitions in Bromont, Quebec, 1976. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

1979

At age 31, Prince Charles visited Canada for the fifth time. This was the first time visiting without his paren'ts. During the week-long tour, the prince visited Manitoba, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Ontario.

Prince Charles holds a pot presented by women at Victoria Airport in British Columbia, 1979. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

On the second day of his tour, Prince Charles tries out a rescue boat built by students of the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. Victoria, British Columbia, 1979. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Prince Charles observes the Royal Regiment of Canada after arriving in Toronto, Ontario, 1979. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Prince of Wales in Toronto, 1979. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Dressed as an honourary Colonel-in-Chief, Charles poses with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Pauline McGibbon. Royal York Hotel, Toronto, 1979.  View on Digital Archive Ontario.

As he left the reception with the Royal Regiment of Canada in the Royal York Hotel, Charles met a group of secretaries there for a professional convention. 1979. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Explore more from Digital Archive Ontario

We've digitized hundreds of photos of the Prince of Wales and other British royalty. Explore them on Digital Archive Ontario or in our blog posts.

Images

• All photographs related to Charles III

Blog posts

• Coronation Celebrations in Canada: Six Rarities from Our Archives
• Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022): Photographs from Our Collections
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021): Photographs from Our Collections
• Royal Tour Across Canada in May, 1939

On July 1, 1923, the Canadian government passed a new Chinese Immigration Act — commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act — to restrict Chinese immigration. For its 100th anniversary, let's revisit this important part of Canadian history through precious records in our community-built Chinese Canadian Archive.

Brief history of the Chinese Exclusion Act

In the early 1880s, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway led to an influx of Chinese immigrants to work as labourers. By 1885, the construction was largely done, and Chinese labourers were no longer desired. At the time, Chinese labourers earned only an average of $300 per year. The Parliament of Canada passed a Chinese Immigration Act in 1885, imposing a head tax of $50 on incoming Chinese immigrants. This was raised to $100 in 1900 and to $500 in 1903. Despite the discriminatory tax, Chinese immigration continued.

In 1923, the Parliament passed what became known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited most Chinese immigration except for people in narrowly-defined categories: diplomats, merchants, Canadian-born children who had left for educational purposes and students attending university or college. It also required any Chinese person in Canada to be registered — even those who were born in Canada. From 1923 until the Act was repealed in 1947, few Chinese immigrants gained entry into Canada.

TPL’s Chinese Canadian Archive holds materials donated by Chinese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area that document experiences before, during and after the Exclusion Era.

C.I. (Chinese Immigration) certificates preserved in the Chinese Canadian Archive.

William Wai-Ching Wong and the Exclusion Era

One of the few Chinese immigrants who gained entry during the Exclusion Era (1923 to 1947) was William Wai-Ching Wong.

Wong left China in 1934 to become a student in political science at New York University. In 1937, he came to Toronto as a PhD student at the University of Toronto. Upon his arrival, he had several jobs and other positions in the community. He was a teacher, an insurance sales representative and, most prominently, the Chief Editor of the Shing Wah Daily News, a major Chinese daily newspaper in Toronto first published in 1922. He also served as the president of the Chinese Community Centre of Ontario for more than 20 years. Meanwhile, his family expanded — he got married and raised four children.

William Wong's family and friends on a picnic. Date unknown. 

Photos of William Wong working at the Shing Wah Daily News, 1977–1978. View larger image. 

He was allowed to enter Canada in 1937 on a temporary basis. In 1948, having lived in Canada for 10 years, the Immigration Authority issued a letter to the consulate of the Republic of China. It stated that Wong was expected to leave the country. However, he managed to become a Canadian citizen in 1957. This deportation letter and other records related to Wong are preserved in our Chinese Canadian Archive. 

Left: William Wong's Certificate of Medical Examination for his passage from Hong Kong to San Francisco, August 1934. View on Digital Archive. Right: Deportation letter issued by the Canadian immigration authority, 1948. View on Digital Archive. 

Registration and risks for Canadian-born Chinese

The Chinese Exclusion Act required all Chinese, including those who were born in Canada, to register and carry certificates with an identification photo. The Chinese Canadian Archive preserves five of these certificates, including the below C.I. (Chinese Immigration) 45 certificate issued to Canadian-born Ruth Ma. The certificate came in a pocket-size envelope.

Ruth Ma’s C.I. 45 certificate, 1924. View on Digital Archive.

Apart from what was stipulated in the Chinese Exclusion Act, during that time Canadian women could lose their nationality status if they married a Chinese man. Jean Lumb, who was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, lost her status by marrying her husband, Doyle Jenning Lumb, who had come to Canada from China. She later obtained Canadian citizenship in 1950 (three years after the Act was repealed). Jean Lumb was an influential advocate for eliminating discriminatory immigration policies against Chinese immigrants. She was the first Chinese Canadian woman to receive the Order of Canada. In 1995, Lumb became a citizenship judge and swore in new Canadians.

 Jean and Doyle Jenning Lumb’s wedding portrait, 1939.

Family separation after the Exclusion Era

Due to the Act, many Chinese men in Canada were separated from their families. Although the Act was repealed in 1947, the entry of Chinese immigrants was limited to spouses and children (under the age of 18) of Canadian citizens. This still kept many families apart like Chin Ng's family. Ng paid a head tax of $500 when he came to Canada in 1918. He later became a Canadian citizen in 1950 and applied for his two sons to come over from China. His application was rejected because his sons were over 18. 

Immigration restrictions on Chinese based on their race and national origin continued until 1967.

Chin Ng’s citizenship certificate, December 27, 1950. View larger image.

Letter to Chin Ng indicting that his application for his sons to come to Canada was declined, April 30th 1950. View on Digital Archive.

Apology and recognition

For a long time, the Chinese Canadian community has referred to Dominion Day (now Canada Day) as "Humiliation Day" because July 1 marked the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Community members fought for redress and apology from the Canadian government. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a formal apology to Chinese Canadians for the "grave injustice" of the Head Tax and expressed sorrow for the exclusion of Chinese immigrants. It was an important day for Chinese Canadian communities. The below copy of the address held in the Ying Hope fonds in our Chinese Canadian Archive.

Address by Prime Minister Harper (in three languages across two sides) offering a full apology for the Chinese Head Tax in the House of Commons, June 22, 2006. Read on Government of Canada website or view a PDF of the above document.

During Asian Heritage Month in May of 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement to mark 100 years since the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923. Later on May 30, the Canadian government recognized the exclusion of Chinese Immigrants as of national historic significance.

Commemoration and further reading

Many organizations across Canada continue to shine a light on this history, especially for its 100th anniversary. Here are some of commemorative events and exhibits:

• Chinese Canadian Museum's grand opening at its new site Wing Sang Building, Vancouver, which features a major exhibit of a community archives project The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.
• Standing in the Doorway: Lived Histories & Experiences of the Chinese Community, an online exhibit by the York Region District School Board.
• Longing Belonging ✿ 100 Years 100 Stories, an exhibit at Varley Art Gallery of Markham.
• After Exclusion, Happy Fruit, an exhibit by Ed Kwan and Don Kwan at Gallery 101 in Ottawa.
• Swallowing Mountains, an exhibit by artist Karen Tam at McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal.
• In My Yesterday, an exhibit by artist JJ Lee at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax.
• I was ashamed of being Chinese until I learned about my ancestors' first years in Canada, an article by Winston Ma of CBC.

Historical overviews of the Chinese Exclusion Act are available on The Canadian Encyclopedia, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 or Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

About the Chinese Canadian Archive

Maintained by TPL, the Chinese Canadian Archive collects and preserves materials that reflect the history of Chinese Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area. It is located on the 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library and is available to everyone. Visit us to learn about the history of Chinese immigration.

Blog post by Ruby Yuen, Special Collections Archivist for Chinese Canadian Archive

Did you know that we once had a branch devoted just to music? The Music Library opened its doors in 1959 and operated for nearly two decades. It offered thousands of records, books and scores to borrow or use on the spot.

Here's a look back at this largely-forgotten location in Deer Park, featuring images from our Digital Archive. You'll see how public libraries have always been more than just books — and how parts of the Music Library live on at Toronto Public Library.

Music Library, approximately 1970. View on Digital Archive.

The building before it was the Music Library

The building that would become the Music Library was built in 1930. It started out life as the home of George Howard Ferguson, premier of Ontario (1923–1930) and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1930–1935). The Conservative Party gave the house to Ferguson as a retirement gift.

Situated on the northeast corner of Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue West, the 100-foot lot had many old trees. Ferguson stipulated that they be preserved. Architects Wright and Noxon drew on a modern interpretation of the Georgian style for the residence. The house had an off-red brick with stone trim and soft green shutters. 

George Howard Ferguson House (right), 1933. View on Digital Archive.

A growing music collection at Toronto Public Library

Long before the Music Library would form in the Ferguson House, we had a music section at our Central Library on College Street. As of 1915, it held 828 books of music or related to music. But the collection outgrew the space. When the Music Library opened in 1959, there were 25,000 records, books and pieces of sheet music. (The collection grew to 30,000 books and scores and 6,000 records by the mid-1970s.)

The music section at Central Library one year before the new Music Library opened, 1958. View on Digital Archive.

Opening of the Music Library

The Music Library opened on April 2, 1959 in the Ferguson House at 559 Avenue Road (the number later changed to 555). It was on the main floor, with the Canadian Centre for Music on the second floor. The official opening was April 18, during Canadian Book Week. Ernest Macmillan, a dominant force in Canadian music, gave a brief address.

Most of the collections came from the Central Library's music section, which closed on March 26, 1959. Donations were also plentiful. Besides books and scores, the Music Library received items such as pictures, pottery and sculptures. Mrs. Albert Nordheimer provided a Toronto-made Nordheimer concert grand piano of Sheraton design for the Rare Music Room.

Music Library on the day of its official opening on April 18, 1959. View on Digital Archive.

J. N. Bennett, chair of the Public Library Board (left) and Ernest MacMillan, chair of the Canadian Music Council (right) inside the Music Library, 1959. View on Digital Archive.

Services at the Music Library

Customers could visit on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12 pm to 8:30 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm. It was closed on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Library card holders were free to borrow books, scores and sheet music. (At the time, a regular library card cost 10 cents.) Circulating books included biography, history and theory. Rare and special books, periodicals and newspaper clippings could also be accessed in the branch. Materials were not organized by the Dewey Decimal System but by a classification scheme from Brookline, Massachusetts.

Long playing records (LPs) were also part of the collection. There were fees to use the records, which fell under a narrow range of genres — a stark contrast to today's more inclusive Toronto Public Library. An annual charge of one dollar was in place for listening privileges and there were rental fees for recordings. In 1960, The Globe and Mail quoted the head of the Music Library as saying that jazz LPs weren't collected as "many jazz fans don't take care of the records" and that "rock ‘n’ roll is not music and we don’t stock it.” Thankfully, the times they were a-changin'.

Inside the listening room of the newly opened Music Library, 1959. View on Digital Archive.

Letterhead featuring a musical note listing three services: books, scores and records. Date unknown.

Addition in 1967

The Music Library's success led to an addition. Architects James A. Murry & Henry Fliess designed a new space for The Music Library Concert Room. W. Kaye Lamb, Canada’s National Librarian, opened the addition on December 9, 1967. The highlight of the opening was a performance of Variations on Opening a Music Library by Shelai Bluether and Liesal Kohlund, staff at the Music Library. The pieces were composed for two pianos — made possible since Mrs. Albert Nordheimer donated a second grand piano, a Steinway.

The new venue seated 160 people and was available to rent for concerts, exhibits and film showings. The library sponsored concerts both live and recorded. Many wonderful performances were sponsored by musician unions. Staff also arranged exhibitions of Canadian Music and Painting, working with organizations like the Canadian Music Centre.

A section in the Music Library opened in 1968 as a film reference centre for materials in the performing arts: Music Library Cinematheque. Other changes to the Music Library included enhanced listening stations that allowed customers to listen to music and easily follow its score.

Performance of eight "Variations on Opening a Music Library" by Sheila Bleuthner (left) and Liesel Kohlund (right), 1967. View on Digital Archive.

Booking calendar for Concert Room, 1969.

Listening stations that also had space to follow along with sheet music, approximately 1967. View on Digital Archive.

Farewell to the Music Library

Our new central location, Toronto Reference Library at 789 Yonge Street, officially opened on November 2, 1977. The Music Library was incorporated into this larger location, and the smaller branch was no longer needed. Library staff spent most of that year coordinating the move to the new location from the old Central Library as well as the Music Library (initially relocated to the second floor of Toronto Reference Library).

The Music Library building was listed for sale by the City of Toronto for an asking price of around $300,000. It remained empty until 1980, when the Religious Order of the Cenacle bought it as a retreat house. In 1988, Upper Canada Development purchased it and made extensive renovations. Finally, it became the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. 

In 1976, the building was granted Heritage Status by Toronto City Council (Bylaw 101-87), so the property is protected from any future development. 

The building on Avenue Road is now the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. The 1967 addition is visible on the right. Photo by author, 2023.

Legacy and current music services

The most direct legacy of the Music Library is the Arts Department on the 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library. It holds many of the same scores found at the Music Library. It also offers 16,000 CDs to borrow and 5,000 vinyl records, listening stations, and piano practice rooms. Elsewhere on the 5th floor, we also preserve thousands of rare and original Canadian sheet music as part of our Special Collections in the Arts.

Our music collections and services now extend far beyond any one location. We offer CDs and in-person music programs across our system, free music and concerts to stream from home, and cultural passes that provide equitable access to ticketed musical performances in Toronto. Oh, and did we mention our musical instruments lending library and recording studios?

On your next visit, keep an eye out for artifacts from our old music branch. The Steinway piano from the Music Library lives at Northern District branch where it's still played at concerts and piano lessons. Back at Toronto Reference Library, visitors to the 5th floor may spot a sculpture of a harpist that once played its silent song in the old Music Library.

The Harpist by T. Bagnall (1965) can be seen on 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library, home to our Arts Department. Photo by staff, 2023.

Explore more

Digitized items

• All items related to the Music Library

Books

• G. Howard Ferguson: Ontario Tory
• A Century of Service: Toronto Public Library 1883-1983
• Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973): Portrait of a Canadian Musician

Blog posts

• History of Toronto Public Library's Staff House (1928–1964)

As a constitutional monarchy, Canada has held huge celebrations for past coronations of British monarchs. The crowning of King Charles III on May 6, 2023 marks the first coronation in 70 years for Commonwealth nations.

Below is a quick overview of this age-old ceremony and six pieces of history tying it to Ontario and beyond. Toronto Public Library preserves these rare items which are available on Digital Archive Ontario.

Illustrations of coronation regalia for kings (left) and queens (right) — from one of our oldest items about coronations, a children's book from 1820 depicting the ceremony's attire "from king to commoner." View on Digital Archive Ontario.

A bit of background on coronations

From as far back as the Middle Ages, most British monarchs started their rule immediately after the death of their predecessor. However, to allow time for mourning, their coronation was held several months later. The period leading up to the coronation is called the accession.

The ceremonies of today have changed little from hundreds of years ago. The new sovereign is acclaimed by the people and takes an oath to uphold the law. Anointing and crowning rituals are followed by the presentation of the regalia, symbols of state power such as the sceptre and the orb.

1. Ad for boat excursions in Belleville (1902)

All aboard! Savvy businesses like Miller & Davis’ Fine Groceries capitalized on the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 by sponsoring paid excursions — complete with live music! — on the steamer Nellie Cuthbert. It's one of three ads we've digitized related to this particular store.

Ad for boat trips on Coronation Day, 1902. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

2. Stereograph of decorations on Yonge Street (1902)

If you look closely at this souvenir stereograph, you'll spot a crown mounted on the street corner as well as flags, including the Canadian Red Ensign. These items are likely decorations for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. Intended to be used with viewing devices, these side-by-side images created a 3D effect when used with viewing devices — better immersing the viewer in the festive Toronto scene. 

Yonge Street, looking north of King Street in Toronto, 1902. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

3. Invitation for a procession in London (1911)

The Grand Trunk Railway, which was the precursor to the Canadian National Railway, sent out this invitation promising a view of a royal procession in London… (wait for it) Ontario. Before the invention of television, events like these helped commonwealth citizens in Canada mark historic occasions. Slated for June 23, 1911, the procession was one day after the coronation of George V and Mary. 

An invitation to the Royal Procession, 1911. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

4. Sheet music for "The Coronation Waltz" (1936)

This piece of piano music isn't linked to any one coronation. It uses the ceremonies as inspiration for a romantic song that describes wide-reaching celebrations: "from the whole-world over, they're dancing with the King, why shouldn't you?" This edition was published by Gordon V. Thompson Limited at 193 Yonge Street, Toronto. Did you know that several notable Canadian composers wrote compositions for coronations?

"The Coronation Waltz" sheet music for voice and piano, 1936. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

5. Group portrait of students travelling to Britain (1937)

These members of the "Young Canada" group travelled to the coronation of George VI in 1937. Hundreds of Canadian high school students attended the event. (We also have a photo of the coronation contingent of Canada's military headed overseas that year.) Even for students who stayed behind, Coronation Day was met with fanfare at their schools:

"Homes, stores, factories, public buildings and streets are decorated with flags and banners, and in the schools children have memorized bits of the actual ceremony to be repeated on the historic day." – Toronto Star (May 11, 1937)

Members of "Young Canada", 1937. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

6. Photo of pilots in North Bay responsible for flying over film reels (1953)

A few weeks before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, this image of three Canadian pilots and a CF-100 Canuck jet fighter stationed in North Bay, Ontario graced the front page of the Toronto Star. Their mission: flying back coronation footage from Britain to Canada. Canadians tuned in to witness the eagerly-awaited initiation rite filmed only hours earlier. (For the prior coronation in 1937, some photos in our archive have a note on them: "Photo Flown Across Atlantic.")

Pilots in the 445 All-Weather Fighter Squadron, 1953. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Bonus: Card game of British rulers (approximately 1838)

Did someone say royal flush? While not specifically about coronations, this set of 36 cards features facts about English rulers "for learning the history of England." Published in London, England, the game is part of our Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books and our online exhibit Royal Fanfare. 

Cover and sample of cards in a game titled "Royal Revels, or Game of Kings", approximately 1838.

Explore more from Digital Archive Ontario

Digitized items

• Items related to coronations

Blog posts

• Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022): Photographs from Our Collections
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021): Photographs from Our Collections
• Royal Tour Across Canada in May, 1939

In 1922, Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery and her family vacationed two weeks in the small town of Bala in Muskoka, Ontario. She took the proof of her novel Emily of New Moon to edit. But this trip would inspire The Blue Castle, one of her only two books for adults and her only novel set entirely outside of her beloved Prince Edward Island.

Read on to learn more about the books and the trip — and to view postcards of the time and other rare items from Digital Archive Ontario as well as other archives.

Postcard of Bala, Ontario and portrait of Montgomery.

Lucy Maud Montgomery and The Blue Castle

Known for creating the beloved heroine Anne of Green Gables in 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of Canada’s most cherished early authors. She published 21 novels, as well as 530 short stories and 500 poems.

The Blue Castle, Montgomery’s 15th book, was published in September of 1926. Its 45 chapters were not titled and the original edition did not have a dust jacket. Publisher McClelland and Stuart may not have been optimistic enough about the adult book to invest in its presentation.

The story is about Valancy Stirling, an “old maid” who decides to escape her dreary existence by leaving her oppressive family. In due course, she marries Barney Snaith, a man believed to be a scoundrel and a criminal. The story is set in a fictional community called Deerwood. But many clues in the book appear to be inspired by Bala, Ontario and the Muskoka region — as well as real elements in Montgomery’s life.

First editions of The Blue Castle (1926) and Emily of New Moon (1923) are available at Toronto Reference Library.

The trip

In the summer of 1922, Lucy Maud Montgomery, her husband, Ewen (Ewan) Macdonald and their two sons, Chester and Stuart spent two weeks vacationing in Bala, Ontario, a town 127 miles north of Toronto on the shore of Lake Muskoka.

The popular tourist area of Muskoka lies east of Georgian Bay and includes Lakes Joseph, Rosseau and Muskoka. A rare, 1900s book of photos of the area is available on Digital Archive Ontario.

The Macdonalds stayed at Roselawn cottage in Bala. They had their meals served across the road. Montgomery wrote of the trip in her journals.

Lucy Maud Montgomery can be spotted on the veranda in the background during her 1922 summer trip to Bala. Courtesy of Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph. L .M. Montgomery Collections, XZ1 MS A097050, 0935C.

Here's a journal entry from Sunday, July 30, 1922 (from The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume III, 1921-1929):

"Roselawn" Bala, Muskoka

We motored up here—85 miles—last Monday morning. Roselawn is a boarding house on the Muskosh river kept by a Miss Toms…..

We only room here. We get our meals up the street at a certain Mrs. Pykes who is a lady cumbered with much serving.

The situation here is very lovely. The lawn runs down to the river where the bank is fringed by trees. It is beautiful at all times but especially at night when the river silvers under the moon, the lights of the cottages twinkle out in the woods along the opposite bank, bonfires blaze with all the old allure of the camp fire, and music and laughter drift across from the innumerable canoes and launches across the river.

Bala is a dear spot—somehow I love it. It has the flavor of home—perhaps because of its pines which are plentiful hereabout.

What a lovely name is Muskoka! Music-charm-wonder-it suggests them all. Shakespeare nodded when he suggested that there was nothing in a name. There’s a tremendous lot in it.

The Muskosh River is now known as Moon River flowing from Bala Bay to Georgian Bay. There is a Musquash River starting about five miles west of Bala at Moon Chute.

Muskoka Lakes, Map & Chart Rosseau, Joseph, Muskoka, approximately 1914. Bala is located in the lower, middle section. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Postcard of Moon River from Bala Falls, Muskoka Lakes, approximately 1925. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Left: Postcard of Musquoash River in Bala, 1908. Right: Postcard of Bala Falls, approximately 1910.

Details from The Blue Castle

Cissy Gay and tuberculosis 

The character Cissy Gay is a few years younger than Valancy. She becomes an outcast from Deerwood upon returning to their small community, unwed and pregnant after working as a waitress in a Muskoka hotel. Valancy seizes the opportunity to break away by going to nurse Cissy after she contracts tuberculosis.

During Muskoka’s golden age of Grand Hotels (approximately 1870-1940) there were over a hundred individual and overflow resorts off of Muskoka’s principal lakes.

In 1897, the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium for consumptives (tuberculosis) opened in Gravenhurst, Muskoka. It was the third tuberculosis sanitarium in the world. The “Main” administration building was a graceful two story wooden structure, which became a landmark for those travelling by water.

Postcard of Royal Muskoka Hotel, 1910. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Postcard of Muskoka Cottage Sanitarium in Gravenhurst, Canada, 1908. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

"Dippies"

While living at Roaring Able's (father of Cissy) Valancy attends services in a Free Methodist Church “up back” because she likes the minister. Mr. Towers is a sincere older man who lives in Port Lawrence (Gravenhurst) but makes his way to Deerwood for services by way of a Disappearing Propeller Boat. After Valancy begins telling her relatives exactly what she thinks of them all, the only explanation for her behaviour that her Uncle Benjamin can come up with is that “She’s gone clean Dippy.”

The mention of this boat and the euphemism for mental illness is one way Lucy Maud Montgomery anchors The Blue Castle story to the Muskoka area. The Disappearing Propeller Boat popularly known as the Dispro or Dippy was first made in 1916 in Port Carling, which is about 11 miles northeast of Bala. This unique craft had a device that allowed the propeller and shaft to retract while the engine was still running. It offered protection from rocks just below the surface.

Ad for Disappearing Propeller Boats in Illustrated Canadian Forest Magazine June 1923. Download transcription (.txt).

Bliss Carman

At the turn of the 20th century, Muskoka was known as Canada’s Literary Summer Capital. Chautauqua weeks featured famous authors of the day such as Bliss Carman, reading from their works and discussing ways to bolster Canadian authors. (You can view a digitized pamphlet from approximately 1951 looking back at the history of the literary activities in the area — related to Wigwassan Lodge.)

In Chapter 32 of The Blue Castle, the characters Barney and Valancy spend a cold January evening reading. "A plate of apples, an open fire, and 'a jolly goode booke whereon to looke' are a fair substitute for heaven," vowed Barney. "Anyone can have the streets of gold. Let's have another whack at Carman." Bliss Carman (1861-1929) is a Canadian poet and essayist.

A piece of ephemera promoting the Muskoka Assembly, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive Ontario or download transcription (.txt).

Barney's car and cat

Barney Snaith’s car in the book is a rackety old Grey Slosson called “Lady Jane.” The car that took the Macdonalds to Bala in 1922 was a 1921 touring car, a Gray Dort built in Chatham, Ontario. Maud’s nickname for the car was “Lady Jane” who was Queen of England for nine days.

The Macdonald family starting for Bala, July 1922. Courtesy of Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph. L.M. Montgomery Collection, XZ1 MS A097, 1248.

Like Valancy, Barney has an appreciation of nature and makes many animal friends. He has two cats: Banjo and Good Luck. Lucy Maud Montgomery loved cats and one named Good Luck was a favourite. The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books at Toronto Public Library holds a postcard advertising some of Montgomery’s books. The front is signed by Montgomery and features Good Luck.

Postcard signed by Montgomery. Held at the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. Download transcription (.txt).

Roaring Able

The character Roaring Able is looked down upon by most folk in Deerwood because of his swearing, sometimes drunken behaviour and friendship with Barney Snaith. Valancy likes him because he is so jolly. Lucy Maud Montgomery used characters with the name “Able” before: a short story entitled "Each His Own Tongue" which you can read in Chronicles of Avonlea (also available online) and "Abel and his great adventure" in Canadian Magazine, Vol 48, November 1916 to April 1917, pages 353 (also available online).

Special Collections holds a clipping from a letter Montgomery wrote to Newton MacTavish, editor of the Canadian Magazine, on September 26, 1917. It indicates how she prefers the name “Old Able” to his suggestion. It reads: "Yes, I prefer 'Old Able' to the other title you suggested. Yours truly L.M. Macdonald"

Clipping from letter by Montgomery to Newton MacTavish, 1917. Held at Toronto Public Library's Special Collections.

Museum in Bala

Jack Hutton and Linda Jackson-Hutton operate a museum devoted to Lucy Maud Montgomery in Bala. 

They have also written Lucy Maud Montgomery and Bala: A Love Story of the North Woods. The book contains many more clues about connections between the Muskoka region and The Blue Castle such as, who was the model for Barney Snaith and where is his island, where did the name Valancy come from and what event may have led to the scene where she gets her foot caught in the train track.

Bala's Museum with memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Bala, 1993.  View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Further reading

Books

• Lucy Maud Montgomery and Bala: A Love Story of the North Woods
• The Greatest Little Motor Boat Afloat: The Legendary Disappearing Propeller Boat
• Muskoka's Grand Hotels
• The Muskoka Assembly of the Canadian Chautauqua Institution: Points of View and Personalities

Blog posts

• Lucy Maud Montgomery and the First Canadian Book Week

 "A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."  – Andrew Carnegie

During the early 20th century, 125 libraries in Canada were built with grants from the Carnegie Foundation. Of those, 111 were built in Ontario between 1903 and 1922. Many buildings were designed by local architects and were usually downtown, next to town halls, churches, near parks or in civic squares. These libraries were an integral part of the community and formed a key part of civic life.  

According to the The Best Gift: A Record of the Carnegie Libraries in Ontario, “Picture post cards were frequently used to express a community’s pride in its Carnegie Library." Digital Archive Ontario, a historical resource of digitized items from Toronto Public Library, has an extensive postcard collection that includes over 100 vintage images of Ontario's public libraries.

Some of the Carnegie library postcards available on Digital Archive Ontario. View all.

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie, 1835–1919, was born in Scotland and immigrated with his family to the United States. He became one of the wealthiest and most famous industrialists of his time. He founded the Carnegie Steel Company, which became the largest steel manufacturer in the United States.

When he retired in 1901 he sold his company to J. P. Morgan for $480 million dollars and then devoted his life to philanthropic work. Public libraries were of special interest to him. He donated $56 million for the building of 2,509 libraries worldwide with $2,556,660 granted for library construction in Canada.

Although Carnegie is remembered as a great philanthropist, many disagreed with his business practices which included maximizing profits while paying his workers as little as possible. Harper's Weekly, March 30, 1901.

Carnegie library grants

Two conditions had to be met in order for a town to receive a grant. First, the community had to provide the site for the building. Second, the community had to raise 10 percent of the endowment annually for the maintenance and upkeep of the library, which included books and staff.

Carnegie's secretary, James Bertram, personally approved all the Ontario grants. Starting in 1908, due to concerns about building functionality, he also approved all library building plans. In 1911 he wrote an instructional pamphlet Notes on the Erection of Library Buildings which provided cities and towns suggested floor plans. The design of the building exterior was left up to the community.

These drawings were sent to communities to help guide them in planning their Carnegie library. From Notes on the Erection of Library Buildings, courtesy Carnegie Mellon University. 

Typical architectural style

Most Carnegie libraries were built in the Beaux-Arts style that was popular from the 1880s through the 1920s. This style uses symmetry to create formality and elegance and Greek and Roman decorative elements such as classical columns, sculpted friezes, porticos and domes create a grand and imposing architectural statement. 

You'll notice the similarities in design in the postcards below.

Watford Public Library

This was one of 15 Carnegie libraries designed by Guelph architect William Austen Mahoney.

Watford Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Lindsay Public Library

This library opened in 1904 and was designed by architect George Martell Miller who designed many neoclassical buildings.

Lindsay Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario. 

Wallaceburg's Carnegie library

Opened in December, 1907, this library was designed by architect A. M. Piper.

Wallaceburg's Carnegie library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Seaforth Public Library

Seaforth Public Library opened in 1912. James Bertram, Carnegie's secretary, is buried outside Seaforth with his wife who was from Seaforth.

Seaforth Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario. 

Picton Public Library

Picton Public Library was designed by architect Frank Peden. He also designed many Bank of Montreal buildings across Canada.

Picton Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Preston Public Library

Preston Public Library opened in 1910. The building closed in 1973 when Preston, Galt and Hespeler merged to form the Cambridge library system.

Preston Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Grand designs

Here are a few examples of larger libraries funded by Carnegie grants, including some of the more distinctive designs.

Brantford Public Library

Architects Stewart, Stewart & Taylor designed the impressive Brantford Public Library with a projected portico and four columns in 1902. (James Bertram disliked domes and considered them wasteful ornamentation.)

Brantford Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Goderich Public Library

Goderich diverged from the standard Beaux-Arts design and in 1902 built a Romanesque-styled library with a distinctive corner tower.

Goderich Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Fort William Public Library

Opened in 1912, the large Fort William Public Library is now a branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library.

Fort William Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Woodstock Public Library

With its grand portico and columns, this library was designed by Chadwick & Beckett of Toronto and opened in 1909.

Woodstock Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Hamilton Public Library

This library in Hamilton opened in 1909. It had a grand double staircase with a white marble banister. The building is now used as a courthouse. 

Hamilton Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Galt Public Library

Designed by architect Frederick William Mellish and opened in 1903, this tall building has a grand portico, columns and detailed frieze.

Galt Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Corner buildings

James Bertram disliked library plans that used a corner site and especially disapproved of a corner entrance. In his opinion, such designs created wasted space and irregular interior space. There were only six corner buildings designed in Ontario — Guelph (1901), Brockville (1903), Dundas (1904), Perth (1906), Brussels (1909) and Toronto's Riverdale Branch (1909). 

Guelph Public Library

Opened in 1904, Guelph Public Library was designed by architect William Frye Colvill.

Guelph Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Brockville Public Library

Brockville architect Benjamin Dillon designed this library which opened in 1904.

Brockville Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Perth Public Library

Distinguished architect Frank Darling designed Perth Public Library in 1906.

Perth Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Brussels Public Library

Brussels Public Library was designed in 1910 by William J. Ireland, a builder and architect in Stratford.

Brussels Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Stone buildings

Very few Carnegie libraries were built in stone. Here are three of them.

Fergus Public Library

Fergus Public Library was praised by Carnegie staff for its design and the Ontario Department of Education published plans for other libraries to follow. It was designed by architect William Austin Mahoney and opened in 1911. 

Fergus Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

St. Mary's Public Library

This library opened in 1905 and matched the stone and ornamentation of the Town Hall. It was designed by local architect Joseph A. Humphis and built by local stonemason Robert Clyde of rough cut limestone.

St. Mary's Public Library and Town Hall. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

New Liskeard Library

This building was designed by North Bay architect Henry Westlake Angus in 1911 and used local limestone.

New Liskeard Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Toronto’s Carnegie libraries

Toronto received two grants from the Carnegie Foundation. Carnegie’s first grant to Toronto of $350,000 was the largest amount given anywhere in Canada. Toronto used the funds to open a new Central Library in 1909 and three branches: Yorkville in 1907, Queen & Lisgar in 1909 and Riverdale in 1910. Several years later a second grant funded three almost identical branches designed by Toronto architect Eden Smith. Beaches, High Park and Wychwood all opened in 1916.

Three neighbouring municipalities (now a part of Toronto) also received Carnegie funds. Western Branch in West Toronto opened in 1909. Weston Branch opened in 1914 and Mimico opened in 1915.

(We do not have any postcards of  the Weston, Wychwood and Yorkville buildings. But you can learn more about those branches on TPL's website.)

Central Library

The Central Library in Toronto was the largest Ontario Carnegie library. A. H. Chapman designed a building with strong neoclassical elements including Corinthian pillar, brick pilaster, bracketed cornice and rounded pediments around each door. Learn more.

Central Library in Toronto. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Riverdale Branch

This branch, seen here in approximately 1911, has a neo-classical corner design. Learn more.

Riverdale Branch in Toronto. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

High Park Branch

Architect Eden Smith said his buildings, like this one, were in the English Collegiate 17th century style. Learn more.

High Park Branch and Presbyterian Church, Toronto. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Beaches Branch

This branch was constructed at the corner of Kew Gardens on a site provided by the City of Toronto, despite opposition from local residents and the Parks Committee to having a building on park property. Learn more.

Beaches Branch in Toronto. View on Digital Archive.

West Toronto Branch

This library incorporates features of Edwardian Classicism. Its orange-red exterior is embellished with Ohio sandstone. It was renamed Annette Street Branch in 1962. Learn more.

West Toronto Branch in Toronto. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Mimico Public Library

Designed by Coon & Son architects, this building was demolished in 1966 to make way for a new library. Learn more.

Mimico Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Birge-Carnegie Library

This library was built as part of Victoria College at University of Toronto. It was the only academic library to receive Carnegie funding.

Birge-Carnegie Library in Toronto. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Destroyed buildings

The late 1950s through the 1970s were not a good time for Carnegie libraries in Ontario. Several were demolished to make way for new and more modern buildings. Will a renewed interest in heritage buildings ensure their preservation for future generations?

Chatham Public Library

With its grand domed ceiling, this was the first Carnegie library to open in Ontario. By 1983 it was destroyed.

Chatham Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Collingwood Public Library

The first recorded request for an Ontario Carnegie grant was from Collingwood Public Library in 1899. It opened in 1904 and sadly was destroyed by fire in 1963.

