Mustapha
Senior Member
Rudy says it's 'its'.
Der Rudy is right. That was the smartphone's auto punctuation at work. Their you go.
And thanks for adding that pic, Anna.
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- Thread starter Mustapha
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Der Rudy is right. That was the smartphone's auto punctuation at work. Their you go.
And thanks for adding that pic, Anna.
Mustapha
Senior Member
No bowling or book stores to speak of in downtown Toronto. Indigo is 1/2 gift shop. Depression set in and I'm headed over to Chi-town for a duck on rice to drown my sorrows in avian grease.
BMV books has raised their prices. I don't know who the BMV book buyer is, but the book selection at Value Village is looking better and better. And I'm not kidding.
BMV books has raised their prices. I don't know who the BMV book buyer is, but the book selection at Value Village is looking better and better. And I'm not kidding.
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Mustapha
Senior Member
Somebody should have saved that Olympia Bowling sign.
Anna
Active Member
More Olympia Bowling
This looks like 331 Yonge, which would have been opposite Edward St.
Goldie
Senior Member
More Olympia Bowling
This looks like 331 Yonge, which would have been opposite Edward St.
Ah, Those memories!
I the 'old days' (more than 60 years ago) pin setting at bowling alleys was a great adventure for kids and a way to earn free games.
I've never forgotten my brief, youthful experience as a pinsetter at an alley on Danforth (later to become a furniture store).
That was before the introduction of those infernal, automatic pin-setting-machines.
In those days it was all five-pin bowling. The influence of the American ten-pin came later.
Unknown U.S. alley before automation:
Mustapha
Senior Member
Downsview park today. I was there for a day of work at the new ice hockey arena. This whole area was once an air force base and manufacturing site for the WWII war effort [for the benefit of you out-of-towners].
I post my picture as well as an old one I found on the internets when I came home of the very same building. I didn't go up there in mind to do a Then and Now, hence the angle is different.
I post my picture as well as an old one I found on the internets when I came home of the very same building. I didn't go up there in mind to do a Then and Now, hence the angle is different.
Goldie
Senior Member
Koolgreen
Active Member
what was the source of cold back then to make ice?
DSC
Superstar
Often Lake Ontario or Lake Simcoe - there were many ice companies who cut huge ice blocks in winter and sold them in the summer. Attached is Lake Simcoe Ice Co. - property, south side of Esplanade East (83 Esplanade East - near foot of Frederick Street).
Attachments
Toronto Lad
New Member
A. I'm pretty sure that's the Lake Simcoe Ice co's office, so I'd say winter winds on lake Simcoe provided the cold.
It went straight from the ice houses at Jackson's point via the Grand Trunk railway (where the tracks went right out onto a pier over the lake), to the city.
Lake Simcoe water was well known as the good stuff and ice was a huge business well into the 20th century. Over the years an incredible amount of ice slabs were shipped south in boxcars, packed in sawdust, some of it even went as far as eastern New York state.
Jackson's Point 1912
Scraping snow off the ice before "harvest"
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Toronto Lad
New Member
In case anyone is interested, a brief history;
Source: Georgina Advocate - Our History December 1992. Reproduced with permission
"The Lake Simcoe Ice Company had been incorporated in 1870 in Toronto as the Spring Water Ice Company. This business had started that year in the hollow above Davenport Road near Avenue Road by James Fairhead. He began supplying ice to butchers, hotels and restaurants in the city. The Spring Water Ice was actually harvested from the lake and smaller bodies of water in and around Toronto - Frenchman's Bay, Ashbridge's Bay, Grenadier Pond, Bond Lake, Lake Wilcox and Lake Simcoe. Ice harvested in the winter was stored in sawdust for summer delivery.
Around 1890, James Fairhead who had set up a contracting business and brickyard in Yorkville, set up the Knickerbocker Ice Company on the shores of Lake Simcoe at Jackson's Point. At that time, there were five large ice companies from the United States that formed the Ice Union, cutting and sending ice from Lake Simcoe to various cities in the eastern United States. Ice from Lake Simcoe was considered the best - first class quality, from 12 to 20 inches thick. The lake's reputation for pure, clear water was such that, in 1894, Spring Water changed its name to the Lake Simcoe Ice Company.
Ice harvesting operations could not begin until the ice was at least a foot thick, as it had to support the weight of horses, men and equipment. Water from Lake Simcoe was pure due to the fact that impurities sank to the bottom of the lake where the water rarely froze.
