JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

...or an excuse to revisit some of this year's scribblings. Historicist: Icy Discrimination (Torontoist, March 6) Bonus Features (Blog, March 18) The story of a discriminatory ice rink in North Toronto garnered a lot of positive feedback, including an email of thanks from the niece of one of those involved in the story. Roncesvalles Construction Sucks (Torontoist, January 25) Though the streetcar has returned, the bump-outs have debuted, and two-way traffic is back, Roncesvalles isn't out of the woods yet when it comes to construction chaos. More work to come in the spring. Historicist: Measures of War (Torontoist, June 27) Historicist: Kill Bill 99 (Torontoist, July 10) Your G20 Stories (Blog, October 19) Pieces written during, about, and inspired by G20 weekend. The Empire Strikes Back (Heritage Toronto, July 28) The first of a series of Toronto newspaper histories that should continue through 2011. - JB

Part of a series of spots from the mid-1970s, around the time Canada began its switch to metric measurement. Can't say that this message made an impression in the Windsor area during my childhood - apart from the local CBC television station, everyone continued to measure snow in inches and feet. Even now, I still convert to the old system in my mind whenever I listen to the weather.

It's cleaning time at the Warehouse. Among the scraps of paper we found were ads clipped out of college football yearbooks tossed out long ago. Most concerned "handicapping" services for die-hard sports gamblers. We figure Baystate knew their target audience. Much like Scoreline Man , the guy boring his lady friend in the tub with the latest spreads on the Bears-Packers game looks like a stereotypical example of a man who'd use a sports handicapping service. He's an average guy with a slight paunch, receding hairline and a taste for cheap wine and cigars. What average Joe wants to endure high-pressure tactics from phone bookies? If the advertised relaxed approach pays the promised high dividends, maybe you too can use those winnings to treat your wife/partner/girlfriend/hired companion to a weekend of relaxing in a hotel jacuzzi. Just don't bore her with two hours of conversations centred around point spreads, OK? Source: Street & Smith 1983 Colleg...

Rather than wrack my brain in an attempt to start this post off by waxing poetic about all things Montreal, I’m going to cut to the chase: Sarah and I recently spent a weekend there and made our stomachs very happy. Disclaimer: Two Montreal food staples we didn’t have or barely sampled on this trip: smoked meat (almost got into line at Schwartz’s, but decided to keep my rough pattern of indulging in their famous sandwiches on every other trip to the city…and I wasn’t really in a smoked meat mood this time around) and bagels (did have one as a morning snack on Saturday, was going to bring a bag home but determined we had enough stuff to lug onto the train). One related amusement: posters around the core for a musical about Schwartz’s . Hey readers: which Toronto culinary landmark deserves a song-and-dance ode?

  While searching though back issues of the Toronto News for holiday-related material for an upcoming Historicist column, I stumbled upon a cartoon that seemed to fall into the genre of strips/one-offs whose plot was built around getting one of the characters to say the title in the final panel. You be the judge as to whether this style of humour still cuts the mustard a century on.   The same page of the News found the gruff old Scot on the left passing judgement on the quality of pipes found at Toronto branches of United Cigar Stores. This stereotypical depiction appeared in the retailer's advertising of the period, with different captions under his satisifed visage to suit the ad copy.   News stories on the same page:   A bedroom fire at 69 DeGrassi Street destroyed a $20 feather mattress belonging to a Mrs. Dowling. Windsor dry goods merchant Joseph Appelbe won a partial appeal of a judicial dismissal of an injunction against the Erie Tobacco Compan...

...sometimes you have to relax and let the cares of the world melt away. Gingerbread man from Sittler's Home Baking, Conestogo, Ontario. Glass bowl from Libbey Factory Outlet, Toledo, Ohio. Milk from Tremblett's Valu-Mart, Toronto, Ontario, made foamy by a frother from IKEA. - JB

This may be the grossest depiction of cake frosting we have ever encountered in a family-friendly setting. That sweet talker Betty Crocker is going to have to prepare the greatest sales pitch of her life to convince us that the greyish goop isn't a secret storehouse of toxic chemicals erupting like lava from the cake, the remnants of someone's failed attempt to digest this dessert, or a leftover sample from a toy company's quest to create a new line of novelty fake doggie doo. Considering that the ad boasts that the cake doesn't require icing, perhaps Betty purposely instructed the photographer or paste-up artist to present a slice with frosting in an unflattering light. Source: Woman's Day , March 1950. - JB

