A comment that Saul Cantor’s daughter, Rochelle, made more than five years ago inspired him to write his memoirs. She said to him, in 2000, “I know some of the things about your life, but there are a lot of things I don’t know,” he writes in his recently published book, From Then to Now:…
Tag: toronto
Should Toronto police have an automobile? (1911)
by •
In 1911, a time when there were roughly 3,000 automobiles in the entire city of Toronto, the public debated whether it was time for the Toronto police department to acquire its first automobile so as to be able to keep up with the criminal element. The Star Weekly’s subtitles argued that it was indeed time:…
Historic photograph of 1812 veterans was taken in 1861
by •
No, it isn’t an actual photograph — just a sketch of a photograph of ten surviving veterans of the War of 1812 to 1814, who assembled at Rosedale some 50 years after the war, on October 23, 1861. The photo-sketch appeared in the Toronto Evening Telegram in 1910, just more than a century ago and…
Jew-baiting goes on in Victoria Street
by •
In this brief item, which appeared in the Toronto Star of October 28, 1910, a woman is brought into police court in connection with an episode in which she came to the defense of a Jewish mother and daughter who were being “stoned” on Victoria Street. Such incidents were certainly not unique in the Toronto…
Book examines city’s Jewish community
by •
Etan Diamond, an American academic, has written a full-length study of the Orthodox Jewish community of Toronto and its pioneering movement northward from the inner city into the suburbs in the postwar era. Published recently (2001) by the University of North Carolina Press, Diamond’s And I Will Dwell in Their Midst: Orthodox Jews in Suburbia…
How teachers tame school-children in the Ward
by •
Making Men Out of Street Arabs By W. F. Wiggins From Toronto Saturday Night Magazine, December 1, 1906 From an educational standpoint there is no more interesting institution in Toronto than the Elizabeth street public school, popularly known as “the school of the Ward.” Here have been taught and trained some of the worst boys…
Profile of city’s Jews — and rich Mr. Singer (1911)
by •
The Star Weekly ran this feature profile of “Toronto’s Hebrew population” in 1911, observing that some Jewish immigrants had risen, in only a few years, to the tops of their professions and that one — Jacob Singer — had become the biggest real estate owner in the city. The article also indicated that the Zion…
Sad, extraordinary tale of a Jewish ‘miser’
by •
The extraordinary story of Eli Hyman first came to my attention with the following notice that appeared in the Toronto Daily Star of December 20, 1902: * * * WILL BE BURIED SUNDAY Rabbi Jacobs Will Conduct the Funeral from Holy Blossom Synagogue The funeral of the late Eli Hyman, the Jewish miser who died in…
Musty Memories of Old Court House on Adelaide Street
by •
Tar and Feathers for an Obstinate Juryman — Some Attempted Escapes — A Picture of Desolation From the Toronto Daily Star, June 15, 1901 Grim, solemn, and even sullen seems the aspect of the old Court House on Adelaide street east, which has stood as a monument of integrity for half a century. The building…
Oakwood Collegiate marks 100 years (2008)
by •
After three years in the planning, Oakwood Collegiate Institute’s (OCI) 100th anniversary celebration was a resounding success. From April 30 to May 4 (2008), hundreds of former and current OCI students came out to celebrate, with some alumni travelling great distances to meet and mingle with friends and former classmates, some of whom they had…