Collingwood Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Berlin Public Library

Berlin Public Library (the city was renamed Kitchener in 1916) opened in 1904. The building was demolished in 1962.

Berlin Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Cornwall Public Library

With its unique corner turret, this library opened in 1903. A new library was built on a different site and the Carnegie building was torn down in 1956.

Cornwall Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Ottawa Public Library

Andrew Carnegie himself opened Ottawa Public Library on April 31, 1906. It was his first visit to Canada and in his speech, he said “I do not think that Washington compares with the buildings I have seen here.” Designed by architect E. L. Horwood, it was made of Indiana sandstone with the main entrance bracketed by four Corinthian columns and inside was a grand staircase and marble interior. It was demolished to create a new library that opened in 1973. The Corinthian columns were saved and moved to a local park. Learn more.

Ottawa Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Sarnia Public Library

Architect R. M. Burrowes designed the fine Beaux-Art Sarnia Public Library with a central rotunda and domed roof. It was demolished in 1960.

Sarnia Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

St. Catharines Public Library

This library was demolished in 1977 and the massive stone with the words "Public Library" moved to the site of the new library.

St. Catharines Public Library. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Explore more online

• Over 100 vintage images of Carnegie libraries in Ontario (Digital Archive Ontario)
• List of Carnegie libraries in Ontario with key details (Government of Ontario)
• Information on Carnegie libraries in Toronto (Toronto Public Library)

Edits: Corrected number of libraries designed by architect William Austen Mahoney on Jan. 10, 2023. Added links about three TPL buildings not featured on Jan. 17, 2023.

The Young Men's Christian Association, now known simply as the YMCA, has a long history in Canada. Its first North American location opened in Montreal in 1851. Early services extended to Canada's military, including support for men recruited during the First World War.

In Toronto in 1917, the Y.M.C.A. opened a recreational club specifically for First World War soldiers: The Red Triangle Club. Read on to learn more about this little-known building — and see rare views of the club from TPL's Digital Archive.

Red Triangle Club Toronto, approximately 1917. View on Digital Archive.

Y.M.C.A. and the Canadian military

The Y.M.C.A. War Service worked with the Canadian military from 1866 to 1946. Early on, it provided services to the camps of men fighting against the Fenian Raids following the American Civil War. In 1871, the Y.M.C.A. began to service militia training camps, providing letter writing supplies, reading rooms, general entertainment, lectures, sports equipment, providing canteens and facilitating religious meetings. Y.M.C.A. staff went overseas in 1899 to support Canadian soldiers involved in the Boer War. By the First World War (1914–1918) the Y.M.C.A.'s military effort was worldwide in scope.

Y.M.C.A. helped soldiers not only in the camps at home and overseas, but in the discharge depots and hospitals. But there was still an unmet need — a place downtown in large cities for soldiers who were facing a crisis in their careers. This led to the establishment of Y.M.C.A. Red Triangle Clubs or as they were sometimes known, “huts.”

Left: Recruitment station outside of Toronto's Old City Hall, 1915 (view on Digital Archive). Right: Paper with the Y.M.C.A. letterhead intended for use by "British Expeditionary Force" during the First World War, 1915 (view on Digital Archive).

The need in Toronto

During the First World War, Toronto was one of the largest military centres in Canada. Soldiers from all parts of the country could be seen on its streets. Many troops on their way to war or camp passed through the city. Several large military hospitals were in Toronto. It was one of the few places where returned soldiers could get artificial limbs; more amputation cases were seen in Toronto than any other city in Canada.

On Toronto's streets, it was common to see soldiers with arms missing or painfully bobbing on crutches. A brochure published by the Y.M.C.A. in 1917 speaks of soldiers' thoughts turning to the “temptations that are strongest at the heart of a city.” The Y.M.C.A. recognized that the soldiers longed for a club of their own, with an attractive lunchroom, billiards, pianos, books, magazines, writing tables, shower baths and clean beds.

Poster by the Military Hospitals Commission in Canada, approximately 1914 to 1918. Transcription: "Learning to use an artificial hand. Once a soldier always a man. The Wounded Soldier's Return. Come and see how your disabled defenders get back their strength and skill."  View on Digital Archive.

Setting up the building

The Y.M.C.A. Military Services Committee chose a building located at 105 Victoria Street (at Queen Street). Formerly known as the McCarron House (a hotel), it was conveniently situated one block away from the crossroads of one of Toronto’s main traffic areas.

In a short time, the committee led a transformation of the whole premises. The barroom that had once been known as the second largest in Toronto was turned into a lunchroom. The guest rooms were repainted and repapered.

"A cosy corner" inside the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1918. View on Digital Archive.

The Ladies Auxiliary of the West End Y.M.C.A. donated two billiard tables. The Broadview Y.M.C.A. ladies provided a piano. Chairs and tables for the writing rooms came from Chapter 16 of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.). All the bedrooms were furnished by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Central Y.M.C.A.. A dozen hot and cold shower baths were also installed.

Help from Toronto women would extend to a big lunchroom downstairs. Behind the counter, women in white uniforms would serve refreshments. They were so generous with their time that a committee was formed to make selections from the many offers that poured in. On most days, the lunchroom would run to capacity.

Billiard Room of the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1918. View on Digital Archive.

Café in the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1918. View on Digital Archive.

A homey atmosphere

For the opening of the club on April 16, 1917 by Mayor Thomas Langdon Church, many invitations were sent out and proud Torontonians came to view the club.

Visitors saw a bright rotunda with big windows letting in floods of sunshine. Off the rotunda was the Social Hall (or Lounge Room or "fun department" as the lads called it). The men could enjoy themselves here with a piano, a cheery song, a game of checkers or a lively contest of billiards.

Rotunda in the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1918. View on Digital Archive.

Lounging Room in the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1917. View on Digital Archive.

There was a big writing room upstairs. The soldiers posted 100 to 300 letters a day. A large mail delivery was received daily in return. A typical Red Triangle deed was to forward letters on to soldiers fighting at the Front.

The sleeping rooms were available to the soldiers for 40 cents a night (a soldier got paid $1.10 a day in those times). After the club opened, the number of beds had to increase from 56 to 92. Still, many men had to be sent elsewhere. So great was the demand for beds that a planned rooftop garden had to be scrapped so extra cots could be put in the space.

Writing Room in the Red Triangle Club, 1918. View on Digital Archive.

Writing Room in the Red Triangle Club, approximately 1918. View on Digital Archive.

What happened to the Red Triangle Club?

There is not much information about the Red Triangle Club after the war ended. On December 24, 1919 the Globe and Mail newspaper had a small story about officials at the Red Triangle Club organizing Christmas festivities for their members. Almost 500 of Toronto’s citizens offered to entertain Toronto’s returned soldiers for Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Invitation for tea and concert during Christmas for "Soldier Patrons" of the Red Triangle Club, 1919. View on Digital Archive.

The next and last reference to the Red Triangle club in the Globe and Mail is on June 1, 1920. A deputation was made to Toronto’s acting mayor, C. A. Maguire along with a petition containing 1,400 signatures asking that the Red Triangle Club not be closed. A representative of the Y.M.C.A. indicated that the club was being run at a $5,000 per month deficit and had already continued on a month longer than had been intended, at the request of the City Board of Control.

Exterior of the Red Triangle Club, 1917. View on Digital Archive.

For further research

Books about Toronto and the First World War

• Our Glory and Our Grief: Torontonians and the Great War (2002)
• Vignettes of the Beach & East Toronto (2014)
• Some Young Immortals (1920)

Publications on the history of the Y.M.C.A. and the Red Triangle Clubs

• On Leave; How the Red Triangle Club, Toronto, Provides for the Soldier While Off Duty (1917); also available online
• The Canadian Y.M.C.A. in the Great War: The Official Record of the Activities of the Canadian Y.M.C.A. in Connection with the Great War of 1914-1918 (1924)
• A Century with Youth, a History of the Y.M.C.A. from 1844 to 1944 (1944)
• The Romance of the Red Triangle; The Story of the Coming of the Red triangle and the Service Rendered by the Y.M.C.A. to the Sailors and Soldiers of the British Empire  
• The Father of the Red Triangle: The Life of Sir George Williams, Founder of the Y.M.C.A. (1918)

Block by Block weaves together stories from 100 newcomer, immigrant, racialized and Indigenous community members from Agincourt, Parkdale, Regent Park and Victoria Park. Led by Toronto Ward Museum, the free exhibition is on display in the TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library until November 20, 2022. 

There are many powerful, personal stories of displacement, migration, arrival and survival to discover in the exhibition. Interactive elements invite visitors join the conversation and respond to the key questions and themes. 

Here's some of what we've heard from you.

1. Describe something in your current neighbourhood that makes you feel at home?

“Picnics in the park. Greeting neighbours. The smell of outdoor cooking fires.”

“The multiculturalism. I grew up in Downsview – home to many Filipinos, Latin Americans, Jewish, Italians, Caribbean and African families.”

“Watching people congregate & socialize in public spaces – TTC stops, Plaza parking lots, in front of the library 🙂 Speaking in their own mother tongues.”

“There is a park directly across the street from my apartment. It’s nice seeing so much greenery in an otherwise grey space.”

“The library I’ve visited since I was young. And the neighbours I meet walking down the street and in the parks.”

“The fact that we live in a court where we share space and time.”

“The greenery and all the nature. In a city that is hard to come by but it really makes the area special.”

“Being able to get Vietnamese food within walking distance.”

“The relationships I’ve built and found. The trails and tracks through mud and field. The hawk perched on the tower supporting the power lines.”

“I’m originally from Woburn in Scarborough. My current apt is in the Annex. I love it when I see gay/queer people chilling in the parks. That feels like home.”

“Breakfast, lunch & dinner in Agincourt.”

“Actually my neighbourhood doesn’t remind me of home. It’s Greektown, which is definitely unlike home. But there are a few Chinese restaurants there. However, I like what the neighbourhood has to offer – a true meeting pot. Fantastic!”

“I love how it’s quiet then suddenly you’ll hear a VERY loud noise [in Parkdale].”

“All the puppies! Also green space.”

“My neighbours, that come bring home cooked food and fruit from their garden.”

“Trees, muddy trails, body of water, smell of wet earth, cherry blossoms in the spring. Loud children bouncing basketballs. Sunshine streaming in through my window.”

“The Bengali and Asian grocery stores make me feel at home.”

2. Which foods, smells or objects remind you home?

“Fish, Mango, Coconut.”

“Last week was the mid-autumn festival. I shared with my colleagues the Chinese mooncakes & the special dragon eye fruits from the Southern region of China. I feel so fortunate to live in Toronto/Canada where I can easily access the cultural foods that often makes me feel at home & belongs to the community here.”

“Fresh sugar cane juice from Lucky supermarket [in Parkdale] reminds me of Barbados.”

“The smell of fried plantain. Kensington Market.”

“Sautéed cilantro & garlic. The base of most Lebanese meals.”

“Mangoes and kothu roti”

“Fried plantains! Rice and beans! The smell of fresh coffee! Summer sun! A warm sea/ocean! Viva Panama!”

“King Patty’s Beef Patty (Spicy Beef). Growing up in Teesdale, it was the greatest snack. We would all as kids have them eating on the playground pretending to be a family. We were a family. We are a family.”

“Tea, teapots, honey & lemon, latkes, lox & cream cheese.”

“Japanese chow mein”

“As I am from HK [Hong Kong] originally, what reminds me is celebrating the mid autumn festival with moon cakes. I have celebrated it a couple of days ago. The moon is the biggest and brightest then!!”

“Curry, rosemary, cut flowers and crosses.”

“A huge patch of tomatoes reduced to fading greenery at summer’s end.”

“Banana leaves!”

“Subway = Mumbai’s local trains. Untimely rain. Community.”

“Until now, nothing here reminded me of my home. Right now, it is all new to me."

3. What do you associate with your home of origin? Is there a kind of weather, landscape or event that reminds you of home?

“The open sea.”

“Yonge Street reminds me of my home of origin; the way it is a hill-downwards hill. Also some of the older-un-renovated buildings – roofs, windows, arches.”

“Cycling with the neighbourhood kids on a hot summer day.”

“Newfoundland is about fog, rain, ice, and wind. Rocky shores and big waves.”

“Highways, wide streets, short buildings, parking lots, asphalt, concrete.”

“Flemingdon Park – plaza, science center and seeing the CN Tower from home.”

“Southern Ontario heavy summer rain – stops before you know it but it drenches you.”

“Ocean. Island. Hot weather. Jackfruit.”

“Home feels like the sound of the wind in the trees.”

“Green hills, rocky outcrops and rain. St. Patrick’s day and thanksgiving.”

“The best food in the world!! The fresh smell of Pandan. Sudden heavy, tropical rain and the fresh air after.”

“I used to think that 'Home' was a place I could point to on a map. I know now that home is where 'all your attempts to run cease to exist'.”

“The sea, the mountains… the salty sea, air blowing on a windy evening! That scorching sun that we hide from in the olive groves. I miss home.”

4. What is a place you hope will change? How?

“I hope politeness returns.”

“There is a huge need for more public transit – both in the city and into the city. Too many cars. Congested roadways.”

“More trees so we can breath.”

“More gay/lesbian awareness in our communities.”

“Cheaper housing!”

“Returning stolen land to the Indigenous”

“Green the lakeshore. It can be done!”

“More parks!”

“Affordable housing.”

“Fewer cars. More daring policies – diversity of thought.”

“TTC. Public transit should be free and accessible.”

“Affordable bike share.”

“Toronto to be pedestrian friendly.”

“Cheaper, safer, reliable commuting & dedicated and connected bike lanes, especially outside of downtown!”

“I do believe we are doing an okay job right now. But we can do better. There is always room for improvement.”

5. What is a place you hope will stay the same? Why?

“I love the TTC. During the pandemic, I rode the bus and the subway to feel connected to other people. It was very important to me.”

“Toronto Islands.”

“Dundas and Spadina. Chinatown.”

“Downsview.”

“West Chinatown (Dunas & Spadina). Protect and preserve our community.”

“Morningside Park.”

“Trout Lake (Vancouver)”

“I hope Parkdale never changes.”

“Warm wind at nighttime.”

“Scarborough – I want it to continue to be a place of community & care instead of gentrification.”

“That the beautiful people in my community can afford to live here and have greenspace.”

“Daniels Spectrum Art & Community.”

“Libraries.”

“Toronto’s Victorian 1700s architecture is so cool!”

We want to hear from you!

We hope these stories encourage you to reflect upon your own story and relationship to the place you now call home. How are these stories similar or different from your own? To share your perspectives, visit the Block by Block exhibition at TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library before November 20, 2022 — or let us know in the comments below.

Block by Block exhibition in the TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library.

Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE is one of Canada’s most cherished authors known particularly for creating the beloved heroine Anne of Green Gables in 1908. She published 21 novels, as well as 530 short stories and 500 poems.

In 1921, Montgomery participated in a week-long event to promote Canadian literature — the first "Canadian Book Week." This blog post highlights the author's ties to Ontario, a rare letter about the event and her journal entries during that week.

(The letter and most vintage images are from Digital Archive Ontario, a historical resource from Toronto Public Library.)

Letters and portrait of Montgomery (approximately 1930). View photo on Digital Archive Ontario.

Lucy Maud Montgomery and Ontario

While many people associate Lucy Maud Montgomery with Prince Edward Island where many of her stories are set, she lived in Ontario with her family from 1911 until her death in 1942. Her husband, Ewan Macdonald, was a Presbyterian minister in Leaskdale (Uxbridge) and the Macdonalds lived there from September 1911 to February 1926. Later, they moved to Norval (Halton Hills) and then finished their lives in Toronto.

When Montgomery visited Toronto she would often stay with her friends Mary and Norman Beal who were former neighbours from Uxbridge. The Beals lived at this house at 2 Nina Street from 1913 to 1932.

2 Nina Street (Nina was an Avenue until 1961). Montgomery would stay at this house of her friends. Author's photograph, 2022.

Letter about Canadian Book Week

The idea for a week dedicated to Canadian books came from the Canadian Author's Association (C.A.A.). This association was formed primarily to protect the rights of authors in regard to copyright legislation before the Dominion Parliament and to promote Canadian authors.

Within months of its founding in the spring of 1921, the C.A.A had the idea of an annual Canadian Author’s Week. The C.A.A. teamed up with publishers, booksellers and authors with the explicit purpose of encouraging Canadians to buy and read Canadian books. Canadian Authors’ week, later known as Canadian Book Week ran annually until 1959.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was invited to do book readings in Toronto and Hamilton to celebrate the first Canadian Book Week. It took place November 19 to 26, 1921. She traveled by train from her home in Leaskdale and stayed with the Beals for the events.

Toronto Public Library’s Baldwin Collection of Canadiana preserves a letter written by her in November of 1921. Purchased by the library in 1981, it helps to document Montgomery’s involvement in the literary event.

Letter by Montgomery regarding Canadian Book Week, November 19, 1921. Two pages, with writing on both sides of first page. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Transcription:

2 Nina Ave.

Toronto

Cloke and Sons

Dear Sir,

I received your letter of the 19th – November 22nd. I will go to Hamilton on Friday on C.P.R. train that leaves Toronto at 10 o’clock and gets to Hamilton at 2:13. I hope someone from your store can meet me at train as I am a stranger in Hamilton. I shall want to leave for Toronto on 4:29 train. Professor Edgar said in his letter to me that you wanted me to speak or read. That was why I referred to it. I am much better pleased to find that I am not expected to do this as it will be much less strenuous.

Yours sincerely,

L.M.M. Macdonald

Pelham Edgar, mentioned in the letter, was one of the founding members of the Canadian Authors’ Association.

Portrait of Pelham Edgar, the "Professor Edgar" mentioned in Montgomery's letter. Courtesy of Victoria University Library.

Journal entries about Canadian Book Week

Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote journals throughout her lifetime. Entries from the diaries of Lucy Maud Montgomery detail her experiences in Toronto during Canadian Book Week. We've highlighted archival images of places and other topics mentioned in these snippets taken from The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume III, 1921-1929.

Thursday, November 17, 1921

The Manse, Leaskdale

The weather has been mild but abominably messy. I have been very busy, and have sat up till twelve or one every night writing letters and publicity articles for Canada Book Week which begins Saturday. I am going to Toronto for it.

Friday, November 18, 1921

2 Nina Ave., Toronto

It used to be an old family joke that “Maud always takes rain when she goes.” It really does seem so. I came in today and it has poured all the time. Mary and I went to the Author’s Association Dinner in honor of Nellie McClung at the Arts and Letters Club tonight. There were about 80 there and I had a seat at the head table next the president and guest of honor.

Nellie McClung, August 13, 1930. McClung was an author and one of Canada's most prominent suffragettes.  View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Saturday, November 19, 1921

Toronto, Ontario

This afternoon Mary and I went to hear Basil King speak in the auditorium of the Robert Simpson Co. store. Then we went to the big reception given by the Press Club to the Authors’ Association. A terrible mob! Twelve hundred people packed together—nothing much to eat.

Postcard of The Robert Simpson's Co.'s Building, Toronto, Canada, approximately 1912. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Monday, November 21, 1921

2 Nina Ave. Toronto

In the afternoon I went to Jarvis Street Collegiate and read and talked to an audience of about 800 girls. I autographed about a hundred books and cards and then went to an I.O.D.E meeting in Parkdale, gave a reading, then went to Victoria College and spent a very dull evening listening to a couple of papers by erudite authors who could not stoop to being interesting as well as erudite.

Postcard of Jarvis St. Collegiate Institute, approximately 1910. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Gelatin silver print of Victoria College, approximately 1925. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Tuesday, November 22, 1921

A full day. This morning I went to Moulton College and gave a brief talk to the girls therof, writing a hundred autographs afterwards. At 4:30 I went to give readings in the auditorium of the Simpson’s store. I had a bumper audience. The room was packed and half as many more couldn’t get in. After it came the usual autographing and handshaking. Two men came up to me and asked me to speak next Sunday at the Dunn Avenue Methodist Sunday School.

Cover of pamphlet for Moulton College, a school for girls located at 34 Bloor Street East, Toronto. Approximately 1890s. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Wednesday, November 23, 1921

Toronto, Ont.

I went to Oakwood [located in Northwestern Toronto this collegiate was founded in 1907] where I gave a reading to 1300 boys and girls. I felt rather nervous for I had never read to boys before and did not know if I could appeal to them. I gave them the story of Dog Monday from Rilla.

[…]

In the afternoon I went to the School of Commerce [the High School of Commerce and Finance, now the Central Toronto Academy] to read to the high school girls of Toronto. I had a very enthusiastic audience of 1500. I wrote about 400 autographs in half an hour.

Postcard of Oakwood Collegiate Institute, Oakwood and St. Clair., Aves, Toronto, 1931. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

A first, signed edition of Rilla of Ingleside held in TPL's Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. Montgomery's book focuses on the youngest daughter of Anne of Green Gables during the First World War.

Photo of Central High School of Commerce, Shaw Street, northwest corner of Dewson Street, Toronto, 1916. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Friday, November 25, 1921

Toronto, Ont.

Shopped all the morning and picked up an adorable Chessy-cat brass knocker for my bedroom at Ryries.

[…]

This afternoon I went to Hamilton to autograph books in the Cloke bookstore there. Mr. Ford of Mac’s went with me and saw to everything and I had a nice time.

Left: Portion of page 47 of The Ryrie Year Book 1921 (product catalogue) featuring the cat-shaped door knocker purchased by Montgomery. Right: Postcard of Birks-Ellis-Ryrie store, approximately 1933.

Cloke bookstore highlighted by arrow in photo of King and James Streets, Hamilton, approximately 1890. Courtesy of Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library.

Left: This is from Canadian Bookman, February 1922 (page 17). It mentions that The Cloke Bookstore won first prize for it’s window display during Canadian Author’s Week. Right:Ad from the Hamilton Spectator, November 19, 1921. Read transcript.

Saturday, November 26, 1921

Toronto, Ontario

Today Mr. Stewart [John Stewart of McClelland and Stewart Limited, her publisher] gave a luncheon for me at the National.

[…]

After luncheon I went to Sherbourne House [a club for young professional women] and gave a reading to a mob of school teachers.

Painting of National Club, Bay St., west side, south of King St. West, approximately 1900s. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Sunday, November 28, 1921

2 Nina Ave., Toronto

This afternoon I spoke to the Dunn Ave. Methodist Sunday School for half an hour. It was the first “honest to goodness” speech I ever made in my life – for when I have “spoke” before I have read my speech or had notes. I was nervous before I began but forgot it and found myself enjoying it.

Postcard of Parkdale Methodist Church, corner Dunn Ave. and King Street, Toronto, 1910. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

More blog posts

View a full list of blog posts from Digital Archive Ontario.

September 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of Boys & Girls House, a former branch of Toronto Public Library. Boys & Girls House opened on September 11, 1922 and was the first dedicated children’s library in the Commonwealth. 

Boys & Girls House was influential on the development of children's library services. The branch served young Torontonians, but it was also a professional development resource for children’s librarians, teachers and researchers from around the world. Today, its legacy lives on at Lillian H. Smith Branch (239 College Street). 

Children waiting to check out books at Boys & Girls House (approximately 1955).

Origins of Boys & Girls House

In 1912, librarian Lillian H. Smith (1887-1983) was hired as the first head of Toronto Public Library's Children's Department. She set to work expanding TPL's collections and services for children. New Children's Rooms were opened at several Toronto library branches. Staff training was introduced, with a focus on children's literature and library programming. 

The new Children's Rooms were very popular. Librarians recount being forced to turn away visitors because the rooms were too jam packed. The College Street Circulating Branch (formerly at 214 College Street) was particularly busy. Operating out of a tiny 36 square foot space, it circulated more than 100,000 books a year.

A new type of space was needed to meet the rising demand for children's books. In 1922, TPL purchased a residential home at 40 St. George Street for $25,000. After some renovations, Boys & Girls House was born. 

Boys & Girls House (approximately 1930) was originally a residential home.

Boys & Girls House opens

Boys & Girls House opened to the public in September 1922. It was immediately popular. Surrounding neighbourhoods were densely populated with children, many from recent immigrant families. Books flew off the shelves — popular items included fairy tale books, Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, Heidi by Johanna Spyri and more. 

By 1923, the newly opened branch was already overflowing with young visitors. A 1923 report described the crowded conditions, writing "[n]o tables and benches can be placed in the circulating room, since all the space is required for standing room! On many afternoons of the week the reference room is not only filled but crowded." 

Adults were also active users of Boys & Girls House. Librarians from schools and smaller Ontario towns would visit to find inspiration for their own children's book collections. Library reports mention visits from early childhood educators, occupational therapy students, pediatric nurses and other professional groups.

Children visiting Boys & Girls House (approximately 1935). Boys & Girls House was often standing room only with more readers than chairs.

A rare look at an empty Boys & Girls House room (approximately 1930).

Librarian Frances Trotter leads a class visit in the Boys & Girls House Fairy Tale Room (approximately 1935).

Puppets, plays and storytelling

In addition to reading, storytelling and theatre were an important part of Boys & Girls House programming. Many children participated in library clubs, which put on plays ranging from The Three Little Kittens to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. One annual report mentions "Solly Wagman, aged six, gave a memorable performance as a kitten." In 1928, a theatre and story room space was added to Boys & Girls House. Children would travel from all over Toronto to perform plays at the Boys & Girls House theatre.

Costumed members of a play group at Boys & Girls House (approximately 1928).

In 1934, two library workers, Frances Trotter and Jean Thomson, received a grant to study puppetry in Europe. Trotter and Thomson visited the USSR, Poland, Germany and France, learning about puppetry in each country. They returned to Canada and shared their findings with fellow library workers. Staff created intricate marionettes for library performances. Children participated in puppet programs, designing and performing with their own puppets.

Puppetry remains an important part of Toronto Public Library's children's services. In addition to regular puppet programs, our Marguerite G. Bagshaw Collection features research material on puppet making, techniques and history. 

Behind the scenes at a puppet show put on by Boys & Girls House staff (approximately 1955).

Children making the figures for a The Three Billy Goats Gruff shadow play (1969).

Storytelling was another mainstay at Boys & Girls House. Library staff were trained in storytelling, delivering popular story hour programs for children. In 1961, Poet Laureate of Great Britain, John Masefield, sponsored a storytelling festival at Boys & Girls House. Held periodically at Boys & Girls House until 1972, the festivals featured celebrated storytellers from around the world.

Librarian Rita Cox storytelling at the John Masefield Storytelling Festival in 1972. Toronto Public Library's Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection is named in Cox's honour.

Osborne Collection

In 1934, English couple Edgar and Mabel Osborne visited Boys & Girls House. Boys & Girls House and the work done by Lillian H. Smith impressed the couple. The Osbornes were avid collectors of historical children's books and discussed one day donating their collection to Toronto Public Library.

In 1949 following Mabel's death, Edgar donated their collection of more than 2,000 rare and notable children’s books to TPL. The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books was born. One of Edgar's stipulations was that the collection must continue to grow. Today, the Osborne Collection holds more than 80,000 items, including books, original art, toys and archival material.  

The collection drew a new type of adult researcher to Boys & Girls House. Scholars visited to study the histories of childhood, children's literature, publishing and much more. TPL staff created a print catalogue of the Osborne Collection (now available on our Digital Archive), which became a respected reference source for children's literature researchers around the world. 

Edgar Osborne in 1970. Courtesy of the Toronto Star Photograph Archives.

A new building

The original Boys & Girls House building was a residential home. The house wasn't designed to accommodate hundreds of daily visitors. By the 1950s, the heavy foot traffic was causing structural problems. Librarian Judith St. John recounted the time a 200-plus-pound chunk of ceiling plaster fell directly on her desk. Luckily, St. John happened to be off that day and narrowly avoided injury. In 1963, the building was condemned.

Supporters and former staff from all across Ontario attended a farewell party in April 1963. Regrets were received from former Boys & Girls House librarians living around the world, including Brazil, Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand. Many young librarians from other Commonwealth countries had interned at Boys & Girls House. 

In 1964, the newly constructed Boys & Girls House — designed by architects Murray and Fliess — opened at 40 St. George. The new building housed children's borrowing collections, the Osborne Collection, The Spaced Out Library (now the Merril Collection) and staff offices. 

The newly built Boys & Girls House library opened in 1964.

Storytime at the new Boys & Girls House building (1985).

A change of address

In 1995, Boys & Girls House gained a new name and address. Moving to 239 College Street, the library was renamed Lillian H. Smith Branch to honour her pioneering role in children's librarianship. Designed by architect Phillip H. Carter, the building pays tribute to stories of fantasy and adventure. The library's design is inspired by medieval castles, winged lion and gryphon sculptures flank the entrance, and torches light the basement. 

The legacy of Boys & Girls House lives on at Lillian H. Smith Branch. The library houses extensive fairy tale and children's book collections, along with the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books (4th floor) and Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy (3rd floor). In addition to children's books, the library has books for grown-ups, newcomer services and programs for all ages. All are welcome to drop by and explore this storied library branch. 

Lillian H. Smith Branch's winged lion and gryphon statues are nicknamed Edgar and Judith in honour of donors Edgar Osborne and Judith Merril.

Further resources

To celebrate Boys & Girls House's 100th birthday, we have digitized photographs of Boys & Girls House over the years. 

Learn more about the history of Boys & Girls House and children's services at TPL:

• Boys and Girls House Archive Finding Aid (PDF)
• A Chronicle of Boys and Girls House
• History of Children's Services
• Lillian H. Smith (1887-1983)
• Lillian H. Smith Branch Story Project
• Official Opening of Boys and Girls House Toronto Public Libraries
• Service to Children in the Toronto Public Library: A Case Study, 1912-1949 by Leslie McGrath 
• Toronto Public Library Annual Reports on our Digital Archive
• You Say Gryphon, I Say Griffin! The Bronze Sculptures of Lillian H. Smith Branch

Until 1905, the Ontario community of Kenora was known to settlers as Rat Portage. According to local legend, a flour mill refused to move to a place with "rat" in its name — prompting the name change. "Kenora" combines the names of two communities it absorbed: Keewatin and Norman. It's located on the Lake of the Woods near the Manitoba border.

Read on to learn a bit more history of Rat Portage. And see historical images found on Digital Archive Ontario, an online collection of over 100,000 items related to Ontario's past which are held by Toronto Public Library.

Sultana Mine, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Its early beginnings

Indigenous peoples lived on the south end of Lake of Woods, relying on hunting, fishing and gathering. The north end of the lake was called "Wauzhushk Onigum", which translates as "portage to the country of the muskrat." Hence, the European traders named it Rat Portage. The first European to travel to the vicinity was the explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye in the late 17th century.

Fall at Rat Portage, Winnipeg River, Rat Portage (Kenora) 1857. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Around Rat Portage, there was an abundance of fur-bearing animals. It was on the main east-west waterway of the fur trade. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the two main fur trading companies, Hudson's Bay and North West, were there competing for pelts. The two companies merged in 1821 as the Hudson's Bay. It built a trading post on Old Fort Island in 1836. Later, the post moved to the mainland and the community of Rat Portage grew up around it. It was a clearing in the woods with a long row of shanties.

Hudson Bay Company's Post at Rat Portage (Kenora), 1857. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Years of heavy development

In 1873, the Anishinaabe and the Crown signed Treaty 3. The Anishinaabe had been led to believe they had entered a resource-sharing agreement. Instead, the colonial administration expropriated their land and waterways to settle colonists and harvest timber and minerals.

Rat Portage became the regional services and transportation hub. Soon, the community was the homeport for freight, lumber and passenger steamers sailing the Lake of the Woods.

Rat Portage would enter a new phase of growth when it was connected to the continental railway. It was supplying timber for railroad ties and stations.

Norman Fish Co.'s Fleet and Store House, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Mirror Bridge, C. P. R., Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

A. J. Langstaff, Blacksmith, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Woodley and Lang's Shipyard, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Rat Portage timber supplied Canadian and Minnesota lumber companies. The sawmills were powered by electricity generated from damming the fast moving water at the outlets of Lake of the Woods into the Winnipeg River.  

Prospectors discovered gold nearby and more people moved in to develop the mining industry.

North and East Gates of Dam Winnipeg River, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Private Office Colcleugh Mining Co. Ltd., Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Reduction Works, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Celebrating 60 years

Rat Portage and Lake of the Woods celebrated its Jubilee year in 1897. Rat Portage was then a town with considerable amenities. Martell & Tilley published a souvenir book with many photos from that time. The book sold for 50 cents and included pictures of the celebrations, some of which can be seen below.

Two years later that the Privy Council of England finally settled a boundary dispute in 1899 as to whether Rat Portage was part of Manitoba or Ontario. Both provinces had claimed it as their own. It was deemed to be part of Ontario.

Group of School Children, Jubilee Day, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Albion House, "Miss M. Milligan, Proprietress", Rat Portage (Kenora)
1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Hilliard House, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

One of the Jubilee Day Float – Rideout & Davison, Furniture Dealers, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Jubilee Day, processions passing down Main Street, Rat Portage (Kenora), 1897. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Related blog posts

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• Ontario Cottage in Ontario: A Bit of History
• Belleville: Vintage Postcards and Rare Photos
• Cornwall: From Loyalist Village to Industrial City 
• Discover Stratford Ontario 
• Owen Sound: Rare Vintage Photographs

Rochdale College registrar Rick Waern in front of 18-storey building for Rochdale College at Bloor and Huron Streets, 1968. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale College was a cost-saving measure

 The University of Toronto’s Campus Co-op, a self-funded student-led housing co-operative, incorporated Rochdale in 1964 as a residence to ease the lack of student housing. It was just designed to house students. Later, the Campus Co-op discovered that its yearly property tax of $175,000 would be waived if the building housed a functioning educational system. In this era of intellectual and social tumult, students were eager to try new liberating forms of education. So Rochdale became more than a residence, it became a residential college with a mandate to experiment.  

Rochdale's front courtyard, 1969. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

A New Model Education

Rochdale College (1968-1975) was an anti-institution where idealism and hedonism converged. Born out of the 1960’s activism against the repressive tendencies of traditional top-down university administration, it sought a more authentic, anti-hierarchal mode of learning combined with cooperative living.

Rochdale College, 1972. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

In September 1968, students moved into the not-quite-completed Rochdale College high-rise at Bloor and Huron streets. It offered free tuition and cheap rent to 840 residents. Meanwhile, in nearby Yorkville, a hepatitis epidemic and the impending chill of winter prompted many of its transient hippy populations to seek refuge in Rochdale. They brought with them: drugs, sex, bikers, and parties. The educational component struggled to compete, yet it remained the foundation of the college.

Restaurant area of Rochdale College. 1973. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale College,  1972. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale College was an environment for being and sharing that fostered the excitement of intellectual discovery. Instead of lectures, resource people led informal discussion groups that encouraged free expression. One such group read books by Herman Hesse without recourse to secondary sources. Students learned from each other’s insights. Other groups studied drama, poetry, art therapy, indigenous wisdom and practices, filmmaking, ceramics, and publishing among other things. Information about these seminars appeared in a catalogue and on a daily board. Students were responsible for planning their courses, creating their evaluations, keeping their rooms clean, and making college policy. If necessary, students could buy a degree from the college.

