From the Toronto Star, September 8, 1938 Charges of petty thieving by peddlers were today discussed by the civic works committee. Alderman Salsberg demanded an explanation from the street cleaning commissioner, Harold Bradley, of his reported statement that licensed peddlers were guilty of such misdemeanors. He said that such statements, emanating from the head of…
Arts & Letters Club — New & Old
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We visited the historic and elegant Arts & Letters Club, also known as “St. George’s Hall,” on Elm Street west of Yonge Street today. The lovely interior is filled with beautiful works of art by the Group of Seven, many of whom were its members, and by other notable members of the club. Indeed, a…
Jewish Voters Out in Force for Liberal Maguire (1911)
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Large Meeting Addressed by Candidate and other Speakers From the Globe and Mail, September 14, 1911 Note: Party politics evidently entered into municipal affairs in Toronto of a century ago. This article describes a rousing meeting held in support of Liberal Alderman Alfred Maguire at the Lyric Yiddish Theatre in 1911; Maguire would serve as…
OBIT: Joseph Wolfe Gordon (1937)
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An Actor Struts and Frets Across the Yiddish Stage No More By S. H. Abramson From the Canadian Jewish Standard, January 1937 The recent passing of my old friend Joe Gordon at the Mount Sinai Sanitarium, after an illness of six years, brings to mind a host of memories. During my last visit to Joe…
Globe notices sharp increase of Jews in Toronto (1910)
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Photographer William James’s superb elevated view of Agnes and Teraulay (Dundas and Bay streets) from an Eaton’s building, 1910, looking northwest towards the Ontario Legislature, with the Teraulay Street Synagogue (Machzikei Hadas, built 1907) in foreground and the Lyric Yiddish Theatre in a former church at centre right. This is an excellent view of the…
The Streets of Toronto — Yonge, Queen, King, College (1910)
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From the Toronto Star Weekly, December 24, 1910 Yonge, King, Queen, Bloor, College, and Some of Their Peculiarities The average citizen knows surprisingly little about his own city. Every working day he rises in the morning, hustles to the nearest car line, and goes to his place of business by the shortest route. Habitually he…
Yiddish Youth Concert, Massey Hall, 1918
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The Yiddish Yugend Farein or Yiddish Young People’s Organization of Toronto sponsored a Sukkot Concert at Massey Hall on September 25, 1918. Below is the 24-page program, along with a list of names of people and companies mentioned. Note that the booklet’s printed pagination was incorrect and that the order of the pages is correct…
Site for new Women’s College Hospital (1926)
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From The Toronto Evening Telegram, July 6, 1926 Southeast corner of Grosvenor Street and Surrey Place, which has been purchased for $57,500. The corner property was bought from Wm. H. and Elizabeth S. Van der Smissen for $29,000 and takes in Nos. 73 and 75 Grosvenor Street and No. 15 Surrey Place. The house on…
Dancing at Jewish Wedding Violates Sunday Blue Laws (1912)
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From the Toronto Star, February 19, 1912 Shall Dancing Be Allowed in Civic Halls on Sunday? The Caretaker Could Not Put a Stop to It Mild weather has anticipated the action of the City Council in prohibiting Sunday tobogganing, but the Lord’s Day observance question is to the fore in another aspect. Is dancing to…
Deputy chief says police census was carefully done (1912)
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As nearly correct as it is humanly possible to make it From the Toronto Star, February 6, 1912 ◊ This article describes a census conducted one century ago by the police of Toronto for their own purposes only six months after the federal census of Canada. It is unknown what information was collected: did the police…