From circa 1978, an ad spotlighting the annual monarch butterfly migration through Point Pelee. Note slightly-creepy soundtrack that sounds vaguely like chirping wildlife. - JB

TORONTO : Residents of historic Cabbagetown had the rare opportunity to witness a performance by the Folies des Citrouilles on Sunday night. Presented at the corner of Sackville and Winchester, the show provided a enjoyable evening for afficianados of vegetable variety shows. The star attraction threw the troupe's two burlesque dancers in the spotlight, as they slinkily danced their way out of heavy-duty work clothes to the strains of "I've Got You Under My Skin." The evening also included the comedy stylings of Acorn & Squash, and a stirring rendition of " Follow the Drinking Gourd ."- Warehouse News Service

WARNING : Health authorities in your jurasdiction caution that prolonged exposure to "Oxydol sparkle" will cause extreme expansion of cranial and facial structures. Other side effects include paralysis of the facial muscles resulting in a permanent open smile and the mutation of the epidermis into tissue resembling a line drawing. Source: The Telegram , June 24, 1947. - JB

Can you name the movies that inspired these interpretations of classic monsters (at least two seem to be drawn from Abbott & Costello movies...)? Source: Eerie #11 , September 1967 - JB

So here we are, just a little over a month before Rob Ford officially assumes the duties of Mayor of Toronto. Based on the numbers from Monday night, there were slightly more people walking around Tuesday with long faces (or nursing hangovers) than those giddy at the prospect of derailing the gravy train (and nursing hangovers). The results capped a campaign where anger reigned supreme and both candidates and voters did their best to imitate the Incredible Hulk. *** I admit it. I drew a line to connect the two stumps of arrow next to Joe Pantalone's name. Not my ideal candidate, but as the sort-of-stand-in for the outgoing administration, I could live with myself if I voted for him. Neither Ford nor George Smitherman were enticing prospects. The only thing I discerned all along from the former provincial cabinet minister's campaign was that he was running for mayor just to become mayor. Give Ford credit: his policies were unpalatable, but there was no question about wh...

My habit of madly snapping election signs subsided this year, partly because few raised by eyebrows in terms of design or uniqueness (or the headscratchers flew under my radar). Out of the signs I took pictures, this one from Peterborough wins the pun category. Despite historic associations with this candidate's last name , it's safe to assume there won't be any rebellions if he is elected. Photo taken October 10, 2010 - JB

Based on an ad that appeared during the 1969 North York municipal election campaign . - JB

Not long after the G20 summit, a wall was set aside in Kensington Market for anyone to relate their thoughts and memories about the events of the last weekend in June. Whether you were in or near the chaos downtown or at home glued to a blackberry or radio, it would be hard not to have a story related to the craziness that ensued. Here's ours.

Before reading this post, check out the related article on Torontoist . From the November 19, 1969 edition of the Enterprise (a community paper in Willowdale) comes this map of the proposed "Lastman Loop" commuter rail system. The accompanying article was titled "Lastman a-go-go," either as a nod to the times or a reference to GO Transit.

While sorting through mounds of childhood stuff at home over Labour Day weekend, I came across a stray card from O-Pee-Chee's Raiders of the Lost Ark trading card set featuring one of my favourite scenes from the movie. The back of the accurately sums up the action on screen. I saw Raiders during its first run at the theatre (whatever name it was operating under that point) in Fort Malden Mall. Given that a year earlier I had run screaming out the Capitol in Windsor when Chevy Chase became Benji in Oh! Heavenly Dog , it's a testament to see how far I'd come in a year when I took in the melting Nazi scene with no problems (other than the dude with the medallion burned into his hand looked like Dad, a resemblance which his high school students reminded him about for the next year or two). From then on, Dad had few worries about taking me to a theatre to see anything that wasn't Muppets, Disney or child-centric. The Raiders card set was one of the first non...

