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...

Finally getting a chance to explore the city by bicycle again... This week's long ride started off in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. I usually discover one well-known tomb passing through - this time, pioneer hockey announcer Foster Hewitt, located close to the Eaton crypt. I couldn't get the Hockey Night in Canada theme out of my head for 10 minutes. From there, went along the crowded Belt Line trail. My internal radio switched from hockey to traffic reports. Thanks, John. Eastbound Belt Line is very busy, with walkers backed up between Avenue and Oriole, you may want to switch to Chaplin Cr to avoid delays. Westbound Belt Line is moving smoothly, but watch out for fresh gravel between Eglinton and Bathurst. Now over to Mary to check in on the Don Valley... Along the way, I discovered a new trail I'd never heard of, the York Belt Line, which runs from west of the Allen to a fence near Caledonia and Eglinton. Paved, fairly flat and relaxing. Several parks along the way ful...