JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

How to turn a nice sketch of a turn-of-the-century gentleman into a depiction of a hideous victim of venereal disease: assign the printer to randomly drop ink over a second copy and switch his fancy tie into a bow tie. The victim in today's ad looks not so much like a tragic sufferer of syphilis, but more like an Edwardian conception of a zombie or a gentleman whose portrait was painted by Basil Hallward .  Source: the Toronto World , May 21, 1902.

There once was an ad Whose opening was mad And celebrated poetry so bad It made us kinda sad But not as much as Vlad Who tried to write a poem about plaid While sprawled in his pad Next to his sleeping dad For a recent literature grad He did not think his prose was so rad. Source: Now , March 30, 1989.

Do not go gentle down that good road... Photo taken on Royal Oak Road, west of Little Britain, September 14, 2011.

With the backlog of material sitting here, it takes a while before I get around to thoroughly browsing magazines I've picked up on a whim because they could be useful for future research or a tossed-off blog post.  When I finally get around to reading them, the notes previous readers left behind jump out at me. Such is the case with today's feature presentation, taken from an early 1950s issue of Better Homes & Gardens I purchased in Herkimer, NY during a roadtrip to Boston last spring.  I was walking off lunch from a nearby diner (a massive Denver omelette, accompanied by biscuits served with gravy that didn't resemble wallpaper paste) along the town's definitely-seen-better-days main street when I stopped in a quirky antique shop. Unlike similar establishments, the prices weren't going to break the bank — the magazine was one of several items I purchased for a buck apiece. Took a quick flip, saw its potential, tossed it in the trunk, and rediscovered it ...

Construction continues on the ground level of the Toronto Reference Library . Coming during 2012: a new browsery, expanded gallery space, and a branch of Balzac's . Also coming in 2012: a return to regular posting on this site.  Photo taken December 28, 2011 .

Dear readers: may you have better luck finding what you wanted under the Christmas tree than these people did a century ago ( I already have ). Unlike Bobby, little Jamie would have been happier receiving a well-illustrated "Lives of Great Men" (or "Lives of Great Hockey Players" or "Lives of Great B-Movie Character Actors") than a pair of skates that might kill my ankles. Source: the Globe , December 25, 1911

H.H. Wiltshire, aka The Flaneur, was one of the first columnists to appear in Toronto newspapers. According to historian Paul Rutherford in his book A Victorian Authority: the daily press in late nineteenth century Canada , Wiltshire's Saturday morning musings in the Mail and Mail and Empire "might roam over the woeful condition of France or Ireland, the arts world, Toronto civic politics, displaying a Conservative bias but not in any strident fashion." As Wiltshire's nom de plume implies, his columns read like the thoughts of a man carefully observing his surroundings as he wanders the city and wire reports. Wiltshire readily interacted with his readers, answering their general questions or debating their opinions. Here's how Wiltshire greeted his readers during his holiday column a century ago: To all my happy readers I wish a Happy Christmas and a good New Year. For them, "may good digestion wait on appetite and health on both," as the familia...

An all-too-familiar pattern of settling into a fine day of work. More about Gluyas Williams in an American Heritage profile . Source: The Telegram , May 28, 1928

"Flee." - Dave Marsh, summarizing the discography of Chase in the 1979 edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide .  All three of  Chase's records were bestowed with the guide's lowest rating on a five star scale, which wasn't a star but a square, defined as "worthless: records that need never (or should never) have been created. Reserved for the most bathetic bathwater." Was Chase's style of jazz-rock fusion deserving of snarky scorn? A YouTube search came up with a ltelevision performance that lives up to their horny billing. The group's career was cut short when leader Bill Chase and three other members were killed in a plane crash in 1974. Source: National Lampoon , May 1972 

Peter Lorre at dinner , between 1955 and 1964. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 3429 (Alexandra Studio). One of the joys of digging through the treasure chest of photos uploaded by the City of Toronto Archives  is finding unusual pictures that end up distracting me from what I’m supposed to be searching for. Take the shot above, found while seeking "dinner" photos. The scene: a nice restaurant, somewhere in Toronto during the late 1950s or early 1960s (any historic culinary experts good at identifying it?). Actor Peter Lorre is being interviewed by writer Frank Rasky. Lorre holds a sausage, which resembles the breakfast variety despite the picture being taken at dinner, in his fork. He gives it an odd glance. Is Lorre: Pondering his next answer? Discovering there's something wrong with the sausage? Illustrating a point to amuse the interviewer?  Demonstrating a dining technique director Fritz Lang left on the cutting room floor after sho...

While there will be a lot of happy faces at today's Santa Claus Parade today in Toronto, I suspect they may not match the joy expressed along the procession route in 1918. That year's parade rounded out a week that began with the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Despite the other celebrations and parades that week, Torontonians weren't too pooped to watch Santa make his journey through the city. And a journey it was: back then, the route began at Yonge and Eglinton and made its way south until it reached Eaton's Toyland at the corner of Albert and James (an intersection that survived the construction of the Eaton Centre).