Teenage yoga teacher Maharaj Ji along with the Divine Light Mission from Rochdale College at Massey Hall 1971. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Science Fiction writer Judith Merrill started a festival thing at Rochdale College that included Joachim Foikis, 1969. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Alumni Judith Merrill later donated this library to the Toronto Public Library. It was the founding collection of books in TPL's Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy

Members of a Rochdale commune. 1970. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale resident Nicki Morrison was the first woman to give birth there. In the fall of 1971, she founded the Acorn Childcare Co-operative in room 626 to care for and educate Rochdale's preschool children; now operating as the Huron Playschool. 

Original Toronto Star caption: "Paki Djervad; seen here in foreground; has worked with young people on drugs for six years; four of them in Denmark. In March the Rochdale clinic dealt with 46 drug cases. Most of the patients – 781 – were treated for minor illnesses; 110 had VD." From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Eventual eviction

Rochdale became party central and criminal elements crept in. It developed a reputation as Canada’s largest illicit drug market. Despite this and other criminal activities, it was its financial situation that ended the experiment. Too many residents failed to pay their rent. The college was forced to close because it was losing money. Clearing out the dedicated tenants took years and required multiple police raids.

Information office Michael Randell. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Security guards moved into Rochdale College yesterday; the first day the 18-storey residence was placed under the management of an interim receiver appointed by Ontario Supreme Court. The college is more than $4 million behind in payments on mortgages and taxes. Some residents warn that their own security force may clash with the uniformed guards – That's the first place where something may go wrong; said one of them yesterday." 1972. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Friendly persuasion wasn't enough to get tenant Jane Barnett out of Rochdale College yesterday; so Metro police had to carry her. It took four policemen to subdue the struggling woman; who was among 60 persons turfed out of Bloor St. residence with the aid of eviction notices and sledgehammers." 1975. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Rochdale residents had varying levels of what one called tolerance to dirt. Halls; elevators and rooms were littered with animal excrement; ground-in dirt; papers; old clothes; orange peels and paper bags. Chief security officer Don McPhail looks at some of the graffiti on hallway walls. Police drug raids were commonplace there." 1975. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale College following eviction, 1975. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive. View on Digital Archive.

Rochdale's creative spirit lives on in initiatives and organizations that originated in the college but outlived its demise such as: This magazine; The Hassle Free Clinic; TPL’s Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy; Coach House Books; Theatre Passe Muraille; House of Anansi Press; and The Huron Playschool Cooperative.  The Rochdale building was renamed the Senator David A. Croll Apartments and now houses people with disabilities and seniors. 

The definitive book on Rochdale is available to borrow from Toronto Public Library.

Rochdale: The Runaway College by David Sharpe

“When the remedy you have offered only increases the disease, then leave him who will not be cured, and tell your story to someone who seeks the truth.” – translation of Rumi, 13th-century poet

This quote made me think of medical cure-alls — dubious remedies that claim to fix almost any ailment. You can find vintage advertisements for such remedies on Digital Archive Ontario, a historical resource of digitized items from Toronto Public Library. Several of these items market too-good-to-be-true products that used to be sold in Ontario. It’s a dangerous practice and it still happens today.

For anyone interested in the history of medicine or misinformation, here are six items from our archives that may at least cure your curiosity. Which were genuinely trying to reduce human suffering? Which ones were not?

1. Moore’s Lightening Wizard Oil

Moore’s Lightning Wizard Oil, approximately 1860. View on Digital Archive Ontario. Or see transcription [.txt].

“Lightening Wizard Oil” elixir sounds like a concoction from the fantastical world of Harry Potter. This ad promises it “Will Cure” many illnesses including bloody flux, ague, deafness, piles, frosted feet, chilblains and pain in the backside… in ten minutes! The liquid is said to use chemical and electrical powers to enable healing. The fine print does note that, “We do not propose to cure every disease,” if the medication fails to work.

Though manufactured in Chicago, the document names “Geo. Stewart” (George Stewart) as “Sole Agent for Ontario.” 

2. Chase’s Receipts or Information for Everybody

Chase’s Recipes for Everybody, 1860s. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

For those who wanted to prepare their own medication instead of buying them from a druggist, Chase’s Receipts for Everybody offers a recipe book. This detailed list of remedies geared itself towards many, many professions: merchants, grocers, shopkeepers, physicians, druggists, tanners, shoemakers, harnessmakers, painters, jewellers, blacksmiths, tinners, gunsmiths and so, yes, even more.

Recipes include relieving typhoid fever (page 16), scarlet fever (page ib), uterine hemorrhages (page ib), cure cancer (page ib), periodon'tal headache (page ib) and a disinfectant for room, meat, and fish (page ib). As an example, the directions the book gives for treating a fever is on page 15: “A strong tea of wild cherry bark makes the best substitute for the snake root tea, and especially if mercury has been previously used in the case, and if it has, it is best to continue the cherry bark tea until the patient is entirely recovered.” (WebMD currently still lists Wild Cherry tree for similar ailments and yet notes, “More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of wild cherry for these uses.”)

3. Humphreys’ Specific Homeopathic Medicines

Humphreys’ Specific Homeopathic Medicines, approximately 1874. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Homeopathy remains popular today though many studies debunk its efficacy. Humphrey’s Specific Homeopathic Medicines emphasizes its, “Mild Power Cures.” According to those that believe in the practice, the mildness reduces the chance of the chemicals negatively affecting the patient. The marketing and selling of “Harmless Sugar Pills” on page two is akin to prescribing a placebo. It boldly promises to help cure asthma, dysentery and epilepsy is happily promoted here.

4. Perry Davis Vegetable Pain Killer

Perry Davis Vegetable Pain Killer, approximately 1890. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

This etched pamphlet provides a plethora of products by D. L. (Davis & Lawrence). It includes an emulsion which, “Will Make You Fat!”, an ointment that will treat, “Obstinate Ulcers . . . or Eruptive Diseases,” and lozenges containing sulphur that it claims can eliminate scrofulous, blotches and blackheads. The price is listed as 25 cents, or about eight dollars according to an inflation calculator.

5. Norman’s Electro-Curative Institution

Norman’s Electro-Curative Institution, approximately 1890. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

This page advertises a location in Toronto with “appliances” to treat ailments ranging from indigestion to “Loss of Vital Power from Whatever Cause”. Among its devices, is what’s illustrated here: Norman’s Electro-Curative belt. You can also view a promotion fan for the same institution.

6. Electric Beans

Pamphlet in both English and French, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Published by an Ottawa company, the cover of this pamphlet advertises “Electric Beans.” The name of the product has not aged well. It recalls the magic beans in The Jack and Beanstalk fairy tale (which, as it happens, we have digitized copies of on Digital Archive Ontario). The ad invites skeptical readers to “write for a sample and booklet of testimonials.” This item also includes items in French.

Explore more

Browse hundreds of historical items on the topic of medicine on Digital Archive Ontario.

From the Aga Khan Museum to the Humber River Trail to the Black Creek Pioneer Village, North York has many attractions for residents and visitors to enjoy. Did you know that 2022 marks the centennial of North York becoming an independent township, and that it didn’t actually become a city until 1979? If you are anything like me, North York might seem surprisingly young as far as cities go. And if you are also anything like me, you may find that you were taught very little about local history in school when you were growing up.

With the date of the centennial fast approaching on June 13th, there is no time like the present to start learning a bit about North York’s past.

Jacob Stong House, built 1860-61, near Keele St. and Finch Ave, ca. 1880s. Photographer unknown. North York Historical Society. 

Jacob Stong House, May 2022. Photographer: Sarah Walcz. Used with permission.

The land North York sits on today is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Wendat and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It is also a part of the Dish with One Spoon territory, which is a treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Anishinabek and allied nations. In 1787, this Indigenous land was acquired by the British in a controversial agreement known as the Toronto Purchase. Poorly defined land boundaries and a lack of documentation were a few of the glaring issues that led to the renegotiation of terms over many years. A sobering Indigenous perspective on the Toronto Purchase Agreement can be found on the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation webpage. While a land claim was made by the Mississaugas, it wasn’t until 2010 that it was settled by the Canadian Government.

In 1791, the province of Quebec was divided and Upper Canada was established. A few years later, settler farmers began cultivating Crown land grants in York Township, directly north of the new town of York. See the Archives of Ontario and this North York timeline for a closer look at southern Ontario and the birth of North York.

Hard as it is to imagine now, North York was very much a farming community for over a century, made up of a scattering of villages. But the same could not be said of the southern regions of York Township as the growing city of Toronto expanded north into the Township. Farmers in North York watched the urbanization of the Township with growing dissatisfaction. They were shouldering a hefty portion of Township taxes – over 20% – with little to show for it. Without strong political representation, many of their concerns slipped through the cracks. The conditions of North York’s dirt roads were so terrible, for example, that people tried to fill holes with ashes from their fireplaces.

Bayview Ave. looking north from Eglinton Ave., 1910. Photographer unknown. Baldwin Collection of Canadiana. 

Banding together, these farmers – including Robert Franklin Hicks, who would become the first reeve of North York – pushed for the separation of North York from York Township. On June 13th of 1922, North York gained its independence and was home to a humble population of 6000 people.

Surprisingly, while the population grew steadily and housing development expanded, North York kept true to its rural roots until after World War II. It achieved borough status in 1967, and twelve years later, finally became a city of its own. Then the amalgamation in 1998 saw North York merging with Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, and East York into the ‘megacity’ that is Toronto as we know it today.

Yonge Street, looking north to the Jolly Miller hotel, 1955. Photographer: James V. Salmon. Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

A view of the Jolly Miller, 2022. Photographer: Sarah Walcz. Used with permission.

Of course, this is only the briefest of retrospectives on a city with so much to offer. For a deeper dive into all things North York, check out the events and resources from our partners at the North York Historical Society. From preserving historical sites to bolstering the Library’s historical collections, the NYHS is devoted to keeping North York history alive one program, newsletter, and plaque at a time. How many plaques have you seen?

Willowdale Area Branch (Gladys Allison building), the former North York Central Library, ca. 1960s. Photographer unknown. Toronto Public Library Archives. 

Here at North York Central Library, we have the North York History Room, a dedicated space for all things local history. It is also home to the Golden Lion Hotel’s titular lion. Although currently closed to the public, library staff are hard at work preparing the room for a grand opening later in 2022. Keep a lookout for it on the fifth floor, in the Society and Recreation department.

In the meantime, there are plenty of ways for you to whet your appetite for local history. Consider the following:

Books

• Pioneering in North York by Patricia Hart is a detailed study of North York’s development and was fundamental to writing this blog.
• Art and design enthusiasts will find something to appreciate in North York’s modernist architecture.  (A PDF full text version is available.)
• The NYHS provides a list of their own recommended reads on their website.

Digital resources

• Digital Archive Ontario is a fascinating source of older photographs, historical maps, and ephemera.
• The Neighbourhood Map on our website will help you narrow down your search.

Museum passes

• Passes are available to sign out through our Museum + Arts Pass (MAP) program at select library branches. These grant free access to cultural sites such as the Science Centre and the Black Creek Pioneer Village.
• The City of Toronto now offers free admission to ten historic museums, including the Gibson House and Zion Schoolhouse in North York.

Here’s to 100 years of North York, “The City With Heart” – and to many more milestones to come!

We preserve some of TPL's own history in the Toronto Public Library Archives, part of our Special Collections. In addition to vintage photos of branches and annual reports, available on our Digital Archive, this collection has mysterious objects like a flat wooden shovel. 

Believe it or not, this shovel was used to retrieve hot fruit pies from the oven at a clubhouse for library staff — the "Staff House". Located beside the old Central Reference Library (214 College Street), this largely forgotten facility served lunch and supper to staff for decades. 

One of the more unusual items in our collections: a wooden tool (a peel) used in the Staff House kitchen.

Origins of the Staff House

In 1928, the City of Toronto granted $400,000 to retrofit the old Central Library, originally funded by a Carnegie grant. Library workers had been expressing concern about the lack of space almost since it opened in 1909.

Central Library, 214 College Street, 1930. (Now the University of Toronto's bookstore.) View on Digital Archive.

The City also purchased property at 236 College Street for $35,000. The building had been the residence of Dr. Charles McKenna. It adjoined the Central Library building on the west. Repairs were done to make it into a space for staff, thereby saving a considerable expense in the new addition to the Central Library. It was furnished with a cafeteria, restrooms and clubrooms. (We hold many files detailing the purchase and renovation.)

The Staff House had been the dream of Chief Librarian George H. Locke. Acquiring the property was also done to “square off” the land to allow for future expansion.

Staff House, 216 College Street, approximately 1940. View on Digital Archive.

On February 20, 1928, the Staff House and its dining room were opened to all staff members who paid an annual fee. It was administered by a committee for the Staff House made up of library staff. In the first year, the fee was $5. Below is a list of the first staff members to join. It lists "L. Smith" or Lillian Smith, the legendary librarian and namesake of our current branch at 239 College Street.

Left: Staff House receipt book, 1930. Right: blueprint of ground floor of Staff House, 1928.

Parties, pies and a place to stay

Over 8,000 meals were served and 30 parties were held in its first year. The Staff House employed two cooks, a dietitian and a dishwasher. Waitresses came from the Edith L. Groves Vocational School for Girls.

"Those of us working in the old Central building found it so convenient to be able to go there for lunch or dinner and enjoy the companionship of our colleagues.” – Rosemary Sheppard, former head of St. Clements Library in a 1984 interview for TPL News

Meals were inexpensive and sounded delicious. There were special menus at Christmas and for other special occasions such as teas for visiting delegates of the Ontario Library Association and library school students. A typical menu for Christmas Dinner was roast turkey with cranberry sauce (120 portions), potatoes, peas and corn, tomato soup, juice and mince pie with (real) whipped cream.

TPL staff in front of Central Library, approximately 1920. View on Digital Archive.

The dietitian kept books with detailed menus and all food purchased — records that still exist in our Toronto Public Library Archives. Staff were able to purchase desserts like Banana Cream Pie, Lemon Snow and Blueberry Tart.

In 1936, the fees were reduced from $2.50 to $2 a year on salaries less than $1,000 a year and from $5 to $4 on salaries $1,000 and over. The Staff house continued to experiment with serving meals on the lawn “annex” during the summer months. There were 12,394 meals served in 1937.

There was an apartment on the top floor of Staff House available for library staff to rent. Carbon copies of letters in the 1949 files show that Chief Librarian Charles Sanderson was heavily involved in the administration and maintenance of the $52.50 per month apartment.

Over the years the Staff House was kept in good condition by the library maintenance staff. The years passed with not much change until 1940.

Painting of Staff House by E. Kilgour, approximately 1950s. View on Digital Archive.

Changes during and after the Second World War

At the start of the Second World War, there were increasing demands on the clubhouse. The Staff House Committee had to consider the rising costs of food and other supplies. There could be no parties at Staff House during the war but it was used extensively by the Library’s War Committee. A steady stream of parcels bound for overseas passed through the building with the help of volunteering library staff. In 1944 an honour roll containing the names of 22 staff (17 women and five men) who were serving in the military was hung in the Staff House.

After the war, the Staff House suffered a number of setbacks and was unable to return to its former glory. In 1947 the stove exploded and burned the cook. There was another large fire in 1957. The Library’s annual reports often spoke about the difficulties in retaining people to work at Staff House and members to volunteer their time for committee work. The cost of supplies continued to increase.

Fire insurance plan showing Central Library (right) and Staff House (bottom middle), 1945.

The end of an era

In the 1960s, the Library’s annual reports now spoke of the new Metro Reference Library, the upcoming Centennial Celebration and how the TPL's Boys and Girl’s House, the sister to Staff House, needed maintenance. On March 6, 1962, Chief Librarian Harry Campbell announced the City was planning to build a parking garage where the Staff House was. Expressways and parking had become a major priority. 

The Staff House Committee struggled for another year and a half, having to operate without any maintenance or revenue from the apartment before the building was demolished in 1964.

Site where the Staff House used to stand along College Street, 1977. View on Digital Archive.

In 1963, the Chairman of the staff association (predecessor of the Toronto Public Library Union) remarked that he never saw the need for it: “Staff in those days were given an hour and a half for lunch which gave them plenty of time to eat at home.” He may have had a meal waiting for him at home but for the ladies working at the library, who by condition of employment were required to resign if they got married up until the mid-1950s, Staff House was a comfortable refuge. 

When the Staff House was torn down its furniture and equipment were auctioned off. A former staff member, Mary Williamson picked up the wooden shovel — or peel — at the auction and later decided to donate it back to Toronto Public Library.

Related links

• History of Toronto Public Library
• Local History Publications

In the late 1960s, there was a sense of buoyancy in much of Canada due to the country's economic growth. This blog post looks back at scenes in Ontario among affluent and high-profile partygoers at the time. Below are photos are from Toronto Public Library (TPL)'s Digital Archive Ontario, a free site with over 100,000 digitized items related to Ontario's past. 

Background

After the Second World War, there was unprecedented economic growth in North America. Many Canadians were increasingly prosperous. Growing financial equality and expanding opportunities signaled great things for the future. Governments expanded social services and wages reflected greater productivity. It could be argued that this was the golden age for the average worker and their families.

Photographs

All photos featured in this blog post come from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, part of the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana at TPL. The newspaper captions from the time are also included — some of which reveal the casual sexism of the time.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Eileen Herlie (Gertrude) congratulates Richard Burton as Hume Cronyn (Polonius) looks on after last night's opening of Burton's modern dress presentation of Hamlet at the O'Keefe Centre. The Welsh-born actor has the title role." Courtesy Toronto Photograph Archive, 1964. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "The crest sparks zest. Enjoying themselves at last night's opening party for the Crest theatre's production of Oh What a Lovely War are Anna Cameron: Eric House and Barbara Chilcott. The party: held in the Park Plaza's Empress Room: is the last of the Crest season." Courtesy Toronto Photograph Archive, 1965. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Off to dinner party; at the home of Mrs. Egmont Frankel; Princess Margaret leaves the Royal York Hotel by car last night. Mrs. Frankel is honorary chairman of Princess Margaret Ball which the royal couple will attend tonight." Courtesy Toronto Photograph Archive, 1965. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "An elegant living room makes a perfect place to throw a party. A gold Samarkand rug lies on the floor to set the color scheme of the room […] it took a year for Robert Dirstein to renovate the almost 100-year-old home and cost was over $10,000." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1968. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "TV personality Adrienne Clarkson decided on this elegant tea gown for last night's after-theatre party, attended by some of the theatrical world's biggest names." Courtesy Toronto Photograph Archive, 1967. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Toronto symphony orchestra soloist, Maurizio Pollini, chats with Mr. and Mrs. Seiji Ozawa and Mrs. Roger Pemberton at the On-Stage party that followed last night's opening Symphony concert at Massey Hall. Brilliant young Italian pianist Pollini was making his North American debut. Guest list at the party was headed by Lieutenant-Governor W. Ross MacDonald." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1968. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Last night was also the occasion for the National Ballet's Toe-A-Go-Go party held in the foyer of the O'Keefe Centre. Gary Burne and Vanessa Harwood were two of the many youngsters who first watched the Ballet's Cinderella and then turned to their own dance." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1968. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "A lot of new faces will appear in the Cabinet if he wins the leadership of the Liberal party, consumer Affairs Minister John Turner promised as he spent yesterday in Toronto campaigning with his wife." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1968. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Out of hot water: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau heads toward the dressing room after a dip in the sulphur baths at Harrison Hot Springs, B.C., where the Liberal party is holding a national policy conference this week." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1969. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "June Callwood, still shaken from being arrested Wednesday night during the Yorkville disturbances, talks to the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Shuster at cocktail party last night. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Shuster, the Pierre Bertons and artist Harold Town were co-hosts at party." Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1968. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "The sweet taste of success? Perry Connolly (right) has trouble with mouthful of champagne after taking drink from Canada's Cup during celebration at Royal Canadian Yacht Club yesterday. Connelly skippered yacht Manitou to victory over United States challenger; aided by Gord Fisher (left) and Dave Osler (centre); two of crew and fellow owners."' Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1969. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Original Toronto Star caption: "Belles at both elbows. Seated between two beauties, Prime Minister Trudeau appears to be enjoying himself at a champagne and strawberry ball at Man and His World's French Pavilion last night. His date for the evening was Louise Marleau (right). The ball was sponsored by the Junior Associates of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts." Courtesy Toronto Public Library, 1969. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Related posts

• Royal Tour Across Canada in May, 1939
• Photos from Our Archives: Summer in Ontario
• 23 "Firsts" for Women Working in Ontario
• From the Archives: Ontario's Musical Greats
• How to Find Old Pictures of Ontario Online

Murdoch Mysteries is a tremendously popular Canadian television show. William Murdoch is a fictional police detective working in Toronto in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He solves many of his cases using methods that were unusual at the time such as fingerprinting and surveillance.

At Toronto Public Library (TPL), our Special Collections & Rare Books hold many historical items and artifacts that relate to the show's settings, plots and characters. I've done some sleuthing to find images tied to ten places and faces featured in Murdoch Mysteries.

Postcard near High Park entrance in Toronto, approximately 1917. Uniformed police officers in Murdoch Mysteries can be seen riding bicycles when solving crimes. View on our Digital Archive.

1. Station House No. 4

William Murdoch is the detective at Station House Number Four, one of several stations run by the Toronto Constabulary. Other stations in the city are mentioned in various episodes: House No. 1 is where Murdoch first started out as a police officer; Murdoch is almost promoted to Inspector of Station House No. 3; and there's an ongoing rivalry between House No. 5 and House No. 4.

In real life, Station House No.1 was located at 10 Court Street, Station House No. 3 was at 501 Richmond Street West and Station House No. 5 was at 860 Yonge Street. The old No. 4 Police Station (51 Division) at Parliament and Dundas Street opened in 1876. It was the first police station that had officers walking the beat on foot or horse in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. Our Digital Archive has several pictures of old Toronto police stations.

Cabbagetown police station, Dundas Street, Toronto, 1946. View on our Digital Archive.

Our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana preserves historical documents about the Toronto police force from the time of Murdoch. This includes annual reports, many of them digitized. An 1886 account of the constabulary from its reorganization in 1859 gives a snapshot of the environment Murdoch would have been working in.

2. Toronto Public Library

My ears always prick up when I hear a character mention going to the library in Murdoch Mysteries. It’s astounding what they can find there – from how to build a reflective telescope (season 2, episode 8, "I, Murdoch") to how wine is manufactured in Italy (season 11, episode 2, "Merlot Mysteries"). Murdoch often sends Constable George Crabtree to the library to look up items in the newspapers.

In season 11, episode 12, "Mary Wept", Father McGray brags to Murdoch that he is well informed in matters of science because of his regular visits to the Dundas Library. This branch of TPL was in rented space on the second floor of the Brockton Town Hall located at Dundas Street and Brock Avenue from 1888 to 1909.

TPL, Dundas Street, 1901. View on our Digital Archive.

The predecessor of TPL was the Mechanic’s Institute, officially established in the city in 1830. It was modeled after similar establishments in Edinburgh and London, England. Their goal was the improvement of mechanics and others by the formation of reference and circulating libraries and by delivering lectures and classes. In 1884 Toronto’s Mechanic’s Institute was relocated to a building at Church and Adelaide Streets. This site plays a prominent role in Murdoch Mysteries.

The two-part "Stroll on the Wild Side" (season 5, episodes 7 and 8), features character Anna Fulford in disguise and working at TPL. Murdoch first meets her in England when he was suffering from amnesia. Anna Fulford could easily be one of the ladies in this picture below of library staff.

Staff at Mechanics Institute, Church Street, approximately 1895. View on our Digital Archive.

3. The Provincial Lunatic Asylum

"The Provincial Lunatic Asylum" was also known as the "Toronto Lunatic Asylum" or simply "The Lunatic Asylum." It becomes the new place of work for Dr. Julia Ogden in season 6 of the show, as she starts practicing psychiatry. This location is referred to in many Murdoch mystery books and episodes but the most memorable is season 8, episode 14, "The Incurables". Murdoch investigates the violent death of a nurse only to encounter four dangerous inmates who audiences may remember from previous episodes.

The facility was located on 27 acres of land at 999 Queen Street West. At the time of its opening, it is was state of the art: it had central heating, mechanical ventilation and indoor plumbing. Architect John George Howard based his design on the National Gallery in London, England. Howard was the official surveyor and civil engineer for Toronto. He was also Toronto’s first professional architect, designing numerous public, commercial and residential buildings during the 19th century.

We hold a number of items related to this building, including Howard’s original blueprints (available to view in person from our manuscript collection in our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana).

Lithograph of "The Lunatic Asylum", approximately 1894. View on our Digital Archive.

4. The Victoria Hospital for Sick Children

The institution that would become what we now know as the Hospital for Sick Children began in 1875, in rented premises. In 1892 staff and patients moved to a purpose-built hospital. In season 1, episode 7, "Body Double", Murdoch and Constable Crabtree find a clue to a murder in an article of the Toronto Gazette about the hospital’s opening on May 11, 1892. In season 4, episode 4, "Downstairs, Upstairs", Dr. Darcy Garland mentions that he has been courted by the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, which is one of the best in the world. 

The building where Darcy would have practiced still stands at 67 College Street and is now the Toronto Area headquarters of Canadian Blood Services. The name Victoria was in honor of the reigning Queen of Canada at the time. Over time the name was shortened to The Hospital for Sick Children and eventually Sick Kids. A fascinating history of this institution as well as its sister, the Lakeside Home for Little Children, written in 1891 has recently been added to our Digital Archive.

Postcard of Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, approximately 1907. View on our Digital Archive.

John Ross Robertson (1841-1918) was a major philanthropist of the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children as well as an art collector. His donation in 1912 of more than 4,000 pictures illustrating the history of Canada began TPL's collection of historical pictures. It is now part of the Canadian Documentary Art Collection, a collection area of our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

5. The Queen’s Hotel

In the time of Murdoch Mysteries, Toronto had many hotels but the finest was located across the street from Union Station, where the Fairmont Royal York hotel now stands. The Queen's Hotel was first called The Swords but had a name change in 1862. It is referred to often in Murdoch Mysteries. Queen Victoria’s son Alfred stays at the Queen’s when he visits Toronto. Alexander Graham Bell is a guest there. In season 6, Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogdon register at the Queen’s Hotel in order to give Darcy Garland grounds for divorce.

Our Special Collections include many guidebooks from Toronto’s hotels, such as this 1909 publication by The Queen's Hotel. Download the book to see a fascinating snapshot of the attractions and amenities available in Toronto at the time.

Postcard of Queen's Hotel, Toronto, 1905. View on our Digital Archive.

6. The Bishop Strachan School

Season 4, episode 11, "Bloodlust" involves the death of a young girl who attends a girls’ residential boarding school. The name of the school in the story is The Tepes School for Girls. Vlad Tepes is thought to be Bram Stoker’s inspiration for the character of Dracula. The girls at the school are intrigued by this new novel and the idea of vampires in Toronto. (Our Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy holds a first edition of Dracula.)

According to the user-submitted info on Murdoch Mysteries Wiki, the Boulden House at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario stands in for the Tepes school. However, elements in the episode make it feel very much like we are seeing characters attending the Bishop Strachan Anglican day and boarding school for girls. Bishop Strachan has been located at 298 Lonsdale Road since the fall of 1915 but before that, the school had a variety of temporary homes. First opened in 1867, it was relocated in 1870 to Wykeham Hall near Bay and College Streets. This is where the school would have been in 1898, the year "Bloodlust" is set.

TPL has a several paintings and photographs of Wykeham Hall such as the one below by Owen Staples.

Watercolour painting of Wykeham Hall, south side of College Street, east of Bay Street, Toronto, 1912. View on our Digital Archive. 

Our Digital Archive also has postcards and other bits of ephemera relating to The Bishop Strachan School. A fun coincidence: on the back of one digitized prospectus is an ad for the Trinity College in Port Hope, Ontario — the place that stood in for the Tepes School in the Murdoch Mysteries episode.

Postcard of The Bishop Strachan School, approximately 1907. View on our Digital Archive.

7. The Royal Alexandra Theatre

In season 13, episode 10, "Parker in the Rye", special constable Robert Parker is asked by Inspector Brackenreid to go undercover. Parker is thrilled to have the assignment but disappointed, as he will not be able to attend the opening of Toronto’s newest theatre, The Royal Alexandra. He gives up his tickets to an astonished Brackenreid who says his wife Margaret was keen to see the show.

The Royal Alexandra Theatre was the vision of Cawthra Mulock, one of the youngest millionaires in Canada. He hired an equally young Canadian architect, John Lyle. Lyle was just starting out and eager to present Toronto with an entirely original design for a theatre. Lyle used the experience gained working in Paris and New York to design a building in the Beaux-Arts style.

Postcard of Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, approximately 1910. View on our Digital Archive.

The Royal Alexandra was the first fireproof theatre in Toronto and one of the first anywhere. It didn’t have the usual unsightly pillars supporting the balconies and blocking people’s views. Tom and Margaret Brackenreid would have had a fantastic view of "Top O'Th' World", the theatre’s opening show on August 26, 1907. It was the equivalent of a big English pantomime with a comic chief of police referred to as Inspector Archibald. The next day, the Toronto Star called the performance, “A whimsical musical extravaganza of the fairyland type.”

We preserve many old theatre programs from these early days of the Royal Alex including the one below from January of 1909.

Left: Cover of Royal Alexandra Theatre program, January 11, 1909. Right: Page seven of program showing ads and acting credits including "Miss Mary Pickford" playing a young child. View on our Digital Archive.

The dramatic play that week in 1909, The Warrens of Virginia, had in its cast a 16 year-old Canadian, Mary Pickford. In season 15, episode 12, "There’s Something About Mary", Murdoch investigates the suspicious death of a stage manager after going away party for Mary Pickford whose star is rising. In the television episode, Mary plays Cleopatra to John Brackenreid’s Anthony, not Betty Warren of Virginia.

8. Eaton’s Department Store

Founded in 1869, the Timothy Eaton Company Limited, commonly known as Eaton’s was the dominant Canadian department store. It is frequently acknowledged in Murdoch Mysteries. Constable Crabtree is intrigued by the novelty of a store that sells everything under one roof.

In season 5, episode 9, "The Invention Convention", Timothy Eaton offers a prize for the most commercially viable invention. In season 6, episode 8, "Murdoch in Ladies Wear", Murdoch investigates the death of Preston Monk, the much-disliked manager of the ladies-wear department of Eaton’s.

Stereoscopic viewing card showing ladies department at Eaton's Department Store, Toronto, approximately 1915. One of many stereoscopic viewing cards available in our Special Collections. View on our Digital Archive.

People in rural communities had access to a selection of goods otherwise unavailable to them by means of the iconic Eaton’s mail order catalogue. We hold Eaton’s catalogues in our Special Collections — and many of them digitized. Researchers can use them to investigate trends from specific years, fashions in particular.

9. The Toronto Hunt Club

In season 13, episode 12, "Fox Hunt", Inspector Thomas Brackenreid participates in a traditional English fox hunt which leads him to discover a murder victim in the woods. The members of the club almost certainly belong to the Toronto Hunt Club.

Explore our digitized item related to the Toronto Hunt Club — including ribbons from steeplechases.

Postcard for Toronto Hunt Club, approximately 1905. View on our Digital Archive.

10. Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) created the world's most popular detective, Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and his assistant Dr. John Watson inspired many fictional detectives. In season 1, episode 4, "Elementary My Dear Murdoch", Conan Doyle comes to Toronto to deliver a lecture on spiritualism and tags along with Murdoch. In season 1, episode 9, "Belly Speaker", Conan Doyle returns to Toronto allegedly researching a case for a story to be based on Murdoch. In season 6, episode 4, "A Study in Sherlock", Conan Doyle finds he must return to Toronto to help the crew at Station House No. 4 deal with a man who has assumed the personality of Sherlock Holmes.

In real life, Conon Doyle visited Toronto, three times. While on a literary tour of North America in 1894, Conan Doyle delivered a lecture at Massey Hall.  On this occasion, he stayed with his friend Dr. Latimer Pickering. Pickering was married to a female physician, Dr. Annie L. Pickering just as Murdoch is the husband of Dr. Julia Ogdon. Doyle was a supporter of female doctors and wrote a story called “The Doctors of Hoyland” which included a positive portrayal of a female physician. That same year, Doyle almost became involved in a famous case known as the “Parkdale Mystery.” He was asked by the Toronto World newspaper to assist in a violent murder case. He showed interest but was unable to help. Conon Doyle also made public appearances in Toronto in 1914 and 1922.

TPL has one of the world’s foremost collections of materials devoted to the life and work of Arthur Conan Doyle.

Arthur Conan Doyle, unknown date. From our Arthur Conan Collection. Object number: ACD-PHOTO-001374093

More about Murdoch Mysteries

The character of Detective William Murdoch was created by Canadian novelist Maureen Jennings with a series of seven books beginning in 1997. The mystery TV show which started in 2008 is based on Jennings’ stories. The first series is set in 1895. Prior to being picked up as a regular weekly series, three television movies aired in 2004.

According to the Jennings, William Murdoch was modeled after John Wilson Murray (1840-1906) who was the first salaried Provincial Constable appointed to act as a detective for the Government of Ontario in 1875. His memoirs, Memoirs of a Great Detective: Incidents in the life of John Wilson Murray (1905) can be read in person at our Arthur Conan Doyle Collection.

You can borrow Murdoch Mysteries on DVD or check out the show's companion book from TPL.

Maps are important historical documents. Not only do maps represent geographies, they reflect the worldviews of when they were made and who made them. Many early maps of North America are available on Digital Archive Ontario, a free site of digitized items held by Toronto Public Library. This blog post features four of these maps from the archive.

Featured maps and their history

Early cartographers (mapmakers) relied on written or oral descriptions. Known as “tabula descripo” in Latin, these earliest maps were often more fanciful than accurate. But in the so-called Age of Discovery (roughly 15th to 17th century), more precise, firsthand map-making was possible. The 17th-century Frenchman Samuel de Champlain, for example, was both an explorer and cartographer.

Carte de la Nouvelle France, 1640. By Samuel de Champlain. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Sailors and mapmakers used state-of-the-art instruments: a compass for direction, hourglass for time, telescope for sight and sextant for position. These new observations were often combined with earlier maps to create “mappae mundi” (maps of the world). Sea monsters and other creatures that appeared outside the known world (to Europeans) became less common.

Amerique Septentrionale, 1650. By Nicolas Sanson and Pierre Mariette (contributor). View on Digital Archive Ontario.

All the maps in this blog post depict the same landmass and surrounding water — including a portion of what is now Canada claimed by France. Each map displays the territory differently. This is part of the cartographer’s craft — and power. Cartographers determine what is important to depict. The complexity of the terrain is abstracted based on how the mapmaker makes sense of the data.

Carte Nouvelle contenant la Partie d’Amérique la plus septentrionale… [partial title], approximately 1700. By Nicolas Visscher. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Exploration allowed Europeans to exploit economic opportunities in territories previously unknown to them. Voyages were financed by European states or corporations to generate profit. On his first voyage (and later two), Christopher Columbus seized and enslaved members of the Indigenous population to find gold.

