JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

The one with the Kahlo for sale? Photo taken on Dupont Street, February 26, 2009

Which factor in this ad is more alarming? The inoculation of rabbits with "human dandruff germs." That dandruff is a contagious affliction. That the product name makes it sound like a cure-all for herpes. Source: The Toronto Daily Star , March 6, 1909

Previously: Cheese blankets and stuffing Recipes inspired by North American notions of Hawaiian or Polynesian food were a staple of 1950s cooking tips, so it's not shocking to see the humble hot dog paired off with bacon and pineapple for a taste of the south seas. Note the other fruit pairings—at first, I was revolted by the notion of peaches and hot dogs, but then remembered I've eaten sausages with fruit-enriched barbecue sauce or marinades, so perhaps the idea isn't so far-fetched... OK, maybe it is. Large chunks of peaches and bologna-like meat. Mmmm. Our final culinary creation is something I'm surprised a fast food chain or frozen food manufacturer never investigated the sales possibilities of. People like hot dogs. People like overstuffed or flavoured mashed potatoes. Why not combine them? Ta-da—tater dogs! (If anyone from McCain's is reading this, I get 5% of the profits, OK?) FIN Source: Better Living , June 1953

Today's entry is a rewrite/update of one of the earliest posts on this site. Apologies to anyone with long memories. One of the joys of researching the pieces I write for other sites is stumbling upon pieces of my past that share the page with the topic I'm supposed to be writing about. The latest popped up while digging through stories and ads for the Grand Union/Steinberg's/Miracle Food Mart piece I recently posted on Torontoist . Proof at last that Chateau cola existed! My father used to bring cases of Chateau cola home from our local A&P - he really enjoyed guzzling it, probably due to the ultra sugar rush it provided. Chateau was an anachronism, being the only pop I remember that required a can opener to get at the ultra-syrupy liquid inside—let other soft drink makers include frills like tabs or push buttons. Punching holes into the can was appropriate, as the cola had the viscosity of motor oil. This was a small blessing, as it meant I couldn't bring a...

The TTC's latest suggestions for escalator dos and don'ts, including a groove-y logo. This was among the first ads to be posted at Bloor when it ceased to be the Being Erica station. Had the TTC gone for shock value, they might have considered an updating this British public information film. Lesson: don't leave empty rubber boots on an escalator.

Not quite the "LOOK UP!" safety ads with Isiah Thomas that ran frequently when I was little. Anyone who has lived through a Detroit/southwestern Ontario summer can testify to how humid it can be come mid-July. *** Over the holidays, I purchased a large number of magazines about Detroit, dating from the late 1960s through early 1990s. For each ad excerpted from this batch, I'll spotlight features from each magazine and a random Windsor restaurant review. Also in the August 1984 issue of Metropolitan Detroit : * Cover story on emergency health care in Metro Detroit. Tip: it's more important to carry a card listing your medication allergies while on the way to the ER than wearing clean underwear. Minimum user costs for an emergency ranged from $35 (Detroit Receiving) to $122 (Henry Ford). * An interview with Robert Altman , who was in Ann Arbor filming Secret Honor: The Last Testament of Richard Nixon and teaching the odd course. When asked about being an ar...

Previously : Bread rolls and fritters Proto-Pillsbury crescent roll wiener wraps? I would have been revolted by the addition of olives as a kid—they would have been rolled out of the hot dog. I liked my toppings plain and simple—mustard and ketchup. At some point Dad and I discovered the miracle of canned hot dog chili sauce, brown glop we liberally applied to the bun. Any leftover sauce was served in bowls, occasionally with a dash of shredded cheese. We usually bought Castleberry's or Vietti brands on stateside shopping trips. I haven't cracked open a car so far this century. UPDATE (Feb 25/09) : While conducting a recent cleaning of the Warehouse nuclear food stockpile, I discovered a can of Castleberry's hiding at the back of the pantry. Further research and taste-testing to be conducted. Here's where the test kitchen's ideas really fall apart. It may be a blessing this dish was shot in black and white, as combination of ingredients suggest a regurgi...