A ghost costume seems odd for Snoopy - were his World War I flying ace goggles being repaired? Also don't recall "gooey stuff in our hair" being a part of Halloween ritual, unless (a) it refers to coloured hairspray being applied too liberally, (b) liquid latex or face putty application went wrong, or (c) it was habit for kids to stick their chewed-up Chiclets or Double Bubble in a friend's hair. A little Peanuts happy dance is a fine way to welcome Halloween. Fingers crossed rain stays away for trick-o-treaters or anyone planning to hit Toronto's Halloween hotspots tonight. One piece of advice: Church Street is fantastic for observing the creativity people put into their costumes (like last year's Lego people and Barbie in a box ) in a party-like atmosphere, but is not recommended for the claustrophobic once half the city descends upon the closed-off stretch.

Have you sent the Great Pumpkin a card (or ecard) yet? Time's a-wastin'! Get to it! Now! No delay! Judging from the glint in his eyes, it looks like Snoopy knows what Linus is getting from the Great Pumpkin this year, doesn't it? It probably won't be Bing Crosby warbling this ode to the monarch of the pumpkin patch.

While out in the pumpkin patch, you can play fun games involving a dash of romance with other vegetables growing nearby. Take this suggestion from the "Hallow-e'en" chapter of Mary E. Blain's 1909 guide to merriment, Games For All Occasions : PULLED KALE All are blindfolded and go out singly or hand-in-hand to garden. Groping about they pull up first stalk of kale or head of cabbage. If stalk comes up easily the sweetheart will be easy to win; if the reverse, hard to win. The shape of the stump will hint at figure of prospective wife or husband. Its length will suggest age. If much soil clings to it, life-partner will be rich; if not, poor. Finally, the stump is carried home and hung over door, first person outside of family who passed under it will bear a name whose initial is same as that of sweetheart. Even with the change of season, it's not the same without the chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I'd suggest roasting pumpkin seeds, but the wrath o...

Several days before Halloween, Snoopy and Woodstock tested the lone tree in the pumpkin patch to see if it would support them in case they dressed up like bats or vampires. The odds of those costumes being their final choice was low: every year, the World War I flying ace was on the prowl for root beer and the dastardly Red Baron. The Great Pumpkin that Linus carved wasn't as comfy as Snoopy's doghouse, but it was good enough for a quick nap. As he drifted off, the beagle wondered who would warble this carol better: Fred Astaire or Frank Sinatra ? To be continued...

While recently cleaning around my desk, I found a booklet that fits the season: a collection of Halloween carols courtesy of the Peanuts gang. Published by Hallmark, possibly in the late 1960s, it provides a perfect accompaniment to your annual viewing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . While the booklet may not make you sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" like the special does... ...it offers a pumpkin-laced spin on a variety of Christmas carols and songs. The fear of diehard believers in the Great Pumpkin like Linus that Halloween was becoming a "forgotten holiday" proved groundless, though the universe still doesn't resound with pumpkin carols. Based on the picture, it's day 12 of Sally showering her "sweet babboo" with holiday gifts. It's possible that these aren't really bats, but members of Woodstock's Beagle Scout troop costumed by Ms. Brown. Out of all of the carols in the booklet, this one is the most ...

Take one purveyor of tasty hipster pickles . Combine with a venerable Detroit snack food manufacturer . Use one of Motown's finest food destinations as a backdrop for testing the new concoction. Result: splitting a bag of McClure's Spicy Pickle chips with your partner-in-crime on a warm Canadian Thanksgiving weekend morning while walking by rows of beautiful potted plants. Photo taken October 8, 2011 UPDATE OCT 15/11 : You can purchase both flavours at Scheffler's Deli at St. Lawrence Market ($1.59/bag). We tried the Garlic Pickle flavour and while tasty, they lacked the zestyness of the Spicy Pickle chips. Worth a try once you've finished going through all the cheese and meat samples.

Philanthropist. Amateur sport advocate. Municipal political kingmaker. Populist conservative publisher. Collector. Historian. Imperialist. Just a few of the terms that could be applied to the many passions of John Ross Robertson . Nearly a century after his death, legacies such as the Hospital for Sick Children and the public utilities he campaigned for continue to affect the lives of Torontonians. The profile touches upon Robertson's contributions to the preservation of  Toronto's past. The collection of pictures he donated to the Toronto Public Library remains a key part of the Baldwin Room Canadian Historical Picture Collection . He also published six volumes of Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto , which collected historical sketches originally published in the Telegram . A sample of the introduction to the first volume, published in 1894: One hundred years ago Chippewas in their wigwams were the only inhabitants to welcome the first white man, who with axe in hand h...

Monty Python's Flying Circus has offended plenty of people over the years. Sometimes, as in this letter, one's outrage at the show could easily be a sketch from the show. All that's missing from this letter is a "Dear Sir" salutation rendered in pompous tones.

Back for a final go-round after a summer hiatus... For a page featuring two recipes beginning with the letter S and a baseball player adorned in S emblems, you'd think the illustrator would have included foods that started with S. Unless the that apple in his glove is a spartan, or the cupcake/muffin on the table is strawberry-chocolate flavoured, there is a distinct lack of S-foods. There is the possibility the connection lies in a theme of sweetly-flavoured items men can enjoy. "Sweet" begins with "S"!