Partie orientale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada… [partial title], approximately 1756. By Tobias Conrad Lotter. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Notice that the first map in this blog post has no boundaries. As colonization literally gained ground, new political units emerged. These boundaries conveyed by cartographers are crucial documents of colonization. They reveal the power of these early maps beyond the cartographer’s act of transposing what is three-dimensional onto a flat plane. 

More maps on Digital Archive Ontario

Explore all maps on Digital Archive Ontario or check out our blog post, Cool Vintage Maps from Digital Archive Ontario.

Indigenous mapping projects

Cartography has served to erase Indigenous names, knowledge, histories and presence across traditional territories. For Indigenous perspectives on mapping, explore these online resources. (Compiled for an online version of a cartography exhibit by Toronto Public Library).

Native Land. Tool and app that maps out Indigenous territories, treaties and languages.

Gwich’in Place Name and Story Atlas. Interactive atlas for exploring the culture, history, traditional knowledge and land use of the Gwich’in through Gwich’in place names.

Inuit Siku (sea ice) Atlas. Online, interactive, multi-media atlas that compiles Inuit sea ice knowledge and use.

Stz’uminus Storied Places Digital Atlas. Digital map of traditional knowledge of Stz’uminus territory and place names shared by Elders through a youth-involved, community-based videos.

Squamish Atlas. Squamish language place name map tool developed by the Indigenous non‐profit Kwi Awt Stelmexw.

Views from the North Atlas. Collaboration between the Inuit training program Nunavut Sivuniksavut and Carleton University with contributions from Library and Archives Canada.

Ogimaa Mikana Project. Project to restore Anishinaabemowin place names to the streets, avenues, roads, paths and trails of Gichi Kiiwenging (Toronto).

Kitikmeot Place Name Atlas. Ongoing project to record the traditional Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun place names of the Kitikmeot Region, led by the Kitikmeot Heritage Society.

The “Oka Crisis”: A Digital Atlas of the 1990 Events at Kanehsatà:ke. Interactive map of the 1990 Kanien’kehà:ka resistance and uprising at Kanehsatà:ke, also known as the “Oka Crisis.”

Húy̓at Territory Tour. 360° tour and interactive map developed by the Heiltsuk Nation, researchers and project partners from Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria and Greencoast Media.

Cartography 17. Restorative, collaborative and inclusive project creating new map of Toronto with the input of its diverse residents on the foundation of the culture and tradition of the First Nations people of the region. (Exhibited at Toronto Reference Library in 2018.)

Canadian Geographic Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. Atlas by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society in conjunction with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis National Council, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and Indspire.

Note: This article includes historical materials from the collections of Toronto Public Library. Who tells the story, and how the story is told creates tensions when trying to present content written by settlers about Indigenous people. These materials can reflect offensive historic attitudes, and in some cases, were created by individuals directly involved in acts of cultural genocide committed against Indigenous peoples. These materials are included as part of TPL’s commitment to the 69th Call to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which recognizes the inalienable right of Indigenous peoples to know the truth of what happened and why.

Lom D'Arce de Lahontan, Louis-Armand de, Baron de Lahontan, esquire (1666–1715) is someone who might have been lost to history except for the books he wrote. These popular travelogues, the first of which was published in French in 1703, describe his decade in Canada as a soldier and explorer.

Digital Archive Ontario, a project by Toronto Public Library, has made two of Lahontan's travelogues available online.

Overview of the Travelogues

Lahontan was a military officer who fought for New France against the English and Iroquois ("Iroquois" was the term used by the French to refer to the Haudenosaunee). He was in Canada from about 1683 to 1693. In his spare time, he did some hunting and exploring — as well as keeping diaries about his travels. "In the course of my Voyages and Travels, I took care to keep particular Journals of every thing ,” he noted. Using these diaries, he wrote three books:

• Nouveaux voyages de M. le baron de Lahontan dans l'Amérique septentrionale (also available as an early English translation)
• Dialogues de Monsieur le baron de Lahontan et d'un sauvage, dans l'Amérique
• Supplément aux voyage (not available on Digital Archive Ontario)

There is corroborating evidence for much of what he wrote, but not for everything. For example, he claims to have arrived as a marine lieutenant at age 17 in Quebec with three companies of colonial regular troops, but there are no extant documents to prove this.

You can learn more about Lahontan's life and his three books on Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Voyages du baron de Lahontan. A La Haye : Chez les frères L'Honoré, marchands libraires […] MDCCIV [1704]

Dialogues de Monsieur le baron de Lahontan et d'un sauvage, dans l'Amérique. Contenant une description […] MDCCIV [1704]

Selection of Events and Illustrations from Lahontan's Books

In May of 1684, Lahontan visited the Île d’Orléans and its surrounding Indigenous villages before being sent to Montreal where he joined an expedition against the Iroquois. He traveled by canoe in the advance party to Fort Frontenac at Cataraqui. The campaign was not successful and the doubtful truce at Arise de La Famine (Mexico Bay, near Oswego) was marked by Onondoga Grand Chief Otreouti's refusal to make peace with the Illinois and respect voyageurs in Illinois. 

Carte generale du Canada en petiti point. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 21.

Canot des Iroquois d'Encorce d'Ormeaxx. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 58.

Lahontan wintered at Montreal where he spent three months hunting with the Indigenous population. In the spring, he led a small detachment to Fort Chambly to monitor the fur trade and then was sent to Boucherville where he remained until May 1687. He spent many winter months hunting moose 225 km north of the St. Lawrence River.

At Montreal in 1687, Lahontan joined Governor Brisay de Denonville’s expedition against the Senecas. At Fort Frontenac, he found a Haudenosaunee man he had formerly befriended among the prisoners. When he protested against their harsh treatment, he earned himself several days confinement to his tent. From there he accompanied Denonville's troops along the south shore of Lake Ontario and witnessed the execution of Abel Marion la Fontaine, a deserter to the English. Lahontan fought the Iroquois in the skirmish that followed. Voyages du baron de Lahontan describes the confusion among the French and exaggerates the losses on both sides. 

Profil de la Ville de Quebec. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 36.

Campement de M. de la Barre. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 73.

Manières de chasser indigènes. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 115.

At this juncture, Lahontan wanted to return to France to settle his father's estate. But because of his knowledge of the Algonkian language, Denonville ordered him to take a detachment to Fort Saint-Joseph on the west shore of the Sainte-Claire River and assume command. That spring, using the excuse of looking for supplies, Lahontan set out for Michilimackinac located between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. He was there when survivors of de La Salle's doomed expedition to the Mississippi arrived on their way back to Montreal. Here, he met Kondiaronk (The Rat) who handed over a slave for execution.

M. Denonville, les Coureurs de bois et 500 Iroquois. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 130.

Lac des Hurons. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 324.

On his journey back to Fort Saint Joseph, he recruited 40 young Anishinaabe/Ojibwe men at Sault Ste. Marie and obtained 40 sacks of grain on Manitoulin Island. Upon reaching Fort Saint Joseph, he learned Fort Niagara had been abandoned after scurvy decimated the garrison. Having only supplies for two months, he and his men burned Fort Saint Joseph and headed back to Quebec south, around Lake Erie. Instead of trying to get there so late in the season, they headed further south to explore. 

Castor. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 179.

Carte de Riviere Longue. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 172.

Beofs Sauvages, Lac au Fleuve. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 214.

In September 1688, he set out with his detachment of soldiers and five Ottawa hunters along the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. This expedition caused Lahontan to pen an inexplicable tall tale. He wrote that during the 4,000-mile winter and spring journey over frozen and swollen waterways, they explored La Rivière longue which flowed directly west from the Mississippi.

Lahontan returned east to Montreal. Arriving July 9, he learned that he had lost the barony of Lahontan. Governor Frontenac returned in October. Lahontan sought his permission to return to France, but was denied. In October 1690, news arrived that the English fleet was sailing up the St. Lawrence. Lahontan and Frontenac hurried to Quebec. 

Carte generale du Canada (2). From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 240.

Lahontan fought with French forces in the woods below Quebec, deterring the English landing. Frontenac then required Lahontan to make a winter crossing to deliver news of the victory to court. While there, Lahontan pressed for compassionate leave to remain in France. This was denied but he was promoted to captain. By September 18, 1691, he was back in Quebec. 

Lahontan resubmitted to Frontenac an earlier proposal for the protection of the western frontier with three forts, one near the mouth of the Niagara River, a second at Saint-Joseph on the Sainte-Claire River and a third in Georgian Bay. Frontenac authorized Lahontan to set sail to France on July 27, 1692 to present the idea to the court. The ship put in at La Plaisance (Placentia NF) to wait for four Basque fishing ships it was to convoy back to France. On 14 September, news came that five English ships were approaching Placentia. Lahontan was stationed with 60 Basque sailors at an advance post called La Fontaine, less than a mile from the fort. On September 17 they prevented several boatloads of English sailors from disembarking. The next day, the French and English attempted a prisoner exchange followed by a bombardment the day after.

Finally in October Lahontan set sail for France and did not return to North America.

Combat entre deux Vaisseaux Anglois et Francois. From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 264.

Carte de la Grande Baye de Plaisance, From Voyages du baron de Lahontan, page 284.

See also

Selections and Full PDFs of "The Jesuit Relations": Sainte-Marie among the Hurons and Beyond

On December 16, 1921, Toronto’s Globe newspaper carried a small article entitled “New Library Opened at Main and Gerrard”:

“East Toronto’s new Public Library, at Main and Gerrard streets, was opened last night for the adult population, but the children will have their initial function on Saturday. The building is of brick and raftered stucco, and, while the lower floor, for the grown-ups, is pleasant, the upper floor…the children’s own, is a near approach to the ideal. Miss Margaret Wainwright is children’s librarian and Miss Redmond will look after the serious literary needs.”

Main Street Branch went through many changes to become the busy community hub we know and love today. Here, as the branch celebrates its 100th birthday, is a brief look at its history.

The early days

The branch first opened in 1903 at the YMCA building on Main Street, between Gerrard and Danforth. To keep up with the growth of Toronto between 1908 and 1920, the number of public library branches increased from two to sixteen locations, and the spaces continued to expand. Eastern Branch was one of the impacted branches, and an expansion of the space to better serve the community was financially supported by the city in 1916. This was highlighted in an article in the Globe newspaper titled “Two Branch Libraries Are to Be Enlarged”:

“…The eastern branch has been occupying rooms in the old railway Y.M.C.A. at the corner of Main and Gerrard streets. A largely-signed petition was sent to the board asking for more accommodation, and the board has decided to use all of the main floor of the building in the future”

You can read more about the expansion in TPL’s Thirty-Seventh Annual Report.

New building in 1921

In 1921 the branch moved into its current location at 137 Main Street. It was designed by architect James Patrick Hynes (1868-1953). The construction was completed quickly, costing almost $40,000, and Toronto’s Mayor Tommy Church lay the cornerstone on June 16. Board Chairperson W.T.J. Lee opened the branch to the public on December 15.

Here are some images following the construction.

Eastern Branch from Construction in June 1922

The Boys' and Girls' Room, where children would have gone for reading and storytelling. from R.A.I.C. Journal, iii, May-June 1926.

A renovation

The branch was renovated again in 1928 with the addition of a new wing to house the stack room (you can read more about it in TPL’s Forty-Fifth Annual Report). As it continued to grow, the branch became a community gathering place known for its domestic architecture and spacious lawn, where many programs took place and memories were made.

Here are some images of various activities throughout the history of the branch.

Children reading in the Children's Room, approx 1930. View on our Digital Archive.

Eastern Branch – the Three Bears Puppet Play, June 1934. View on our Digital Archive.

Eastern Branch in July 1939 from the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231 (James Salmon Collection), Item 828. In the public domain.

1974 Festival on the Lawn with musician Edward Bear. View on our Digital Archives.

1974 Festival on the Lawn performers. View on our Digital Archive.

Another renovation and a renaming in 1977

The Eastern Branch served its community for almost half a century before undergoing another renovation in 1977 with a name change to Main Street Branch. The renovation increased the materials' capacity and reading room by one-third as well as constructing a new northside wing. Landscaping at the building’s front increased its street presence. Renovations to the Children’s section included a new story room, and new access stairs.

1977 Architectural model. View on our Digital Archive.

More recent changes

Over the years, there have been a number of improvements at the branch, including the addition of an elevator to improve the accessibility of the upper floors, the introduction of express checkout stations, and an increase in hours of service. You can find a complete list of more recent changes to the branch under the history tab in our Main Street branch profile.
Today the branch continues to be a valued community hub through its many services and program offerings.

Here are some recent images of the branch.

Reference desk and quilt in the Children's area at Main Street Branch in 2021. Photo by staff.

Main Street Branch exterior photo in 2021. photo by staff.

Main Street Branch front garden. Photo by Beach Garden Society.

As an early Hollywood actress, Mary Pickford (1892–1979) was one of the most famous people in the world. Pickford's introduction to acting can be traced back to the red brick house that she was born in on University Avenue in Toronto. 

This post features digitized postcards and photos related to Pickford from TPL's Baldwin Collection of Canadiana. These historical items — some of which are newly scanned — show Pickford and the Toronto houses she lived in or owned. The houses were important to Pickford either as a source of nostalgia or as a creative way to raise money for victims of war.

Portion of postcard of Pickford at her birthplace on University Avenue, 1924. View on our Digital Archive.

Who was Mary Pickford?

Mary Pickford was a Toronto-born stage and screen actress, screenwriter, director, producer and philanthropist. Her career paralleled the fledgling art of filmmaking.

Known as “America’s Sweetheart”, “The Girl with the Curls” and “Queen of the Movies”, Pickford starred in 41 short films and 52 features, producing half of them through her own production company. She co-founded United Artists Film Studios in 1919 and was one of the original founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1929).

Pickford is associated with many firsts in movie-making, including:

• First Canadian to win an Academy Award for Best Actress. (In 1976 the Academy awarded Pickford her second Oscar for lifetime achievement.)
• First actress to earn a million dollars.
• First female star to found her own corporation (in 1915), pioneering the concept of the independent star/producer.

To learn more, read BBC's article Mary Pickford: The Woman Who Shaped Hollywood.

Here are a few images of Pickford from our Digital Archive.

Photograph of Pickford from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, approximately 1920s. View on our Digital Archive.

Picture of Pickford for "Famous Cinema Star Series", approximately 1920. View on our Digital Archive.

Pickford as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, 1929. View on our Digital Archive.

Portrait of Pickford, approximately 1930. View on our Digital Archive.

House on University Avenue

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith on April 8, 1892, to John Smith and Charlotte Hennessey at their home at 175 University Avenue. It was a small, red brick building. As the city expanded and University Avenue extended southward, the number on the house became 211 and then 561. There was a grassy median separating the houses from the street. The three-bedroom, two-story house had a garden in the backyard and gas lights in all of the rooms.

Along with her two younger siblings Charlotte, “Lottie” (1893–1936) and John Charles, “Jack” (1893–1933) who would also become actors, Mary lived with her paren'ts, aunt and grandmother in this house.

Postcard of Pickford's house on University Avenue, 1925. View on our Digital Archive.

Stylized postcard of the house on University Avenue, approximately 1930. View on our Digital Archive.

In 2017, Toronto Star published an article that quoted a woman who had lived at 211 University Avenue in the 1920s. She remembered tour buses driving by filled with people snapping pictures. She realized she was living in the home of someone quite famous.

Postcard of tour bus at 211 University Avenue, 1925. View on our Digital Archive.

During a CBC interview in 1959, Pickford reminisced about her family’s early years and her life-long love of Toronto. When her father died in 1898, her family members dispersed due to a lack of money. Her mother became determined to restore the family, learning to be a seamstress and taking in boarders. One of the boarders was the stage manager of a company called the Valentine Stock company. He asked Mrs. Smith if her three children could appear in a production. Mary Pickford was five years old and remained in the theatre ever after.

In the same interview, Pickford talks about riding her bicycle down University Avenue from Yonge Street to Queen Street. University Avenue was the same width it is today but it was lined with trees, flowers and houses. She recalled to another reporter how she used to pick the little white flowers there.

Postcard reading: "University Avenue, Parliament Buildings at head of Avenue, Toronto", approximately 1910. View on our Digital Archive.

Pickford, her siblings and their now stage mother left Toronto around 1902 to go to live in New York. But she returned several times to visit the house where she was born.

On March 24, 1924, the Toronto Star ran a story about her visit to her birthplace. At the time, she hadn't seen it in twelve years. She was staying with her husband (Douglas Fairbanks Senior) and her mother at the King Edward Hotel. She told reporters her trip was sentimental — she wanted to visit the house on University Avenue., the Christie Street Hospital to meet some of the sick soldiers and go to Mount Pleasant cemetery to see the graves of her father and grandparen'ts.

Postcard of Pickford in front of 211 University Avenue, 1924. View on our Digital Archive.

On May 10, 1934, the Toronto Star again reported on a visit Pickford was making to Toronto. At the Royal York where she was staying, she reflected on the city of her youth:

“The old belt line is gone isn’t it…it was one of the joys of my youth. There’s still Hanlans’ Point and I can go visit that… We didn’t own the house on University but I own the house my aunt occupies and I also have some property on North Yonge Street so I am still a tax payer.”

On May 3, 1940, Pickford again returned to Toronto with her third husband, Buddy Rogers. Landing at the Island airport, she eagerly asked a reporter about the house on University Avenue:

“Is my old house still standing? You know I am keen of mind to buy that old house and put a tearoom in it with the proceeds going toward the Hospital for Sick Children. I have worked on the idea for so long. I have been told I can buy the house but if I want the ground I will have to buy practically the entire block. And at what a price. I don’t believe the house would be of much interest if moved….. it’s the location that counts. It’s my birthplace and I do want it and I do want to help the mothers and children of Toronto."

Pickford revered the memory of that house on University Avenue. When it was torn down in 1943 she had twenty bricks from it saved and sent to her in California as souvenirs. At the time of demolition, it was reported that the new Mount Sinai Hospital was going to be built on the site where the Pickford house was.

House at 211 University Avenue. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1938. View on our Digital Archive.

Pickford looks over fence to see where her birthplace house once stood. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1948. View on our Digital Archive.

In the end, the house was demolished to make way for the new Hospital for Sick Children. There is a plaque and a bust of Mary standing close to where the house was at University Avenue and Elm Street. On May 16, 1983, her widower, Buddy Rogers and Toronto mayor, Art Eggleton dedicated the bust sculpted which was commissioned by the Mary Pickford Foundation.

Buddy Rogers, Pickford's third husband, kissing a statue of the late Mary Pickford. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1983. View on our Digital Archive.

House on Dewson Street

Mary Pickford also owned a home on Dewson Street which may have belonged to her aunt Charlotte Edith Smith who passed away on June 17, 1941. Pickford’s plan was to use the house for fundraising efforts: "I want to donate the house to some Canadian war effort; to bring Canadian cash to the war effort particularly the mothers and children of men serving the empire inactive forces” (Toronto Star, January 9, 1942).

On Saturday, September 18, 1942, the Toronto Star ran an ad in the properties for sale section:

“Mary Pickford of Hollywood California is donating her Toronto home on Dewson Street to provide funds to further a plan to raise a considerable amount for British War Victims. The home is well constructed, solid brick detached. It has 8 rooms, water heating and is tastefully decorated throughout. It is perfect condition. It is to be sold for $5,000 cash in order for a larger undertaking to take place. To be seen by appointment. Eastwood Realty 261a, Coxwell Ave.”

The exact address on Dewson Street was not indicated.

House on Glenwood Crescent

On October 29, 1942, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported that construction of the "Mary Pickford Bungalow" at Glenwood Road had started the day before when Reeve John Warren of East York Township had turned the first sod.

The value of the house and property was given as $15,000. Pickford must have deduced that much more money could be raised by raffling off a new house in the new Woodbine Gardens development, a hidden enclave at the northern end of the massive Woodbine bridge. The bridge was built in 1932 and the Woodbine Gardens neighbourhood is located on the former site of the Woodbine Golf and Country Club which operated there during the 1930s.

Woodbine Gardens houses first sold for between $14,000 and $19,000.The first house built in this neighbourhood was the Mary Pickford War Bungalow at 90 Glenwood Crescent.

Woodbine bridge, leading to the Woodbine Gardens neighbourhoods. View on our Digital Archive.

Ontario premier Gordon Daniel Conant laid the cornerstone to the house on December 2, 1942. Pickford sent a telegram and The Globe and Mail reported that the telegram and some other items would probably be deposited in the cornerstone.

In May of 1943, both the Toronto Star and The Globe and mail excitedly reported that Pickford would be coming to dedicate the bungalow at Glenwood Crescent and O’Connor Drive, East York on May 24. Shares(raffle tickets) could be purchased at the information desk of the Simpsons’ department store for $1.

On behalf of the Bungalow project, Mary appeared on several local radio programs.

Two newspaper ads for Pickford's War Fund Bungalow. Left: Globe & Mail, May 24, 1943; "You are invited to be present to see Mary Pickford in person officially open the Mary Pickford Bungalow. Glenwood Crescent (O'Connor Drive, just east of Woodbine Ave.) Monday, May 24, at 3 p.m. Bus service every few minutes from Danforth and Woodbine." Right: Toronto Star, August 19, 1943: " Only 6 days left until the owner of the Mary Pickford Bungalow will be determined at the Fair for Britain. Shares still on sale $1."

Mary Pickford opened the War Fund Bungalow on May 24 by turning a gold key into the front door lock.

5,000 people gathered to celebrate the completion of the home. It was built under the sponsorship of the Lions International District A and the Gerrard Business Men’s Association. Proceeds were divided between the British Child War Victims Fund, The Evening Telegram British War Victims Fund and the Malta War Victims Fund.

Pickford exclaimed over the compactness of the bungalow, its five rooms and rumpus room in the cellar. The kitchen was fully equipped thanks to a $2,500 donation from General Electric. The lucky shareholder was also to be given a life membership in the Woodbine Golf Course and a year’s supply of Baker’s Bread.

Pickford signing the entrance to The Mary Pickford War Funds Bungalow, 1943. Photo from Digital Museums Canada.

The lucky ticket was number 196-A. It belonged to George Ellis. He had no idea when he went to an evening baseball game on August 26, 1943, he would return home the winner of the completely furnished Pickford Bungalow. The ticket was drawn out of more than 100,000 by Ontario Premier George Drew at the Fair for Britain. Mr. Ellis, an employee of the Consumer’s Gas Company on Eastern Avenue, told The Globe and Mail the next day that he intended to sell the house which was valued at $17,000 because “It’s too good for me.” He preferred to remain in his home at 30 Robinson Street in Scarborough.

Mary Pickford Bungalow, 90 Glenwood Crescent. Author's photo, 2021. (Movie trivia: right across from the Pickford bungalow is the home featured in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.)

Books, DVDs and photos from TPL

• Books about Mary Pickford
• DVDs about Mary Pickford
• Digitized images related to Mary Pickford

 

Fall is one of the best times of year to get out for a hike, a pastime long enjoyed by Ontarians across the province. Digital Archive Ontario offers a window into that history. It has over 100,000 digitized photos, maps, postcards and other items related to Ontario's past. Below is a bit of background on hiking's history and a few historical hiking photos available on the site — as well as some vintage books on the topic of walking.

Illustration from the cover of a Niagara Falls guidebook, 1890s. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Background

Hiking as we know it today is generally thought of as “walking over long distances (preferably a scenic, natural setting) for pleasure or exercise” (Canadian Encyclopedia). In the 19th century, it became particularly popular in the U.K. with the rise of the “walking tour". Many books in the 1800s were published on the subject.

Hiking grew in popularity in the 20th century, which saw the establishment of many new trail associations in Ontario. These associations took on trail planning, including navigating municipal or provincial laws and bylaws. They also oversaw the construction and maintenance of trails. The Bruce Trail Committee (now Conservancy) was founded in 1960; the Rideau Trail Association was founded in 1971; and Hike Ontario was founded in 1974, among others. 

All trails in Ontario are on the traditional territories of the Indigenous peoples who were here long before colonization and still are here living on their ancestral lands. Evidence of these traditions is clearly visible on some trails. For example, on the Lake Superior Water Trail (part of the Trans-Canada Trail), trail-goers can view the Agawa Rock Pictographs. These were drawn by Ojibwe paddlers and date back to the 16th century.

Patches on a backpack. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1993. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Photographs

Here are photos from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive showing a few trails in the second half of the 20th century.

Bruce Trail

The Bruce Trail attracted a lot of attention when it was completed in time for Canada’s centennial in 1967. Since then, over 4,000 people have hiked the trail end-to-end. The 900 kilometre trail connects Niagara to Tobermory in southern Ontario. (See all photos of Bruce Trail on Digital Archive Ontario.)

Bruce Trail shown two years before it fully opened in 1967. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1965. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Sign reads: "Bruce Trail: A Foot Trail From Niagara To Tobermory; Built And Maintained By Voluntary Help; For Information Write to Bruce Trail Assoc. Box 722 Hamilton Ont. or Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club Box 302 Waterloo Ont." Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1990. View on Digital Archive.

Beltline Trail

For many popular hiking routes, “rail to trail” — using old railway lines — provided an easy inroad for establishing new trails. The Cataraqui Trail from Kingston to Smiths Falls, which uses old CN Rail routes, is one example. Similarly, the Beltline Trail, originally a short-lived commuter train operated by the Grand Trunk Railway, has lived a much longer life as a hiking route in the city. The trail is about 13 kilometres and is located in northeast Toronto. Toronto Mayor William Dennison initially wanted to sell the land to residents whose yards touched the trail. Learn more about the history of the trail.

Toronto Mayor William Dennison walks along what would become the Beltline Park. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1970. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Toronto City Council decided to acquire the Beltline as a park, and about 150 people walked the right-of-way to celebrate on March 6, 1971. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1971. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Caledon Trailway

Another example of an abandoned rail line that was turned into a trail is the Caledon Trailway. This 35 kilometre trail extends the length of Caledon, Ontario. It links up with Bruce Trail and other trails, forming part of the Canada-spanning route, The Great Trail. Caledon Trailway is used for cycling and horseback riding as well as walking. (See all images of Caledon on Digital Archive Ontario.)

Caledon Trailway. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1995. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Sherwood Park

Sherwood Park is located in North York, Toronto. It is an example of one of the many smaller parks in Ontario featuring hiking trails. Hiking does not have to be a marathon activity — it can'take many forms.

Day campers with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind hike in Sherwood Park. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1965. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Digitized books on walking and rambling

Digital Archive Ontario includes digitized books from Toronto Public Library's Special Collections. This includes guidebooks as well as 19th-century books from the U.K. detailing ideas from the time around the physical and moral benefits of walking and rambling. If you're curious, here are two of those books from TPL's Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books.

Walks of a Naturalist, 1870. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

Walks Abroad and Evenings at Home, 1871. View on Digital Archive Ontario.

The next time you take a hike, check out the history of the path you’re walking. What’s your favourite Ontario hiking spot?

Related blog posts from Digital Archive Ontario

• Ghost Towns in Ontario
• Cool Vintage Maps from Digital Archive Ontario
• Photos from Our Archives: Summer in Ontario
• A Picnic Basket, a Blanket and a Park (about Ontario parks)

As the summer heats up, Ontarians cool down in the water! To find out where swimmers of the past made waves in the province, I turned to Digital Archive Ontario. It has over 100,000 digitized photos, maps, postcards and other items related to Ontario's past.

Photo from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1972. Portion of the caption that appeared in the newspaper: "Swimming instructor advocates drown-proofing children at an early age."

Swimming as sport

While there’s evidence that humans have swum for centuries in spots all over the world, swimming became popular in Western countries in the 19th century. Long celebrated for its health benefits, swimming became more of a focus in sports after this time.

In Canada, swim meets were organized by individual swim clubs like the Dolphin Club of Toronto beginning in the 1870's and the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association (now Swimming/Natation Canada) formed in 1909. You can learn more about the history of speed swimming in The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Beaches, pools and docks became an important part of the public landscape.

Postcard of bathers in Geneva Park Wharf at Lake Couchiching, 1910.

The Mnjikaning Fish Weirs

Of course, long before public beaches as we know them today were established in Ontario, waterfronts played an important role in the lives of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

One example is the Mnjikaning Fish Weirs, located between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, near Rama First Nation. Designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1982, the fish fence has been in use from about 3300 B.C.E. It is the oldest known site of its kind in North America. The website for the Chippewas of Rama First Nation notes that “the Mnjikaning Fish Fence Circle was established in 1993 by community members and area residents for the purpose of protecting and promoting the weirs.”

Painting of Rama Reserve, 1844.

Competitions & open water swimming

As swimming became more common in Ontario, competitions increased in popularity. Both open water distance swimming and, later on, swim meets took place across the province. I swam competitively for many years and have fond memories of stepping on to the pool deck at 5 AM!

Cover (left) and swimmer profiles (right) for the official programme for the third Wrigley swim marathon at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1928. Toronto swimmer George Young won'the first competition organized by William Wrigley Jr. (of chewing gum fame).

Famously, Toronto-born Marilyn Bell — a much better athlete than I am — made swimming cool in the province when she became the first person known to swim across Lake Ontario in 1954. She was just 16 years old.

Photo from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1955. This is Marilyn Bell's English Channel swim, the year after she swam Lake Ontario. Portion of the caption that appeared in the newspaper: "O'Gus Ryder holds crowd back as Marilyn crawls ashore to triumph."

Pools

Swimming pools come in all types. They can be family-friendly splash pads for cooling down. Or multi-million venues for Olympic events. There was even a pool at Canadian Forces Base Borden ("Camp Borden") used to train troops during the First World War.

Photo of Camp Borden from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1919. This military base is located about 25 kilometres west of Barrie, Ontario.

In 1925, Toronto became home to what was reportedly the world's largest outdoor public swimming pool. The Sunnyside pool was part of Sunnyside Amusement Park. The pool opened a few years after the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, a changing station for Lake Ontario swimmers. 

Photo of Sunny side pool from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, approximately 1925.

In 1975, the largest pool in Ontario became the newly opened pool in the Petticoat Creek Conservation Area in Pickering. At the time, the 1.4 acre pool was advertised as having enough space for 3,000 bathers! It was six feet deep in the middle and had a dozen lifeguards on duty.

Photo of Petticoat Creek Conservation Area in Pickering. From our Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1975. 

Representation in our historical records related to swimming

You might have noticed that all of the photos above feature people who appear to be white. Many of our digitized items do not necessarily have Black, Indigenous or Persons of Colour (BIPOC) represented. (Learn more about decolonizing archives.)

Historically, BIPOC communities (particularly Black communities) have faced many barriers arising from racism that prevent them from swimming competitively. Athletes like Debbie Armstead, the first Black Canadian swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games (1980) and a coach for many years in Windsor, Ontario, are celebrated for breaking barriers in the sport. 

As the summer heats up, I hope all Ontarians get a chance to enjoy the water. What’s your favourite local swimming spot?

Did you know that Centre Island is home to one of Toronto’s oldest buildings? That building is Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, completed in 1808. Here's an overview of its history — from the geological origins of the Toronto Islands to the lighthouse's spooky lore.

This post features paintings, photos and other images from our Digital Archive, a database of historical items digitized and held by Toronto Public Library.

Painting of Gibraltar Point Lighthouse set in 1820 by Sir Edmund Wyly Grier, 1896.

Formation of Toronto Islands

The lighthouse is located on Centre Island, part of the Toronto Islands. Until 1850, geologists had different theories on how the islands (really a peninsula) formed. Speculation ended due to the findings of Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor Sanford Fleming. He demonstrated that the soil on the islands was identical to the Scarborough Bluffs, a few miles east.

Over thousands of years, waves had eroded the sand and clay of what we now know as the Scarborough Bluffs. Currents carried this sediment west and deposited it in a series of hooks which eventually formed what are now the Toronto Islands.

Until 1858, a sandbar connected Centre Island to the rest of Toronto. As early as the 1830s there were proposals to dig a canal there. This eastern gap would shorten the boat trip to Niagara Falls by one day. But a violent storm in 1858 created a 300-foot opening in the sandbar. The first boat to use this new passage was the steamship Bowmanville. Within a year all vessels were sailing through the “Eastern Gap.”

Map of Toronto Harbour, 1792. At the time, what we now call the Toronto Islands was a peninsula.

Choosing the site for the lighthouse

The general location for the lighthouse was picked by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. In 1793, he had chosen to make Toronto, then known as York, the military centre of Upper Canada (southern Ontario). Simcoe named the tip of Centre Island "Gibraltar Point". He felt that a blockhouse there, combined with Fork York on the opposite side of the water, would make York impregnable — like the Rock of Gibraltar.

Even before Simcoe set foot on the continent, the Indigenous population — namely the Mississaugas — had used this land as a place of recreation and convalescence. The islands were known as "Mnisiing" (“on the islands”) to the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg. Later they were called "Aiionwatha" or "Hiawatha’s Island".

The first building made by settlers on the Toronto Islands was the blockhouse at Gibraltar Point. It was built in 1793 by the Queen’s Rangers to overlook the western entrance to the harbour. (You can read our digitized version of Simcoe’s journal about the Queen’s Rangers.)

Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was the second building to be erected on the islands. Lieutenant Governor Francis Gore traveled to the peninsula and chose the specific construction location. It was to be situated by the southern lake shore fewer than 25 feet from the water. 

Portrait of John Graves Simcoe, 1791.

Portrait of Sir Francis Gore, 1830.

Funding the lighthouse

In 1803, Upper Canada Legislature passed an act to establish lighthouses at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Gibraltar (Toronto) and Isle de Forest (Kingston). The act included a toll on vessels using the harbours. This would fund the construction and maintenance of the lighthouses. Toronto Public Library has transcriptions of the Journals of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada for 1803. These are not yet digitized or catalogued but here's the relevant part:

Wednesday, 2nd March, 1803

Prayers were read.

Messers. Ferguson and McDonnell of York informed the House that they had carried up to the Honorable Legislative Council a Bill entitled “AN Act to explain and amend an Act passed in the forty-first year of His majesty’s Reign entitled ‘An Act for granting to his Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, to and for the use of this Province, the like duties on goods and merchandize brought into this Province form the United States of America as are now paid n Goods and Merchandize imported from Great Britain and other places; and to provide more effectively for the collection and payment of duties on Goods and Merchandize coming form the United States of America into this province; and also to provide fund for the erection and repairing of Lighthouses, –to which they request their concurrence.

(Fun fact: the other two items parliament was concerned about that year were “An Act to impose and lay a duty on Billiard Tables” and “An Act to restrain the custom of permitting horned cattle, horse, sheep and swine to run at large.")

Building the lighthouse

Sources vary on the exact date of its initial construction, but we know that the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was completed in 1808. Below is an announcement in the York Gazette (also known as The Upper Canada Gazette).

Snippet from Supplement to the York Gazette, March 16, 1808. Transcription: "It is with pleasure we inform the Public, that the dangers to vessels navigating Lake Ontario will, in a great measure be avoided, by the erection of a Light House on Gibraltar Point, which is to be immediately completed, in compliance with an Address of the House of Assembly to the Lieutenant Governor."

