Curiosities
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A proud history of sidewalk superintendents in Toronto
Between 1931 and 1939, the construction at Rockefeller Center in New York City was a magnet for curious onlookers. America was mired in the depths of the...
By Chris Bateman -
First Canadian Place: 40 years on top in Toronto
First Canadian Place has been the tallest skyscraper in Canada for four decades now. At 298.1 metres from sidewalk to rooftop, the brilliant white tower...
By Chris Bateman -
How Toronto learned to love the patio
For all the time Torontonians will spend sipping lager and pinot on patios this summer, it would be easy to conclude that the people of this city have...
By Chris Bateman -
How Toronto invented the PC, then forgot about it
The Royal York Hotel, September 25, 1973. Computer experts Mers Kutt, Gordon Ramer, Ted Edwards, and Reg Rea are standing around a small machine about the...
By Chris Bateman -
Stairs to nowhere, trap streets, and other Toronto oddities
There’s a set of stairs on Greenwood Avenue that lead nowhere. At the top, a wooden fence at the end of someone’s back yard blocks any further...
By Chris Bateman -
“Fun and frolic” at a Toronto double hanging
“The morning broke dark and gloomy, and with the first faint streaks of early dawn the workmen were industriously employed in making ready the...
By Chris Bateman -
The transformer next door
The lights are on but there’s no-one home at 640 Millwood Rd. The two-storey suburban home near Bayview and Eglinton doesn’t exactly stand out among its...
By Chris Bateman -
Welcome to your private nuclear fallout shelter
In 1959, the builders of Regency Acres, a 700-home subdivision in Aurora, Ontario, offered something no other homebuilder in the country could: a private...
By Chris Bateman -
This is what the Toronto subway tastes like
Union Station tastes like fried onions. James Wannerton knows this because he tastes words. Due to a rare and unusual neurological condition called...
By Chris Bateman -
The great Toronto bridge swap of 1928
The Canadian Pacific Railway had two 243-ton problems in early 1928. Its two newest and most powerful locomotives were due to be ready for the...
By Chris Bateman -
The slow and deadly evolution of Toronto’s crosswalks
Crossing the street in Toronto has been a potentially deadly challenge for almost a century. Until the 1950s, when the number of automobiles dramatically...
By Chris Bateman -
Nicknaming the Toronto Skyline — why buildings need affectionate names
With the L Tower nearing completion, Toronto’s horizon has been pierced by another iconic skyscraper. The L Tower’s semicircular form is instantly...
By Daniel Rotsztain