Tag: toronto

Toronto by night: a bakery and a hospital (1884)

Toilers of the Night, Part II The People Who Don’t Go to Bed Until Sunrise From The Toronto World, May 9, 1884 Interior, Toronto General Hospital, 1913. CTA F1231-it207b The majority of men working in city bake-houses are not, strictly speaking, employed all night. About 3 a.m., or a little later, as the printers begin…

Toronto Jewish Film Festival turns 20

From The Canadian Jewish News, April 2012 The 20th annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival opens Thursday May 3, 2012 at the Cineplex Odeon Varsity with the English-Canadian premiere of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, a France-Canada co-production about a teenaged Israeli girl who receives an email response from a young Palestinian who calls himself…

The Doctor’s Office: A Secretary’s Memoir

From The Canadian Jewish News, January 14, 1999 Ruth Mather, who for 44 years was secretary to Dr. Sidney Carlen, Toronto’s first Jewish cardiologist, has written a tribute to his pioneering and sensitive medical practice. It is an unvarnished and historically accurate account of the Jewish doctors who started their practices in Toronto in the…

Personal thoughts on a bygone era, by Ben Rose

From the Canadian Jewish News, April 28, 2000 In 1937, the vice-principal of Central High School of Commerce came into our graduating accounting class as a visitor to announce that there was a job opening. “There is no reason for any Jewish student to apply for this job because the employer doesn’t want a Jew,”…

Hot Art: Knelman probes secret world of stolen art

Some years ago, while researching an article for Walrus Magazine on art theft, Joshua Knelman interviewed a convicted art thief in a local restaurant. While providing some quotable patter, the thief threatened to break Knelman’s legs if he used his real name, and handed him some rolled-up items, which proved to be stolen artworks, now…

The Barsh family fondly recalls its musical past

From the Canadian Jewish News, May 16, 1985 The Barsh family is a link between the fascinating worlds of Yiddish theatre and music in Toronto. The family lived in four rooms above their barber shop and pool hall at 305 Spadina Avenue, a few doors north of the old Jewish Standard Theatre at Dundas and…

10,000 Criminals in Toronto’s Police Records (1914)

Fingerprints Practically Infallible — Inspector Duncan an Expert at Identification — A Card With a Peculiar History — How Prisoners Behave Before the Camera By Leo Devaney From The Toronto Star Weekly, January 17, 1914 Probably the most important and yet the least known department of Toronto’s police system is the identification bureau, where the…

Toronto Jews Rally for the Allies in WWI

Toronto Jews showed their support for Britain and the Allies against the forces of “Prussianism” in the First World War. The popular author Solomon Asch (here spelled Ash) spoke at this rally in Massey Hall in 1915. This article appeared under the title “Great Jewish Host Prays For the Allies” and the subtitle “Unique Sunday…

Obit: Bill Carrick, wildlife photographer (1920-2002)

Bill Carrick, a Toronto-area naturalist and wildlife photographer who coaxed beavers, ducks, fish, geese, polar bears and other animals into acting naturally in front of the camera, has died after an accidental fall on the rural property he rented in northeastern Scarborough, Ont. along the Pickering town line. He was 81 years old. * William…

Inside Toronto’s All-Night Restaurants (1910)

Toronto’s All-Night Eating Houses, A Study of Those Who Dine While Most Others Are in Bed Sleeping First Customers Are The “Half-Soused” Individuals, Who Come In To Get Sobered Up Before Going Home — They Have Enormous Appetites. Spending The Night In The Shelter of The Kindly Restaurant. From the Toronto Star Weekly, December 17,…