Sunday morning. As in many homes across North America, we ease into the day by reading the New York Times. Our brains slowly crank into gear as all three of us flip through our favourite sections, whether it be op-ed, arts coverage, or the style section to determine if anyone in the wedding notices isn't a lawyer or financial analyst. Wait...did I say three of us? It's true: besides Sarah and I, Haruki also reads the morning's headlines. Of all the newspapers that float through our homestead, it's the New York Times that draws his attention. He jumps up on the bed and promptly plants himself on whatever section is lying flat...even if I'm in the middle of reading it (especially if I’m in the middle of reading it). We've figured out that if we toss him a section neither of us is drawn to immediately (business or sports), he'll snuggle up to that cozy newsprint and stretch out on those column inches. And yet there are times where I'm convinced he i...

When running for public office, candidates hope to have Lady Luck on their side. Under ideal circumstances, civic officials in waiting hope to get positive feedback from their potential constituents, score points during debates, and pray no dirt from their past resurfaces. Even if you accomplish all of that, fate may have other ideas. Take the case of Irving Goldberg, who ran for alderman in North York's Ward 6 back in 1969. Based on this account from the Don Mills Mirror , he was plagued by misfortune throughout his campaign. Goldberg's bad luck continued on election day, when he lost by just over 500 votes to optician John Knox. Source: The Don Mills Mirror , November 26, 1969 PS : Here's what Goldberg's pharmacy looked like when Google Maps snapped a shot of 2829 Bathurst . At the time, it was an shuttered children's store. - JB

If nothing else with spark you about Rosy Chicken Soup with crackers, the sodium will. We imagine this recipe was conceived under the following conditions: Fred was a Nabisco test kitchen employee who was famished by the time lunch rolled around on the fateful day. He looked in his locker for something to eat and saw two cans of soup. Without noticing that they were two completely different flavours, he mixed them together. Looking for added ingredients to weaken the salty result, Fred spied milk and cheese in the fridge. "Hmmm," he thought, "if I shredded some cheese and add some crackers on top, this could be a deconstructed grilled chicken and cheese sandwich with tomato soup!" Never mind there was no grilling involved, or that Fred used the term "deconstructed" years before revered chefs did. Fred mixed the ingredients, declared it passable, then wrote down the recipe for future reference in case his bosses were in a pinch for a recipe to print on ...

While cleaning out a box that had been buried in the depths of my bedroom closet, I found several clippings from the year I was arts editor at the Ontarion . The piece above, printed in the fall semester's edition of the Contrarion (joke issue), was a poke at one of my least favourite duties: editing album reviews. While there were many reviewers who did a good job of assessing the pros and cons of a given album, others made me believe they had no opinion at all. These reviews either pulled out the cliches listed above or, worse, simply listing the tracks without any indication of whether they liked the disc. I knew there were people just wanted the CD and had to go through the formality of writing something...but still. Even "song two had a nice tambourine solo" would have shown some thought.

The last Sunday of summer. Sunny skies, comfortable temperatures. Good conditions to spend an afternoon reaquainting myself with certain parts of downtown. I went on an amended version of the old "Sunday constitutional" route I used to walk most Sundays—instead of starting at Osgoode station and succumbing to the lure of a cheap Indian buffet, I took the Spadina car down to the top of Kensington Market. From there, it was a meandering trek down to Queen West, followed by a (brief) stop amid the crowd at the art show in Trinity-Bellwoods (the tight cluster of those browsing proved claustrophobic). From there, I strolled up Montrose to College, passing neighbours shooting the breeze on their porches and men pruning front yard foliage for elderly residents. And then there was a sight that provides a good opportunity to haul out a well-worn logo used on this website... Election signs will soon become chic decor items in apartment windows and on city lawns. The odd poster ...

From the vaults (of YouTube), the Warehouse brings you the directorial debut of television star Larry Hagman ( I Dream of Jeannie , Dallas ). The sequel to the 1958 drive-in classic, Beware! the Blob (or Son of Blob ) was among the nominees in "The Most Humiliating Performance by a Future TV Star" category in the book Son of the Golden Turkey Awards : Amazingly enough, it took fourteen years before someone in Hollywood stepped forward to take this obvious challenge and to unfreeze the man-eating strawberry Jell-O for a second attack on the human race . The resulting sequel - inevitably called Son of Blob - defined new lows in cinematic sloppiness and left audiences longing for the sincere stupidity of the Steve McQueen original. The new film tried to combine humorous and terrifying elements in the celebrated style of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes but in its confusion failed either to frighten or to entertain. As one wag put it at the time of the film's release: ...

