bonus features: mount hope cemetery

This post provides supplementary material for a Torontoist article about Mount Hope Cemetery, which you should read before diving into the following text.

Source: the Globe, October 2, 1909

While death is usually a sad event, especially when it strikes suddenly, the way newspapers wrote obituaries in the early 20^th century puts a smile on my face. After reading the Globe’s account of George Foy’s passing in 1909, I pictured a dark comedy sketch, where Mr. Foy is beaming while out on “one of these little jaunts.” He runs into the police officers, smiles, declares “Mr. Office, I believe I have been seized with a slight attack of asthma!,” then drops dead. Cue laugh track.

It’s the note about Foy’s “little jaunts” that seems so odd…funny…colourful...or maybe my perceptions have warped too much.

Source: the Toronto Star, October 2, 1909.

For comparison, I reviewed the Star’s account of Mr. Foy’s passing. It’s far more sober and provides further details on what happened following Foy’s collapse. The cause of death is named: apoplexy, the common term at the time for a stroke.