JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Source: Eye , May 3, 2001. While researching a recent Torontoist post regarding the demise of Eye/Eye Weekly/The Grid , I dug through a box of material meant to be scrapbooked over a decade ago. Besides finding a couple of fully intact issues focusing on the 2001 Toronto Fringe Festival, I unearthed this clipping of a long-shuttered Windsor pizzeria whose slowly-decaying sign provided years of mirth for my sister and I. Over time, Star Pizza's sign lost more letters. By the mid-2000s you could buy a "lie" for 99 cents, which is a bargain when you're looking to hoodwink somebody.

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

Any Detroit historians know where, despite the fuzzy background of the picture, this grim sign was placed to keep "autoists" safe and sound? Source: The Evening Telegram , February 26, 1929. - JB

Photo taken on Augusta Avenue, March 20, 2011. - JB

Found on King-Vaughan Road a week ago, these signs would have been leftover from the Vaughan federal by-election back in November. Given the reaction of the opposition parties to today's federal budget, this supporter of the current Minister of State for Seniors may as well leave them up. Though not officially declared, it's all-but-certain now that Canada is heading into a full federal election campaign by the end of this week. Picture taken March 14, 2011 - JB

My habit of madly snapping election signs subsided this year, partly because few raised by eyebrows in terms of design or uniqueness (or the headscratchers flew under my radar). Out of the signs I took pictures, this one from Peterborough wins the pun category. Despite historic associations with this candidate's last name , it's safe to assume there won't be any rebellions if he is elected. Photo taken October 10, 2010 - JB

Source: The Mail and Empire , March 20, 1930 A tidbit I found while researching a recent Historicist post. Since the current series of highway route markers was introduced in 1993 "The King's Highway" moniker has gradually vanished from Ontario's roadways, along with many of the highways themselves—thanks Mike Harris! For most of the system's existence, the name has been a misnomer, since Ontario's official head of state has been a queen (sorry QEII). As for Minister of Highways George Stewart Henry , he left the position he had held since 1923 in December to become Premier of Ontario after Howard Ferguson resigned to become Canada's High Commissioner in London. Henry's name lives on in the North York neighbourhood named after his farm . More info : The History of Ontario's King's Highways features a history of route signage in the province. - JB

Photo taken in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 22, 2010 - JB

I have a nasty habit of starting series of entries and never getting around to concluding them. Tales of roadtrips that stop mid-vacation, profile of local streets left hanging for several years…I’m sure I’ve annoyed a few readers over the years waiting for resolutions to cliffhangers that may never arrived. There are no guarantees this won’t happen in the future (I am a busy guy), but maybe a few of the missing pieces can be filled in. Prime example: a roadtrip down south I took with Mom and Amy a few summers ago . We last left the intrepid travellers on the outskirts of Nashville after a leisurely drive along the Natchez Trace Parkway . Someday I promise to tell tales of Music City. Someday. But not yet. Today's tale was inspired by a conversation at a party last week with fellow Torontoist writers about train travel and southern adventures. I mentioned a large event my family had accidentally stumbled upon…

Found in front of a salon ("Karma") on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, April 18, 2010 - JB

While strolling along Spadina Avenue near Queen Street on Good Friday, we noticed a store that sent out conflicting messages about its state of operations that day. On the one hand, the doors were wide open. On the other, a piece of copy paper held in the middle of the doorway by a line of Scotch tape told passers-by there wasn't any reason to stop in. The owners should have used one more "very" to push the point across with no room for questioning. I was amazed the thin line of tape held up so well, unless there were gobs of it at either end hidden from public view. If someone was determined to go in and see what was up, unless they had a back problem it would have been easy to duck under the tape. The sign doesn't answer a key question: if this store was very, very, very closed, why were the doors wide open? Was it: An opportunity to cool down the interior in the face of the summer-like weather? A ruse to draw potential customers back another day? The wo...

Photo taken in Cobourg, Ontario, March 6, 2009 - JB

During several recent visits to Meijer locations around metro Detroit, I've noticed that the grocery/discount chain is livening up their cart corrals with cheeky posters. Who would be the most likely grocery chain to take this approach in Toronto? Photos taken at Meijer on Rochester Road north of M-59, Rochester Hill, MI, January 16, 2010 - JB

While Amy, Sarah and I wandered around Amherstburg's annual River Lights Festival on Christmas Eve ( more photos ), we encountered this sign outside of a downtown sushi joint (something I never thought I'd ever see in my hometown). So what is sushi? Check out the other side...

Queen Street West, near Spadina, March 16, 2009 

The TTC's latest suggestions for escalator dos and don'ts, including a groove-y logo. This was among the first ads to be posted at Bloor when it ceased to be the Being Erica station. Had the TTC gone for shock value, they might have considered an updating this British public information film. Lesson: don't leave empty rubber boots on an escalator.

Awhile back, I floated roadtrip out to Scarborough among some friends, based on a walk along Lawrence Avenue that a few had done several years ago. One element from that trek occasionally surfaced during conversations about Scarborough: an image of a stern-looking man used on the sign for The Kirks, a side lounge for the venerable Wexford Restaurant . This required investigation. Before eating, we checked out 54 East . Located in a former drug store, the space is part local history centre, part gallery. The main exhibit spotlighted the musical heritage of Scarborough. Thousands of records were pressed in the area, some on labels whose names derived from the neighbourhood (e.g. Birchmount, one of Quality's subsidiaries). Most of these albums passed through my family over the years (this copy of Lightfoot! looks much healthier than mine...). This year marked the 50th anniversary of the first cracked eggs and squeezed orange at the Wexford. The walls celebrate ...

Logical response, wouldn't you say? Little Britain Road, west of Lindsay, November 2, 2008 

A quiet information tent next to OCAD, waiting for a long rest. Across town on Roncesvalles, Sunday reading for those barely making it out of bed...if they went to sleep at all. Photos taken October 5, 2008