Photos taken at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts, August 13, 2010 - JB

The root cause of the Joker's insanity? Not a chemical bubble bath. Not an incredibly rotten day. Nope. He doesn't like Hostess Fruit Pies! After all, who in their right mind can resist the allure of tender crust and fruit filling full of chemical additives and globular bits that once resembled real fruit? The Clown Prince of Crime's mistake was forgetting that since there were no donut shops in this particular precinct, the cops fulfilled their daily sugar and lard dietary requirement by purchasing fruit pies at the Kwik-E-Mart two blocks from the station. Source: Justice League of America #142, May 1977 - JB

Photo taken on 3rd Concession, Kingsville, September 5, 2010 - JB

For several years, I had an on-again, off-again relationship with internet dating. While the results were ultimately successful (as over a year-and-and-a-half with my partner-in-crime will testify), there were more than a few odd moments along the way. Sometimes the awkward moments were in public, others on a computer screen. The latter was the case around Victoria Day weekend 2006. While cleaning out one of my email accounts, I found a transcript of a conversation on Messenger. Why email? I sent it to a couple of friends out of disbelief. The tone of the conversation leads me to believe that I'd had an online chat with "Yeeha!" (the handle used in the transcript) at least once before. If so, I may not have noticed her odd way of "laughing" online, which was akin to the maniacal laughs found in any old J.M. DeMatteis/Keith Giffen issue of Justice League (though instead of "BWAHAHAHAHA!" she used "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeehahahah!"). I knew I...

Advertisement, Toronto Life , September 1972. More about this ad on Torontoist . The Old Spaghetti Factory was a staple of my childhood. Most visits to my grandparents included at a trip down to the Esplanade to sit amid the bric-a-brac while my family ate many garlic butter-smeared pieces of bread and slurped down the headline dish. It was an ideal place for my parents to bring me and Amy: colourful, child palate-pleasing, and cheap. The recipe seems to have worked for families and tourists for the past forty years, even if patrons like the little tramp can no longer load up at a salad bar.

Place : St. Lawrence Market Time : around 11:30 a.m., Saturday, September 11 Story : Three people browsing the produce stands lining the perimeter of the north market. One finds an unusual specimen among a large collection of eggplants. A specimen than appears to be a mutant among its kind. A specimen with a nose. Not just any nose, but one that would make Bob Hope, Jughead Jones, cartoon hillbillies, and possibly Cyrano de Bergerac proud. Shoppers passing by commented on the unique physical characteristics of this specimen. Naturally we took this eggplant home. Upon further inspection, it was revealed that this eggplant also had the beginnings of a tail. When placed at a certain angle, the specimen also bore a faint resemblance to a coffee pot. Whether its veins are filled with the proud pickings of Juan Valdez is subject to further investigation. Researchers in the Warehouse's laboratory have yet to determine if this unique specimen should be immersed in a preservative ...

From the hobby page of the weekend edition of The Telegram comes this doozy of a syndicated column. At first glance it seems like silly fluff from the 1950s, but digging deeper reveals darker impulses at work. A profile of Dr. Albert Edward Wiggam D.Sc.(1871-1957) in the May 1937 issue of The Rotarian noted that he was "in the vanguard of those who interpret science" and that "his contribution to popular education is beyond reckoning...why read fiction when you can read Wiggam?" On first glance, it's tempting to change one letter in Dr. Wiggam's name and imagine some distant relationship to the Wiggum family from The Simpsons (poor l'il Ralphie would fail question no. 1 miserably). Have you ever made a list of those with whom you'd prefer to go hiking or exchange presents under a Christmas tree? Would a modern version ask who you prefer going to the gym with or exchanging songs on your iPods with? Or would Wiggam ask a cruel teenager for acti...

