Today’s gallery features images from the City of Toronto archives, and most show 1950s and 1960s surroundings with some traffic of the period. Like many photos from the early postwar era, they feature new suburban enclaves and lightly populated roads.
On a personal note, I did have a dear friend from Toronto who passed away at too young an age. I would have loved to share these with him so he could tell me more about these locations.
Then again, I have good hope our readership will bring us details about some of these sights, and I can piece them together with the tales he told me about his life in Toronto back when we used to hang out.
Some real gems here. I lust for the Cheviac in #1; that ’61 GM 2-door sedan style was only built for one year, and I’ve always had a thing for since I was a kid (especially the very rare Impala version). But this Cheviac likely has the big 261 Chevy six in it. it’s just like the one David Saunders had for a while, but his was a 4 door.
Note the short-nose Cheviac in #4; like all Cheviacs, it had a shorter front end since it sat on the Chevy frame and chassis. it looks much better than the “enhanced” nose on US Pontiacs.
A sweet black Peugeot 404 in #8.
That looks like DougD’s blue Beetle in #9.
I had a momentary brain fart with the maroon sedan on the left in the last pic: the grille looks just like a DKW F-102, but that would be unlikely in Canada. Of course it’s a Vauxhall.
A circa ’62 Vauxhall Victor to be exact. I had one just like it in my late teens for about two months, before an (injury-less) collision with a Mustang.
Same colour too, but mine had very cool racing stripes. 🙂
Was that generation Victor sold as briefly in Canada as the corresponding Opel Rekord was in the US?
The Victor was sold in Canada through the 1970 model year.
More odd Canadian marketing practices…
Vauxhalls were sold in Canada just under the Vauxhall name throughout the 1950’s. Around 1960 the brand was split into ‘Vauxhall’ for Pontiac-Buick dealers and ‘Envoy’ for Chevrolet-Olds dealers. I think they stopped selling them both around 1970.
Fewer English cars than I would have expected from the pre Auto Pact days of preferential tarrifs on Commonwealth goods. One Envoy (Vauxhall Victor FB) and a Ford Zephyr, but that’s it.
The Nash Metropolitan (first picture) was made in England, though with American styling. Not 100% sure, but I think the small dark green car in the 3rd picture might be a pre-1956 Morris Minor and is that an HB Viva/Envoy Epic hiding between the Black Peugeot and equally Black Imperial?
A lot of pastel colours and two tone colour schemes overall.
And a FC Victor 101 5 along from the Peugeot 404?
Looks like it could be from the shape of the chrome edging. Lucky that the dark colour (Cypress Green?) gives a good contrast.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/86439290@N02/48490452306
Great shots, sure looks like my beetle there at the strip mall. Of course my beetle was in Austin Texas at that time.
I found that photo in the Toronto archives, that strip mall is Richview Square in Etobicoke, and it’s still there. You can see the “Brewers Retail” store, government beer store which is unimaginatively now known as “The Beer Store”
Looks like a tiny kid of maybe 4 or 5 walking by himself in front of Brewer’s Retail, unless Mom or Dad are way ahead of him.
At least they didn’t name the chain “MyBeerStore” or something trendy. Maybe LCBO will pick up on that when they start selling 2-4s.
Same sentiment about the 3 kids playing in the “sandbox” if that’s what we could call it. Not a Mom in sight providing supervision.
“Just come in for dinner kids when you are done playing. I am watching General Hospital.”
And there was nothing wrong with that. What a different time it was.
Thanks for identifying the mall. It looked familiar, but I was not sure. My high school (Richview Collegiate) is one block east and my mother’s apartment was a block west.
I recognized the Vauxhall immediately, but I’m stumped by the barely visible D pillar and trunk of the grey car behind the Peugeot 404. It doesn’t look American, but I don’t think it’s another Vauxhall. Any ideas?
Vauxhall Viva HB/Envoy Epic
Is the building in the first photo the same as in photo number ten (Ford Econoline van)?
First photo maybe the back parking lot and #10 out front with the road access.
Someone pointed out in a previous post that pics like this must be people using up film, seems very true because these pics if done today would seem so boring but because they are old the are very interesting
Fourth Photo:
Real estate sign in background gives an address of 4972 Dunbas W(est).
Can’t find the building in Google maps. Guess it’s been replaced since then.
Here it is. I believe the building to have been re-faced, but it looks to be the same structure. All the houses are gone in favour of the strip plaza.
4972 Dundas St. W., Etobicoke.
Phone number BE-2 was I believe, Beryl.
It is certainly fun to see places I recognize. That section of Dundas has a series of strips of undistinguished 2 story commercial buildings. My dentist is located in the next block west. We moved to the area (Etobicoke) in 1955 and our phone number started with Belmont-3 (BE-3), later translated to 233-, matching the number on the current sign.
Make mine the ’56 Chevy in pic #3……….sigh
Non automotive: Sealtest….a name I haven’t seen in a long time. They had good dairy products. Are they still in business? DFO
Actually, it was the Sealtest truck in the last photo which most caught my attention.
My mom was a very strong adherent of the idea that children needed to drink as much milk as possible ‘less they practically wither up and die. Hence our family (well 3 of us at least…my dad being Chinese was lactose intolerant and never “got” the milk thing) consumed considerable dairy products…and home delivery of milk was a big thing. I first became aware of Sealtest when we lived in Baltimore in the mid-1960s (according to wikipedia, Baltimore was one of Sealtest’s major markets at that time – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealtest_Dairy ). As a yout, I loved everything about milk delivery…the truck (mostly the truck), the bottles, the insulated porch box. The fact that a stranger could come leave stuff on your doorstep and you owed them money for it (that mystified me for some reason).
We managed to keep Sealtest delivery in subsequent moves to VA and then back to the Baltimore/Washington area. So the Sealtest Milkman – and the porch box – was a fixture of life through most of my elementary school years. Sadly, we moved to NC in the early 1970s and while there was technically Sealtest delivery, it was sub-par (as so much was in North Carolina at the time) and that kind of put an end to home milk delivery for my family. There was a brief attempt at it again when we moved back to Maryland in the later 1970s, but it wasn’t the same.
But yeah, those trucks….
There was a time prior to the early 1970’s, that Ontario used white lines to mark road centre lines. And yellow lines, to mark the road edge, closest to the shoulder. As seen below. And in pics #6 and #10.
Also in photo #10, roadside wooden posts are finished in the early 20th century ‘Department of Highways’ and ‘Department of Transport’ style. With white painted upper portions. And black lower portions.
I remember being perplexed as a little kid, why Sealtest used such an unattractive muted ‘salmon’ colour for their trucks and vans. I never found it flattering. And it certainly didn’t compliment their red logo. Or dairy products in general.
Provincial government post marking style from 1954, on Highway 17 (The Trans-Canada Highway), just east of Ottawa.
Also note in photo #1 and #10, the high rise buildings have rotating TV antennas and masts.
The Ontario Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices was changed in 1971 to the current pattern – yellow separates traffic travelling in opposite directions and white separates traffic travelling in the same direction.
The OPP used full-size two-door sedans almost exclusively until they were no longer available, so the 1969 Ford in the pic would have been one of the last.
4th photo on the left of the picture is the rear portion of a Bell Canada repair / splicer vehicle , still have 5or6 touchup spray cans of that green colour . great shots