One of numerous vanished racetracks in Toronto history was the Hillcrest Racetrack, which attracted throngs of horse-racing enthusiasts to a spot near the intersection of Davenport and Bathurst almost exactly a century ago. Hillcrest Racetrack opened in August 1912. Despite its name, it was located not on the crest or top of the Davenport hill…
Opening of Toronto’s Lyric Theatre, 1909
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Grand Opening of New Jewish Theatre Quite an Up-to-Date Playhouse with All Sorts of Conveniences — Notables See the Play. From the Toronto Star, May 5, 1909 With waving of flags and the making of many speeches, the new Jewish theatre, called the Lyric, at Agnes and Teraulay streets, was opened last night as the…
Phil Givens, Toronto’s new mayor (1963)
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Hyman Gewirtz, who migrated from Belce, Poland to Canada in 1912, had little idea that some 50 years later, a son of his would become mayor of the big cosmopolitan city of Toronto, according to a story in the Canadian Jewish News of December 13, 1963. A tailor, Gewirtz settled in the Euclid and Dundas…
Lily and David Rosenberg belonged to Kielcer shul
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Congregants of Beth Sholom Synagogue who gathered for the first seder of Passover in 1982 also used the occasion to commemorate the 94th birthday of Lily Rosenberg, who was born in Bialylshick, Poland (between Radom and Warsaw) on April 3, 1888. In 1982 Lily and David Rosenberg had six children, 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren,…
Should Toronto police have an automobile? (1911)
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In 1911, a time when there were roughly 3,000 automobiles in the entire city of Toronto, the public debated whether it was time for the Toronto police department to acquire its first automobile so as to be able to keep up with the criminal element. The Star Weekly’s subtitles argued that it was indeed time:…
Passover 1911: Assailing yacht club prejudice
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In the spring of 1911, just before Easter and Passover, members of the Toronto’s Queen City Yacht Club considered a motion to exclude “Jews, negroes and people of other undesirable nationalities” from becoming members. This article focuses on Rabbi Solomon Jacobs’s response, which he articulated in a rousing sermon in Holy Blossom Synagogue during the…
Jew-baiting goes on in Victoria Street
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In this brief item, which appeared in the Toronto Star of October 28, 1910, a woman is brought into police court in connection with an episode in which she came to the defense of a Jewish mother and daughter who were being “stoned” on Victoria Street. Such incidents were certainly not unique in the Toronto…
Purim at Holy Blossom, Bond Street, 1920
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These costumed young actors appeared in a Purim play at the old Holy Blossom Temple on Bond Street around 1920. Perhaps the play was about the Purim drama itself. Pictured from left are: Arthur Cohen, Abe Cohen, Sam Nelson, Harry Hertzman, Louis Goodman, Norman Cowan (?), Sam Coffler and Lionel Cohen. Well-known Toronto photographer William…
How teachers tame school-children in the Ward
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Making Men Out of Street Arabs By W. F. Wiggins From Toronto Saturday Night Magazine, December 1, 1906 From an educational standpoint there is no more interesting institution in Toronto than the Elizabeth street public school, popularly known as “the school of the Ward.” Here have been taught and trained some of the worst boys…
Profile of city’s Jews — and rich Mr. Singer (1911)
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The Star Weekly ran this feature profile of “Toronto’s Hebrew population” in 1911, observing that some Jewish immigrants had risen, in only a few years, to the tops of their professions and that one — Jacob Singer — had become the biggest real estate owner in the city. The article also indicated that the Zion…