The original lighthouse was 52 feet high, including the lantern. The main building material was Queenston Stone. Huge stones were transported to York aboard a vessel called the Mohawk. The structure is a hexagonal shape with walls six feet thick at the base. The walls gradually decrease to four feet in thickness towards the top. 

Attached to the outside of the lantern room was a hoist to raise a flag to inform Fort York of approaching vessels.

Having a lighthouse at Gibraltar Point freed up lake navigation because vessels could now travel at night. Unfortunately, its record for protecting ships was not perfect. In the winter of 1811–1812 the schooner named Toronto was wrecked on the southern shore of the peninsula. Apparen'tly, the skipper was confused about the light shining from the lighthouse. 

For many years the lighthouse was the best known landmark in Toronto. It was the first building that visitors could see when they approached from the lake and the last that lingered in sight when they left.

"The Lighthouse, Gibraltar Point, Toronto, 1808." Painting by Rowley Walter Murphey, approximately 1934. From our Canadian Documentary Art Collection, part of the Baldwin Collection of  Canadiana.

Painting of Gibraltar Point Lighthouse by Owen Staples, 1913.

The War of 1812

The lighthouse was active during the War of 1812. Before landing troops two miles west of Fort York, an American fleet idled near the peninsula where they could see the lighthouse lamp shining on the night of April 26, 1813.

The Americans stayed for several days in York. In addition to destroying obvious military targets, they burned down the parliament buildings (The Palace of Parliament) located where Front and Parliament Street is today. They also burned down the HMS Sir Isaac Brock, an uncompleted warship. The blockhouse and lighthouse on Gibraltar Point were untouched, leaving some to wonder about their significance in terms of defense.

A close inspection of the map below of York in 1816 shows the location of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, the lighthouse keeper’s cottage and a few other sites on the peninsula. It also shows the landing spot of the Americans, the location of the rebuilt Fort York and where the HMS Sir Isaac Brock and parliament buildings burned down.

Map of Toronto Harbour in 1816, reproduced in 1910.

American vessels arriving during the Battle of York in 1813. Painting by Owen Staples, 1914. Gibraltar Point Lighthouse can be seen on far right.

Changes to the lighthouse

Several changes were made throughout the 19th century. In 1832, the lighthouse was raised to 64 feet of stonework. The overall height from ground to vane became 82 feet. Eighty wooden steps led up the narrow spiral staircase to it’s cage-like wooden lantern and hexagonal gallery. In the same year, the lamp started using sperm whale oil. It burned about 200 gallons of oil a year. A dumb-waiter centered in the spiraling stairs lifted oil up. The light’s visibility was about seven miles. 

Sometime after 1863, coal oil replaced whale oil as the lighthouse’s illumination. While cheaper, much more was needed. In 1878, the lantern structure was replaced with steel and a lightening rod was placed on top of the tower. This was fortunate timing — lightening struck the tower in 1879. Without the rod, the tower may have been in ruins today.

More changes took place in the 20th century. In 1916 the light was electrified to display a flashing 240-degree arc and in 1945 it was modified to a fixed light. In 1958, the light was replaced by signal tower nearby. In May 23, 1958, the lighthouse operation was given to the Municipality of the Metropolitan Toronto Parks department who made modifications to it in 1961 and 1962. 

Lighthouse restoration. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1962.

Haunted reputation

Almost every year, particularly around Halloween, a story is written about how the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse has come to be haunted. Its haunted reputation stems from two main stories. One recounts a fatal night in January, 1815. A party of soldiers visited their friend, the first lighthouse keeper John Paul Radelmüller. When the lighthouse keeper saw his guests were becoming too drunk, he refuses to produce more liquor. The enraged soldiers beat Radelmüller to death and escape along Blockhouse Bay. His body was allegedly cut into pieces and buried around the islands.

The other story says that Radelmüller simply vanished in 1815. In 1893, the lighthouse keeper at the time allegedly found parts of a human skeleton buried close to the lighthouse. Many believed it to be Radelmüller’s unfound remains, but this story remains controversial.

Regardless of how he disappeared, it is supposedly Radelmüller’s ghost that haunts the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Some say he haunts it because of his dedication to the light. Others say he is searching for his bones for a proper burial. Theses story have engaged generations of Toronto residents and has caused many to give the lighthouse a wide berth on dark and stormy nights. 

In 1958, CBC televised a report about the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse and the legend of the ghost of Radelmüller. It interviewed DeeDee Dodds the lighthouse keeper at the time and John Durnan, nephew of George Durnan, the keeper associated with the skeletal remains believed to be Radelmüller. You can also read more about Radelmüller’s disappearance in an article from 2020.

Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Unknown photographer, 1900.

Lighthouse keepers

The earliest keepers and their families were some the first civilian residents on the peninsula. They lived in a two-roomed shuttered pioneer-style frame cottage close to the lighthouse. Built in 1808, it was made of three-inch planks joined by nails from the blacksmith’s forge at Fort York. (The lighthouse keeper and family eventually had their lodgings upgraded — view photo of new lodgings from the 1950s.)

John Paul Radelmüller, the lighthouse's first keeper, was succeed by William Holloway who enjoyed the company of local officers. Next came James Durnan. He was there for the 1832 addition to the lighthouse tower to increase its visibility. He also lived through many historical events during his stay: the cholera epidemic in 1832, the incorporation of the City of Toronto in 1834, the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837 and Toronto’s celebration of Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838.

Many others succeeded Durnan, including today's honourary keeper. View a full list of keepers.

Sketch of lighthouse keepers' houses and workshop by Owen Staples, 1894.

Lighthouse keeper, Patrick McSherry, 190?.

Interior of lighthouse keeper's house, 1908.

The lighthouse today

Today, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes. No longer used for its original purpose, the building occasionally opens for tours or Doors Open Toronto.

Over time, sediment deposition and land reclamation has increased the size of the islands such that the lighthouse has been moving father back from the shoreline. The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was originally about eight metres from the water. It's now 100 metres away. This increasing distance was even noticeable in 1919, as seen in the postcard below.

Postcard of Centre Island, 1919. The lighthouse (bottom-right) was already more inland at this point. From our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was never presented as tourist attraction like others of its kind. It was part of the city’s infrastructure and did its job throughout the years without seeking praise or thanks. It is well worth a trip to pay homage to this unassuming structure that has seen so much of Toronto’s history.

The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in present day. Author's photo.

Related links

• More images of the lighthouse on our Digital Archive
• Wikipedia article for Gibraltar Point Lighthouse
• Books about Toronto buildings available at Toronto Public Library

Did you know that Toronto Public Library has collections of ephemera — things like posters, flyers, brochures? These items offer fascinating glimpses into Toronto’s past. Here are just a few that capture community events, rallies, performances and spaces important to the city’s LGBTQ2S+ history. Clicking or tapping on each of the posters will allow you to zoom in on the image.

The posters below come from TPL’s Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection: 5,000 posters, flyers and handbills collected from the streets of Toronto. The Suddon Collection is housed in the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre at Toronto Reference Library.

This post is part of our Pride Month celebrations for June 2021. For events, reading lists, videos and more, check out TPL’s Pride Celebrations webpage.

Operation Jack O’Lantern 1977

Operation Jack O'Lantern Poster Transcription [.txt]

In 1977, Operation Jack O’ Lantern was established to help Toronto’s LGBTQ2S+ community keep itself safe from growing violence at popular Halloween drag balls. Volunteers patrolled the area along Yonge Street, escorted people to and from the St. Charles Tavern and offered legal and medical aid. ArQuives, Canada's LGBTQ2S+ archive, has a detailed history of the Halloween balls, police involvement and community safety efforts. 

The Semi-Annual Transsexual Seminar at CHAT 1972

The Semi-Annual Transsexual Seminar at CHAT 1972 Poster Transcription [.txt]

The Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT) Centre opened in 1972. This poster advertises the semi-annual "Transsexual Seminar" organized by The Association for Canadian Transsexuals. CHAT was the hub of Toronto’s LGBTQ2S+ community in the 1970s. These seminars were an important resource for the transgender community to share their knowledge and experiences, gain information, connect with other community members and navigate the transition process. 

Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT) from Queerstory on Vimeo.

Take Back the Streets Rally and March 1992

Take Back the Streets Rally and March 1992 Poster Transcription [.txt]

On November 29, 1992, Yves Lalonde was murdered in Montreal by four neo-Nazi skinheads. His killing followed the murders of at least 14 gay men during the previous four years. It led to protests throughout Canada against homophobia and highlighted the Montreal police department’s failure to solve many of the crimes. The Toronto rally organized by Anti-Racist Action was held in Cawthra Square Park. Now known as Barbara Hall Park, the park behind the 519 Church Street Community Centre has been the site of a permanent AIDS memorial since 1993. 

The April 26 Coalition for a Sane Energy Future 1980

The April 26 Coalition for a Sane Energy Future 1980 Poster Transcription [.txt]

This 1980 concert may have been in opposition to Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, which began construction in 1981. It featured a performance from singer, composer and transgender activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland. Now in his mid-70s, Glenn-Copeland’s music has recently found a global audience after decades of relative obscurity. 

Dance Party Benefit with DJ Denise Benson 1991

Dance Party Benefit with DJ Denise Benson 1991 Poster Transcription [.txt]

Denise Benson is a DJ, radio host and author of the 2015 book Then & Now: Toronto Nightlife History. From 1991 to 1993, Benson was the DJ and promoter of Dyke Nite at The Boom Boom Room on Queen West. The weekly night featured film screenings, live music, readings, community fundraisers and hot tub parties. Benson also performed at this 1991 benefit event at The Cameron House in support of local bands The Matriphiles and Random Order after a robbery at the bands’ shared studio space. The bands were part of Toronto’s thriving underground LGBTQ2S+ music scene of the early 1990s.  

Ad for Dyke Nite at the Boom Boom Room from Xtra Magazine. Image provided by Denise Benson. 

Buddies in Bad Times Presents Queer Culture 1991

Buddies in Bad Times Presents Queer Culture 1991 Poster Transcription [.txt]

Buddies in Bad Times was founded in 1979. It is recognized as the largest and longest-running LGBTQ2S+ theatre company in the world. Queer Culture was an annual programming series incorporating theatre, dance and art and photography that ran from 1988 until 1994.  

More about our Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection

Alan Suddon worked as the head of the Fine Art Department at Toronto Reference Library before his retirement in 1987. In his spare time, he and his son Thomas would scour the streets of Toronto for flyers and posters. Thomas Suddon worked at Maclean’s magazine, CBC and TVO. In 1992, Thomas died of an AIDS-related illness. After Alan’s death in 2000, his wife Mary donated the collection of approximately 5,000 posters to Toronto Public Library. The posters were carefully preserved in boxes and organized chronologically by year from the late 1950s to the early 1990s.

UPDATE (December 6, 2021): 

A new virtual exhibit, Post No Bills: Toronto Street Posters from the 1950s to 1990s, launched on December 6, 2021. 

You can also discover over 100 posters from the Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection on our Digital Archive.

Related posts

• Posters From The Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection
• Pride IS Political: Historic Photos of Queer Toronto

In the song "Best Regards", Quebec heavy metal band Voïvod's sings about unrequited love. They lament that not even "a creased receipt" was issued from an indifferent world. Unlike in that song, you can find lots of receipts on Digital Archive Ontario, our Ontario-facing database of digitized items held by Toronto Public Library. (Non-metaphorical receipts, that is.)

Whether spewing from an old calculating machine (pictured below) or hand-filled and signed on pre-printed copies, receipts offer glimpses of past items purchased, the prices of goods and what was deemed important to record.

"Receipts " by Steve Snodgrass. Used on a CC license.

Background

"[A reciept]  a written acknowledgment that something of value has been transferred from one party to another. In addition to the receipts consumers typically receive from vendors and service providers, receipts are also issued in business-to-business dealings as well as stock market transactions." – Investopedia

Leaving a paper trail, receipts still remain ubiquitous in our world. Before computer technology and digital records, paper receipts were the only way to prove that transactions occurred between one party to another.

Some types of transactions recorded by receipts include deposits, donations, purchases, subscriptions, tuition. Below are examples of each of these from our archives.

Deposits

The two dollar ("2.00") deposit recorded below allowed someone named F. H. Walker to access and services at the University of Toronto Library. W. S. Wallace per G. E. was the librarian accepting the deposit and providing this receipt. Note the simple format of the receipt, which looks similar to a printed cheque. (Walker's name will also appear on the tuition receipts from the University of Toronto below.)

Deposit slip for University of Toronto Library, 1926. Digital Archive Ontario.

Donations

The donation recorded below of $20 was quite generous in 1916. This amount would be close to $500 today. The Canadian Patriotic fund, according to the Canadian War Museum, supported soldiers and their family before social security assistance developed into universal programs in Canada. 

Donation receipt for the Toronto and York County Patriotic Fund Association, 1916. Digital Archive Ontario.

Donations arrive in different forms. On November 30, 1917, the receipt below acknowledged 12 pairs of socks given to the Toronto Branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society. These dozen pairs of socks may have gone to an active World War I hospital camp for sick and wounded soldiers. For more history on clothing donations, look at Digital Kingston's Knitting for Soldiers article. If you're a knitter, you can also read Peggy's post on knitting "field comforts" for soldiers and try making your own.

Receipt for donation of socks to Canadian Red Cross Society, 1917. Digital Archive Ontario.

Purchases

This type of receipt is familiar: when someone buys an item, a paper is issued by the seller to acknowledge it. (Tip: a useful search term for researching old receipts is "acknowledgements".) The receipt below has "20" scribbled to show that the 1910s had passed. A new decade of receipts would be printed once this batch ran out. A green seal stamp highlights the seller's appreciation for the transaction. The price may seem ridiculously low for a new piano — but eight dollars was worth a lot more 100 years ago.

Receipt from Heintzman & Co Pianos, 1920. Digital Archive Ontario.

Subscriptions

On the left side of the below receipt, there are three different types of subscriptions for the periodicals being sold: daily, weekly and "Canada Farmer" (monthly). Here, the subscriber purchased three years of the Weekly Globe from July 4, 1862 to July 7, 1865 for $6.04. (You can access old issues of the Canada Farmer on Canadiana— the periodical ran from 1864 to 1876.)

Receipt for subscription to Weekly Globe, 1866. Digital Archive Ontario.

Taxes

Yes, even as far back as 1872, personal property, real estate and income tax were assessed and collected. Surprisingly, this receipt lists dog taxes for each gender. Andrew Smiley, the tax collector, received the payment recorded below from Thomas Reid on November 9, 1872.

Tax form for Yorkville, 1872. Digital Archive Ontario.

Tuition

F. N. Walker, during post-graduate years on November 19, 1928, paid the sum of $6 to cover registration at the University of Toronto and graduate student union dues from 1925 to 1926. No particular college was listed on this receipt. All the fee-based items were listed out on one page of paper where the Bursar could conveniently tick them off. 

University of Toronto tuition receipt, 1928. Digital Archive Ontario.

Here is a similar tuition receipt one decade earlier, though the Bursar's name is still the same. The fee of $150 seems to relate to tuition  in a "Medicine" degree. Even in today's dollars — about $1,600— that seems pretty inexpensive.

University of Toronto tuition receipt, 1917. Digital Archive Ontario.

Explore more

View more digitized receipts on Digital Archive Ontario.

Buckingham Palace announced this morning that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh has died. Prince Philip was the longest serving consort of a reigning monarch in the Commonwealth, and the longest-lived male member of the British royal family. 

Below are a selection of photos of Prince Philip from our Toronto Star Photograph Archive — as well as a brief biography.

Prince Philip at Victoria Park, London, Ontario. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1977.

About Prince Philip

Prince Philip was born in Greece, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, but was exiled from Greece at a young age. He was educated in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, and had a distinguished career as a naval officer until his retirement in 1952.

Prince Philip had a number of associations with Canada, and visited 27 times starting with a cross country tour of Canada with Princess Elizabeth in 1951. 

The Prince had an interest in youth development and founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award in 1956. The awards are given to youth between the age of 14 and 24 to recognize achievement in key areas of volunteer service, physical recreation, skills development and adventure travel. The awards are presented in 144 nations around the world. The first Duke of Edinburgh's Awards were presented in Canada in 1963, and since then over 500,000 Canadians have participated in the program. Prince Philip visited Toronto 20 times, and presented the awards in person on a number of occasions.

Married in 1947, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have the longest lasting royal marriage in British history. At their platinum wedding anniversary in 2017, the Queen appointed him Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

On May 4, 2017, Buckingham Palace announced that HRH Prince Philip would be retiring from official duties.

Here was Prince Philip’s full title:

His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit Grand Master and First Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Knight of the Order of Australia, Additional member of the Order of New Zealand, Extra Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, Lord of her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Councillor of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom.

To learn more, browse books about Prince Philip that you can borrow from TPL.

Photos from our collections

Prince Philip at age 14. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Prince Philip served in the Royal Navy from 1939 to 1952. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

The future Queen of England, Princess Elizabeth and her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1947.

During a trip to Canada, Prince Philip visits Variety Village, a school for boys with disabilities. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1966.

Prince Philip at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto where he raised the Canadian flag. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1967.

Prince Philip shakes hands with former Toronto mayor Nathan Phillips while the Queen talks with Mayor David Crombie in Nathan Phillips Square. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1973.

Prince Philip and Margaret Trudeau listen to the Queen as she officially opens the Lester B. Pearson external affairs building in Ottawa. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1973.

Prince Philip tours the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's retreat on Toronto Island. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1983.

Prince Philip and the Queen wave to onlookers near Preston, Ontario. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1984.

Students greet the Prince at the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards in Canada gala. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1989.

The Queen and Prince Philip during their 1997 royal tour of Canada. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1997.

Prince Philip and the Queen at the end of their tour. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1997.

There was nothing great about the Great Depression except its length and penetration into every corner of Ontario from 1929 to 1939.

Below is a brief overview of work camps, or "relief camps", in Ontario — and what led to them. Features photos from Digital Archive Ontario, a database of digitized items from Toronto Public Library's historical collections.

The crash

The stock market crash that began in 1929 wiped out personal investments, many businesses and plenty of jobs. Prices, wages, immigration and the birth rate decreased. Canada's gross national expenditure dropped by 42%. The national unemployment rate hovered around 30%. 

Six ex-Toronto brokers sentenced for conspiracy to defraud are seen leaving Danforth station (Toronto) for Kingston to start serving their sentences in a penitentiary. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1931.

Out of work

Anyone with a job considered themselves lucky, even if they had dropped from manager to labourer. The social safety net of the era was minimal. Charities and municipalities soon exhausted their resources trying to help the destitute. Young men traveled the province looking for day labour. 

The Chief of Canada’s Defence Staff, Major-General A. G. L. McNaughton was troubled by the young men he saw who had no prospects. They were were badly nourished and generally listless. His proposed solution was to create Work Camps across Canada for them. He believed that manual labour would build up their morale. 

During the Great Depression, young men rode on top of freight trains looking for work. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, circa 1930s.

Unemployed men during the Great Depression in Canada preparing for a march. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, date unknown.

Desperate workers trek north to Klock, Ontario to work on the highways. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1931.

Work camps in Ontario

Starting in 1933, the federal government set up labour camps in Northern Ontario for single, unemployed, homeless Canadian males. The camps were also known as unemployment relief camps. The men were housed, fed, clothed, received basic medical care, and given twenty cents per day for discretionary spending. Under the direction of The Defence Department, they worked on clearing and building roads, planting trees,  defense buildings and airfields. The camps were seen as a way to contain unrest and separate young men from communist activists in the cities. 

The camps drew criticism from the political left, which thought they were no substitute for jobs with real wages. Labourers protested the working conditions, with some workers from other provinces in similar camps marching towards Ottawa to complain.

By 1936, the daily stipend had risen to fifty cents per day. With an upturn in the economy and jobs now available, the camps were phased out by the year's end. An article in the Canadian Encyclopedia notes that 170,248 men had lived and worked in these camps. (It is not clear what number of those men were from Ontario work camps.)

Photo of unknown location during the Great Depression. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, date unknown.

Protest march of unemployed leaving Scarborough for Ottawa during the Great Depression. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, date unknown.

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Marchers from a Manitoba work camp arrive in Kenora. Toronto Star Photograph Archive, circa 1935.

Legacy

After WWII, the roads and airfields built by the camp workers spurred the expansion of the mining industry in Northern Ontario. 

A virtual exhibit by CBC concludes that "the camps became a focal point for a generation's anger and a lasting legacy of a government's ineffectiveness during the era."

The deprivations of the Great Depression that people experienced and saw all around them changed their opinions to favour strengthening the government's role in safeguarding its citizens' welfare. This led to an expanded social safety net including medicare, unemployment insurance and retirement pensions.

Most camps were no longer in operation by 1936. However, this photo shows a striker from a work camp in Lakeview, Ontario leaving after it was ordered closed as early as 1933 by the federal government. Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 1933.

More posts from Digital Archive Ontario

• Inside General Stores of Ontario: A Step Back in Time
• Ontario's Tuberculosis Sanatoriums, 1897-1960
• Going Nuclear in Canada (Includes Rare Photos of Chalk River Laboratories)

Edit: caption for final image edited to clarify that most camps were shut down by 1936. (July 19, 2021)

In the 1920s, Cobalt, Ontario was world famous. It was home to some of the most productive silver mines in the world. Over 600 million troy ounces (around two million kilos) of silver were produced there from 1903 to 1926. 

Below are images of Cobalt during its time as a mining town. The photos — available on Digital Archive Ontario — are mostly from the book Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Folded postcard of bird's-eye view of Cobalt, Ontario, 1910.

Putting Cobalt on the map

In 1884, a Geological Survey of Canada party noted "cobalt blooms" in rocks near Lake Tamiskaming. A cobalt bloom pattern in red cobalt (erythrite) indicates that silver is present. Over the centuries, people in the area — Indigenous peoples, fur traders, explorers, farmers, loggers — had been living on top of treasure in the ground.  

Temagami & Keepawa lake country, 1900. (Cobalt label added by author.)

Major interest in the area wouldn't be sparked until 1903, during construction on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (to run from North Bay along Lake Temiskaming). Its purpose was to serve the clay belt around Haileybury and New Liskeard and open the area up to agriculture. However, as construction proceeded near Long Lake at mile 103, something in the rock formations captured the interest of a few. 

Partners J. H. McKinley and E. F. Darragh, who had contracted with the railway to supply timber for the ties, were looking for suitable trees near the railway right-of-way. What they noticed was heavy soft mineral deposits. They staked their claim on August 13, 1903 and sent rock samples down south to be analyzed. The first samples had a high bismuth content but the second set were found to contain a high silver content, over 4,000 ounces of silver per ton. A ton is 1,000 kilograms.

A few weeks later, blacksmith Fred LaRose hurled his hammer at a fox that was hanging around his forge. When he retrieved the hammer, he found it had chipped off the rock to reveal a glittering vein of silver. He sent away for a government pamphlet about how to stake a claim and followed the instructions. This developed into the highly profitable LaRose mine.

Temagami Lake and Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

"A Pretty View on Lake Temagami". From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Rock samples from Temiskaming ended up in the lab of Dr. Willet Green Miller, Ontario’s first provincial geologist. In October 1903, he traveled up with a small crew to survey the rock. His report on the silver discovery generated little interest in the wider world. The locals were the only people prospecting and staking claims. 

William Trethewey was one of a few outsiders who came in the Spring of 1904 to try their luck. That year, Trethewey got $250,000 (1904 dollars) of silver out of a cut 50 feet long and 25 feet deep. His silver veins were so near the surface that he only needed a pick and shovel to dig the ore. 

Dr. Miller then made his second visit. Around the campfire, Miller and the others agreed that the current name “Long Lake Construction Camp” was inadequate for the boom-town to be. He suggested Cobalt. At the site of the future railway station, a sign soon appeared announcing “Cobalt Station, T. and N.O. Railway”. 

Mining camp with horse carriage. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

General view of Trethewey Mine. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Mining operations ramp up

In 1904, only 158 tons of ore was shipped out from 16 mining operations. Things picked up in 1905, when 29 mines shipped 2,144 tons of ore containing 2,451,356 ounces of silver. This was over 1,143 troy ounces of silver per ton, and worth two million dollars. That year the Ontario government cancelled claims that had produced no minerals and appeared to be held for speculation purposes only. This opened up the territory to prospecting and people flocked from the south on an overnight train ride into silver country.  

At one point there were roughly 2,000 crews mining or looking to mine. In the coming years, more than 100 mines were operated in the area. Cobalt was the birthplace of Canadian hard rock mining.

The Red Rock Mine with steam drill in operation. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

The O'Brien Mine, Engine Room and Shaft House. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

The Rand-Jencks Co. Mining Machinery shop. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

International interest and expansion

Capital was needed to finance deeper pits with better equipment and more miners. Shares were offered. Historically, mining companies and their share prices boomed and busted on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Canadians did not buy up all the shares. As there was a far greater pool of venture capital in the Unites States, shares were bought by Americans leading to a level of American control. New York investors visited in private rail cars to keep tabs on the operations.

Postcard of King Cobalt Silver Mine, 1910.

Experienced miners from as far as British Columbia, Arizona, Senora and British East Africa descended on Cobalt along with the rest. The town grew rapidly to house and service the miners. New businesses opened. Without any formal planning, buildings sprung up on flat outcroppings with streets curving erratically around them. Living conditions were cramped and relatively expensive.

While on a tour of Canada in 1919, Edward H.R.H. the Princes of Wales visited Cobalt. His impression: "This is a grey wee town."

The population of Cobalt grew to over 10,000. There were hotels, saloons, stores, banks, a Red Cross Hospital, fire department and even an opera house. The first detachment of  The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was stationed there. The town's hockey team, the Cobalt Silver Wings, played in the National Hockey Association (the first iteration of the NHL).

"Cobalt's Famous Midway". From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Main Street. Cobalt. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Legacy

The Canadian Bank of Commerce was the first of four banks in the town and was originally housed in a large tent. A saying common at the time was, "Silver Street built Bay Street"; so important was the wealth generated from the mines to the province of Ontario.

But when the silver was gone, so were the men. They went there to mine silver, not necessarily to build a community. Today, 1,100 people live in Cobalt. Still, they may see mining in the area revived. As car companies increase production of electric vehicles, more cobalt will be needed for lithium-cobalt batteries.

The Canadian Bank of Commerce. From Souvenir of Cobalt: The Silver City (1906).

Cobalt sign, 1971. From Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Related blog posts

• Cornwall: From Loyalist Village to Industrial City
• Belleville: Vintage Postcards and Rare Photos
• Owen Sound: Rare Vintage Photographs
• Going Nuclear: Ontario's Historic Chalk River Laboratories
• How to Find Old Pictures of Ontario Online

As the lockdown continues, I find myself fantasizing about shopping. Not online shopping, but leisurely strolling down a busy city street with a friend, popping into small shops along the way. So I decided to do some window shopping in our digital collections. 

TPL's Digital Archive is our database of over 170,000 historical photos, books, maps and more. For research or nostalgia, it's a great resource for photos of storefronts, product catalogues and advertisements from Toronto's past. 

Shopping in Toronto: 1800–1900

Alexander Wood’s House & Shop, circa 1800s

Alexander Wood settled in York (Toronto) in 1797. His shop on King Street East and Frederick Street was one of only three stores in York at that time. (Learn why Alexander Wood came to be seen as a pioneer of Toronto's gay village.)

Pen & ink drawing by Owen Staples (1866–1949).

Mercantile Row in York (Toronto), 1833

As York’s settler population grew, so did the market for general stores and more specialized shops selling dry goods, clothing, hardware and medication. Shops were family-owned and operated, few employed outside help. In the 1830s, this part of King Street East was a busy strip. Pictured are the shops of William Proudfoot, Robert McKay and John Sproule.

Watercolour by Frederic Victor Poole, 1912.

The Golden Griffin, 1872

King Street remained Toronto's main commercial strip for most of the 19th century. The Golden Griffin and the Golden Lion (both founded in the 1840s) were two of the largest shops of the day, carrying the latest in European fashions and homewares. They were hard to miss: each storefront was topped with a massive stone Griffin and Lion, respectively.

Photograph by Notman & Fraser, 1872.

The Golden Lion, 1885

Big retailers like the Golden Griffin and the Golden Lion offered a shopping experience that would be familiar to shoppers today. Customers could browse items on display with a set ticket price (no bartering or haggling required!). They also accepted cash, as shown on this receipt from 1885.   

Sales Receipt from “The Golden Lion”, Toronto: Robert Walker & Sons, 1885.

Warerooms of R. S. Williams & Sons Pianos, 1890

Starting in the 1850s, a new type of building for buying and selling appeared on the streets of Toronto. "Warerooms" or “warehouses,” like the one illustrated here, allowed customers to browse a wide selection of goods on multiple floors. Large, ground-floor windows also created a new pastime: window shopping. 

Trade Card for R. S. Williams & Sons Pianos, Toronto: R. S. Williams & Sons Company, 1890.

T. Eaton & Co., 1884

Irish-born Timothy Eaton (1834–1907) opened a dry-goods and clothing store in Toronto in 1869. His shop found quick success with cash sales and easy returns. By 1883, he opened a multi-story department store in the new shopping district of Yonge Street. It was a modern marvel: electric lighting, elevators, 300 employees and 35 departments. It carried everything from produce to bicycles, toys to cosmetics. The company’s first mail order catalogue, shown here, transformed shopping across the country. Eaton's quickly became the country's largest retailer.  

Eaton’s Fall and Winter Catalogue Toronto: T. Eaton & Co., 1884 [reprinted 1978].

Robert Simpson Company Department Store, 1895

Robert Simpson (1834–1897), a Scottish immigrant, opened a small dry goods store in Toronto in 1871. By 1880, he had 13 employees. Simpson later opened a towering department store at the southwest corner of Yonge and Queen Street that sold dry goods, carpets, wallpaper, footwear, books, food and dinnerware. The store advertised in 1896: “Millions in merchandise. Cheapness unmeasured. They bring happiness.”

Unknown photographer, 1895.

Yonge Street Arcade, 1885

By the 1880s, small business owners struggled to compete with massive department stores dominating the retail market in Toronto. Built in 1883, Canada’s first indoor shopping mall — the Toronto Arcade — offered affordable downtown rental space to 52 eclectic shops. An iconic retail landmark on Yonge Street (and Temperance Street) for 70 years, it was demolished in 1954.

Interior of Yonge Street Arcade. Unknown photographer, 1885.

R.B. Butland Music Store, 1890

In the photo below, shop manager George Marshall Verrall stands in front of a busy storefront on King Street near Bay filled with printed music and instruments from banjos to xylophones. The shop's founder, Richard Brooking Butland (1830–1886), was also active in amateur theatre productions in Toronto.

Park Brothers, circa 1890.

John Atkinson’s Shop, 1894

Outside of downtown, shoppers continued to buy and barter for supplies at general stores like this one, run by John Atkinson and his wife at Yonge and Lawrence. For 61 years, the Atkinsons sold hardware, food, clothing and penny candy to local farmers.

Unknown photographer, 1894.

The Paterson Brothers Grocery, 1900

Thomas, John and Robert Paterson ran this grocery and general store at Danforth and Dawes Road that also sold necessities like coal and wood. Danforth had few retailers until after the Bloor Viaduct was completed in 1918. During winter, horse-drawn sleighs hauled goods from farms and railways to shops.

Unknown photographer, 1900.

Toronto Trade Cards

Something between a postcard and a business card, trade cards were a popular form of early print advertisement. These small pieces of ephemera capture long-lost Toronto businesses. 

Trade cards first appeared in France in the 1600s, but had their golden age in the late 1800s. A new print technology called lithography made it possible to mass produce them cheaply in full color.

Trade cards feature an image on one side with text on the back. Like "stock photography", trade card images were often re-purposed by printers. Sometimes the image had little to nothing to do with the company or product being sold. (Not sure why this jewelry shop thought this whimsical cycling image would help them sell watches, as seen in one of the cards below…)

Trade cards were also designed to be collectible like baseball cards. Retailers would hand them to potential customers or slip them in with a store purchase. 

They started to disappear by 1900, as advances in colour printing made newspaper and magazine ads more appealing to advertisers. 

Below are a few of my favourites from the Digital Archive.

Trade card for J. D King & Co., Manufacturers of Fine Boots & Shoes, Toronto: J. D. King & Co, 1880.

Trade Card for Robertson’s Pure Paints, James Robertson Company, 1900.

Die-cut Trade Card for Oak Hall Clothing House, Toronto: Oak Hall, 1900.

The Old England, “Cheapest Clothing Store on Earth”, Toronto: Old England, 107 King Street East, 1895.

Trade card for Russells’ Clock and Watch Makers and Jewelers, Toronto: Russells’, 9 King Street West, 1890.

Trade Card for Wheeler & Wilson Toronto: Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, 1876.

Trade Card for W. C. Hewish & Son Toronto: W. C. Hewish & Son, 1885.

Trade Card Advertising Foreign and Domestic Cigars, Toronto: James Dorney, 1890.

Update: Pre-Colonial Trade

Interested in learning more about pre-Colonial trade in what is now Toronto? Here are some resources that may be useful:

• First Story has a great history of the importance of the Haudenosaunee Seneca village of Teiaiagon to trade routes in Ontario

• Toronto Carrying Place

• Toronto : A Short Illustrated History of its First 12,000 Years

• Carrying Place : Stories of Indigenous Toronto (on order)

Related posts

• Inside General Stores of Ontario
• Early Seed Companies in Toronto: Catalogues and Other Bits of History
• 11 Vintage Crowd Photos in Toronto that Now Seem Otherworldly 

Discovering your family's past can be as thrilling as any detective work. And now, we have three databases to help you in your quest:

Ancestry Library Edition

Available from home until December 31, 2021.

Ancestry Library Edition is our largest genealogical collection.  It covers the United States and the United Kingdom, including census, vital, church, court and immigration records. It also has record collections from Canada, Europe, Australia and other areas of the world.  All told, it has over 8,000 searchable databases, comprising over 8.9 billion total records. Normally only available in library branches, Ancestry is available from home until December 31, 2021. After that, it will be available exclusively in library branches. 

NEW: Heritage Quest

Available from home.

HeritageQuest Online  has genealogical and historical sources for more than 60 countries, with coverage dating back as early as the 1700s. It also includes over 500 searchable databases, comprising more than 4.3 billion total records. Here are just a few of the many resources you can explore:

• Canadian Census Collection, 1851-1916 
• Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death and Census Records. More than one billion names from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, Caribbean, Africa and Asia
• Cemetery Indexes for the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Global Burials at Sea.

NEW: Fold3

Available from home

The name "Fold3" comes from a traditional flag folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honour of veterans.

Fold3 offers US military records, including stories, photos and documents of military personnel. It contains millions of records from libraries and archives all over the world, many of which are only available on Fold3. It includes digital images of millions of records preserved in the National Archives that are now becoming available online for the first time. Here are some of the collections represented in Fold3's databases:

• Black History
• The Census Collection
• The Great Depression
• Holocaust Collection
• Native American Collection
• The Vietnam Wall
• World War 2 Collection.

Additional Resources

Local History & Genealogy at Toronto Public Library: A complete list of resources including books, databases, maps, research guides and more.

