JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

The golden gateway for several generations of snowbirds... *** I rarely use the Ambassador Bridge whenever I visit the Detroit area these days. The view is nice, and it makes more sense to use it to head to certain destinations, but I like to line the pockets of the Detroit International Bridge Company as little as possible (it was nice to see, if only briefly, the president of DIBC taken away in handcuffs for contempt of court after the company refused to comply with a court order to demolish various structures that never should have been built). Currently cars coming from the south on the American side have to follow a long, looping detour that seems designed to tempt you into buying gas from the DIBC before returning to Canada than serve as a practical detour around construction and the remains of a bait shop on 23rd Street. My most recent trip across the bridge was over Christmas, when I packed several family members into the car for a daytrip to Ann Arbor. The border guar...

Over thirty years later, Conn used many of the same selling points that Mr. Sousa stands by when they produced a short promotional film called Mr. B Natural . Forty years after that, Conn's efforts to promote the fruits of their quality craftsmanship provided the material for one of the funniest segments of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 . With a tagline like "cultivate your musical bump" this ad cries out for MST3K -style riffing and/or groan-inducing double entendres from hecklers at the back of the town square or orchestra hall. Ad source: Photoplay , November 1923 - JB

Montreal, November 14, 2010 - JB

Taken during a New Year's Day 2011 walk in the Annex (don't remember exactly which street). - JB

A man dragged a few blocks under a streetcar. A stoned mentally ill man in a police standoff for a couple of hours. A TTC fare hike that vanished as quickly as it was proposed. Two bomb scares by the local CSIS office caused by the same person (who left his keys in the ignition). A police officer killed by a stolen snow plow. All this (and a story or two we're probably forgetting) since yesterday morning in Toronto. No wonder this newsboy looks frazzled. But, as a man on the bus this morning (either Eglinton East or Lawrence East, don't remember which one I hopped on), proclaimed, "smile, it's Wednesday!" Illustration taken from the June 25, 1859 edition of the Toronto Weekly Message - JB

One of many recipes from corporate test kitchens discovered amid a slow sweep over the holidays through the Warehouse's collection of magazines that were never returned to the publisher. The item that sets this jello-marshmallow mold apart from all others? Chopped bits of angel food cake for a heavenly touch! Source: Canadian Living , May 1983 - JB

...or an excuse to revisit some of this year's scribblings. Historicist: Icy Discrimination (Torontoist, March 6) Bonus Features (Blog, March 18) The story of a discriminatory ice rink in North Toronto garnered a lot of positive feedback, including an email of thanks from the niece of one of those involved in the story. Roncesvalles Construction Sucks (Torontoist, January 25) Though the streetcar has returned, the bump-outs have debuted, and two-way traffic is back, Roncesvalles isn't out of the woods yet when it comes to construction chaos. More work to come in the spring. Historicist: Measures of War (Torontoist, June 27) Historicist: Kill Bill 99 (Torontoist, July 10) Your G20 Stories (Blog, October 19) Pieces written during, about, and inspired by G20 weekend. The Empire Strikes Back (Heritage Toronto, July 28) The first of a series of Toronto newspaper histories that should continue through 2011. - JB

Part of a series of spots from the mid-1970s, around the time Canada began its switch to metric measurement. Can't say that this message made an impression in the Windsor area during my childhood - apart from the local CBC television station, everyone continued to measure snow in inches and feet. Even now, I still convert to the old system in my mind whenever I listen to the weather.

It's cleaning time at the Warehouse. Among the scraps of paper we found were ads clipped out of college football yearbooks tossed out long ago. Most concerned "handicapping" services for die-hard sports gamblers. We figure Baystate knew their target audience. Much like Scoreline Man , the guy boring his lady friend in the tub with the latest spreads on the Bears-Packers game looks like a stereotypical example of a man who'd use a sports handicapping service. He's an average guy with a slight paunch, receding hairline and a taste for cheap wine and cigars. What average Joe wants to endure high-pressure tactics from phone bookies? If the advertised relaxed approach pays the promised high dividends, maybe you too can use those winnings to treat your wife/partner/girlfriend/hired companion to a weekend of relaxing in a hotel jacuzzi. Just don't bore her with two hours of conversations centred around point spreads, OK? Source: Street & Smith 1983 Colleg...