Ice was "harvested" using conveyor belts and chains, cut into ice blocks 22 inches by three feet thick (weighing 325 kgs or about 715 Ibs each). Ice houses, consisting of up to 18 "rooms", were insulated with a foot of sawdust between the ice and the walls. The railway box cars had their doors stuffed with hay. Up to 30 or 40 car loads of ice could be moved out each night en rout to the city and points south.
Because of the fierce rivalry among the many ice companies, James Fairhead decided to specialise in the domestic trade. With the increasing demand for Lake Simcoe ice, Fairhead set up harvesting operations across the lake at Bell Ewart - changing the spelling to Belle Ewart Ice - to make it classier. With more than 30 horse-drawn ice wagons on the city's streets, James Fairhead soon became known as the Ice King. At one time, Lake Simcoe Ice Company had 225 horses and 25 wagons delivering ice around Toronto and its suburbs.
In 1914, the company began making plans to manufacture, rather than harvest the ice. Now, standard ice blocks were needed for ice boxes. Toronto's first ice- making plant was built on Dupont Street Over the next 15 years, Lake Simcoe Ice Company's storage depots were gradually dismantled. In 1929, the company was enlarged to market fuel and to install beating equipment. Today, the Lake Simcoe Ice Company is a thriving, independent company, specialising in ice-making machines and cold storage facilities."
Source: Georgina Advocate - Our History December 1992. Reproduced with permission
"The Lake Simcoe Ice Company had been incorporated in 1870 in Toronto as the Spring Water Ice Company. This business had started that year in the hollow above Davenport Road near Avenue Road by James Fairhead. He began supplying ice to butchers, hotels and restaurants in the city. The Spring Water Ice was actually harvested from the lake and smaller bodies of water in and around Toronto - Frenchman's Bay, Ashbridge's Bay, Grenadier Pond, Bond Lake, Lake Wilcox and Lake Simcoe. Ice harvested in the winter was stored in sawdust for summer delivery.
Around 1890, James Fairhead who had set up a contracting business and brickyard in Yorkville, set up the Knickerbocker Ice Company on the shores of Lake Simcoe at Jackson's Point. At that time, there were five large ice companies from the United States that formed the Ice Union, cutting and sending ice from Lake Simcoe to various cities in the eastern United States. Ice from Lake Simcoe was considered the best - first class quality, from 12 to 20 inches thick. The lake's reputation for pure, clear water was such that, in 1894, Spring Water changed its name to the Lake Simcoe Ice Company.
Ice harvesting operations could not begin until the ice was at least a foot thick, as it had to support the weight of horses, men and equipment. Water from Lake Simcoe was pure due to the fact that impurities sank to the bottom of the lake where the water rarely froze.
Ice was "harvested" using conveyor belts and chains, cut into ice blocks 22 inches by three feet thick (weighing 325 kgs or about 715 Ibs each). Ice houses, consisting of up to 18 "rooms", were insulated with a foot of sawdust between the ice and the walls. The railway box cars had their doors stuffed with hay. Up to 30 or 40 car loads of ice could be moved out each night en rout to the city and points south.
Because of the fierce rivalry among the many ice companies, James Fairhead decided to specialise in the domestic trade. With the increasing demand for Lake Simcoe ice, Fairhead set up harvesting operations across the lake at Bell Ewart - changing the spelling to Belle Ewart Ice - to make it classier. With more than 30 horse-drawn ice wagons on the city's streets, James Fairhead soon became known as the Ice King. At one time, Lake Simcoe Ice Company had 225 horses and 25 wagons delivering ice around Toronto and its suburbs.
In 1914, the company began making plans to manufacture, rather than harvest the ice. Now, standard ice blocks were needed for ice boxes. Toronto's first ice- making plant was built on Dupont Street Over the next 15 years, Lake Simcoe Ice Company's storage depots were gradually dismantled. In 1929, the company was enlarged to market fuel and to install beating equipment. Today, the Lake Simcoe Ice Company is a thriving, independent company, specialising in ice-making machines and cold storage facilities."
brewster
Active Member
adma
Superstar
Incorrect, as WBB didn't open until 1980, and it's around the 1980-82 zone that Atrium On Bay was built...
Mustapha
Senior Member
Same view 1977 . Bye Bye W.B.B.
Heya brewster, how's it going?
brewster
Active Member
I stand corrected adma. 1980 it is. Doing very well Mustapha , thanks for asking. Very busy with life and trying to add every photo ever made over at Vintage Toronto. I get lost every time I pop over to Urban Toronto with all the new topics. I really have to get off the computer and get out and put together some more Then & Now's. How is life going for Mustapha ?