Local History & Genealogy Blog: Posts by library staff on Toronto history, genealogical research, and related topics.

Genealogy Research Guides: Collections of useful resources for specific audiences, compiled by librarians.

Edit: Ancestry Library Edition expiry date extended to June 30.

Edit: Ancestry Library Edition expiry date extended to December 31.

Below are old photos of big crowds in Toronto — plus some trivia about each scene. The images are from TPL's Digital Archive, our database of over 170,000 historical photos, books, maps and more.

The idea for this post came from a coworker's reaction to a photo of a crowd cheering on a royal tour in 1939. She commented that there is something about crowd photos that is really powerful right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These photos are indeed powerful. I wonder, does this power come from a new association of crowds with fear? A longing for communal gatherings? Something else?

Labour Day at the CNE (1923)

Admist the many fairgoers, you can spot the Gooderham Fountain. It was built in 1911 and removed in 1958. At the time the fountain was constructed, the Canadian National Exhibition was known as "Canada's Great Industrial Fair" — its name changed the following year, in 1912. (Learn more about the fountain.)

Unknown photographer, The Globe.

George Young celebrations (1927)

A massive crowd gathered at Old City Hall to celebrate Canadian swimmer George Young. He was the first winner of a competition held by William Wrigley Jr. (of chewing gum fame) to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. It took Young over 15 hours to complete the much-publicized swim. (Learn more about the competition.)

Unknown photographer, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

The King and Queen of England tour Toronto (1939)

Onlookers packed the street outside of the Old Toronto Star Building for the royal tour of 1939. This was the first royal tour across Canada, lasting from May 17, 1939 to June 15, 1939 — two years almost to the exact day of King George VI's coronation, and only three months before Germany invaded Poland. (See more photos of the tour.)

Unknown photographer, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

John Inglis and Company (1943)

Workers of John Inglis and Company, along with government officials, celebrated their 100,000th Bren machine gun. Many of these guns were manufactured for China. The caption in the Toronto Star notes that "[e]very mention of China's war effort was greeted with tremendous applause." (Learn about the Inglis company's history.)

Unknown photographer, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Sunnyside outdoor pool (1945)

When it opened in 1925, the Sunnyside pool (part of Sunnyside Amusement Park) was reportedly the world’s largest outdoor public swimming pool. It opened a few years after the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, which was designed as a changing station for Lake Ontario swimmers. (Learn more about Sunnyside Amusement Park.)

C & S Pictures, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Crowd welcoming home figure skating champion (1948)

Thousands of Torontonians gathered for a glimpse of Ontario figure skater Barbara Ann Scott. During the 1948 season, she won'three high-profile competitions: Canadian Figure Skating Championship, European Skating Championship and World Figure Skating Championships. (Learn more about Barbara Ann Scott.)

Unknown photographer, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Yorkdale Shopping Centre (1965)

Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson spoke to a jam-packed audience in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre during the election year of 1965. The North York mall opened in 1964 — it was the world's largest enclosed mall at the time. (Learn more about the mall's history.)

Photo by Mario Geo, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Rock concert in Nathan Philips Square (1970)

An estimated 6,000 music lovers filled Nathan Philips Square for a free concert by the band Lighthouse. (This photo shows their warm-up act.) According to the City of Toronto website, over 1.5 million attended events each year in the square before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Learn about the different parts of Nathan Philips Square.) 

Photo by Reg Innell, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

New Year's Eve at Ontario Place (1972)

Around 700 revelers celebrated New Year's Eve at Ontario Place. Festivities included a screening of the documentary North of Superior, a turkey and lobster buffet, dancing and, yes, balloons! (See more vintage images of Ontario Place.)

Photo by Ron Bull, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Concert in High Park (1974)

The crowd at this outdoor concert in High Park was estimated to be about 40,000. The six hour concert also had a heavy police presence — nearly 50 visitors were charged. Others were treated for drug overdoses, as well as injuries caused by falling out of trees. (Learn more about High Park's history.)

Photo by Doug Griffin, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Waiting to return from Centre Island (1980)

This huge crowd of picnickers waited to return by ferry from Centre Island, some of them waiting up to three hours. Did you know that Centre Island was the main location of the first Caribana festival in 1967? (Learn more about the Toronto Caribbean Carnival's beginnings.) 

Photo by Dale Brazao, Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Related posts

• We Asked Toronto to Remix Wartime Posters for the Current Moment — See the Amazing Results
• 12 Wonderfully Niche Books about Toronto History
• How to Find Old Pictures of Ontario Online

Happy 50th birthday to TPL's fantastical Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy! Originally called the Spaced Out Library, it was founded in 1970 with the donation of 5,000 books from science fiction writer and editor Judith Merril.

The Merril Collection has become a beloved part of the speculative fiction community, both locally and around the world. As part of our Spaced Out celebrations for this important milestone, award-winning writers, editors and scholars of speculative fiction have shared their thoughts about what makes Merril so special.

Have you visited the Merril Collection? Let us know in the comments below.

Leah Bobet

"The Merril Collection is deeply special: somewhere genre fiction's past, present, and future connect and you can see how they're part of a unity. You can read first editions or see major authors' handwritten manuscript notes and letters; its librarians can find that book with the blue cover from 1974 even if that's all you remember about it. But it's also somewhere to find what's next in science fiction, see readings and panels from emerging authors, or join a workshop. It’s everything a library should be: a living storehouse of evolving knowledge. Genre fiction's roots, but also its branches."

Leah Bobet is a novelist, editor and bookseller with Bakka-Phoenix Books, Canada’s oldest science fiction bookstore. Her novels have won multiple awards. Her most recent is the dustbowl literary fantasy An Inheritance of Ashes.

Eric Choi

“I first became acquainted with the Merril Collection during its final years at the St. George Street location across from the University of Toronto engineering buildings. The Merril was a place of refuge and inspiration for a stressed out engineering student who dreamed of the stars. Never in those dreams would I have imagined that years later some of my own work would find its way into the Merril’s archives. Congratulations to the Merril on its first half century, and may it prosper into the coming centuries so vividly portrayed in the works of the collection.”

Eric Choi is an author and aerospace engineer born in Hong Kong and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. He co-edited with Derwin Mak the Aurora Award winning anthology The Dragon and the Stars. In 2009, he was a Top 40 finalist in the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut recruitment campaign.

John Clute

“I was in Toronto a lot in the mid-1970s, working hard on the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1979), desperate for material. A friend took me to the Spaced Out Library, in what seemed a quonset hut. It was Aladdin's Cave. There was so much that I didn't know, and so much the Spaced told me. Each evening I left like Indiana Jones. Whenever I come back to Toronto, it is the same. Treasures to explore. Treasures of the mind to treasure. Thank you all.”

John Clute is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature. He is the co-editor of The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction.

Julie Czerneda

“Here’s the thing about the Merril. It’s more than a stunning and unique collection. I’ve held many book launches at conventions and those are wonderful fun, connecting me to readers. Those I’ve been privileged to do in this building? I see it in the faces of my authors and their families as they walk in for their event. I feel it every time myself. That sudden realization that here the work we do, what we create, has heft to it. Matters. Is respected and yes, treasured. You cannot replace that. I get chills thinking about it. Thank you.”

Julie Czerneda is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. She has written many novels, including the Prix Aurora winner In the Company of Others, a number of short stories; and has edited several anthologies.

A. M. Dellamonica

“50 years is an amazing landmark! It means that for half a century the Merril Collection and the people who take care of it have been building community and making connections for science fiction writers in Canada and across the world. It’s always a thrill to walk through your doors and find out what is happening in the genre and in the Canadian writing community. Thanks for your hard work in making a home here for our literature and our people."

A.M. Dellamonica's first novel, Indigo Springs, won'the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Their fourth, A Daughter of No Nation, won'the 2016 Prix Aurora. Alyx has over forty short stories and one anthology in print, and teaches creative writing at two universities.

Cory Doctorow

"The Merrill Collection has been part of my life since I was nine years old. Without its support – as a hub, a research institution, a cultural institution and a professional development facility – it's hard to imagine how I would ever have become a writer. I haven't lived in Toronto in decades, but when people ask me about growing up in the city, I always start with the Merril."

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger (co-editor of Boing Boing) and the author of young adult novels like Pirate Cinema and Little Brother and novels for adults like Rapture of The Nerds and Makers.

Dominick Grace

"The Merril Collection is an essential resource for SF scholars. I made multiple extended visits to the library while writing my book on Phyllis Gotlieb, where I was able to review MSS [manuscripts] of many of Gotlieb’s works, including an unpublished novel, as well as all of her stories that have never been collected so must be tracked down in long out-of-print magazines and books. Without these resources, the book would have been much the poorer. As home of the biennial Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Merril is also a key gathering site for scholars."

Dominick Grace is a Professor of English, Brescia University College, University of Western Ontario. His areas of research specialization include Science Fiction and Fantasy (especially Canadian), Comics and Graphic Novels and Popular Culture.

Ed Greenwood

"I love today’s Merril, from beautiful entrance to rolling bookshelves, automated lighting, and tidy cleanliness where aging me doesn’t have to climb bookshelves or slither snakelike under furniture to access such delights as original Guy Kay manuscripts in boxes.

Yet I’ll always miss the previous old-house premises, and leaning against heaps of books and papers in Judy’s [Judith Merril] office to chat about sf ideas and stories…talks that inevitably became prowls through the collection to haul out and wave old magazines, ere libations ensued. Precious memories, and an even more precious trove—nay, temple—of great writing. Here’s to fifty more years!"

Ed Greenwood, is an internationally bestselling Canadian fantasy/science fiction writer and the original creator of the Forgotten Realms game world (and longtime TPL staffer!)

Paula Johanson

"As a freelance writer, my office is the public libraries wherever I go. The Merril Collection functions as my home base in Toronto — and that's in a city with the Toronto Reference Library as well! The collection has books I've never seen anywhere else, like Tay John, which I read in one speed-reading blur while waiting for Lorna Toolis to finish her morning's work and come for lunch with me. There are books I expect to find there and am glad to rely on. And my own novel is there among much more well-known company. There are other collections of science fiction and fantasy in this country, but the Merril Collection is relied on as the best."

Paula Johanson is a writer and editor of both fiction and non-fiction books. A long-time member of SF Canada, she has been nominated twice for the national Prix Aurora Award for Canadian Science Fiction.

Joe Mahoney

"I have great memories of the Merril Collection. I was honoured to present a lifetime achievement award to Canadian author and poet Phyllis Gotlieb there once, on behalf of SF Canada. And I experienced one of the greatest days of my life at the Collection… my first ever book launch! What a privilege to be able to launch my debut novel at the Collection. A treasure trove, itself a treasure… may the Merril Collection always be a part of our futures."

Joe Mahoney is a writer/broadcaster and author of A Time and a Place and Other Time and Places.

Shirley Meier

"The Merril Collection has been an invaluable resource for me in my career, from when it was still known as the Spaced Out Library on St. George. I had wonderful conversations with Judy [Judith Merril] about the art and craft of writing there, the local Science Fiction and Fantasy convention, Ad Astra, held their monthly committee meetings. They even hosted my first book launch, with my co-author, S.M. (Steve) Stirling.

The Bunch of Seven writers group had several reading series at the Merril and it was a library and resource centre that felt like home."

Shirley Meier is a Canadian author of science fiction and fantasy. She has published five hard-copy books published in The Fifth Millennium series, three with S. M. Stirling, one with S. M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein, and a solo novel, Shadows Daughter.

Pippa Wysong

"In mid-1987, I joined a writers’ group being launched by Judy Merril, advertised at the Spaced-Out Library. The group became the Cecil Street Irregulars. I saw that library evolve into the Merril Collection which houses an incredible collection of rare books, original artwork and much more.

I’ve always been impressed with how supportive the library’s staff is of the writing community (from hosting book launches, to offering writing space); of their in-depth knowledge of the genre, and the numerous programs they organize and host. The library is my source when I need help with speculative-fiction content for talks I do about science and technology."

Pippa Wysong is an award-winning science, technology and medical writer.

Melissa Yi

"As an impoverished student and aspiring author, I wanted to read magazines but couldn't afford to subscribe to them all. A Bakka Phoenix bookstore clerk told me about the Merril Collection. There, I found a treasure trove of speculative fiction. Slowly, editors accepted my stories for publication, including one in the anthology Where the Stars Rise. The publisher, Lucas K. Law, held the book launch at the Merril Collection, bringing my story full circle."

Melissa Yi (Yuan-Innes) is an emergency physician and award-winning writer. In her newest crime novel, Death Flight, Dr. Hope Sze battles murder on an airplane. Previous Hope Sze volumes were recommended by the Globe and Mail and CBC Books as best suspense novels of the season.

More from our Spaced Out celebrations

• Merril Collection at 50: Stories from the Spaced Out Library
• 50 Books of Speculative Fiction You Should Read — Across 18 Subgenres
• Colouring book of items in our Merril Collection (PDF 25 MB)
• 50 Weird and Wonderful Items at the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy

Did you know Toronto Public Library has a huge collection of digitized books and ephemera, including commercial catalogues and greeting cards? You'll find 170,000+ of these rare and historical items on our Digital Archive — no library card needed. It is an incredible resource for artists, designers and DIYers looking for inspiration. 

We transformed nine digitized items into festive wrapping paper that you can print at home. Save yourself a non-essential trip to buy gift wrap and share a piece of our Special Collections with your loved ones this holiday season.

The images below link to the PDFs to download the wrapping paper.

Happy wrapping! 

Snow Birds

Designs based on Snow Bird (Plate 13) by John James Audubon (1785–1851), 1827. View original in Digital Archive.

John James Audubon’s Birds of America is one of TPL’s greatest treasures: the rare double-elephant folio edition is one of only five copies in Canada. 

Download Audubon Snow Birds 1 | PDF

Download Audubon Snow Birds 2 | PDF 

Gloves & Mitts For Sale

Design based on Simpson's Catalogue Fall and Winter 1918-19, page 111: Children's and Infants Gloves and Mittens. View original on Digital Archive. 

Founded by Robert Simpson, Simpson's was a prominent Canadian department store for 85 years. The first Simpson's catalogue was published in 1893 and its flagship store at Queen and Yonge Street opened in 1894. Simpson's successful mail order division grew and flourished in the first decades of the 20th century and was purchased by American retail giant Sears in 1951. 

Download Simpsons Mittens | PDF

Snow Storms

Designs based on Snow Dogs ["Servant and Dogs of St. Bernard on Duty," page 12) and Snow Crystals [page 56/57], illustrations from "The Snow-storm, or, An account of the nature, properties, dangers, and uses of snow in various parts of the world" by Charles Tomlinson (1808–1897). London: Printed for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1852. View original on Digital Archive.

British scientist Tomlinson published this fascinating illustrated account of all things snow in 1852. Tomlinson includes a detailed account of the five "classes" of snowflake formations based on the Arctic research of Rev. Dr. William Scoresby. The book also features the Canadian poem, "Sleigh Bells" by Susanna Moodie on page 77. 

Download Snow Dogs | PDF

Download Snow Crystals Light Background | PDF

Download Snow Crystals Dark Background | PDF

Loved Ones

Design from two postcards reading, "To the loved ones at home", 1909 (top) and 1910 (bottom). View originals on Digital Archive.

Download To The Loved Ones at Home | PDF

Download Golden To The Loved Ones at Home | PDF 

Snowman & Skating

Design from two postcards, 1910. View originals on Digital Archive: skating postcard and snowman postcard.

Download Snowman and Skating Cards | PDF

More from TPL

eBooks for DIY gift wrapping ideas

• Furoshiki Fabric Wraps: Simple, Reusable, Beautiful
• Making Your own Greeting Cards & Gift Wrap
• Kirigami Greeting Cards and Gift Wrap

Fun ways to explore our Special Collections from home

• Pieces of History: 70 Digital Puzzles of Items in Our Special Collections
• Ontario History: 40 Colouring Pages from Our Special Collections 

Design credit for all wrapping papers: Katie Muth.

In 1970, science-fiction author and editor Judith Merril donated 5,000 books to Toronto Public Library to found the “Spaced Out Library”. 50 years later, the collection — now known as the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy — has over 80,000 items and is celebrated as one of the top research collections of its kind. 

A treasure trove of speculative fiction. A fraction of the Merril Collection's 80,000+ items.

This virtual exhibit offers a peek into the stacks at 50 unique items. Merril Collection staff selected the rare, the weird and the wonderful: first editions, unusual formats, collectors' editions, cookbooks, cassettes, paintings, graphic novels, pop-ups, fanfiction, role playing games and more. These items come from the expansive worlds of speculative fiction, the umbrella term for genres of the “what if?” — science fiction, fantasy and horror.

These items can only be viewed in the reading room of the Merril Collection at our Lillian H. Smith Branch. Due to the Grey-Lockdown category restrictions, the collection is closed for in-person use at this time.

1. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder

Canada’s first speculative fiction novel, this book tells the story of a lost world located in the Antarctic.

A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James De Mille, 1833–1880 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1888).

2. The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book

A tie-in to the popular anime, this RPG allows players to inhabit Sailor Moon’s famous heroes and villains.  

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book by Mark C. MacKinnon, Mark C., (Guelph, Ontario : Guardians of Order, ca. 1999).

3. Edward Gorey's Dracula: a Toy Theatre

Edward Gorey and Dracula are a match made in heaven (or maybe below). This toy theatre replicates Gorey’s costume and set designs for the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula. 

Edward Gorey's Dracula: a Toy Theatre by Edward Gorey, 1925-2000, (Rohnert Park, CA : Pomegranate, 2002).

4. Little Nemo in Slumberland

This jumbo-sized edition replicates the original experience of reading Little Nemo newspaper comics, faithful to the strip’s size and stunning art nouveau colours.  

Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay (Palo Alto, Calif. : Sunday Press, 2005).

5. The Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead's Town

Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola was inspired by Yoruba legends when he wrote this fantastical story of one man’s search for palm-wine. The Palm-Wine Drinkard was the first Nigerian novel to be published internationally.  

The Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead's Town by Amos Tutuola (New York : Grove Press, [1953]).

6. Murmers of Earth: The Voyageur Interstellar Record

This published set of laser discs includes the sounds and images sent with the Voyager spacecraft (describing Earth and some of its life and culture), and images returned to Earth from the spacecraft's cameras. 

Murmers of Earth: The Voyageur Interstellar Record with contributions by Carl Sagan, 1934-1996, (Burbank, CA: Warner New Media, ca. 1992).

7. Game of Thrones: a Pop-Up Guide to Westeros

Based on the series of books by George R. R. Martin, this was designed by renowned paper engineer Matthew Reinhart to be read as a pop-up book or opened into a map with pop-up features. 

Game of Thrones: a Pop-Up Guide to Westeros designed by Matthew Reinhart ([San Rafael, CA]: Insight Editions, [2014]).

8. After Man: a Zoology of the Future

A work of speculative zoology, paleontologist Dougal Dixon imagines evolution after homo sapiens’ extinction.

After Man: a Zoology of the Future by Dougal Dixon (Scarborough [Ont.]: Nelson Canada, 1981).

9. The Ship That Sailed to Mars: a Fantasy

William Timlin wrote and illustrated this beautiful book in which an old man, with the help of fairies, sails to Mars. 

Select illustrations from The Ship That Sailed to Mars: a Fantasy by William M. Timlin, 1892-1943, (London: George G. Harrap, ca. 1923).

10. The War of the Worlds

A first edition of H. G. Wells’ science fiction classic. This chilling first-hand account of a Martian invasion of Earth has been adapted to radio, film and television.

The War of the Worlds by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells, 1866-1946, (London: William Heinemann, 1898).

11. The 2003 Hugo Award for Best Related Book

Awarded during the 61st annual World Science Fiction Convention to Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary for Merril’s memoir, Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril. 

2003 Hugo Award for Best Related Book: Better to have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril.

12. Always Coming Home and Music and Poetry of the Kesh 

This novel takes the form of an anthropological survey of the Kesh, a people who live in post-apocalyptic California. It was issued with an audiocassette entitled “Music and Poetry of the Kesh”, composed and performed by Todd Barton. 

Always Coming Home and Music and Poetry of the Kesh by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1929-2018, (New York: Harper & Row, ca. 1985).

13. The Rhyme Maidens (Broadsheet)

A hand-printed broadsheet by George A. Walker of Biting Dog Press, made in celebration of the wedding of Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer.

The Rhyme Maidens (Broadsheet) by Neil Gaiman, printed by George A. Walker, ca. 2012. Limited edition broadsheet, signed by Gaiman and Walker. #21 of 250.

14. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Figure Set – 5003 “Woodland Adventurers”

A set of 24 small lead figurines, some hand painted, others unfinished, for Dungeons and Dragons. 

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Figure Set – 5003 “Woodland Adventurers” (Grenadier Models, ca. 1980).

15. Codex Seraphinianus

Beautifully illustrated with surreal drawings, this mysterious book appears to be an encyclopedia of an imaginary world, with text in an imaginary script. 

Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini, (New York: Abbeville Press, 1983). First American Edition.

16. Le Vingtième Siècle: la Vie Électrique

Albert Robida (1848–1926), a satirist and contemporary of Jules Verne, imagined France in the 1950s with flying cars and a woman president. 

Le Vingtième Siècle: la Vie Électrique written and illustrated by Albert Robida, 1848–1926 (Paris: A la Librairie illustrée, 1893).

17. Dressing a Galaxy

This large coffee table book is sumptuously illustrated with detailed photos, close-ups and sketches of all of the costumes in the “prequel” series of Star Wars movies. 

Dressing a Galaxy by Trisha Biggar (New York: Insight Editions in association with H.N. Abrams, 2005).

18. My Immortal

This book, beautifully bound by local book artist and illustrator, Julia Periera, is a piece of Harry Potter fanfiction. My Immortal is infamous for its bad writing and uncertain provenance. It has become a cultural touchstone of fandom.

My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie, (Toronto: Julia Pereira, 2015, c2006).

19. Anonymous Untitled Lunar Exploration Painting

An anonymous gouache painting shows an early design for the NASA lunar lander in the background and an astronaut in the foreground. It likely dates from the early 1950s, possibly a potential illustration for a series entitled “Man will conquer space soon!” by Collier’s Magazine. 

Anonymous Untitled Lunar Exploration Painting.

20. Untitled Painting by Hannes Bok

This Art Deco-style nude with a deer is typical of the style of Hannes Bok, an important figure in science fiction art. Dated 1946, the painting is inscribed “To Judi” — possibly Judith Merril? Both Merril and Bok were members of a community of science fiction writers, artists and fans called “The Futurians” based in New York at that time. 

Untitled Painting by Hannes Bok.

21. The Hollow Grounds: NogegoN

A graphic novel by Belgian artist and architect Francois Schuiten, told in palindrome form. It is the same tale when read from front-to-back or from back-to-front. 

The Hollow Grounds: NogegoN by Luc and Francois Schuiten, (Hollywood, CA: Humanoids Pub., c2000).

22. Brian Froud’s World of Faerie and The Secret Sketchbook of Brian Froud

English fantasy artist Brian Froud’s distinctive vision of faerie was the basis of the Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal films. This cloth-bound portfolio includes an original art print signed by Froud, two lavishly illustrated art books, a resin sculpture of the Green Man, a poster featuring a poem by Neil Gaiman and a DVD of interviews with the artist. 

Brian Froud’s World of Faerie and The Secret Sketchbook of Brian Froud (San Rafael, Calif.: Insight Editions, c2007). #769 of 1,500 copies. Inscribed by author. 

23. Superman: Masterpiece Edition

This tribute was published in honour of the 60th anniversary of Superman, the legendary superhero created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. The set includes an illustrated history by Les Daniels, a facsimile of the very first issue of Superman and a collectible figurine.  

Superman: Masterpiece Edition (San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, 1999).

24. Building Stories

American cartoonist Chris Ware spent 10 years creating this multi-volume graphic novel. The boxed set contains an assortment of print formats, including cloth-bound books, newspapers, comic strips and a fold-out storyboard. 

Building Stories by Chris Ware, (New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 2012). First edition.

25. The Vance Integral Edition

The Vance Integral Edition project was a worldwide collaborative effort to transcribe the corrected editions of the complete works of American writer Jack Vance. The text of all 44 volumes was transcribed by volunteers and financed by private donation. Fewer than 600 sets were printed. 

The Vance Integral Edition by Jack Vance, 1916-2013, (Oakland, Calif.: Vance Integral Edition, 2002).

26. The Return of Tarzan

An example of the popular Armed Forces Editions printed by the Council on Books in Wartime between 1943 and 1947 for American soldiers overseas. These pocket-sized books were manufactured in sets of two titles using equipment designed for producing digest-sized magazines.  

The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1875-1950, (New York: Editions for the Armed Services, Inc., c1915, printed 1944).

27. The Road Goes Ever On: a Song Cycle (Poems)

Long before Howard Shore composed majestic soundtracks for the Lord of the Rings films, other musicians experimented with setting the poems of J. R. R. Tolkien to music. This charming songbook contains seven melodies composed by pianist Donald Swann (of the British comedy duo Flanders and Swann). It features decorations by J. R. R. Tolkien and Samuel Hanks Bryant.  

The Road Goes Ever On: a Song Cycle by J. R. R. Tolkien, 1892-1973, music by Donald Swann, with decorations by J. R. R. Tolkien and Samuel Hanks Bryant (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967).

28. The Bakery Men Don’t See

What better way to raise funds than to hold a bake sale? This cookbook was published in conjunction with the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award bake sale held at the 1992 WisCon convention in Madison Wisconsin. The award celebrates Alice Sheldon, an acclaimed science fiction writer who published under a male pseudonym. Her works were described as “Ineluctably masculine,” no doubt to her amusement. 

The Bakery Men Don’t See. [Madison, Wis.] : [SF3], [1991].

29. Gil Kane’s the Amazing Spider-Man: Artist Edition

This volume collects Spider-Man issues 96 to 102 and 121. Issues 96 through 98 are considered infamous as they did not receive the Comics Code Authority approval because of a storyline depicting drug use. Issue 101 features the very first appearance of Morbius. 121 features the death of Gwen Stacy.  

Gil Kane’s the Amazing Spider-Man: Artist Edition by Stan Lee, Stan, 1922-2018 (San Diego: IDW Publishing, 2012).

30. The Hauntings at Tankerton Park

This delightfully macabre story told in verse is richly illustrated in Reggie Oliver’s style — reminiscent of Edward Gorey. The first edition copy features a slipcase and an original signed drawing.  

The Hauntings at Tankerton Park by Reggie Oliver (Düsseldorf, Germany: Zagava Press, 2017).

31. Unflattening

Nick Sousanis uses collage from comics to explore different ways of seeing taken from philosophy, science, literature, art and mythology. 

Unflattening by Nick Sousanis (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2015).

32. Al Azif [the Necronomicon]

A fictional book, written by a fictional author, in a fictional language. It was first mentioned in H. P. Lovecraft’s 1922 short story The Hound, and there has been a certain amount of intrigue surrounding the title since. This limited edition is #178 of 300.  

Al Azif [the Necronomicon] by Abdul Alhazred (Philadelphia: Owlswick Press, 1973).

33. The Grimoire: and other Supernatural Stories

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy refers to Montague Summers as “the major anthologist of supernatural and Gothic literature” in the 1930s. Signed by the editor, this collection compiles various stories including The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819) considered the earliest work of vampire literature. 

The Grimoire: and other Supernatural Stories edited by Hablot Knight Browne, 1815-1882 and Montague Summers, 1880-1948 (London: Fortune Press, 1936).

34. Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery

Considered to be a rare edition, this was Le Fanu’s first collection of short stories. J. Sheridan Le Fanu was one of the important supernatural fiction writers of the 19th century.  

Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1814-1873 (Dublin: J. McGlashan; London: W. S. Orr, 1851).

35. Film Fantasy Scrapbook

This second edition copy features a moving introduction by Harryhausen’s longtime friend, Ray Bradbury. Harryhausen was an Academy Award-winner for Visual Effects and pioneer in the use of stop-motion animation effects. 

Film Fantasy Scrapbook by Ray Harryhausen, 1920-2013 (South Brunswick: A. S. Barnes, 1974).

36. The Crow

A re-issue of the original graphic novel, after being out-of-print for several years. The Crow character inspired a cult-classic film of the same name which spawned several sequels. 

The Crow by James O’Barr (New York: Pocket Books, 2002, c1981).

37. Flash Gordon in the Ice World of Mongo

An early rival of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon was a character created by Alex Raymond in 1934. His comic book adventures were collected in various forms, including this “Big Little Book” which also features a flip-book “movie.” 

Flash Gordon in the Ice World of Mongo by Alex Raymond, 1909-1956 (Racine, : Whitman Pub. Co., 1942, c1939).

38. The Gazette, Vol. V, no., 1, 2 and 3. November 1875

“The Vampire,” a story in three parts by Julius L. Corore, was the first example of vampire fiction to appear in a North American “amateur” periodical.  

The Gazette, Vol. V, no., 1, 2 and 3. November 1875.

39. Scoops: Stories of the Wonder-world of Tomorrow, Vol. 1, no.17,  June 2, 1934

This short-lived British science fiction tabloid magazine, printed in 1934, contains an early reprint of Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “The Poison Belt.” In it, the Earth passes through a ribbon of noxious gas and is almost destroyed.  

Scoops: Stories of the Wonder-world of Tomorrow, Vol. 1, no.17,  June 2, 1934.

40. The World of Null-A / The Universe Maker

From 1952 to 1973 the Ace Book company published hundreds of “double” novels, published in tête-bêche format (head-to-toe, with two different front covers). This is the first science fiction title published as a double. A. E. van Vogt was a Mennonite Canadian sci-fi writer born in Manitoba. 

The World of Null-A / The Universe Maker by A. E. van Vogt, 1912–2000, (New York: Ace Books, 1953, c1948).

41. Alice in Sunderland

A combination of fact and fiction, this graphic novel explores the wonders of Sunderland, the town where Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland. Bryan Talbot signed this copy when he visited the Merril Collection in 2007. 

Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot (Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2007).

42. Shadow on the Hearth

This is the first edition of Judith Merril’s first novel, about the lives of a Westchester woman and her two children after atomic bombs are dropped on New York City. 

Three titles written or edited by Judith Merril including  Shadow on the Hearth (left) by Judith Merril, 1923–1997 (Garden City: Doubleday, 1950).

43. Frankenstein or, the Modern Prometheus

This edition of Frankenstein is illustrated with gorgeous wood engravings by Lynd Ward. The Merril Collection also has an original print from the book.  

Frankenstein or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1797–1851, illustrated by Lynd Ward, 1905–1985, (New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934).

44. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

When this short story by Edgar Allan Poe was published in 1845, many readers thought it was a true story. But its account of a man put under hypnosis as he dies was fiction. Biting Dog Press’ edition of the tale is bound in brown leather with decorative blind stamping to the covers.

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849, hand-printed and illustrated by George A. Walker (Toronto: Biting Dog Press, 2012). Number 17 of 60 copies. Signed by George A. Walker. 

45. Native Tongue, The Judas Rose, and Earthsong

Suzette Haden Elgin was an American science fiction author and linguist. Native Tongue is the first novel in Elgin’s feminist science fiction series of the same name. The trilogy is centered in a future dystopian American society where the 19th Amendment was repealed in 1996 and women have been stripped of civil rights. A group of women, part of a worldwide group of linguists who facilitate human communication with alien races, create a new language for women as an act of resistance. 

Native Tongue, The Judas Rose, and Earthsong by Suzette Haden Elgin, 1926-2015 (New York: Daw Books, 1984).

46. A First Dictionary and Grammar of Laaden

Láadan is a constructed language created by the author in 1982 to test the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis for women, specifically to determine if Western natural languages were better suited for expressing the views of men than women. The language was included in Elgin's Native Tongue science fiction series.

A First Dictionary and Grammar of Laaden by Suzette Haden Elgin, 1926-2015 (Madison, Wis.: Society for the Furtherance and Study of Science Fiction, c1985).

47. Maus, a Survivor's Tale

Art Spiegelman was the recipient of a Pulitzer Letters award in 1992 for Maus, which depicts his father’s experiences during the Holocaust. 

Maus, a Survivor's Tale. Vol. I, My Father Bleeds History and Vol II, A and Here my Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (New York: Pantheon Books, c1986).

48. The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man

This first edition of Paltock’s lost world adventure is the oldest item in the Merril Collection, dating back to 1751.

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man by Robert Paltock, 1697-1767, (London: Printed for J. Robinson and R. Dodsley, 1751).

49. Empires of Foliage and Flower: a Tale from the Book of the Wonders of Urth and Sky 

Beautifully hand-printed and bound by Cheap Street Press, this 80-page story by Gene Wolfe was selected for publication because of its literary merit.  

Empires of Foliage and Flower:a Tale from the Book of the Wonders of Urth and Sky by Gene Wolfe (New Castle, Va. : Cheap Street, c1987).

50. Chronicles of Rodriguez

This vellum-bound 1922 first edition is one of 500 copies signed by Lord Dunsany and his preferred fantasy illustrator, Sidney H. Sime.  

Chronicles of Rodriguez by Lord Dunsany, 1878-1957 (London: G. P. Putman, 1922).

More from our Spaced Out celebration, marking 50 years of the Merril Collection:

• Merril Collection at 50: Stories from the Spaced Out Library
• 50 Books of Speculative Fiction You Should Read — Across 18 Subgenres
• Merril Collection Colouring Book (PDF 25 MB)

The Grange was just another manor for Toronto's elite until 1911. It then became the property of the Toronto Art Society — home of the future Art Museum of Toronto, renamed the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in 1965.

Let's look back at the history of The Grange with photos from Digital Archive Ontario, our database of over 170,000 historical photos, maps, artwork and more from Toronto Public Library's collections.

The Grange, 1867. From our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

Early history of the property

The Grange was built on a 100-acre lot purchased by D'Arcy Boulton Jr., lawyer and merchant, and son of the Solicitor General of Upper Canada. It was completed in 1817 and involved clearing what was then viewed as untamed wilderness far from the centre of town. The property included Grange Road which opened onto a large park with the mansion at its north end.

The brick house was 4,800 square feet over two floors. Its symmetry reflects a Georgian sense of balance. The front door opens onto a central hall with the dining room on the left and a drawing room on the right. At the back of the first floor and on the second floor were bedrooms for the family. There were also four rooms in the attic for servants. The original kitchen, pantry and scullery can still be found in the basement. 

The Grange, 1885. From our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

The northern portion of the property was sold in 1828 to Bishop Strachan for King's College, an Anglican University. A portion at the south end was sold to create St. Patrick's Market in 1840. Another parcel was donated around the same time to establish Saint George the Martyr Anglican Church after St. James Anglican Cathedral was consumed by fire in 1839.

St. George the Martyr, Grange Park, 1982. Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

The west wing consists of two later additions. One from the 1840s and the other built in 1885 as a two-storey library with billiard table for resident of The Grange, Goldwin Smith.