Rather than wrack my brain in an attempt to start this post off by waxing poetic about all things Montreal, I’m going to cut to the chase: Sarah and I recently spent a weekend there and made our stomachs very happy. Disclaimer: Two Montreal food staples we didn’t have or barely sampled on this trip: smoked meat (almost got into line at Schwartz’s, but decided to keep my rough pattern of indulging in their famous sandwiches on every other trip to the city…and I wasn’t really in a smoked meat mood this time around) and bagels (did have one as a morning snack on Saturday, was going to bring a bag home but determined we had enough stuff to lug onto the train). One related amusement: posters around the core for a musical about Schwartz’s . Hey readers: which Toronto culinary landmark deserves a song-and-dance ode?

  While searching though back issues of the Toronto News for holiday-related material for an upcoming Historicist column, I stumbled upon a cartoon that seemed to fall into the genre of strips/one-offs whose plot was built around getting one of the characters to say the title in the final panel. You be the judge as to whether this style of humour still cuts the mustard a century on.   The same page of the News found the gruff old Scot on the left passing judgement on the quality of pipes found at Toronto branches of United Cigar Stores. This stereotypical depiction appeared in the retailer's advertising of the period, with different captions under his satisifed visage to suit the ad copy.   News stories on the same page:   A bedroom fire at 69 DeGrassi Street destroyed a $20 feather mattress belonging to a Mrs. Dowling. Windsor dry goods merchant Joseph Appelbe won a partial appeal of a judicial dismissal of an injunction against the Erie Tobacco Compan...

...sometimes you have to relax and let the cares of the world melt away. Gingerbread man from Sittler's Home Baking, Conestogo, Ontario. Glass bowl from Libbey Factory Outlet, Toledo, Ohio. Milk from Tremblett's Valu-Mart, Toronto, Ontario, made foamy by a frother from IKEA. - JB

This may be the grossest depiction of cake frosting we have ever encountered in a family-friendly setting. That sweet talker Betty Crocker is going to have to prepare the greatest sales pitch of her life to convince us that the greyish goop isn't a secret storehouse of toxic chemicals erupting like lava from the cake, the remnants of someone's failed attempt to digest this dessert, or a leftover sample from a toy company's quest to create a new line of novelty fake doggie doo. Considering that the ad boasts that the cake doesn't require icing, perhaps Betty purposely instructed the photographer or paste-up artist to present a slice with frosting in an unflattering light. Source: Woman's Day , March 1950. - JB

From circa 1978, an ad spotlighting the annual monarch butterfly migration through Point Pelee. Note slightly-creepy soundtrack that sounds vaguely like chirping wildlife. - JB

TORONTO : Residents of historic Cabbagetown had the rare opportunity to witness a performance by the Folies des Citrouilles on Sunday night. Presented at the corner of Sackville and Winchester, the show provided a enjoyable evening for afficianados of vegetable variety shows. The star attraction threw the troupe's two burlesque dancers in the spotlight, as they slinkily danced their way out of heavy-duty work clothes to the strains of "I've Got You Under My Skin." The evening also included the comedy stylings of Acorn & Squash, and a stirring rendition of " Follow the Drinking Gourd ."- Warehouse News Service

WARNING : Health authorities in your jurasdiction caution that prolonged exposure to "Oxydol sparkle" will cause extreme expansion of cranial and facial structures. Other side effects include paralysis of the facial muscles resulting in a permanent open smile and the mutation of the epidermis into tissue resembling a line drawing. Source: The Telegram , June 24, 1947. - JB

Can you name the movies that inspired these interpretations of classic monsters (at least two seem to be drawn from Abbott & Costello movies...)? Source: Eerie #11 , September 1967 - JB

So here we are, just a little over a month before Rob Ford officially assumes the duties of Mayor of Toronto. Based on the numbers from Monday night, there were slightly more people walking around Tuesday with long faces (or nursing hangovers) than those giddy at the prospect of derailing the gravy train (and nursing hangovers). The results capped a campaign where anger reigned supreme and both candidates and voters did their best to imitate the Incredible Hulk. *** I admit it. I drew a line to connect the two stumps of arrow next to Joe Pantalone's name. Not my ideal candidate, but as the sort-of-stand-in for the outgoing administration, I could live with myself if I voted for him. Neither Ford nor George Smitherman were enticing prospects. The only thing I discerned all along from the former provincial cabinet minister's campaign was that he was running for mayor just to become mayor. Give Ford credit: his policies were unpalatable, but there was no question about wh...

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

Based on an ad that appeared during the 1969 North York municipal election campaign . - JB