JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

The December 31, 1920 edition of the Pasadena Post spotlighted (mostly) grinning photos of the paper's staff and local businessmen. Given my penchant for going down research rabbit holes related to anything quirky I stumble upon, this series will look at some of the stories behind the smiling faces.  Pasadena Post, December 31, 1920 . "That ponderous body of his simply shakes." There's descriptive language you just don't see any more.  From the accounts I've found, it seems William A. Haas was a classic old-time entertainment PR man, full of stories and tall tales to go along with his eternal smile. When he died in 1941, his obituary included many claims that might not hold up under scrutiny. He unsuccessfully ran for coroner (possibly in Iowa) against future president William Howard Taft. He suggested that William McKinley be promoted as the “Advance Agent of Prosperity” during the 1896 presidential campaign. He planted the idea of motion pictures in Thomas E...

This installment of my "Ghost City" column for The Grid was originally published on March 5, 2013. Alhambra theatre, September 1960. City of Toronto Archives, Series 372, Subseries 100, Item 263.  When was the last time you were handed a ceremonial program at the opening of a new mainstream movie theatre? Attendees at the debut of the Alhambra on November 17, 1919 received a 14-page booklet extolling the virtues of the new theatre, along with a glimpse at upcoming attractions. The owners hoped that patrons would enjoy “the first of many pleasant evenings of relaxation to be spent in this perfectly appointed Temple of Silent Art.”

From November 2011 through July 2012 I wrote the "Past Pieces of Toronto" column for OpenFile, which explored elements of the city which no longer exist. The following was originally posted on December 30, 2011.  Opening ad for the Odeon Hyland. The Toronto Star , November 17, 1948 It was a dicey proposition: testing out a brand new movie theatre, and the Shakespearian adaptation that was its opening attraction, by filling the first showing with high school students. It was especially dicey after rowdy teens had recently disrupted a recent festival honouring the Bard at the Eaton Auditorium (now the Carlu). But Odeon Theatres officials felt that filling the new Hyland theatre with students from Northern Vocational High School (now Northern Secondary) for the afternoon presentation of Sir Laurence Olivier’s version of Hamlet on November 22, 1948 was worth any potential mishaps. According to the Star, the kids were alright: The kids at the showing were well-beh...

From November 2011 through July 2012 I wrote the "Past Pieces of Toronto" column for OpenFile, which explored elements of the city which no longer exist. The following was originally posted on January 29, 2012. At this point, the column went from biweekly to weekly. This entry also seems like a good one to repost now with news that the Paradise has been sold . Personal story: the first time I went to the Paradise was to see Robert Altman’s Nashville . The print was faded, but watchable; my seat was in rougher shape. The armrest was barely attached to the rest of the chair with either duct tape or chewing gum. While some people would have hightailed it to the nearest theatre with stadium seating, the improvised fix gave the Paradise a certain charm. Opened around 1937, and known for a time as the New Paradise, it was a neighbourhood cinema that served the community around Bloor Street West and Westmoreland Avenue. Notes in the City of Toronto Archives indicate ...

Before reading this post, check out the related Torontoist article . This ad appeared in Toronto newspapers on September 8, 1948, the day before the Odeon Toronto's opening gala. I considered using it for the article, but none of the copies I found were in good shape. This version from the Globe and Mail was the least scruffy of the lot—the copy in the Star looked as if somebody had dropped a bottle of ink on it. To modern eyes, the coverage of opening night makes the event feel as if it was "let's suck up to the British" time...except that the speeches that stressed the importance of Toronto's strong ties to Great Britain were the norm during the first half of the twentieth century. When Mayor Hiram McCallum told the audience that “the future of this country lies with the British community of nations,” he repeated a mantra uttered by numerous dignitaries before him. McCallum also mentioned it was fitting that ever-loyal Toronto received such a fine Bri...

Considering how many times I visited members of the Princess Party Patrol when they lived across from the Revue, it's surprising that I had never seen a movie there until Friday night. Especially given it is the oldest continuously operating movie house in TO. A brief history of the Revue from Enright's Theatres of Canada . It was also the last installment of Kung-Fu Fridays , a series that has bounced around town for a decade. I had checked it out once before, for Bondyra's birthday a couple of years ago. The flick that night was The Golden Mask aka Golden Killah ( sound clips ). He and a coworker also came for the final edition, preceded by a round of sushi over on Bloor. Let's just say they were in the spirit of the evening...or a George Romero film fest. Take your pick. The trailers were a laugh riot, mostly from the 70s. The one above came from a flick about children and the undead, beings that shouldn't mix. Also featured was one I wanted to...

This week and next likely mark the end of a good chunk of Toronto's rep cinemas. Last month, it wasa announced that the Royal, Revue, Kingsway and Paradise theatres will shut their doors on June 30th - you'll find plenty of links via this BlogTO story . Health and time permitting (I am currently battling a cold I may have picked up abroad), I'm trying to catch a flick at each before the doors are locked. First stop was the Paradise on Bloor West. This was only the second time I'd seen a film there, the first being Nashville several years ago. Main memories were a grainy print and that the armrest on my seat was attached by duct tape, gum or a similarly sticky substance. A brief history of the Paradise, from John Sebert's book The Nabes : There has been a theatre on this site since the early teens; the first was the Bloor Palace. After World War One, it was changed to the Kitchener - a tip of the hat to the British Field Marshall, Lord Kitchener...In 1939, ...