One of the interesting things about the research I do for my historical pieces on other sites is the odd items that pop up as I scroll through rolls of microfilm. While looking for material for a piece on events in Toronto on New Year's Day 1909, I stumbled upon a lurid tale of murder in that day's edition of the Mail and Empire ...which took place in my hometown. "His life-blood gushing forth in a great stream." I'm finding that this colourful, illustrative, gruesome language was commonly employed by the Conservative-leaning Mail and Empire , which merged with the Globe in 1936 to form the Globe and Mail . By contrast, coverage in the Toronto World that day was muted and to the point: I read these stories to Mom, who couldn't place the names or recall hearing any legends about this incident pass down through the years. I keep forgetting to check the Windsor papers on file at the Toronto Reference Library to see what they had to say about the murd...

Now that we're in the depths of the winter blahs, isn't it time to start daydreaming about next summer? Come June, it's time to take in baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet...or soccer, veggie dogs, gelato and Toyota, if one were to update the old car jingle. The number of hot dog carts on Toronto's sidewalks either testifies to our love of all manner of tube steaks or reflects the laws that make them practically the only type of food street vendors are allowed to sell. For those looking for a change from standard cart fare or boiling/grilling a supermarket 12-pack at home, the Warehouse has dug up handy hot dog hints from the 1950s. Feel free to experiment with chicken or veggie dogs for a modern touch! First up, a tray of baked doggies. As far as 1950s experiments with processed meats go, this one doesn't sound too horrible, though I have never tried horseradish mustard on a hot dog. Bread was a last resort when it came to hot dogs during my child...

During the last Sunday in January, I drove a friend out to Guelph and Waterloo Region to show off some of my old haunts. The U of G campus was busy, thanks to an organic food show that offered plenty of samples—thumbs up to organic cottage cheese, vanilla yogurt and pickled asparagus (individually, not combined). For dinner, we wanted to try someplace neither of us been before, which made me think of The Black Forest Inn in Conestogo. The layout reminded me of places I ate at during childhood, the type of taverns that were plentiful then but have disappeared as time marched on. The long tables and area set aside for a dance floor brought back memories of many family meals at the Anderdon Tavern in Amherstburg, though we were never there for music. We figured the Sunday night buffet was the easiest way to sample the menu. Amid the sausage, schnitzel and sauerkraut was a dish served at several restaurants in the region that I had never laid eyes on before: pigtails. This req...

Driving along 401 between Windsor and London is rarely a pleasurable experience. The long, straight drive and flat landscape quickly induce highway hypnosis and leadfootitis. Toss in impatient truckers and seasonal hazards like black ice and the matching sets of service centres at Tilbury and Dutton/West Lorne come as a welcome break to ease one's nerves... ...well, they were a welcome break. The province is overhauling the service centres along the freeway , many of which date back to the 1960s. While some have been razed and reconstructed in the past decade, such as Ingersoll westbound, others have not seen major renovations since fast food chains moved in back in the 1980s. The problem for any driver passing through southwestern Ontario is that all service centres west of London are either fully closed or have limited facilities (washrooms/telephones). No gas is available, requiring drivers to make significant drives off 401 to find a fill up—signs erected by the province ...

As one viewer of this ad noted, what if the "loudmouth" had also sent away for the Joe Weider course? So much for fearing no one else... Billing itself as "the world's no. 1 selling hockey magazine," Hockey Illustrated appears to have been a mix of opinions from prolific hockey writer Stan Fischler , player profiles, colour action spreads and muscle-building/training school ads. The cover feature of this issue was a look at the 1970/71 NHL All-Star squads, with Gordie Howe as cover boy. Other articles included Fischler bemoaning the continuing inability of the New York Rangers to win a Stanley Cup and the league's executive power shift from Canada to New York, the step-by-step process to produce a goalie mask, Kent Douglas's irritation at winding down his career in the minors and profiles of Dave Balon , Bill Goldsworthy and Jacques Laperriere . Source: Hockey Illustrated , January 1971

Photo taken at the AGO Cafe, January 18, 2009 

Are your salivary glands going into overdrive? A number of friends have indicated that the burger depicted above gave them cravings for charred ground meat when they stumbled upon it on my Flickr stream. For those of who'd like to know how I stumbled upon this beauty, read on... *** Last year the Detroit Free Press carried a feature on the best burgers in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties . I saved the link on my computer for use on future trips to Detroit whenever any family members felt like a light meal or wanted to try an unfamiliar restaurant. The perfect opportunity to start sampling the featured burgers arose when Amy and I spent a day roaming around Motown over the holidays. We had gorged on Mexican food for lunch and still weren't feeling too hungry as evening approached. We spent the late afternoon shopping at Great Lakes Crossing (featured in Bowling for Columbine ), where an oncoming cold made its presence known. A fog settled over my brain, other sho...

