Mapping our Memories – Some Videos

After immigrating to Toronto, Charles and Elizabeth Hasted found a tiny house they could afford at 23 Batavia Ave., near Jane St. and St. Clair. Their granddaughter Joan Belford tells their story: How Charles used save trolley fare by walking to his job at Otto Higel Co., which made piano actions for Heintzman & Co.; how unemployed men riding the rails used to come to their house, begging for food; how Toronto Maple Leaf players used to stay at their house; and how Joan\'s mother and father met -- thanks to a Donland\'s Dairy Christmas Party.

In 2023, Nora Pope learned about a remarkable ancestor, born on Prince Edward Island, who she had never heard of before -- George Uglow Pope (1820-1908). He was a cousin to another remarkable ancestor -- her great, great grandfather William Henry Pope, who had been a Father of Canadian Confederation. George Pope was a minister and missionary, who must have had an impressive facility with language. On the four-month voyage in 1839 to South India from Britain, he learned to speak the Tamil language. During the 40 years he spent in India, he founded schools, taught and translated many Tamil texts, setting the ground work for future studies of the language and culture. He is held in high esteem by the Canadian Tamil Congress, which had a bust of him placed in Bedeque, P.E.I., his birthplace. In Chennai, formerly Madras, a statue of him stands by the beach, while schools carry his name.

In 1968, Ingrid Shouldice got her first job working for Simpson\'s in the downtown store on Yonge St. A recent university graduate with an honours degree in sociology, she\'s still mystified about what her job in \"Methods Research\" was supposed to be! In 1978, Simpson\'s stores were purchased by the Hudson\'s Bay Co. In 2025, Hudson\'s Bay declared bankruptcy and all the stores have closed. Those department store landmarks, remembered by so many, are gone.

When Lois Broad got married in 1949, her wedding photographer was none other than Robert McMichael, who went on to found the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg with his wife Signe. He lived at 194 High Park Ave., just up the street from where Lois grew up. She remembers some of his other exploits! Lois, who was born in 1927, has a wealth of information to share about the neighbourhoods she has lived in and the people she knew. This short video is part of Back Lane Studios\' Mapping our Memories project. It is supported in part by the Government of Canada\'s New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP).

Ingrid Shouldice laughs now at her first home purchase at 24 Minnacote Ave.! What attracted her to what was essentially a cottage? The playhouse with a kitchen, a tire swing and a big long clothesline! How times have changed!

Adrienne Dawson Worrell was only a child when she saw her grandmother Alminta Dawson perform at The Eton House on Danforth Ave. She also tasted her first beer. Born in Toronto in 1921, Alminta managed to build herself a career as a singer in piano bars and hotel lounges, accompanying herself on the piano or sometimes performing with a small band. It was not easy: She was widowed in 1950; she had kids to raise; black artists faced many obstacles; and she was already in her 30s when she began making her living in music rather than bookkeeping. Her favourite song was to become \"Respect\", made famous by Aretha Franklin. The Eton House was forced to close in 2023 to make way for Metrolinx\'s Ontario Line project.

Young families, community spirit and an impressive sports program: Ruth Chantler, who has lived in Warren Park for 65 years, was treasurer of the Warren Park Sports Association in the 1960s and \'70s. She describes the ambitious program organized by volunteers for the kids of young families moving into this unique Toronto community, south of Dundas St. W. and east of the Humber River. Known as \"The Valley,\" Warren Park was developed for housing starting in the 1950s. Lambton House and Heritage York provided important support and resources for the making of this video. It was edited by Chris Higgins, a former board member.

When Doris Dunne was a little girl in the 1930s, she used to take Sunday roast beef dinner to her dad, who was a fireman and worked at the fire station at 462 Runnymede Rd., just a few blocks away from where they rented on Durie St. Her mom\'s well cooked roast beef with all the trimmings was a family favourite. Doris always used to take her little dog Spanky with her to the station, and, every time, the firemen used to tease her about her beloved little spaniel. Doris was born in 1926 and has many fond memories of growing up in what is now known as Toronto\'s Bloor West neighbourhood.

When Arnold Black came to Toronto from Timmins in 1942 to train as a navigator for the airforce, he was billeted with thousands of other RCAF recruits at the Coliseum at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. He studied basic aviation at what became Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson Polytechnical School, and went to the airport at Malton, northwest of Toronto for further training. Thanks to his aunt, Siddi Wren, who introduced him to the city\'s hotspots, he spent his free time jitterbugging, rollerskating, and sampling liquid refreshments at various saloons! He delayed his hometown return to celebrate his graduation at a Casa Loma dance with a young lady on his arm, thinking no-one in Timmins would be the wiser. His daughter Karen Black made this video in a Back Lane Studios workshop to tell her father\'s story!

