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Jeremy Hopkin @jeremyhopkin.bsky.social · 4d

From the Hudson’s Bay Company Collection — now being sold after HBC’s bankruptcy.

I feel we should ask City of Toronto or the Toronto Public Library, or the AGO to acquire this painting and keep it public within the city it depicts.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Jul 18

After SCTV, Dave Thomas starred in a short-lived TV sci-fi spoof 'Rocket Boy.' Produced in Toronto by Nelvana and directed by John Blanchard (SCTV; Kids in the Hall), it co-starred John Candy & Ron James. It was re-cut into a TV movie in 1989, which you can see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahMS...

Colour print ad for the TV series 'Rocket Boy' from "Broadcasting" magazine, Jan. 14, 1985. Stills from the series surround an image of SCTV actor Dave Thomas dressed like Buck Rogers

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Jamie Bradburn @jbcurio.bsky.social · Jun 28

Layers of the past at Gerrard and Logan

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Stuart Berman @stuberman.bsky.social · Jun 14

RIP Steve Leckie, the ground zero of Toronto punk youtu.be/2Y8rorqIggc

The Viletones "Screaming Fist"

YouTube video by TObeSCENE

youtu.be

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Jun 1

Your post appeared in my feed back to back with this one, and my brain automatically saw a pattern:

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · May 29

It's not the terrorism, it's the humidity.

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Mike Loader @mikeloader.bsky.social · May 25

Henry Spinney died of inflammation in 1851 at age 26. He was buried in Toronto's Potter’s Field and his marker and remains were moved to Mount Pleasant Cemetery in 1875. A team from the OGS Toronto Branch @tofamilyhistory.bsky.social uncovered his marker in 2024 with the help of the cemetery.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · May 15

Birds' eye view of the Princes' Gates in the 1950s: Exhibition Place, Shell Oil Tower and CNE Grandstand in view.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · May 10

When you got lost inside Honest Ed's, these were basically waymarkers.

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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · Apr 25

The thing about an event at the Ontario Legislature is once it ends the building is empty and you can kinda wander it. It’s basically the Overlook Hotel.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 24

And here's a review of 1986 hamburger options along Bloor Street (between Bathurst and Bay), from an issue of "The Varsity" in Oct. 1986.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 24

A selection of Toronto restaurants in 1989, published in Margaret MacKenzie's "The Toronto Guide" (1989). Peter Pan on Queen St. W. is one of the last still standing.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 18

Canadian Bank of Commerce branch on the N.E. corner of St. Clair Ave. W. at Dufferin at the time of construction circa 1918.

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Toronto Branch, OGS @tofamilyhistory.bsky.social · Apr 17

Interested in presenting the 2025 Toronto History Lecture on August 5? We're still accepting proposals. What's your Toronto story? Get in touch before May 1:
torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/toront...

Toronto Branch, OGS @tofamilyhistory.bsky.social · Mar 25

Calling all Toronto Historians! The Toronto History Lecture returns this year on Tuesday August 5. If you have an interesting Toronto story to tell please contact us. We're accepting proposals until May 10. Click here for more information:
torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/toronto-history-lecture/

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Jeremy Hopkin @jeremyhopkin.bsky.social · Apr 14

167 years ago today, on April 13, 1858, a powerful storm severed the peninsula protecting Toronto’s harbour, creating the permanent eastern gap to the Toronto Islands.

#OTD #onthisday #torontoislands #easterngap #1850s #history #torontohistory #toronto #canada #hopkindesign

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 13

Nathan Phillips' Hair (1948)

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 12

One of the oddest collaborations of Toronto talent was Doug Henning’s first big production as a magician-showman: “Spellbound” (1973) at the Royal Alex, starring Henning, produced by Ivan Reitman, co-starring Jennifer Dale, written by David Cronenberg, with music by Howard Shore.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 5

For a fleeting moment in 1791, York Township was named Dublin Township. This means that the Town of York might have become the Town of Dublin. And the town-folk in 1834 might have chosen to keep that name. So, Toronto might actually have become Dublin, Ontario. Imagine that.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 4

Here's the front of where it used to be, in case you can't picture the location.