One lazy summer day, Sarah and I were taking a quick browse through the Value Village in Leslieville. At the front of the store, one item quickly caught Sarah's eye: a giant mug with the TTC logo on one side and a front end loader on the reverse. Naturally we bought it. I've tried to track down any information about the mug and come up with very little. The only hint on the mug itself is a 1982 copyright date under the logo. Our guesses: Part of a set available only to TTC employees (supported by a similar mug with a 1981 date found on Craigslist ), perhaps as part of a holiday gift box like the model cars I receive from my employer each year A retirement gift A commemorative item for those involved with the construction/opening of the Scarborough RT (opened 1985) If you have any background information about this mug, please leave a comment. - JB

Before reading this post, check out the related article on Torontoist . From the February 12, 1932 edition of the Toronto Star , photos of the visiting Hoskins siblings. Janey (Mango) looks relaxed on the left...while Allen (Farina) is "turning the juice on" with an expression bordering on the stereotypical pop-eyed look black comedians were expected to employ onscreen at the time. It also appears that the publicity photo in the middle was taken some time earlier. Here's four-year-old Farina demonstrating his self-preservation skills in the face of a poorly-controlled train in a clip from 1924's Sundown Ltd . - JB

Though they are not featured in this ad, hands up from any of you who owned a Vuarnet t-shirt as the 1980s drew to a close. It was an essential item around the time I left elementary/entered high school, even if it meant breaking the bank (knockoffs picked up at flea markets or sketchy mall stores were looked down upon with scorn). No matter which colour you wore (and I'll fess up to having owned them in navy blue and orange), you too could have the self-assured look that these cool cats display with their sunglasses. I recall prodding my parents into emptying their accounts several times to match fashion trends in high school, often bought at the men's store in town. I may have had some lingering guilt, as several pricy pieces of clothing from that time survived until recent closet purges - au revoir 1991-vintage Polo oxford shirt with decade-and-a-half-old sweat stains (or years of dust) under the arm! Source: Maclean's , April 11, 1988. - JB

I don't have any pictures on hand of the house on Second Concession/Fryer Street when we lived in it, but here's a shot taken from the front yard circa 1973-74. The quarry is till there, but part of the field is now occupied by an elementary school. Amy sent me a link a couple of days ago showing that the house we grew up is up for sale . I figured it was a matter of time, as the property has been vacant for awhile (the 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper taped in the middle of the front window indicating a number to call if you noticed something funny was going on was the tipoff). It sounded as if several additions were made after we left the house twenty years ago, including a backyard pool, fireplace and a hot tub. None of these added touches appear to have increased the property's value—when I asked Mom how much we received for it, the figure was a few thousand more than the current price. The sale price likely reflects the downturn in the economy down there as much as any pot...

Swiss Chalet had served up its rotisserie chicken to diners in other parts of Ontario for a quarter of a century by the time it opened its first locations in Windsor in 1980. One sign a proofreader may have been asleep on the job—it's Dougall Avenue, not Dougal Rd. The Dougall location was a frequent dinner destination during childhood. Our orders varied little: Chalet Salad (chicken chunks mixed into shredded cabbage) and a side of fries for Dad, quarter chicken breast dinners for the rest of us. Maybe a chicken sandwich once in awhile. Fulfilling my role as a human garbage disposal unit, I drank anyone's leftover Chalet Sauce that hadn't been used to coat chicken, fries or the half of a hamburger bun that came with dinner. It was fun to dunk my hands into the finger bowl filled with water and a dainty shred of lemon at the end of the meal (sorry Swiss Chalet management, but wet wipes are a wimpy substitute). My grandmother sometimes accompanied us and I wonder if a me...

Every year before Dad (and later Amy and I) had to return to the classroom, we’d visit my grandparents in Leaside and spent one day of the trip at the Ex. While the rides were fun, the Food Building and its array of cheap/free delights from local and major vendors was often the highlight. The odds are good I was running around (or tethered to my parents with a leash around my wrist so that I wouldn’t disappear into the crowd) the Food Building in 1980 when Canadian Grocer magazine prepared a special report/advertising section about the fair. Even in 1980, it seems patrons were dismay by the dwindling amount of freebies exhibitors handed out each year. In an effort to bring back the “good ol’ days,” the CNE Food Products Association gave away over 10,000 food and food-related prizes on Food Products Day (August 20). Coupons were handed out that made patrons eligible to win items ranging from candy bars to Cuisinart food processors. Pipers were used to draw people to the coupon boot...

