I went for a walk in Grange Park and up and down nearby Huron Street today. I wound up in my favourite dive of a bakery - the one on the south side of Dundas just to the east of Huron. The owner lady there is so pleasant.
Grange and Huron, SE corner.
My maternal grandmother ran a rooming house at #35 [out of view to the left] for 40 years [50s thru the 80s].
The Mandarin Grocery was originally owned in the 50s and 60s by either a Jewish, Portuguese or Italian couple [to my young eyes]. The cold pop was in a cooler that had about a foot of water in the bottom and a upwards opening door.
Neilsons ice cream came in paper wrapped tubes that had to be 'peeled' - then the cylindrical treat was pushed carefully down into the cone.
In the 60s, woman of my moms generation would gossip outside at night in matching pajama sets and a kind of vinyl slipper which I haven't seen anymore, not even at Pacific Mall. The garment factories on Spadina employed many of them.
This is still Chinatown of course. Many of that generation remain. Most have gone, either passed, or on into homes in North York in the 70s when prosperity permitted, or later into Scarborough and then Markham. Many living here now speak Mandarin. I would also have expected to hear Viet but no luck.
Grange and Huron, NW corner.