Vintage Toronto Photos

[dylerpillar]

This is one for the photography lovers, or the handful of people like me who don't hate Toronto for some reason. I found a Flickr photostream of interesting archival photos from the city.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/torontohistory

The 1904 Toronto Fire Aftermath subset is priceless. Having just been to Front Street to meet friends and take photos of my own, seeing it as a burnt-out wasteland is chilling.

[thingfish]

Some great photos there DP!

[Guzzlecrank]

I gotta cross the northern border one of these years. That photo of the coal wagon up to its axle in mid-thoroughfare mud is a keeper.

[dylerpillar]

I've been to plenty of those places and the thought of Lansdowne Avenue as an unpaved rut-filled river of mud actually makes me laugh. I'm sure it wasn't funny to people with stuck carts back then.

[Guzzlecrank]

Scenes such as those depicted in the photo we've mentioned above remind me of scenes I've read in fiction and non-fiction about how "the West" was pioneered and then settled (with "the West" being a geographic reference with a meaning that changed over time). The photo reminds me of passages from such books that describe filth, squalor, physical struggle, etc. in the South, where Mrs. GC and I were raised.

[L'Etranger]

As a jealous moderator I've taken the liberty to move this interesting photography related thread to the Photography section of Media & Entertainment which is in my bailiwick where other photo fans are bound to find it more easily .

[dylerpillar]

No sweat, let it go where it's more appreciated I guess.

[Harlequin]

Thankyou Dylerpillar (and L'etranger)
Fascinating pics

[L'Etranger]

by-the-by, anyone been to Toronto University or still is who could find out a little more about my late godfather who was professor of German there? Only met him a few times as a small kid, would love to know what his reputation there was? 1950's and 60's I would guess... please via pm. Thanks!

[dylerpillar]

I head near U of T frequently as one of the bars/clubs I frequent is on College Street. I'm usually around there rather late so I hope you can find a student or someone who lives on the transit lines at least, but if you have no luck after a time you could private-message me about this.

[L'Etranger]

Very nice, thanks for the offer, but I want no one to invest a lot of time. Wrote to the university some time ago (and the RCAF for that matter, as Taylor was a retired officer) and never got a reply.