JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

  St. James' Cathedral after the Great Fire of 1849. Wikimedia Commons/Toronto Public Library. This time out, a look at the Great Fire of 1849 , which struck Toronto 175 years ago this month. What really struck me while researching this story was the depictions of public apathy toward helping out during unfolding disasters, with at least one description reminding me of modern armchair quarterbacking (people who will have an opinion about everything, but do absolutely nothing to solve problems). 

  Two TTC guides standing next to a scale-model cake of a subway train. Royal York Hotel, March 30, 1954. (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1128, Series 381, File 298, Item 11847-5). Two stories this time out. First up: a look at the 70th anniversary of the opening of Toronto's first subway line , complete with celebratory cake. Front page of Windsor Star, April 4, 1974. Second, a look at the 50th anniversary of a deadly tornado that struck Windsor , one of 148 that struck eastern North America that day. 

  San Francisco Examiner, January 10, 1976. Why are these men smiling? Because, for a brief moment, they had settled a deal to buy the San Francisco Giants and were going to move the team to Toronto . But, as we know, that didn't quite pan out. It's the back door secret origin of the Blue Jays, with guest appearances by Harold Ballard and Danny Kaye!

  The Telegram, August 21, 1958. This month's Spacing repost takes a look at the debates surrounding approval of the Bloor-Danforth subway line (today's Line 2), which faced opposition from suburban politicians convinced it would be too much of a tax burden for their constituents, a burden that they would never use. You'll also discover some politicians who may have had consultations with Lyle Lanley (had to drop a classic Simpsons reference in there...). 

  Publicity photo of Kit Coleman, c. 1894. Library and Archives Canada. This time around, for International Women's Day, I look at Kit Coleman, Canada's first officially-accredited war correspondent, and her coverage of the Spanish-American War in Cuba for the Mail and Empire in 1898 . 

  Kitchener-Waterloo Record, January 2, 1991. To mark the passing of Brian Mulroney, my latest piece for TVO looks at one of his administration's legacies, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) . With only just over two weeks between its final passage and public implementation, there was plenty of scrambling - let's just say it was a golden age to be a technician specializing in either cash registers or taxi meters. And there's an amusing headline about a revision to the tax that will make every inner 12-year-old smile.