Every so often in the midst of scrolling through reels of microfilm at the Toronto Public Library, I'll find an ad or story with loose connections to Amherstburg. While researching the coverage of the death of Sir John A. Macdonald in Toronto's newspapers, I came across this ad for a company who, just over a quarter of a century later, became one of Amherstburg's largest employers. Built between 1917 and 1919, the Brunner Mond soda ash plant provided Amherstburg with both jobs and an improved water supply thanks to a filtration facility the company built. Later known as Allied Chemical and General Chemical, the plant operated until 2005 . The Brunner Mond name lives on in a boat launch along the Detroit River (Bru Mon Harbour Marina, formerly used by plant employees as the Brunner Mond Yacht Club) and a side street near the plant where the company once built homes for its employees (Brunner Avenue). Note that the Mail had a header specially made for advertisers in ...

Photo taken in a parking garage along Washington Street in Ann Arbor, August 10, 2010. - JB

A lesson in how to make a retailer's leftovers sound attractive. Question: were there any special, unprinted deals for regulars of the mission across the street (say, very special odd pants or suits to help somebody down on their luck climb back up the ladder of life)? Source: The Toronto Star , July 6, 1928. - JB

While shopping at St. Lawrence Market early this afternoon, the front page of the Toronto Sun caught my eye. The Summerworks theatre festival was the target of their trademark sensationalism-in-the-name-of-showing-easily-outraged-taxpayers-where-their-money-is-being-wasted-today. Seems one of the plays takes a sympathetic view toward a convicted member of the Toronto 18. Cue outrage from politicians and lobby groups sympathetic to the paper's editorial tilt. Talk about lazy: of course if you ask the Canadian Taxpayers Federation what they think of funding anything vaguely artistic or fun, the answer is going to be no . Too predictable, too pat, too much of a reconfirmation of the views of the paper's readership. And the play hasn't even opened yet. Summerworks's blog has responded . *** Speaking of the Sun, amid some research I've done through its back pages lately and a recent find at Value Village, there will be upcoming posts devoted to oddball discove...

All was going well until, distracted by further questioning from Sluggo, Nancy accidentally opened her eyes... Strip originally published August 5, 1953. Nancy © United Media - JB

Photograph by Alfred Pearson. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 10091. According to the City of Toronto Archives, these pictures show a "traffic tie up on Elizabeth Street south of Dundas with truck having lost a rear wheel parked on tracks on Elizabeth Street delaying a Peter Witt streetcar on the Dundas route" on January 10, 1934. Photograph by Alfred Pearson. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 10092. This incident may not have made it into the day’s papers, but Elizabeth Street figured in two stories in the following day’s edition of the Star . A front page headline noted that “GAMBLING DENS THRIVE IN CITY HALL’S SHADOW OPEN TO ALL COMERS.” An undercover reporter, “who had never placed a bet or risked a nickel in any public gambling house,” visited three bookie joints within three blocks of (Old) City Hall. Among those stops was “a rendezvous on Elizabeth Street” that was “known to the sophisticated. The reported wasn’t asked any...

(click onto image for larger version) Another case of accidentally stumbling upon an old ad or newspaper story that relates to a current headline story. Our wonderful, forward-thinking federal government has decided that the mandatory filling out of a full census form is a horrifying violation of personal privacy , despite the wealth of useful information derived from such surveys for eons. Defenders of the government's actions are emerging from the usual quarters: the Fraser Institute and the Toronto Sun . Could it be that the evil-looking kid on the left grew up to be a Conservative advisor and remembered the separation anxiety when their father took too much time away from them to complete the census? Pro-mandatory long form census editorials from Toronto newspapers: Globe and Mail National Post Toronto Star Source: The Telegram , May 21, 1971 - JB

Wandering through Kensington Market earlier this month, I noticed a recent installation at the north end of Augusta Avenue to welcome visitors to the neighbourhood. Photo taken July 2010 - JB