JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

During Thursday night's  Festival of Lights  in Kensington Market, the  Toronto Parking Authority  tested its latest innovation at the Bellevue lot: special spots to leave one's pants. If the results are successful, other spaces will be created around the core, which will come in helpful for those times where you can't be bothered to cart your pants around when you're not using them, or when carrying them becomes a distraction. Not to be outdone, the Toronto District School Board will be testing their new specialty parking spot over the holiday break at Central Tech: tires or toilets only.

It's that time of year again...time to take a trip back into the often terrifying world of 1960s cookery. Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cookbook (1968) was well used at home growing up, mostly it contains one of my favourite comfort foods, steak and noodles (or, as the cookbook calls it, Round Steak Sauerbraten). Here's the recipe - I figure I should serve up the tasty before the the tacky. 1-1/2 pounds steak, 1/2" thick (we use sirloin instead of round) 1 envelope brown gravy mix 1 tbsp dried onion 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp wine vinegar 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1 bayleaf 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper hot buttered noodles (extra broad egg noodles preferred) Cut meat in 1" squares, then brown. Remove meat from pot, add gravy mix and 2 cups water. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Stir in next 8 ingredients. Add meat. Pour into casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350F for 90 minutes. Remove bayleaf. Serve on noodles *** I

Yes, our friend the darling pet monkey is back. A year-and-a-half after hanging out with Dr. Strange and Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, here he is in a "confessional" magazine. Maybe the monkey was edging towards more adult concerns - supporting cancer research, removing unwanted hair, etc. Note price and clothing remain the same, leading to one funky (smelling) pet. Like the monkey, Blair was also a frequent comic book advertiser well into the 70s, with "Tim Newcomer" as their usual saleskid. Alas, no further information on them. Permagon was only one of a wide variety of oddball products Honor House sold in magazines. If you didn't want a hair zapper, how about a personal nuclear sub ? Also, note how the object the scantily-clad model is holding in the closeup looks like a grease/mark-up pencil. Could be they lost the zapper for the shot and had to borrow the closest substitute from the paste-up artist nearby. It is also possible that she is wearing one of t

This week's walk: holiday lights in Rosedale. Along the way, we discovered an abandoned/secured property, fully lit up yet totally inaccessible. All walkways up to the house were blocked by fencing. We guessed a legal dispute was at play - our theory was an inheritance tied up in litigation. The picture on the right turned out blurry, but a few filters give it the proper spooky effect. I expect rays of light to burst through the windows at any second... The further north we went, the number of lighting displays increased. This held to another group theory, that lower-wealth neighbourhoods contain better holiday displays (wealth being relative in Rosedale, though this point was proven to me a few nights later when I wandered on my own around the city, to be covered in an upcoming post). The side shot above almost looks human shaped, except for the giant tail/very long watering house/whatever you imagine it is. North of the train tracks, homes decked with lights stood o

A fine array of products available to Marvel Comics readers in 1967. Things were going well for Merry Marvel that year: sales were rising and Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four debuted on Saturday morning TV. Multiple-advertiser pages such as these remained a staple until the early 80s. Compared to National/DC, who carried ads from reputable companies like Tootsie Roll, Marvel's resembled a flea market, the junior version of similar layouts from their men's magazine line. Isn't that pet monkey adorable? Who wouldn't want a shirt-wearing, lollipop-munching primate around the house? We're not going to ask if owners had any other uses for the cage and leather goods included with the monkey. Note emphasis on "young" monkey - we'll never know if older monkeys in the stable sued on the grounds of age discrimination. Note Orwellian name of the advertiser. This little monkey got around, as we'll see in a future vintage ad... Based on Perfect Voice

While out for a stroll Sunday afternoon, I wandered by the College St end of Croft St and noticed a few new elements - a fresh series of artwork along the walls of the east side of the street. John Croft, receiving the official plaque treatment. The plaque is sandwiched between dancers on the left, an unnamed portrait on the right. The red figure in the middle reminds me of characters from 60s/70s undergrounds (usually talking pills). Haircuts and apartment dwellers. The new heart of the city? You're a wonder, Wonder Woman . Waiting for the Croft St Red Rocket.