Google Street view of King St. E, in front of the Sculpture Garden. Sunny day, autumn colours.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 4

Oak Hall was a Victorian men’s clothing chain store from Hamilton. The Toronto location (115-121 King E.) was right across from St. James Cathedral – a handy landmark. The demolished site is now Toronto Sculpture Garden, behind which is Oak Hall Lane. You can see St. James through its empty space.

A pen and ink drawing from 1886 of the block of King St. E. that is south and east of Church St. In the middle is Oak Hall, with the name "Oak Hall" along the side of its roof. Busy Victorian pedestrians in the foreground.

An 1895 newspaper advertisement for Oak Hall, with a drawing of the building exterior with "Oak Hall Clothiers" written on the side. The ad text promotes suits and overcoats for boys and men. It also states: "Exactly opposite St. James' Cathedral entrance."

A Google Maps street view screenshot from 2021, showing the view from Oak Hall Lane (south of and parallel with King), looking through the empty space of the Sculpture Garden with St. James Cathedral in the near distance.

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Marta O'Brien @archhistory.bsky.social · Apr 4

Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children ("Sick Kids") is 150 years old. Many Torontonians don't know that before it was on University Ave it was in College St building below. Opened as the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in 1891, designed by Darling & Curry. Now Cdn Blood Services.

Large red brick & stone late Victorian building with many rectangular & arched windows. Red tile roof.

Between pairs of engaged columns, 2 angels carved in red stone hold a flat framed piece of stone with "Victoria Hospital for Sick Children" carved on it.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 3

In the 1950s, an owner of Toronto Macaroni Co. asked his wife, Rose Viggiani, to develop a tomato sauce to accompany the pasta they’d been producing since the 1930s. The result, Bravo, featured a likeness of Rose, as seen in this display from 1967. Bravo was bought by General Mills that same year.

Colour photo of a grocer and businessman standing in front of a large grocery store display of Lancia pasta and Bravo spaghetti sauce, with a large cardboard display image of the Bravo "mascot," a woman holding a pizza pie. Image from the General Mills Annual Report, 1967.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 2

A view of Yonge Street (looking north) in 1874, south of King St., looking at the Yonge & King intersection. Just 40 years earlier, there was a creek running through this intersection.

Old, sepia-toned photo from 1874, looking down from a rooftop at unpaved Yonge and King streets lined with 3 and 4-story buildings. From the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana at the Toronto Reference Library.

Map of the intersection of Yonge and King in 1830, showing squiggly drawn lines representing branches of a creek, cutting right through this intersection. From a yellowed and tape-repaired surveying document for the Town of York.

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Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Apr 1

In 1920, a Toronto traffic by-law demanded that pedestrians pass each other on the right on the sidewalk. Reportedly, no one was ever charged under this law, which was likely never enforced. In 1944, the province approved a revival of this law, but criticism and ridicule quickly buried it.

Newspaper photo from the Toronto Star, October 10, 1944, of a young woman walking on the sidewalk towards the camera, holding a sign that says "Keep to the right"

Newspaper cartoon by Jack Boothe, published in the Globe & Mail in 1944. It shows two men in suits on the ground after a collision with each other. "You didn't stop at that stop sign!" says one. The other replies "I did so! You weren't on the right side of the sidewalk." A policeman in a long black coat stands by them, wagging his finger as he reviews a book entitled "By-laws"

Hogtown 101 @hogtown101.bsky.social · Mar 31

Canada Dry originated in Toronto in 1904. When Americans caught-on in 1922, import costs made it much more expensive than other pop. The premium price inspired its title the “Champagne of ginger ales,” which is why the former plant site in Toronto is now called Champagne Drive.

Canada Dry advertisement, published in Toronto magazine, The Goblin in June 1923. Ad depicts a table with an open book, cigarette, glass and Canada Dry bottle. Slogan is "Between times, perfect contentment"

Advertisement for Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale, published in the Toronto magazine, The Goblin, in February 1923. Drawing of a hand pouring a bottle of Canada Dry into champagne glasses. Slogan is "The champagne of ginger ales."

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