Queen and Spadina/Then and Now

The south side of Queen just west of Spadina at McDougall Lane in 1941.

2011.

Yonge and Gould Update/Then and Now

The Edison Hotel (formerly the Empress Hotel) in 1950.
Note that the restaurant sign says the New Empress Grill.

Now just a vacant lot ready for the developers to build on......

Queen and Dufferin/Then and Now

The north side of Queen looking towards Dufferin in the fall of 1931. That's the Gladstone Hotel's awning. Note the wicker baby carriage.

The same view today.
The Gladstone circa 1889, the year it was built at a cost of approx. $30,000.00
The cuppola was removed in the 1930's.
A good view of the Gladstone and Queen street in the late 1960's.
This area was still quite "rough" back then. In the 70's and 80's it was a Country and Western bar and if you went in there looking for trouble it was easy to find.
It's since been completely restored and now a fashionable boutique hotel.
Hand tinted postcards of the Gladstone lobby from the turn of the century (1910) from the Chuckman Collection.

Queen and Spadina/Then and Now

Two views of Queen and Spadina looking north take exactly 100 years apart.....

The building in the top photo on the left is the old Mary Pickford Theatre and was demolished in 1970.
The theatre was originally called the Auditorium as seen here and opened in 1908. It became
the Mary Pickford in 1916 and lasted until 1947.
Another view of the theatre looking west along Queen.
The current movie showing is Rasputin and the Empress, 1932.
Mary Pickford "America's Sweetheart" was born in Toronto on University Avenue in this house located on what is now The Hospital for Sick Children.

University and Dundas/Then and Now

The S/E corner of Dundas and University as seen in 1937. This had been a row of workers cottages dating back to the 1840's or so.

A few years later in 1940 and the house to the south has been demolished.
The same intersection today.

These houses were a little further south on the east side of University. They're all made of wood and stucco without basements.
It looks like this today.
A little further north was Mary Pickford's house.
An early postcard from the Chuckman Collection.
Mary Pickford's parents owned a theatre at Spadina and Queen.

Queen and Strachan/Then and Now

The south side of Queen just west of Strachan in 1942. A new Art Deco Showroom. I remember this building from the 70's-80's as City or Century Furniture, they made chrome and formica kitchen sets etc.

2010. The building to the left is the old Parkview Arms Hotel.
Say what you might, it does have a park view....
Some of the long term tenants of the Gladstone Hotel moved here when the gentrification took place a few years ago.

Parkdale at Night 1914

I found this photo in the archives of 1451 Queen Street west in Parkdale from 1914.
A quick internet search turned up a Griffiths family tree revealing that a William John Griffiths, occupation plumber lived at 1453 Queen Street. He died in 1937.

William John Griffiths
Born Dec.12 1878
Emigrated to Canada 1881
1891 living at 45 Sorauren Ave, Parkdale
1901 occupation: plumber
1911 living at 1453 Queen W., Parkdale
Died 1937

From the 1913 city directory

His brother Sam, was a butcher and lived in this house on Sorauren.
He may have worked at the Meat Market on Queen Street near Fuller.
For more info on the Griffiths family click here.

Queen and Spadina/Then and Now

The Turofsky Brothers outside their original photography studio (Alexandra Studios) on Queen Street West in the early 1920's. Le Chateau is there now. The Turofskys are responsible for thousands of photos in the archives.

In their new car (a Stutz?) outside the studio on Queen. The theatre behind them (I can't make out the name but appears to be Peoples Theatre.) is today's Rivoli.
2011.

Looking west along the north side of Queen towards the Rivoli in the early 1930's.
2011.
The somewhat older brothers outside their new studio at 92 King West.