JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Part of the fun of preparing historical columns is reading the other stories that share space with the subject of my research. These side items sometimes provide the seed for a future column. For example, while researching last weekend's Historicist column about the move of Campbell House , I found an odd Eaton's advertisement that I turned into a Vintage Toronto Ads post . I also discovered a number of stories about local landmarks that were celebrating their grand opening, mired in neighbourhood battles, or proposing actions that never happened. While I may be able to turn these into long essays someday, a couple of them were too good to leave alone. In short, welcome to a new feature on this blog. The material will mostly be from Toronto papers, but anything's fair game. Rather than drag out this introduction, let's dive right in... *** "Resident says 95% against turning rail line into park" Toronto Star, July 18, 1970 In early July 1970, The Tor...

While doing some spring cleaning earlier today (aka hacking up/tossing out magazines gathering dust), I stumbled upon the following article from the July 1973 issue of Popular Science . Click on images for larger versions, except for the bottom one - that one is at full size.

When you need a friend, Lonesome Charlie is there. Nothing suits a romantic ballad in a grassy field or a sunset stroll than a cheap fruit-flavoured wine beverage. All that's missing is easier-than-easy listening music. Source: 1978 Blue Jays Scorebook Magazine  

Bankette was one of the earliest ATM-style machines to operate in Canada. It was launched following tests of bank machines in the US and UK during the late 1960s and the introduction of a twenty-four hour cash dispenser by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in 1969. This magazine insert explains the wonders of this latest form of modern technology. Readers are dared to see if the application form still works. Source: Saturday Night , August 1972 - JB

The sun is just a dot in the sky next to the Ambassador Bridge in today's selection. The dirt path on the Windsor side is now paved and part of the city's riverfront recreation path. This stretch of green space is also the present home of the Odette Sculpture Park . Driving over the Ambassador Bridge may cause some confusion for the next year-and-a-half, thanks to a massive construction project that will allow direct access to its neighbouring freeways. I was in the area on the last day the surrounding stretch of I-75 was open and local radio stations were treating the upcoming closure in the same breathless tone as a severe winter storm ("HOW WILL YOU GET TO WORK ON MONDAY?"). Despite some tricky manoeuvring, unless massive backups result the bridge will remain my usual route to Motown for the time being. I'm more than willing to wait a few more minutes for goodies from Mexicantown. The church steeples to the right belong to St. Anne Roman Catholic Church,...

Today's dig into the box of 1970s family photos centres on a couple of Detroit landmarks - one altered, one gone. A recreational site for Detroiters since the late 19th century, Belle Isle was also one of the starting points of the 1943 race riots . Many of my experiences on the island involved traffic jams spurred by passengers in other vehicles reaching out to pet the island's deer population (who appear to have been rounded up by the island zoo ). On the left is the Belle Isle Coast Guard station . The white tower no longer exists. On the right, located on the mainland, is the Conners Creek Edison Plant. Opened in 1915, its set of smokestacks earned the nickname "Seven Sisters". The plant was demolished in August 1996 . Photo taken sometime in the early 1970s - JB

Amherstburg Coast Guard station, looking towards Boblo Island, early 1970s As is usual for the holidays, I drove back to Toronto with a full trunk. Tucked among the gifts, Trader Joe's bags and ironed shirts was a box of photos that sat around the house for years. Spurred by regular visits to historical image sites such as International Metropolis along with several Flickr contacts who recently posted vintage photos from their families, I figured there might be interesting shots lurking within. While most of our family photos are housed in albums, there are a pile from the early 1970s that never earned this honour. Most of these photos were family candids, local landscapes or closeups of flowers. These photos were originally in a small box, then placed in a larger shoebox when pictures ranging from Granddad's 1950s fishing trips to Amy's university outtakes were added. But it's the core photos that grabbed my attention. Why they weren't placed in an album ...

To mark the holiday season, a shot from my first Christmas, though some may argue I was around for Xmas '74 in embryonic form. This is a typical family scene from the first quarter-century of my life - Dad and I (or Amy when she arrived on the scene) doing something that amuses Mom. I'm pointing at something, perhaps training for my childhood habit of pointing down any road I wanted to explore on family drives. We lived in this house through my early teens, with the same layout up until we moved. The Santa ornament in the foreground hung on the tree for years and still swings on Amy's tree. This tree lasted for three decades, until the colour coding on the branch wires wore off...which weren't really necessary towards the end, as knew where each limb was supposed to go. Putting up the tree began with a trip into our large, slighty musty crawl space, where the Christmas decorations were buried back behind boxes of preserves, old football yearbooks and cheap myste...

Previously : Detroit Dating Advice ( One ) | ( Two ) Ontario Drinking Rules Continuing with our ongoing look at Detroit in 1970 through the eye of a hipster guide, it's time to find a place to eat. Bob's Picture Bar (Grand River & Cass) - "About forty years ago Bob came up with this rather grand scheme of chronicling human progress by covering the walls of his bar with pictures (and spicing up uninteresting periods with cartoons from Esquire). Unfortunately for the historically-minded, it looks as if human progess stopped about 1940...the floor is so uneven your knees may buckle as you walk." Cabaret LaBoheme (Ponchartrain Hotel) - "If a genuine bohemian ever walked in the here he would probably be booted the 23 floors down." Flaming Embers (Grand Circus Park) - "This is the place to go to get your bad $1.29 steak for $1.76. And you get to watch as they scorch it." Ham Heaven (E. Congress) - "The sign of a good sandwich s...

Hours of fun in the sandbox to come! Photo taken July 1978 - JB

Taken by my parents in the early 1970s, possibly around Cottam or Harrow .