Boulton-Smiths and the transition to a house of art

In 1875, Harriet Boulton, widow of Henry William Boulton, married Goldwin Smith, an eminent public intellectual. Smith had taught history at Oxford and Cornell before moving in with his beloved cousin and her husband in Toronto. He was a prolific and opinionated writer, and his publications include writings in his own periodical "The Bystander" and the book Canada and the Canadian Question (1891), which advocates for a commercial union with the United States.

Goldwin Smith inside The Grange's library, 1909. Drawing from our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

Boulton and Smith were active among Toronto's intellectual and artistic elite. The Boulton-Smiths were persuaded to bequeath The Grange including land to the Toronto Art Society, who were, at the time, hosting art shows at the Mercer Gallery. 

Group portrait of artists for the opening of the first complete set of galleries in what would become the Art Gallery Of Ontario, 1918. From our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

A place of art

As the Art Museum of Toronto, The Grange underwent electrification. Several of the house's rooms were used as staff offices. Goldwin Smith’s old library became the museum's library and the drawing room was used as a tea room and breakfast parlour. The city agreed to take over the maintenance of Grange Park and open it to the public. Though The Grange was acquired in 1911, the art museum continued to hold exhibitions at the Toronto Public Library until 1913. 

Art Gallery of Toronto, 1922. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

The first expansion, a pair of galleries adjacent to The Grange, was opened in 1918. The next year, The Art Museum of Toronto changed its name to the Art Gallery of Toronto to avoid being confused with the Royal Ontario Museum. In 1924, another addition opened that included a sculpture court and main entrance on Dundas Street. All of this was designed by the architectural firm Darling and Pearson.

Art Gallery of Toronto, 1928. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

The Ontario College of Art (OCA) — now OCAD University — and the Toronto Gallery of Art have existed side by side at their present locations since 1921. The college was established by the Ontario Society of Artists in 1876. In 1912, it was incorporated as the Ontario College of Art, becoming the first school in Canada dedicated to the education of fine and commercial artists. The Toronto Gallery of Art allowed OCA to build its first permanent home on their property just east of The Grange. The school’s principal George A. Reid designed the building in the Georgian style.

Signs for the Ontario College of Art and Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street West, 1923. From our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana.

In 1970, the AGO's Junior Women's Committee worked on a restoration of The Grange in the period-style of 1835, including decorations and furnishings. The women realized that the house could be made into an historic house museum. They raised over $500,000 for the project.

The Grange, unknown date. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Present day

Today, the house still retains its historic roots and architectural integrity. It houses the Norma Ridley Members’ Lounge. Visitors to the AGO enter through what was the servant's entrance at the back of the house. The front windows look onto Grange Park. 

Grange Park was recently remodeled to include a refurbished children's playground, the Henry Moore sculpture, "Large Two Forms," and an off-leash area for dogs. The original circular driveway is still a prominent feature. From the park, you get a great view of both the old and new AGO buildings.

Grange Park, 1923. The park is located at the head of John Street in Toronto.

The Grange and Grange Park, 1987. Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

Photo of The Grange by Leventio, 2019. Used on a Creative Commons licence.

Explore more

• More images related to The Grange and Art Gallery of Ontario (Digital Archive Ontario)
• History of The Grange (Art Gallery of Ontario website)

UPDATE (August 16, 2021): It is with great sadness that I share the news that Lorna Toolis passed away on August 11, 2021. She was the Collection Head of the Merril Collection for 30 years and the impact she had on the Speculative Fiction community in Canada was profound. She is remembered as a voracious reader with an encyclopedic memory and a generous, kind heart. She touched and will be missed by so many. 

The year 2020 will go down in history for many reasons. It also happens to be a major milestone for Toronto Public Library's most far-out collection. In 1970, science-fiction author and editor Judith Merril donated 5,000 books to TPL to found the "Spaced Out Library."

Now known as the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy, it has grown to over 80,000 items, and is recognized as one of the world's premiere speculative fiction collections. It is housed at our Lillian H. Smith Branch.

To help mark the 50th anniversary of the Merril Collection, I asked Lorna Toolis (former Collection Head), Annette Mocek (Services Specialist) and Kimberly Hull (Librarian) to reflect on their favourite items and stories from the stacks. Together, they have 88.5 years of experience working with the collection!  

Do you remember when you first learned about the Spaced Out Library? Can you share any anecdotes about your first visit or first day/week of work?

Lorna: I was a member of ESFCAS, the Edmonton Science Fiction and Comic Arts Society. We all knew that Toronto had a science fiction library and visiting it was on everyone's to-do list. Then they advertised for a Collection Head.

After I got the job, TPL threw a meet-the-new-hire party. Everyone at the party kept telling me, "I really wanted your job." People in the sf [science fiction] community kept saying that too. It was a dream job and I knew how lucky I had been.

A portion of the stacks (bookshelves) that hold items in the Merril Collection.

Annette: To be honest I hadn't known about Spaced Out Library until I saw the job posting, which looked like a dream come true. I'd passed by the Boys and Girls House while at the University of Toronto, but  I didn't know what it was. Spaced Out wasn't visible from the street. I wish I had known about it earlier! 

When I first started working at Spaced Out, Lorna showed me the collection and pointed out a row of boxes that lay around the edges of the room. There were over one hundred and twenty boxes full of books! Lorna explained that they were an enormous bequest from an important collector of science fiction, and that I'd be cataloguing them for the next several years!

I was immediately thrilled by the depth and breadth of the collection. My local library branch had only a small shelf of science fiction novels. I was delighted to see so many books by favourite authors such as Clifford Simak, and immediately started making ambitious reading lists for myself… but the collection is so vast that I knew I'd never get through more than a tiny fraction. Three decades later, this is still true!

Kimberly: I was working as a children's and teen librarian at Yorkville Library, when I first heard of the Merril Collection.

When I first started, I was so enthused that I had neglected to ask about the details of the tasks involved, and was dismayed to find out that the job was mostly cataloging books, which I had no experience doing. In the intervening time, I have come to enjoy cataloging very much, and still wake up in the morning and think "I get to catalogue books today!"

Judith Merril poses in front of the collection in 1985. Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

What is the strangest or most memorable patron request you ever received?

Lorna: On my first day of work, a patron ran in and demanded "that book you have on UFOs, with the chart so that people can distinguish between the ones with round lights and the ones with square lights." Other memorable questions included the Madonna of Lourdes as a UFO phenomenon, the possibility of pregnancy for vampires, Victorian era fiction involving carnivorous plants, transhumanism, etc. A recurring favourite question was the quest for H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon. Apocryphal books were always in demand. 

People tend not to remember the authors or titles of short stories. More patrons than I could count over the years wanted to know the title of the short story where someone travels back in time to hunt a dinosaur and kills a butterfly and everything changes. "The Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury was probably the most requested short story ever. 

Panorama of the Merril Collection's reading room.

Annette: We were contacted by the Planetary society (founded by Carl Sagan) in the early 1990s and asked to compile artwork, fiction and non-fiction relating to Mars, which was stored on a CD-ROM disk as a sort of time capsule for space exploration. The disk, published as Visions of Mars, was originally carried about the Russian Space Agency's Mars 96 Mission. Unfortunately, the mission failed and the disk ended up in the Atlantic Ocean, but it was eventually issued as a DVD and it did get into space in 2007. 

Kimberly: I always come back to the PhD candidate from Austria who was writing his thesis on role-playing games and post-modern literary storytelling. He researched with us for most of the summer, and when he received his degree, he was also given an award for academic excellence, which used to be a gold medal awarded by the king, when Austria had a king. It is now in the form of a ring.

Just a few of the thousands of books in the Merril Collection.

Do you have a favourite item from the collection? 

Lorna: Not a single item. I was pleased with the first edition of Dracula because the day after the Collection bought a copy, another sold at a London auction house for over double what we had paid. I was pleased with the strength of the R. A. Lafferty holdings, because Merril Collection collected Lafferty's books decades before the rest of the world realized Lafferty was cool. I was happy the Collection owned a copy of James Schmitz's A Nice Day for Screaming and Other Tales of the Hub when a patron told me dismissively that there was no such book, it was apocryphal. He spent the rest of his visit reading the Merril Collection's copy.

Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1847-1912 Westminster: Archibald Constance and Company, 1897. First edition.

​Annette: I am very fond of the Cheap Street edition of Charles de Lint's Paperjack. All the Cheap Street books are exquisite but this is my favourite: one of only 133 letterpress copies, in a handmade clam-shell box lined with Japanese paper, and signed by de Lint and Judy J. King. It contains a short story from de Lint's Newford tales which was written in 1991 specifically for this very exclusive publisher. In 1995 we attended the Can-Con convention in Ottawa which coincided with the opening of Out Of This World, a joint exhibition with the National Library of Canada celebrating science fiction and fantasy, where I was thrilled to meet Mr de Lint and to see him performing Celtic folk music with his wife MaryAnn Harris, so this book has many happy associations for me.  

Paperjack by Charles De Lint. New Castle, Va.: Cheap Street, c1991.

 

Kimberly: It's so hard to choose just one! The surreal Codex Seraphinianus by Milanese designer and artist Luigi Serafini, is definitely one of them. Although modern, it's a rare book which appears to be an encyclopedia of an imaginary world which is both like and unlike our world, in the most unexpected way. Heavily illustrated with bizarre depictions of this strange world, the "text" is written in an undecipherable language, which Serafini has revealed is actually merely decorative markings.

Another would be a quirky little drawing that I was able to identify as being by Clark Ashton Smith, an American poet and novelist of the fantastic during the 1920s and '30s. He was a friend of H. P. Lovecraft and part of the circle that included other writers such as Robert E. Howard and later, Ray Bradbury. Smith dabbled in drawing and sculpture and enjoyed illustrating his own works.

Untitled drawing by Clark Ashton Smith.

The Merril Collection has hosted so many prominent authors/editors/scholars in the world of Speculative Fiction. Have you ever been starstruck?  

Lorna: I counted myself amazingly fortunate. Over the years, I had lunch with Margaret Atwood and dinner with Gene Wolfe. Neil Gaiman was our guest three times, as was Cory Doctorow. John Scalzi was a huge hit with the audience and returned to speak several times by request. When Lois Bujold was our guest, her kids were having trouble with their grammar, and I gave her my personal copy of The Transitive Vampire. Robert Jordan was a guest and he was an absolute sweetheart.

Annette: The first famous author I met at the Spaced Out Library was Samuel R. Delany. I hadn't read all his works but was very impressed with his scholarship in postmodern literary criticism. Mr. Delany's talk was erudite and very well attended. Afterwards, my husband and I drove him to the airport, and I kept thinking "Samuel Delany is in our car!" I think I was too intimidated to be starstruck.

I was truly starstruck when Neil Gaiman came to Toronto to launch his novel Stardust. It was a huge event, and the program room was packed. Mr. Gaiman was exhausted after having done something like 20 events in 20 days, and he was grateful for a moment to sit and have a snack before the event. When he started his reading, he realized that he did not have a copy of the book to read from, so I ran up and gave him the copy I had just purchased. Mine was the first copy to be autographed that night, and I'll always treasure it.

Kimberly: I've always been impressed with Cory Doctorow when he visits; he is a very fine public speaker, really on top of current events and able to think on his feet like no other speaker I've seen. Cory addresses a crowd as if he is talking to one person.

John Scalzi is as funny and entertaining as his books, and is a very lively speaker, also very comfortable speaking in front of a crowd.

An display case for an exhibit in the Merril Collection's reading room.

Time for some speculation. What does the Merril Collection look like in another 50 years? 

Lorna: The world wide web will evolve further. In fifty years, a researcher will task their AI with finding materials relevant to their project and a reliable source for the materials. Her avatar will talk to TPL's AI and the Merril Collection sub-routine will download requested materials with a bitcoin authenticity guarantee.

Annette: I believe it will continue to be a comfortable, welcoming space for readers of speculative fiction and a place for the community to congregate.  I hope that one day there will be plenty of compact shelving to protect our rarest treasures in their original formats, and that it will continue to showcase the best examples of this genre for many years to come. 

Kimberly: The Merril Collection will be the undisputed leader world leader of speculative fiction collections; a magnet for both international researchers and local aficionados of the speculative genres. The breadth and depth of the Collection and the expertise of the staff will be unrivalled by other institutions.

Science fiction writer Judith Merril in the Spaced-Out Library, then located at 566 Palmerston Ave., 1975. Courtesy Toronto Star Photograph Archive.

L'exposition 114 histoires x 114 étages présente les diverses cultures et communautés de notre ville à travers des anecdotes et des images de lieux emblématiques de Toronto, visibles depuis les niveaux d'observation de la Tour CN. Pour l’Halloween, la Tour CN et The Haunted Walk of Toronto ont fait équipe pour vous raconter des histoires de fantômes ayant pour toile de fond les plus célèbres lieux hantés de Toronto.

Le Fairmont Royal York

Le Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique avait de grandes ambitions lorsqu’il a ouvert l’hôtel Fairmont Royal York en 1929. Ce luxueux hôtel était alors le plus haut bâtiment du Commonwealth et souhaitait attirer une clientèle riche et célèbre.

Un client des dernières années – un auteur – a décidé d’en faire le sujet d’un livre. Pour son travail de recherche, il a élu domicile dans l’hôtel pendant un an. Il s’est alors aperçu qu’il n’était peut-être pas le seul à y habiter. Une nuit, il a été réveillé par des rires et des bruits de courses d’enfants dans le couloir. Quand il est allé voir, le couloir était vide.

Lorsqu’il a raconté l’anecdote au portier de l’hôtel, il a appris que les clients racontaient souvent avoir entendu des enfants sans pourtant les voir. Il a également appris qu’il y avait d’autres fantômes dans l’édifice. Des gens rapportent régulièrement avoir vu un spectre « flotter » dans l’hôtel. Ceux qui l’ont aperçu disent que seul le haut de son corps est visible et que l’apparition n’a pas de jambes. Les derniers étages de l’hôtel, où il se manifeste souvent, abritent uniquement de l’équipement électrique et des locaux d’entretien. Le public n’a pas accès à ces lieux, qui sont sous surveillance vidéo. Des ouvriers se trouvant à côté de l’escalier pour accéder au toit ont entendu des pas et des cris, mais les vidéos de surveillance ont montré qu’il n’y avait personne d’autre qu’eux à cet endroit.

L’Exposition nationale canadienne

La première exposition nationale canadienne date de 1879, mais le site où elle se tient a une histoire plus ancienne et tragique, la partie est du terrain ayant servi de champ de bataille lors de l’attaque de York par les Américains en 1813.

Bien que les soldats qui s’y sont battus ne soient plus de notre monde depuis longtemps, on dit que leurs esprits flottent toujours… et qu’ils sont en bonne compagnie. On raconte que l’édifice des services généraux abrite des fantômes. Une femme vêtue d’une robe longue et d’un grand chapeau a été aperçue par de nombreux employés. Elle était accompagnée d’une fillette don't les rires résonnent dans les couloirs. Un autre spectre, celui d’un gardien de sécurité mort depuis longtemps, ferait sa ronde, vérifiant les portes et éteignant des lumières.

Photos de l'exposition nationale canadienne des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Les Îles de Toronto – Le phare de Gibraltar Point

Au début du 19^e siècle, le secteur riverain de Toronto avait une toute autre allure. Les Îles de Toronto constituaient alors une péninsule reliée à la terre ferme. Les soldats postés au Fort York quittaient souvent leur fortin sur la terre ferme pour se rendre au phare de Gibraltar Point qui se trouve toujours sur l’île Ward.

Le premier gardien de phare s’appelait John Paul Radelmüller, bien connu des soldats pour sa bière de contrebande. La légende veut qu’une nuit, en 1815, Radelmüller ait reçu la visite de deux hommes. Il existe différentes versions de ce qui s’est passé cette nuit-là quand ces deux hommes ont frappé à la porte de Rademuller. Une chose est certaine, le gardien a été attaqué et tué. Les hommes ont été arrêtés, mais jamais condamnés, car on n’a jamais trouvé le corps de Rademuller. 

Des histoires ont commencé à circuler. Le fantôme d’un homme avait été aperçu, montant l’escalier qui mène en haut du phare ou errant désespérément autour de l’édifice. Plusieurs ont cru qu’il s’agissait de Radelmüller à la recherche des membres qu’il avait perdus. À la fin du 19^e siècle, George Durnan, alors gardien du phare, a découvert une mâchoire. Le mystère de ce meurtre a peut-être été percé, mais on dit encore apercevoir l’esprit de Radelmüller, tard le soir, patrouillant dans le site du phare.)

Photos du phare de Gibraltar Point des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Le quartier de la Distillerie 

La distillerie Gooderham et Worts a commencé ses activités en 1837 alors que l’Anglais James Worts et son beau-frère William Gooderham ont agrandi le site de leur moulin à farine, près du quartier riverain de Toronto, pour y installer une distillerie. James Worts est malheureusement décédé sans voir son entreprise prospérer. Trois ans seulement après leur arrivée au pays, sa femme et son enfant sont morts à l’accouchement. Un matin, peu de temps après, le corps de James Worts a été retrouvé au fond d’un puits qui se trouvait alors sur le site. Personne ne sait vraiment ce qui s’est passé. Ils sont toutefois plusieurs à croire que Worts n’a jamais quitté l’entreprise qu’il a fondée.

Au fil des ans, plusieurs apparitions ont été signalées dans les rues du quartier de la Distillerie. Pendant les travaux de restauration précédant l’ouverture du site au grand public, les ouvriers qui travaillaient sur le toit ont souvent signalé avoir vu l’ombre d’un homme errant sur les lieux. Ces apparitions avaient lieu habituellement très tôt en matinée alors que peu de gens se trouvaient sur le site. Dans plusieurs commerces du quartier, des employés racontent avoir vu un homme vêtu à l’ancienne devant leur vitrine. Au second coup d’oeil, l’homme avait disparu. Il s’agit peut-être du spectre de James Worts qui, de l’au-delà, supervise toujours les activités de sa distillerie. D’année en année, tellement d’histoires de fantômes ont été relatées qu’il y a maintenant une Marche hantée don't le parcours est axé uniquement sur les esprits du quartier de la Distillerie.

Photos de la distillerie Gooderham et Worts des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Le Musée royal de l’Ontario

Le Musée royal de l’Ontario a ouvert ses portes en mars 1914. Charles Currelly, un archéologue travaillant au Moyen-Orient, en a été le premier conservateur. Il adorait son travail au musée. C’était de notoriété publique qu’il travaillait jusqu’à tard en soirée, longtemps après le départ de ses collègues. La radio lui tenait toujours compagnie dans le musée désert. Il gardait même un lit de camp dans son bureau pour n’avoir qu’à passer une chemise de nuit et se coucher au lieu de retourner chez lui. Il a poursuivi cette tradition jusqu’à sa retraite en 1946.

À sa mort, dix ans plus tard, des employés du Musée royal de l’Ontario ont commencé à croire que Charles Currelly était peut-être revenu hanter son lieu de prédilection. Plusieurs personnes disent avoir aperçu la silhouette d’un homme portant une vieille chemise de nuit et errant dans les couloirs. Ceux qui ont vu cette apparition disent qu’elle ressemble exactement aux photos de Charles Currelly. Les employés qui travaillent tard en soirée disent avoir entendu de la musique des années 1920 et 1930 jouant au loin. Quand ils s’aventurent dans les couloirs sombres du musée pour trouver la source de cette musique, celle-ci cesse et il n’y a personne d’autre qu’eux.

Photos du musée royal de l’Ontario des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Fort York

La garnison de Fort York compte parmi les premiers établissements britanniques dans ce qui s’appelait alors Muddy York. Plusieurs de ses édifices datent de 1793. Pendant la Guerre de 1812, les Américains ont attaqué Fort York. Les soldats de Fort York ne disposaient pas de suffisamment d’effectifs et de moyens pour faire face aux troupes ennemies, mais avant de battre en retraite, ils ont mis le feu aux poudres. L'énorme explosion qui en est résultée a blessé et tué de nombreux Américains. Une fosse commune aurait été creusée pour enterrer les corps, mais elle n’a jamais été retrouvée. Compte tenu du caractère sanglant de cette bataille, on ne sera pas étonné que des visiteurs et des membres du personnel croient le fort hanté.

Un soir, à la fermeture, un employé aurait remarqué de la lumière dans le quartier des officiers. S’approchant pour voir ce qu’il en était, il aurait vu des silhouettes rassemblées à table, comme pour un repas de fête. Plus il approchait du bâtiment, plus les lumières s’atténuaient et plus les silhouettes s’effaçaient. Quand il a finalement atteint le bâtiment, il n’y avait plus signe de fête, plus rien. Il n’a jamais trouvé d’explication à ce qui s’était passé ce soir-là.

Photos de Fort York des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Les théâtres Elgin et Winter Garden

L’Elgin et le Winter Garden ont été construits en 1913 et constituent le dernier théâtre à salles superposées encore exploité au monde. Le Winter Garden a accueilli des productions de vaudeville jusqu’à ce que le genre perde en popularité forçant la fermeture de cette salle. En 1981, la Fiducie du patrimoine ontarien achète et restaure le site. Pour respecter au maximum l’aspect original du bâtiment, des fauteuils ont été achetés à Chicago dans un théâtre soeur. Un fauteuil a été recouvert d’un tissu de couleur différente. Il s’agit du dernier fauteuil occupé par le célèbre gangster John Dillinger avant qu’il soit abattu à l’extérieur du théâtre. Ce fauteuil est toujours dans le Winter Garden.

Les histoires de fantômes du Winter Garden ne manquent pas depuis sa réouverture après plus de 60 ans d’inactivité. Plusieurs histoires mentionnent la faible musique d’un trombone quand l’endroit est désert. Un groupe de bénévoles croient qu’il peut s’agir du fantôme d’un certain Sam qui jouait du trombone dans un orchestre en 1918. La légende veut qu’il soit mort d’une chute dans la fosse d’orchestre et qu’il n’ait jamais cessé de jouer de son trombone depuis.

Photos du théâtre Elgin des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Les vaisseaux fantômes du lac Ontario

Les Grands Lacs sont magnifiques, mais leurs eaux peuvent être dangereuses et plusieurs histoires de naufrages et de vaisseaux fantômes y sont associées. Notre lac Ontario est l’hôte de plusieurs de ces vaisseaux fantômes. On dit qu’ils portent malchance à ceux qui les voient voguer sur le lac. Pendant la Guerre de 1812, une flotte britannique se trouvait juste au nord d’une flotte américaine cantonnée de l’autre côté du lac. Les vents sont tombés et Britanniques et Américains ont dû attendre au lendemain pour poursuivre leur route. Le jour suivant, très tôt, un grain violent a pris les deux flottes par surprise. Les goélettes américaines Scourge et Hamilton ont chaviré et coulé entraînant 50 marins dans la noyade. Un survivant a raconté que les hommes ont été pris au piège alors qu’ils dormaient. Impossible de les sauver sous la pluie battante et les éclairs qui illuminaient le ciel. La tragédie s’est déroulée en quelques minutes. 

Plusieurs vieux loups de mer ont depuis raconté qu’on peut voir deux vaisseaux fantômes émerger du brouillard par les nuits froides et sombres. Des marins disent avoir vu des hommes se tenir immobiles sur le pont alors que les bateaux s’ébranlaient et disparaissaient sous les flots. On dit que les voir attire le mauvais sort. En 1942, l’équipage d’un navire appelé le Cayuga a juré avoir vu les deux vaisseaux fantômes juste avant le coucher du soleil. Un vieux steward qui se trouvait à bord les a prévenus qu’un malheur allait arriver. Peu l’ont cru. Le lendemain matin, c’est le steward qu’on a retrouvé mort.

Osgoode Hall

La construction du Osgoode Hall a débuté en 1829. D’autres édifices se sont ensuite ajoutés au bâtiment principal. Il doit son nom à William Osgoode, le premier juge en chef du Haut-Canada. Le bâtiment a toujours été utilisé par le Barreau du Haut-Canada, mais a aussi abrité la Osgoode Hall Law School de 1889 à 1968. L’édifice est entouré d’une clôture en fonte.

Le Osgoode Hall a la réputation d’être hanté depuis au moins 50 ans. Cela remonte à une soirée alors que le gardien du Barreau faisait sa ronde. Il approchait de la salle du Convocation Hall quand il a entendu un bruit de foule. Il est entré dans la pièce et a eu la surprise de la trouver complètement vide et subitement silencieuse. D’autres visiteurs du Osgoode Hall ont rapporté avoir entendu ces bruits de foule fantomatiques émanant de cette pièce pourtant vide. Les responsables du bâtiment n’ont aucune explication pour ces curieuses manifestations.

Photos de l'Osgoode Hall des archives numériques de l'Ontario

L’ancien hôtel de ville

L’ancien hôtel de ville a ouvert ses portes en 1899 et a accueilli l’administration de la ville jusqu’à la construction de l’actuel hôtel de ville, situé de l’autre côté de la rue Bay. Le bâtiment a aussi servi de palais de justice du comté de York. C’est E. J. Lennox, mieux connu pour avoir dessiné la Casa Loma, qui a conçu l’édifice d'origine. L’ancien hôtel de ville abrite maintenant la Cour de justice de l’Ontario.

La première personne a avoir relaté une expérience surnaturelle dans ce bâtiment a été un des juges qui y siégeait. Il a dit avoir entendu des pas derrière lui dans l’escalier arrière, et avoir senti qu’on tirait sur sa toge bien qu’il n’y ait personne avec lui. Un autre juge a raconté avoir vécu la même expérience. D’autres magistrats ont emboîté le pas. Plusieurs disent aussi avoir entendu des gémissements provenant des cellules, là où les prisonniers du comté de York étaient détenus en attendant leur sentence.

C’est la salle d’audience 33 qu’on dit la plus hantée. C’est dans cette salle que les deux derniers prisonniers à être pendus au Canada, Ronald Turpin et Arthur Lucas, ont reçu leur sentence pour le meurtre d’un policier.

Photos de l’ancien hôtel de ville des archives numériques de l'Ontario

Liens connexes

• Exposition virtuelle: 114 histoires X 114 étage
• Histoires de fantômes
• English version

Par La marche hantée de Toronto.

The 114 Stories / 114 Storeys exhibit showcases our city’s diverse cultures and communities through stories and images of famous Toronto sites, visible from the CN Tower's observation levels. In the spirit of Halloween, the CN Tower and The Haunted Walk of Toronto partnered to share some of the city’s spookiest stories, set against the backdrop of some of Toronto’s best-known haunts.

The Fairmont Royal York

The Canadian Pacific Railway had big dreams when it opened the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in 1929. The luxury hotel was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth, and aimed to attract the rich and famous for a stay.

One guest in recent years, a writer, chose the hotel as the subject for his book. The research involved living in the hotel for a year. Over his time there, he came to realize he may not have been the only resident. One night, he woke up to the sound of children laughing and running up and down the hallway. When he looked to see what was going on, the hallway was empty.

When he told the doorman this story, he learned that unseen children were a common story from guests of the hotel. He also learned that they weren’t the only ghosts in the building. Another regularly reported spirit is seen "floating around" the hotel. Those who have seen him say they only see the upper body, and that the apparition has no legs. The top floors of the hotel, where he is often seen, house only electrical equipment and maintenance rooms. There is no public access to this area, and it is under video surveillance. Workers near the staircase leading up to the roof have heard footsteps and screaming, but security videos showed no sign of anyone else in the area.

The CNE

The Canadian National Exhibition (or CNE) has been around since 1879, but the grounds themselves have a longer and more bloody history. The eastern part of the site was a battlefield that saw action when Americans attacked York in 1813.

While the soldiers who fought there are long gone, some say their spirits are not, and they’re in good company. The General Services building is known to be haunted by a few spirits. A woman in a long dress and a big hat has been spotted by numerous employees, accompanied by a giggling little girl. The giggles echo throughout the hallways. The other ghost is thought to be that of a long-departed security guard who may be continuing his patrol, checking doors and turning off lights as he wanders.

Historic photos of the CNE from Digital Archive Ontario

Toronto Islands – The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

In the early 1800s, the Toronto waterfront looked different than it does today. The Toronto Islands were a peninsula, connected to the mainland. Soldiers from Fort York would often walk over from their blockhouse on the mainland to the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, which still stands on Ward’s Island.

The first lighthouse keeper was a man named John Paul Radelmüller, who quickly became well-known among soldiers for his bootleg beer. Local legend has it that one night in 1815, Radelmüller was visited by two men. There are different stories about what took place when these two men knocked on Radelmüller's door, but one thing is certain, the keeper was attacked and killed. They were arrested but never convicted because Radelmüller’s body was never found. 

Stories began to circulate of a ghost-like man seen walking up the long staircase to the beacon of the lighthouse or desperately searching around outside the building. Many believed it was Radelmüller searching for his lost body parts. In the late 1800s, the new lighthouse keeper, George Durnan, uncovered a jawbone. The mystery of his murder may have been solved, but reports continue that the spirit of Radelmüller can still be seen late at night patrolling the grounds of the lighthouse.

Historic photos of the Gibraltar Point lighthouse from Digital Archive Ontario

This CBC recording from 1958 tells the story of Mr. Radelmüller.

Distillery District 

The Gooderham and Worts Distillery began in 1837 when English emigrant James Worts and his brother-in-law William Gooderham expanded their flour mill near Toronto’s waterfront to include a distillery. James Worts unfortunately didn't live to see the boom years of his business. Only three years after arriving, his wife and child died in childbirth. One morning not long after, Worts' body was found at the bottom of a well which once stood on the site. No one knows for sure what happened, but since his tragic death, many believe that Worts never left the business he started.

Over the years, there have been numerous sightings of a spirit on the streets of the Distillery District. When the site was undergoing renovations to open to the public, the workers would often report seeing the shadowy figure of a man wandering the grounds as they worked up on the roofs. These sightings were usually very early in the morning when there were few people around. Numerous businesses throughout the area have told tales of employees noticing a man standing at the window of their shops in old-fashioned clothing. Whenever they would look again, no one was there. Perhaps the spirit is that of James Worts, continuing to oversee work in his distillery even after his death. The site has produced so many ghost stories over the years that there is now a Haunted Walk tour focusing solely on the spirits of the Distillery District.

Historic photos of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery from Digital Archive Ontario

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

The Royal Ontario Museum opened in March of 1914. The first curator was Charles Currelly, an archaeologist in the Middle East. He loved his work at the museum, and was known to work late into the night, long after everyone else went home. He always turned on his radio to keep him company in the empty museum. He even kept a cot in his office so that he could simply change into a nightshirt instead of bothering to go home for the evening. He carried on this tradition until his retirement in 1946.

Following his death ten years later, other employees of the Royal Ontario Museum began to suspect that Currelly may have returned to haunt his favourite place. Many people have spotted the figure of a man wandering the hallways, often seen in an old nightshirt. Those who have seen him say he looks just like pictures of Currelly. Staff working late at night in their offices have reported the sound of vintage music, from the 1920s or 1930s, playing off in the distance. When they wander out into the dark halls of the museum to find the source, they find the music has stopped, and they are alone.

Historic photos of the ROM from Digital Archive Ontario

Fort York

Fort York was among the first British settlements in what was then known as Muddy York, and many of its buildings date to 1793. During the War of 1812, the Americans attacked York. Without the men or means to defeat the oncoming troops, the soldiers at Fort York fled the fort, but before leaving they ignited the gun powder magazine. This huge explosion injured and killed many Americans in its wake. A mass grave is believed to have been used to bury the bodies, although it has never been found. With such a bloody battle in the fort's history, it may not come as a surprise that some visitors and members of the staff have said they believe the fort may be haunted.

A staff member was closing up one night when he noticed lights on in the Officer's Quarters. When he went to investigate, he said he could see figures in the building gathered around the dining table, seemingly holding a dinner party. The closer he got to the building, the dimmer the lights became and the fainter the apparitions appeared. Finally, he reached the building, and all signs of the dinner party had vanished right before his eyes. He could find no explanation for what he had seen that night.

Historic photos of Fort York from Digital Archive Ontario

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre

The Elgin and Winter Garden was built in 1913 and is the last operating double-decker theatre in the world. Vaudeville productions were common at the Winter Garden, until its decline in popularity forced its closure in 1928. In 1981, the Ontario Heritage Trust purchased and restored the site. To keep it as true as possible to the original, seats were bought from its sister theatre in Chicago. One seat was upholstered in a different colour. This was the last seat that John Dillinger, the famous gangster, sat in before he was shot down outside the theatre. The reupholstered seat is still in the Winter Garden.

Ghost stories have been common since the Winter Garden was re-opened after over 60 dormant years. There have been numerous reports of the faint sound of a trombone playing when no one is around. A group of volunteers believed this could be the ghost of a man named Sam, who was a trombone player in the band in 1918. Legend has it that he fell to his death in the orchestra pit, and perhaps continues to play his music in the theatre to this day.

Historic photos of the Elgin Theatre from Digital Archive Ontario

Ghost Ships of Lake Ontario

The Great Lakes are beautiful, but at times their waters can be perilous. There are many stories of shipwrecks and ghost ships. Our own Lake Ontario has many such ghostly vessels that are said to foreshadow bad luck for those who see their phantom sails. During the War of 1812, an American fleet was stationed just across the lake, while the British fleet was just north of them. The winds died down on the lake and both sides had to wait overnight before being able to get underway. Early the next day, as both fleets lay calmly on the lake, a violent squall took them by surprise. Tragically, the Scourge, and another American schooner, the Hamilton, both capsized and sank, drowning over 50 sailors. A surviving sailor described that men were trapped where they slept, and nothing could be done as the rain came pouring down and lightning lit up the sky. The tragedy was all but over in a matter of minutes. 

Many old sailors have since shared the tale that two ghost ships will emerge from the thick fog on cold dark nights. Mariners say that they have seen men standing on the decks but not moving as the boats shudder and then disappear below the waves. Seeing them was always said to be a bad omen. In 1942, the crewmen of a steamer called the Cayuga claimed to see these two ghost ships just before sunset. An old steward on board warned the men that something bad would happen but few believed him. The next morning, the steward himself was found dead.

Osgoode Hall

Construction on Osgoode Hall began in 1829, although there have been many additions to the building since that time. It was named for William Osgoode, who was the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The building has always been used by the Law Society of Upper Canada, but also housed the Osgoode Hall Law School from 1889 to 1968. The building is surrounded by a cast-iron fence.

The building’s reputation for being haunted stretches back at least 50 years. One evening, the superintendent of the Law Society was doing his rounds. As he got closer to Convocation Hall, he heard the sound of a crowd. When he entered the room, he was very surprised to find it was completely empty. The sound abruptly stopped. Other visitors to Osgoode Hall have since reported their own encounters with these phantom crowd noises emanating from this otherwise empty room. The caretakers of the building have no explanation for these strange occurrences.

Historic photos of Osgoode Hall from Digital Archive Ontario

Old City Hall

Toronto’s former City Hall was opened in 1899. It was used by the City’s administration until the current City Hall was constructed on the other side of Bay Street. The building also served as the courthouse for York County. The architect of the original building was E.J. Lennox, most well-known for his design of Casa Loma. Today Old City Hall is the home of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The first person to report a ghostly experience in the building was one of the judges, who said he heard footsteps walking behind him in the rear staircase and felt someone tugging at his robe when there was no one there. A different judge then reported the same experience, followed by many others. Many also say they have heard sounds of moaning coming from the cells, where York County prisoners would have been held as they awaited their fates.