It's been awhile since we looked in on the Warehouse's large supply of 1970s CBC advertisements. Today's selection highlights the network's commitment to all forms of sporting activity, from hockey to...well...we assume the model in the middle represents swimsuit competitions. The Montreal Expos don't appear to have been on the Mothership's radar at this point. As for the Montreal Canadiens, 1970/71 saw the arrival of goalie Ken Dryden near the end of the season. Dryden won all six regular games he appeared in and led the Habs, who had missed the playoffs the previous season, to a Stanley Cup victory over the Chicago Black Hawks. The goalie in the ad could have stood in for Rogie Vachon or Phil Myre , neither of whom saw any playoff action due to Dryden's Conn Smythe Trophy -winning play. Source: Macleans , January 1971 

Steaming manholes are a common sight around Detroit, pouring large clouds onto city streets. Under the right conditions (grey skies, barren or decaying neighbourhoods, people pushing shopping carts), these bursts of steam lend a post-apocalyptic movie set atmosphere to your drive. The ones above at Temple and Woodward Avenues are weaklings as far as these things go or took a rest while I whipped out the camera. While driving down Temple I came upon this monster that carries a warning to anyone thinking of touching the venting tube. Perhaps the person who applied the red paint was also a Buster Poindexter or Cure fan expressing their favourite song to the world (though, to be humble, they left out the exclamation marks). Pictures taken in Detroit, December 29, 2008 

Just before Christmas, a notice for an upcoming activity in Windsor caught my eye : On December 28th, when your body is overstuffed with food and in need of a good evening walk, head to Phog Lounge and take one with some friends and strangers. When we move through cities we tend to stay on the beaten path, rarely diverting. We see Windsor from the same perspective each time. Psychogeography is a way of breaking out of that routine and paying attention to and getting excited about the locations in the city. Two of my favourite Windsor websites, International Metropolis and Scaledown , had teamed up with Murmur/Spacing/Toronto Psychogeography's Shawn Micallef to organize a walk. I brought Amy along to sample a slightly more formalized version of what has occupied many a night for me over the past few years. The night lived up to the billing, as I discovered parts of downtown Windsor I didn't know mixed among the familiar, even if the familiar is starting to look alien to...

I'm not sure what Tom's intending to do with that iron...too much damage from smoothing out the wrinkles in his morning paper? Threatening to connect the iron with the head of the poor schlump who won't take his advice to learn more about appliance repair training? Holding it up to protect himself from goons sent by car manufacturers who disagreed with his latest automobile review? Wikipedia has an extensive article on McCahill , an automotive journalist credited with inventing the "0 to 60" speed measurement and was one of the first to regularly write about test drives of new vehicles. McCahill began writing for Mechanix Illustrated in the mid-1940s and was considered such a key element of the magazine that his death in 1975 went unacknowledged in its pages—his grandson ghost-wrote his column for several years. From the height of James Bond mania, check out McCahill's test of a 1965 Aston Martin . Source: Mechanix Illustrated , September 1967 ***...

Continuing our mission to provide responsible, sensible advice from wartime home economists who never existed. Will current economic circumstances and trimming of meat budgets cause a revival in careful carving? Previous words of wisdom from Martha . Source: National Home Monthly , May 1944 

The second-most visited home in the United States - how could we stay in Memphis and not go to Graceland ? One expecting a rash of tacky Elvis-themed stores and outlets along Elvis Presley Boulevard on the way to Graceland from the freeway will be sorely disappointed. The strip has seen better days, symbolized by a burnt-out fast food joint. I prebooked tickets early in the day to dodge the crowds and afternoon heat. Once we picked up our tickets, we headed out to the line for the shuttle bus to take us across the street to the mansion. Sounds lazy, but I suspect the buses (a) help control the crowds wishing to see Elvis' digs, and (b) prevent traffic congestion on Elvis Presley Boulevard that would result from a signal needing to change every 30 seconds to accomodate visitors trekking over. A steady flow of shuttles ensured that our wait was short. A battery of fans kept those waiting in line cool. It was a good thing that we planned an early trip to Graceland, as the ...