Category Archives: retro
Less is more
I could spend hours looking at old ads (and I sometimes have). Here is a Ford car ad from the Toronto 1921 city directory that was not afraid of blank space: This ad was a header page for a section of … Continue reading
Ford’s Candies
Here’s another ad from the 1921 Toronto city directory: Luncheons and afternoon teas sounds so very very British. A Google search for “Ford’s Candies” turned up nothing, other than references to the late mayor Rob Ford handing out candy, or … Continue reading
Nerlich & Co.
Here’s yet another ad from the 1921 Toronto city directory, since I enjoy them so much: Here’s a close-up of the top of the building: Did they really have a flag that read “Nerlich & C0.”? There are lots of … Continue reading
Stop throwing away razor blades!
Here’s another ad from the 1921 Toronto city directory: I love the very idea of Broughton’s Pink Stropping Dust. Sadly, Google turned up no additional information on Geo. H. Broughton or his wondrous dust. It is seemingly lost to history.
The spur of the moment
Here’s an ad in the 1921 Toronto city directory, placed by Might Directories, the people who created the directory: I wonder what training you needed to become an Addresser or Mailer. Did Might Directories have a reserve force of on-call … Continue reading
Somebody counted them
Here’s a section from the Toronto 1921 city directory that caught my attention: The last sentence states that Toronto contains 1,802 streets and 121,311 buildings of all kinds. This means that somebody went through the city directory and counted the … Continue reading
Men’s restaurant
Page 946 of the 1900 Toronto city directory, which I mentioned yesterday, contains this ad at the top of the page: I’m not sure why Mr. McConkey restricted his restaurant to men only. I can guess, but the answer probably … Continue reading
Departmental stores
The back part of the old Toronto city directories featured the equivalent of the Yellow Pages of modern (or at least pre-Internet) times: lists of businesses, sorted in alphabetical order by business type. Page 946 of the 1900 city directory … Continue reading
Ad inserts from 1917 – part 7
Here’s the last of the ads I captured from the 1917 Toronto city directory. Like the others, this would have appeared probably dozens of times in the book. I liked this one because it was the perfect firm name for … Continue reading
Ad inserts from 1917 – part 6
Here is yet another ad from the 1917 Toronto city directory: I think that’s a horseshoe, but it might be a croquet hoop. Or a snake. I can’t tell. The building at 105 Roncesvalles Avenue today looks old, so it might … Continue reading
Dave Till's blog 