The room said to be the most haunted is Courtroom 33. This was the place where the final two men to be hanged in Canada, Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas, were sentenced to die for killing a police officer.

Historic photos of Old City Hall from Digital Archive Ontario

Related Resources

• Virtual Exhibit: 114 Stories X 114 Storeys
• 14 recommended recent horror books
• Ontario ghost stories
• Version française

By The Haunted Walk of Toronto.

The 114 Stories / 114 Storeys exhibit showcases our city’s diverse cultures and communities through stories and images of famous Toronto sites, visible from the CN Tower’s observation levels. In the spirit of Halloween, the CN Tower and The Haunted Walk of Toronto partnered to share some of the city’s spookiest stories, set against the backdrop of some of Toronto’s best-known haunts.

The Fairmont Royal York

The Canadian Pacific Railway had big dreams when it opened the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in 1929. The luxury hotel was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth, and aimed to attract the rich and famous for a stay.

One guest in recent years, a writer, chose the hotel as the subject for his book. The research involved living in the hotel for a year. Over his time there, he came to realize he may not have been the only resident. One night, he woke up to the sound of children laughing and running up and down the hallway. When he looked to see what was going on, the hallway was empty.

When he told the doorman this story, he learned that unseen children were a common story from guests of the hotel. He also learned that they weren’t the only ghosts in the building. Another regularly reported spirit is seen “floating around” the hotel. Those who have seen him say they only see the upper body, and that the apparition has no legs. The top floors of the hotel, where he is often seen, house only electrical equipment and maintenance rooms. There is no public access to this area, and it is under video surveillance. Workers near the staircase leading up to the roof have heard footsteps and screaming, but security videos showed no sign of anyone else in the area.

The CNE

The Canadian National Exhibition (or CNE) has been around since 1879, but the grounds themselves have a longer and more bloody history. The eastern part of the site was a battlefield that saw action when Americans attacked York in 1813.

While the soldiers who fought there are long gone, some say their spirits are not, and they’re in good company. The General Services building is known to be haunted by a few spirits. A woman in a long dress and a big hat has been spotted by numerous employees, accompanied by a giggling little girl. The giggles echo throughout the hallways. The other ghost is thought to be that of a long-departed security guard who may be continuing his patrol, checking doors and turning off lights as he wanders.

Historic photos of the CNE from Digital Archive Ontario

Toronto Islands – The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

In the early 1800s, the Toronto waterfront looked different than it does today. The Toronto Islands were a peninsula, connected to the mainland. Soldiers from Fort York would often walk over from their blockhouse on the mainland to the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, which still stands on Ward’s Island.

The first lighthouse keeper was a man named John Paul Radelmüller, who quickly became well-known among soldiers for his bootleg beer. Local legend has it that one night in 1815, Radelmüller was visited by two men. There are different stories about what took place when these two men knocked on Radelmüller’s door, but one thing is certain, the keeper was attacked and killed. They were arrested but never convicted because Radelmüller’s body was never found. 

Stories began to circulate of a ghost-like man seen walking up the long staircase to the beacon of the lighthouse or desperately searching around outside the building. Many believed it was Radelmüller searching for his lost body parts. In the late 1800s, the new lighthouse keeper, George Durnan, uncovered a jawbone. The mystery of his murder may have been solved, but reports continue that the spirit of Radelmüller can still be seen late at night patrolling the grounds of the lighthouse.

Historic photos of the Gibraltar Point lighthouse from Digital Archive Ontario

This CBC recording from 1958 tells the story of Mr. Radelmüller.

Distillery District 

The Gooderham and Worts Distillery began in 1837 when English emigrant James Worts and his brother-in-law William Gooderham expanded their flour mill near Toronto’s waterfront to include a distillery. James Worts unfortunately didn’t live to see the boom years of his business. Only three years after arriving, his wife and child died in childbirth. One morning not long after, Worts’ body was found at the bottom of a well which once stood on the site. No one knows for sure what happened, but since his tragic death, many believe that Worts never left the business he started.

Over the years, there have been numerous sightings of a spirit on the streets of the Distillery District. When the site was undergoing renovations to open to the public, the workers would often report seeing the shadowy figure of a man wandering the grounds as they worked up on the roofs. These sightings were usually very early in the morning when there were few people around. Numerous businesses throughout the area have told tales of employees noticing a man standing at the window of their shops in old-fashioned clothing. Whenever they would look again, no one was there. Perhaps the spirit is that of James Worts, continuing to oversee work in his distillery even after his death. The site has produced so many ghost stories over the years that there is now a Haunted Walk tour focusing solely on the spirits of the Distillery District.

Historic photos of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery from Digital Archive Ontario

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

The Royal Ontario Museum opened in March of 1914. The first curator was Charles Currelly, an archaeologist in the Middle East. He loved his work at the museum, and was known to work late into the night, long after everyone else went home. He always turned on his radio to keep him company in the empty museum. He even kept a cot in his office so that he could simply change into a nightshirt instead of bothering to go home for the evening. He carried on this tradition until his retirement in 1946.

Following his death ten years later, other employees of the Royal Ontario Museum began to suspect that Currelly may have returned to haunt his favourite place. Many people have spotted the figure of a man wandering the hallways, often seen in an old nightshirt. Those who have seen him say he looks just like pictures of Currelly. Staff working late at night in their offices have reported the sound of vintage music, from the 1920s or 1930s, playing off in the distance. When they wander out into the dark halls of the museum to find the source, they find the music has stopped, and they are alone.

Historic photos of the ROM from Digital Archive Ontario

Fort York

Fort York was among the first British settlements in what was then known as Muddy York, and many of its buildings date to 1793. During the War of 1812, the Americans attacked York. Without the men or means to defeat the oncoming troops, the soldiers at Fort York fled the fort, but before leaving they ignited the gun powder magazine. This huge explosion injured and killed many Americans in its wake. A mass grave is believed to have been used to bury the bodies, although it has never been found. With such a bloody battle in the fort’s history, it may not come as a surprise that some visitors and members of the staff have said they believe the fort may be haunted.

A staff member was closing up one night when he noticed lights on in the Officer’s Quarters. When he went to investigate, he said he could see figures in the building gathered around the dining table, seemingly holding a dinner party. The closer he got to the building, the dimmer the lights became and the fainter the apparitions appeared. Finally, he reached the building, and all signs of the dinner party had vanished right before his eyes. He could find no explanation for what he had seen that night.

Historic photos of Fort York from Digital Archive Ontario

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre

The Elgin and Winter Garden was built in 1913 and is the last operating double-decker theatre in the world. Vaudeville productions were common at the Winter Garden, until its decline in popularity forced its closure in 1928. In 1981, the Ontario Heritage Trust purchased and restored the site. To keep it as true as possible to the original, seats were bought from its sister theatre in Chicago. One seat was upholstered in a different colour. This was the last seat that John Dillinger, the famous gangster, sat in before he was shot down outside the theatre. The reupholstered seat is still in the Winter Garden.

Ghost stories have been common since the Winter Garden was re-opened after over 60 dormant years. There have been numerous reports of the faint sound of a trombone playing when no one is around. A group of volunteers believed this could be the ghost of a man named Sam, who was a trombone player in the band in 1918. Legend has it that he fell to his death in the orchestra pit, and perhaps continues to play his music in the theatre to this day.

Historic photos of the Elgin Theatre from Digital Archive Ontario

Ghost Ships of Lake Ontario

The Great Lakes are beautiful, but at times their waters can be perilous. There are many stories of shipwrecks and ghost ships. Our own Lake Ontario has many such ghostly vessels that are said to foreshadow bad luck for those who see their phantom sails. During the War of 1812, an American fleet was stationed just across the lake, while the British fleet was just north of them. The winds died down on the lake and both sides had to wait overnight before being able to get underway. Early the next day, as both fleets lay calmly on the lake, a violent squall took them by surprise. Tragically, the Scourge, and another American schooner, the Hamilton, both capsized and sank, drowning over 50 sailors. A surviving sailor described that men were trapped where they slept, and nothing could be done as the rain came pouring down and lightning lit up the sky. The tragedy was all but over in a matter of minutes. 

Many old sailors have since shared the tale that two ghost ships will emerge from the thick fog on cold dark nights. Mariners say that they have seen men standing on the decks but not moving as the boats shudder and then disappear below the waves. Seeing them was always said to be a bad omen. In 1942, the crewmen of a steamer called the Cayuga claimed to see these two ghost ships just before sunset. An old steward on board warned the men that something bad would happen but few believed him. The next morning, the steward himself was found dead.

Osgoode Hall

Construction on Osgoode Hall began in 1829, although there have been many additions to the building since that time. It was named for William Osgoode, who was the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The building has always been used by the Law Society of Upper Canada, but also housed the Osgoode Hall Law School from 1889 to 1968. The building is surrounded by a cast-iron fence.

The building’s reputation for being haunted stretches back at least 50 years. One evening, the superintendent of the Law Society was doing his rounds. As he got closer to Convocation Hall, he heard the sound of a crowd. When he entered the room, he was very surprised to find it was completely empty. The sound abruptly stopped. Other visitors to Osgoode Hall have since reported their own encounters with these phantom crowd noises emanating from this otherwise empty room. The caretakers of the building have no explanation for these strange occurrences.

Historic photos of Osgoode Hall from Digital Archive Ontario

Old City Hall

Toronto’s former City Hall was opened in 1899. It was used by the City’s administration until the current City Hall was constructed on the other side of Bay Street. The building also served as the courthouse for York County. The architect of the original building was E.J. Lennox, most well-known for his design of Casa Loma. Today Old City Hall is the home of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The first person to report a ghostly experience in the building was one of the judges, who said he heard footsteps walking behind him in the rear staircase and felt someone tugging at his robe when there was no one there. A different judge then reported the same experience, followed by many others. Many also say they have heard sounds of moaning coming from the cells, where York County prisoners would have been held as they awaited their fates.

The room said to be the most haunted is Courtroom 33. This was the place where the final two men to be hanged in Canada, Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas, were sentenced to die for killing a police officer.

Historic photos of Old City Hall from Digital Archive Ontario

Related Resources

• Virtual Exhibit: 114 Stories X 114 Storeys
• 14 recommended recent horror books
• Ontario ghost stories
• Version française [link to be added]

By The Haunted Walk of Toronto.

L’exposition 114 histoires x 114 étages présente les diverses cultures et communautés de notre ville à travers des anecdotes et des images de lieux emblématiques de Toronto, visibles depuis les niveaux d’observation de la Tour CN. Pour l’Halloween, la Tour CN et The Haunted Walk of Toronto ont fait équipe pour vous raconter des histoires de fantômes ayant pour toile de fond les plus célèbres lieux hantés de Toronto.

Le Fairmont Royal York

Le Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique avait de grandes ambitions lorsqu’il a ouvert l’hôtel Fairmont Royal York en 1929. Ce luxueux hôtel était alors le plus haut bâtiment du Commonwealth et souhaitait attirer une clientèle riche et célèbre.

Un client des dernières années – un auteur – a décidé d’en faire le sujet d’un livre. Pour son travail de recherche, il a élu domicile dans l’hôtel pendant un an. Il s’est alors aperçu qu’il n’était peut-être pas le seul à y habiter. Une nuit, il a été réveillé par des rires et des bruits de courses d’enfants dans le couloir. Quand il est allé voir, le couloir était vide.

Lorsqu’il a raconté l’anecdote au portier de l’hôtel, il a appris que les clients racontaient souvent avoir entendu des enfants sans pourtant les voir. Il a également appris qu’il y avait d’autres fantômes dans l’édifice. Des gens rapportent régulièrement avoir vu un spectre « flotter » dans l’hôtel. Ceux qui l’ont aperçu disent que seul le haut de son corps est visible et que l’apparition n’a pas de jambes. Les derniers étages de l’hôtel, où il se manifeste souvent, abritent uniquement de l’équipement électrique et des locaux d’entretien. Le public n’a pas accès à ces lieux, qui sont sous surveillance vidéo. Des ouvriers se trouvant à côté de l’escalier pour accéder au toit ont entendu des pas et des cris, mais les vidéos de surveillance ont montré qu’il n’y avait personne d’autre qu’eux à cet endroit.

L’Exposition nationale canadienne

La première exposition nationale canadienne date de 1879, mais le site où elle se tient a une histoire plus ancienne et tragique, la partie est du terrain ayant servi de champ de bataille lors de l’attaque de York par les Américains en 1813.

Bien que les soldats qui s’y sont battus ne soient plus de notre monde depuis longtemps, on dit que leurs esprits flottent toujours… et qu’ils sont en bonne compagnie. On raconte que l’édifice des services généraux abrite des fantômes. Une femme vêtue d’une robe longue et d’un grand chapeau a été aperçue par de nombreux employés. Elle était accompagnée d’une fillette don't les rires résonnent dans les couloirs. Un autre spectre, celui d’un gardien de sécurité mort depuis longtemps, ferait sa ronde, vérifiant les portes et éteignant des lumières.

Photos de l’exposition nationale canadienne des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Les Îles de Toronto – Le phare de Gibraltar Point

Au début du 19^e siècle, le secteur riverain de Toronto avait une toute autre allure. Les Îles de Toronto constituaient alors une péninsule reliée à la terre ferme. Les soldats postés au Fort York quittaient souvent leur fortin sur la terre ferme pour se rendre au phare de Gibraltar Point qui se trouve toujours sur l’île Ward.

Le premier gardien de phare s’appelait John Paul Radelmüller, bien connu des soldats pour sa bière de contrebande. La légende veut qu’une nuit, en 1815, Radelmüller ait reçu la visite de deux hommes. Il existe différentes versions de ce qui s’est passé cette nuit-là quand ces deux hommes ont frappé à la porte de Rademuller. Une chose est certaine, le gardien a été attaqué et tué. Les hommes ont été arrêtés, mais jamais condamnés, car on n’a jamais trouvé le corps de Rademuller. 

Des histoires ont commencé à circuler. Le fantôme d’un homme avait été aperçu, montant l’escalier qui mène en haut du phare ou errant désespérément autour de l’édifice. Plusieurs ont cru qu’il s’agissait de Radelmüller à la recherche des membres qu’il avait perdus. À la fin du 19^e siècle, George Durnan, alors gardien du phare, a découvert une mâchoire. Le mystère de ce meurtre a peut-être été percé, mais on dit encore apercevoir l’esprit de Radelmüller, tard le soir, patrouillant dans le site du phare.)

Photos du phare de Gibraltar Point des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Le quartier de la Distillerie 

La distillerie Gooderham et Worts a commencé ses activités en 1837 alors que l’Anglais James Worts et son beau-frère William Gooderham ont agrandi le site de leur moulin à farine, près du quartier riverain de Toronto, pour y installer une distillerie. James Worts est malheureusement décédé sans voir son entreprise prospérer. Trois ans seulement après leur arrivée au pays, sa femme et son enfant sont morts à l’accouchement. Un matin, peu de temps après, le corps de James Worts a été retrouvé au fond d’un puits qui se trouvait alors sur le site. Personne ne sait vraiment ce qui s’est passé. Ils sont toutefois plusieurs à croire que Worts n’a jamais quitté l’entreprise qu’il a fondée.

Au fil des ans, plusieurs apparitions ont été signalées dans les rues du quartier de la Distillerie. Pendant les travaux de restauration précédant l’ouverture du site au grand public, les ouvriers qui travaillaient sur le toit ont souvent signalé avoir vu l’ombre d’un homme errant sur les lieux. Ces apparitions avaient lieu habituellement très tôt en matinée alors que peu de gens se trouvaient sur le site. Dans plusieurs commerces du quartier, des employés racontent avoir vu un homme vêtu à l’ancienne devant leur vitrine. Au second coup d’oeil, l’homme avait disparu. Il s’agit peut-être du spectre de James Worts qui, de l’au-delà, supervise toujours les activités de sa distillerie. D’année en année, tellement d’histoires de fantômes ont été relatées qu’il y a maintenant une Marche hantée don't le parcours est axé uniquement sur les esprits du quartier de la Distillerie.

Photos de la distillerie Gooderham et Worts des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Le Musée royal de l’Ontario

Le Musée royal de l’Ontario a ouvert ses portes en mars 1914. Charles Currelly, un archéologue travaillant au Moyen-Orient, en a été le premier conservateur. Il adorait son travail au musée. C’était de notoriété publique qu’il travaillait jusqu’à tard en soirée, longtemps après le départ de ses collègues. La radio lui tenait toujours compagnie dans le musée désert. Il gardait même un lit de camp dans son bureau pour n’avoir qu’à passer une chemise de nuit et se coucher au lieu de retourner chez lui. Il a poursuivi cette tradition jusqu’à sa retraite en 1946.

À sa mort, dix ans plus tard, des employés du Musée royal de l’Ontario ont commencé à croire que Charles Currelly était peut-être revenu hanter son lieu de prédilection. Plusieurs personnes disent avoir aperçu la silhouette d’un homme portant une vieille chemise de nuit et errant dans les couloirs. Ceux qui ont vu cette apparition disent qu’elle ressemble exactement aux photos de Charles Currelly. Les employés qui travaillent tard en soirée disent avoir entendu de la musique des années 1920 et 1930 jouant au loin. Quand ils s’aventurent dans les couloirs sombres du musée pour trouver la source de cette musique, celle-ci cesse et il n’y a personne d’autre qu’eux.

Photos du musée royal de l’Ontario des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Fort York

La garnison de Fort York compte parmi les premiers établissements britanniques dans ce qui s’appelait alors Muddy York. Plusieurs de ses édifices datent de 1793. Pendant la Guerre de 1812, les Américains ont attaqué Fort York. Les soldats de Fort York ne disposaient pas de suffisamment d’effectifs et de moyens pour faire face aux troupes ennemies, mais avant de battre en retraite, ils ont mis le feu aux poudres. L’énorme explosion qui en est résultée a blessé et tué de nombreux Américains. Une fosse commune aurait été creusée pour enterrer les corps, mais elle n’a jamais été retrouvée. Compte tenu du caractère sanglant de cette bataille, on ne sera pas étonné que des visiteurs et des membres du personnel croient le fort hanté.

Un soir, à la fermeture, un employé aurait remarqué de la lumière dans le quartier des officiers. S’approchant pour voir ce qu’il en était, il aurait vu des silhouettes rassemblées à table, comme pour un repas de fête. Plus il approchait du bâtiment, plus les lumières s’atténuaient et plus les silhouettes s’effaçaient. Quand il a finalement atteint le bâtiment, il n’y avait plus signe de fête, plus rien. Il n’a jamais trouvé d’explication à ce qui s’était passé ce soir-là.

Photos de Fort York des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Les théâtres Elgin et Winter Garden

L’Elgin et le Winter Garden ont été construits en 1913 et constituent le dernier théâtre à salles superposées encore exploité au monde. Le Winter Garden a accueilli des productions de vaudeville jusqu’à ce que le genre perde en popularité forçant la fermeture de cette salle. En 1981, la Fiducie du patrimoine ontarien achète et restaure le site. Pour respecter au maximum l’aspect original du bâtiment, des fauteuils ont été achetés à Chicago dans un théâtre soeur. Un fauteuil a été recouvert d’un tissu de couleur différente. Il s’agit du dernier fauteuil occupé par le célèbre gangster John Dillinger avant qu’il soit abattu à l’extérieur du théâtre. Ce fauteuil est toujours dans le Winter Garden.

Les histoires de fantômes du Winter Garden ne manquent pas depuis sa réouverture après plus de 60 ans d’inactivité. Plusieurs histoires mentionnent la faible musique d’un trombone quand l’endroit est désert. Un groupe de bénévoles croient qu’il peut s’agir du fantôme d’un certain Sam qui jouait du trombone dans un orchestre en 1918. La légende veut qu’il soit mort d’une chute dans la fosse d’orchestre et qu’il n’ait jamais cessé de jouer de son trombone depuis.

Photos du théâtre Elgin des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Les vaisseaux fantômes du lac Ontario

Les Grands Lacs sont magnifiques, mais leurs eaux peuvent être dangereuses et plusieurs histoires de naufrages et de vaisseaux fantômes y sont associées. Notre lac Ontario est l’hôte de plusieurs de ces vaisseaux fantômes. On dit qu’ils portent malchance à ceux qui les voient voguer sur le lac. Pendant la Guerre de 1812, une flotte britannique se trouvait juste au nord d’une flotte américaine cantonnée de l’autre côté du lac. Les vents sont tombés et Britanniques et Américains ont dû attendre au lendemain pour poursuivre leur route. Le jour suivant, très tôt, un grain violent a pris les deux flottes par surprise. Les goélettes américaines Scourge et Hamilton ont chaviré et coulé entraînant 50 marins dans la noyade. Un survivant a raconté que les hommes ont été pris au piège alors qu’ils dormaient. Impossible de les sauver sous la pluie battante et les éclairs qui illuminaient le ciel. La tragédie s’est déroulée en quelques minutes. 

Plusieurs vieux loups de mer ont depuis raconté qu’on peut voir deux vaisseaux fantômes émerger du brouillard par les nuits froides et sombres. Des marins disent avoir vu des hommes se tenir immobiles sur le pont alors que les bateaux s’ébranlaient et disparaissaient sous les flots. On dit que les voir attire le mauvais sort. En 1942, l’équipage d’un navire appelé le Cayuga a juré avoir vu les deux vaisseaux fantômes juste avant le coucher du soleil. Un vieux steward qui se trouvait à bord les a prévenus qu’un malheur allait arriver. Peu l’ont cru. Le lendemain matin, c’est le steward qu’on a retrouvé mort.

Osgoode Hall

La construction du Osgoode Hall a débuté en 1829. D’autres édifices se sont ensuite ajoutés au bâtiment principal. Il doit son nom à William Osgoode, le premier juge en chef du Haut-Canada. Le bâtiment a toujours été utilisé par le Barreau du Haut-Canada, mais a aussi abrité la Osgoode Hall Law School de 1889 à 1968. L’édifice est entouré d’une clôture en fonte.

Le Osgoode Hall a la réputation d’être hanté depuis au moins 50 ans. Cela remonte à une soirée alors que le gardien du Barreau faisait sa ronde. Il approchait de la salle du Convocation Hall quand il a entendu un bruit de foule. Il est entré dans la pièce et a eu la surprise de la trouver complètement vide et subitement silencieuse. D’autres visiteurs du Osgoode Hall ont rapporté avoir entendu ces bruits de foule fantomatiques émanant de cette pièce pourtant vide. Les responsables du bâtiment n’ont aucune explication pour ces curieuses manifestations.

Photos de l’Osgoode Hall des archives numériques de l’Ontario

L’ancien hôtel de ville

L’ancien hôtel de ville a ouvert ses portes en 1899 et a accueilli l’administration de la ville jusqu’à la construction de l’actuel hôtel de ville, situé de l’autre côté de la rue Bay. Le bâtiment a aussi servi de palais de justice du comté de York. C’est E. J. Lennox, mieux connu pour avoir dessiné la Casa Loma, qui a conçu l’édifice d’origine. L’ancien hôtel de ville abrite maintenant la Cour de justice de l’Ontario.

La première personne a avoir relaté une expérience surnaturelle dans ce bâtiment a été un des juges qui y siégeait. Il a dit avoir entendu des pas derrière lui dans l’escalier arrière, et avoir senti qu’on tirait sur sa toge bien qu’il n’y ait personne avec lui. Un autre juge a raconté avoir vécu la même expérience. D’autres magistrats ont emboîté le pas. Plusieurs disent aussi avoir entendu des gémissements provenant des cellules, là où les prisonniers du comté de York étaient détenus en attendant leur sentence.

C’est la salle d’audience 33 qu’on dit la plus hantée. C’est dans cette salle que les deux derniers prisonniers à être pendus au Canada, Ronald Turpin et Arthur Lucas, ont reçu leur sentence pour le meurtre d’un policier.

Photos de l’ancien hôtel de ville des archives numériques de l’Ontario

Liens connexes

• Exposition virtuelle: 114 histoires X 114 étage
• Histoires de fantômes
• English version [link to be added]

Par La marche hantée de Toronto.

It’s been two years since marijuana was legalized in Canada on October 17, 2018. This changed the course of the small town of Smiths Falls, home to a significant pot-producing factory in Canada. So how did my hometown (hi, Mum and Dad!) get to where it is today? To find out, I turned to Digital Archive Ontario. It has tens-of-thousands of digitized photos of Ontario communities. 

“Main Street from the bridge”, Smiths Falls, 1910, Digital Archive Ontario. Minus the horse and buggy, Main Street looks pretty much the same today.

Indigenous land

Smiths Falls has long been a place of industry. Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Mohawk peoples, the area was being farmed by Iroquois peoples when Jacques Cartier arrived. By the time colonization began, the area was Algonquin territory, home to the Anishinaabe people who became key trade allies to European settlers. In 1822, the Rideau Purchase 27 ¼ came into effect, which included the area that would become Smiths Falls. However, not all of the Indigenous groups in the area signed the treaty, meaning the land remains unceded. At the time of writing this post, Smiths Falls and the Eastern Ontario watershed is part of ongoing treaty negotiations between Ontario, Canada and the Algonquins of Ontario (learn more about the Algonquin land claim). The Ontario government notes that "if successful, it will be the province’s first modern-day constitutionally protected treaty."

Industrial projects at the end of the 19th century

At the end of the 19th century, colonization brought its own industrial projects to the area. The Rideau Canal was completed in 1832, with multiple locks connecting the waterways in Smiths Falls. A stone mill, constructed in the 19th century, now houses the Rideau Canal Visitor Centre. In 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway came to town, connecting the area to important shipping hubs like Montreal. Via Rail still has a station in Smiths Falls, and the Rideau Canal is a popular recreational destination.

The Canadian Pacific Railway station in Smiths Falls, 1910, Digital Archive Ontario. The station was in use until 2011, when VIA built a new station in a different part of town.

Who was the "Smith" of Smith Falls?

Interestingly, the man for whom the town was named never actually set foot on the land. Thomas Smyth was a Loyalist who was granted 400 acres in 1786. While he did build a saw mill in the area, he never personally visited. Eventually Smyth mortgaged the land but lost it after a court found the mortgage had not been paid. In 1825, Abel Ward purchased the land, and in 1826 he moved to the area to begin settlement. Different names for the area were proposed (Ward favoured Wardsville), but by this time most people were used to calling it Smyth’s Falls, so the name stuck and eventually morphed into the contemporary Smiths Falls. (Source: Ken Watson, Town of Smiths Falls, Rideau Canal.)

Smiths Falls Public Library, 1910, Digital Archive Ontario. Opened in 1904, a Carnegie grant made the library possible, with donations matched by C. B. Frost, F. I. Frost and W. H. Frost of the Frost & Wood farm implements company, which had a location in Smiths Falls.

Recent history

In recent history, Smiths Falls has endured some hard times as industry exited the town, including the Rideau Regional Centre for people with disabilities in 2009 and the Hershey’s factory in 2008. These two facilities took about 40% of the jobs in Smiths Falls with them when they closed. Those of us who grew up in Smiths Falls will remember the smell of chocolate wafting across town, and it was a hard loss when that disappeared. But in 2014, Canopy Growth took over the factory and became one of the country’s largest marijuana-producing locations, bringing more jobs along with it.

Photograph view album of Smiths Fall, 190-, Digital Archive Ontario. The full version has been scanned and is available on Digital Archive Ontario.

In 2020, Smiths Falls continues to grow and change. The town’s first Pride Parade was held in August 2018. In 2019, the third annual Spirit of the Drum powwow was held on Duck Island, accessible by bridge from the middle of town. As for chocolate, Canopy has started producing it at the old Hershey’s factory — with some additional ingredients!

The Rideau Hotel, 1910, Digital Archive Ontario. The building is being converted to rental apartments.

Explore more

Browse more photos of Smith Falls on Digital Archive Ontario.

Toronto Public Library has 180,000+ digitized photos, books, maps and more. We've transformed 40 Ontario-related items into colouring sheets. We hope you learn something new as you colour in history!

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Colouring pages 1 to 40

All colouring pages | PDF 57 MB

Single colouring pages

Colouring page 1

Waterfront Fish Market, 1838 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Around this time, a father and son fishing near Toronto Islands recorded earning one York shilling for a single salmon or a dozen whitefish.

Colouring page 2

Maitland's Wharf, 1838 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). This wharf changed names based on who owned or leased it, and is best known as Cooper's Wharf. Formerly at the end of Church Street, the site is now buried by infill.

Colouring page 3

General Store, 1840 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). In the early 19th century, general stores had floors covered with sawdust to absorb mud, molasses and tobacco juice.

Colouring page 4

Horse Ferry, circa 1845 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Did you know that horses on treadmills were used to power boats? This "horse boat" (also known as "team boat") travelled between Toronto and Toronto Islands.

Colouring page 5

Toronto Harbour, 1847 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). The harbour was a key area of settlement in what is now Toronto. The city is on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.

Colouring page 6

Trumpeter Swan, 1847 | PDF (Canada). Sketch by William Pope. He drew wildlife — especially birds — in what is now Ontario. Pope has been compared to American naturalist John James Audubon.

Colouring page 7

James Shaw's Hotel, 1849 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). From Landmarks of  Toronto (1894), a book by John Ross Robertson, founder of two newspapers: The Toronto Daily Telegraph and The Toronto Evening Telegram.

Colouring page 8

Velocipede Rink, 1860 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Indoor velocipede (a type of bicycle) rinks were built in Canadian cities offering riders of the rough and rickety "boneshaker" bicycles a smoother surface to ride on.

Colouring page 9

Merit Card for Ontario Students, 1870 | PDF (Ontario). Public school teachers awarded students with these cards. There were four categories: "Diligence", "Good Conduct," "Perfect Recitation," "Punctuality."

Colouring page 10

Prince Arthur's Landing, 1873 | PDF (Thunder Bay, Ontario). Port Arthur is named after Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. He is the only British prince to have served as the Governor General of Canada.

Colouring page 11

Trade Card for Oil Merchants, 1875 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Trade cards were an early form of advertising popular in the late 19th century. Beautiful illustrations made them attractive to collect even at the time.

Colouring page 12

Chaudière Falls, 1876 | PDF (Ottawa, Ontario). Algonquin First Nation called these falls "Asticou," meaning "kettle" or "boiling water." Accordingly, French settlers called it "Chaudière," French for "boiler".

Colouring page 13

Elgin Square, 1880 | PDF (Ottawa, Ontario). Elgin Street, an Ottawa street with lots of history, now is home to life-size statue of Oscar Peterson, the famous Canadian jazz pianist (1925 to 2007).

Colouring page 14

Cottage in Financial District, 1880s | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Exact location: corner of Wellington Street and Bay Street. The home was owned by Andrew Mercer, a marriage issuer.

Colouring page 15

Old Ontario House, 1888 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Fun fact: according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest hotel in operation is in Japan. Nishiyam Onsen Keiunkan was established in 705 CE.

Colouring page 16

Post Office, 1888 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). This illustration by Owen Staples was based on an engraving in a newspaper from 1832 by painter Lucius Richard O'Brien (born in what is now Oro-Medon'te, Ontario).

Colouring page 17

Ad for Organs and Pianos, 1890 | PDF (Bowmanville, Ontario). In addition to ads like this, one of the ways Dominion Organ and Piano Co. promoted sales of its pianos and organs was publishing free sheet music.

Colouring page 18

North Market, 1890 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). St. Lawrence Market now consists of what was the South Market, North Market and St. Lawrence Hall. The last of these hosted lectures by abolitionist Frederick Douglas.

Colouring page 19

Holy Blossom Temple, 1890s | PDF (Toronto, Ontario).  Founded in 1856, the Holy Blossom Temple is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. The synagogue in this illustration was used until 1897.

Colouring page 20

The Old Peacock Tavern, 1893 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). This illustration is part of our Baldwin Collection of Canadiana (named after Robert Baldwin, who established responsible government in pre-Confederation Canada).

Colouring page 21

Summer Resorts Guidebook, 1895 | PDF (Canada). The first sentence reads: "So much ignorance prevails on the question of Canadian Summer Resorts, which to thousands are only known as names on the map."

Colouring page 22

Niagara Falls Stunt, 1900 | PDF (Niagara Falls, Ontario). On top of the platform in this illustration is Sam Patch. The American daredevil jumped near the base of Niagara Falls in 1829.

Colouring page 23

Thornhill House, 1900s | PDF (Thornhill, Ontario). This hotel was located in the village of Thornhill, which is now a community split between the City of Markham and the City of Vaughan. 

Colouring page 24

Hamilton's Store and Post Office, 1907 | PDF (Mississauga, Ontario). With urbanization and the rise of the department store mail-order catalogue, general stores began to disappear in the mid-20th century.

Colouring page 25

Book Cover of Souvenir of Cobourg, 1908 | PDF (Cobourg, Ontario). In Cobourg's early history, the town's harbour on Lake Ontario was a key entry point for immigrants from Europe and the United States.

Colouring page 26

Alexander Muir Public School, 1909 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Muir is famous for the song "The Maple Leaf Forever" (1867). Though popular back then, its pro-British lyrics likely disqualified it as a possible national anthem.

Colouring page 27

Canadian National Exhibition, 1909 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Originally known as "Canada's Great Industrial Fair", the CNE changed to its current name in 1912.

Colouring page 28

Jesse Ketchum Public School, 1909 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Among other ventures, Jesse Ketchum opened a tannery in what is now Toronto — it made leather for boots during the War of 1812.

Colouring page 29

Riverdale Public Library, 1910 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Opened in 1910, this was the last of four libraries constructed with a $350,000 grant by Andrew Carnegie to Toronto Public Library in 1903.

Colouring page 30

Sharon Temple, 1909 | PDF (Sharon, Ontario). Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990, this site is now an open-air museum. It was constructed by a Quaker sect, Children of the Peace.

Colouring page 31

Collins' Hotel, 1910 | PDF (Vaughan, Ontario). This hotel has an unfortunate history. Andy Collins, its namesake, died after being mistakenly shot in a dispute at a nearby hotel. Collins' Hotel later burned down.

Colouring page 32

Chapman House, 1910 | PDF (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario). This house was built in 1816 by a master carpenter from nearby Fort George. The house was later used as a school.

Colouring page 33

Book Promoting London, 1910s | PDF (London, Ontario). The land where London is located has been home to Indigenous peoples including the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee and Lenni-Lenape Nations.

Colouring page 34

Book Cover of Souvenir of Guelph, 1912 | PDF (Guelph, Ontario). Guelph was named after King George the IV. The British monarch descended from the Guelph family of German lineage.  

Colouring page 35

WWI Poster for Canadian Forestry Corps, 1914 | PDF (Canada). Canadian volunteers harvested lumber in Britain and France for the production of wooden paths, crates and underground supports.

Colouring page 36

Miller Tavern, 1915 | PDF (Toronto, Ontario). Known as the York Mills Hotel when it was built in the late 1850s, its long history includes being home to a gambling den in prohibition years. 

Colouring page 37

Temperance Poster, 1920s | PDF (Canada). The temperance movement aimed to prohibit the sale of alcohol in Ontario. The movement succeeded (for a time) with The Ontario Temperance Act in 1916.