When she was 4 years old, Ruth Groome was fascinated by the portrait of a man wearing a cap with goggles raised onto his forehead. She asked her parents and grandparents who it was. The answer came after a long silence: \"That\'s Uncle Roland. He died in a plane crash.\" The second time her father spoke of Roland was the summer before he died. He and Ruth were walking along Hoskin Ave. by the back field of the University of Toronto, when he told her that Roland had trained as a pilot at air bases across Ontario, including at U of T, where Royal Airforce trainees were enrolled in the The School of Military Aeronautics. Years later, after her father and all of her uncles had passed away, Ruth received boxes of photographs and papers, which put her on a quest to discover the remarkable story of her uncle R.J. Groome. Not only was h the first licensed commercial pilot in Canada, he was also the first registered private commercial aircraft and air harbour owner in this country. In this video, Ruth gives a brief overview of his career. More videos will follow!

Around 1956, Verna Van Sickle opened a record store, Towne Records, on the corner of Yonge St. and Cumberland Ave. She was in her mid-20s. The rent for the store was $200 a month. She wasn\'t sure her venture would be successful when she launched it with a friend who had worked in a nearby bookstore. (In those days, women had few rights at the bank!) \"First of all, there were only 10-inch LPs, and it was very, like, Brahms and Beethoven, not that they were bad, but there was very little Renaissance music, or Vivaldi, and that whole era, which is my passion. But Verna had the right formula at the right time. \"Things just grew broader and broader very quickly, and everything was great. We were making enough to pay the rent.\" During the 1950s and \'60s, Yorkville was changing, the artists were moving in, and Verna\'s concept of a friendly place with a wide selection of music fit right in. She was to meet many of the performers who passed through the neighbourhood on their way to fame and fortune. But, alas, the industry in the 1960s went through some changes, and small record stores like Verna\'s and even the record departments at Eaton\'s and Simpson\'s suffered. In this video, she remembers those times of excitement and challenges. Sadly, Verna passed away on July 2, 2025. We are grateful to have been able to interview her earlier this year.

In the 1980s, Lisa Merchant became a fishmonger at the Eaton\'s fish market \"one-below\" at the Eaton Centre. Thanks to her boss Wayne, she learned how to filet fish, how to cook different types and how to boil lobster. But there was one thing she refused to do when it came to trout! Lisa tells her story.

Don Bunn grew up in Weston, Ont., during the 1940s and saw the town’s amalgamation by an ever-growing city of Toronto. Over his 40-year career, Don worked in finance and human resources for the Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada Cycle and Motor Co. (CCM), Avro Canada, United Appeal (United Way), Ford Canada, Cooper Sports Canada and Ultramar. Don retired in 1988 and has lived in Petawawa, Ont., since. His niece Kirsten Gunter interviewed him and has made the video. Thank you, Kirsten!

Michael Gillies and John Snyder were the first employees at the new Book City store, which opened at 501 Bloor St. W. in the Annex in 1976. It became much more than simply a store: it was a meeting place for writers, many of whom lived in the neighbourhood, academics and a book-loving clientele. Its slogan: \"Classy, Comfortable & Cheap.\" Michael and John reminisce about the book business and some of the people who used to drop by the store, which was founded by Frans Dunker, whose family was in book publishing in Holland, and Max Layton, writer Irving Layton\'s son. (Max was to leave the business a year or so after the store opened.) Frans was a pioneer, introducing discounts on new books. He also chose an unlikely neighbourhood to open in -- Toronto\'s Hungarian village. But the business thrived. Over the years, Frans expanded to other locations in the city. Unfortunately, the popular Annex store closed in 2014. The building had been sold, and a combination of substantial rent hikes and competition from big box stores and Amazon reduced the viability of the business at that location. Several Book City locations continue to operate.

Every year, the trip to the CNE was the highlight of Mary Cupples' summer. The Food Building was most exciting. There, for the first time, she tasted pizza, Tiny Tom doughnuts, corned beef and other dishes never to be had on the farm. But most significant of all was seeing her grandfather kick up his heels as part of a roving troupe of square dancers at the CNE. Mary explains why it had such an impact on her! Do you have any CNE memories? Email us at info@backlanestudios.ca This video is part of Back Lane Studios' Mapping our Memories project, supported in part by the Government of Canada's New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP). backlanestudios.ca

When Kirsten Gunter moved to Toronto in 1984, she shared a fabulous two-floor apartment above the Midtown Bakery at 586 Bloor St. West at Bathurst. The blinking light bulbs on Honest Ed's spectacular signage shone through her bedroom window. "It was a bit like living on a movie set," says Kirsten. "I loved that apartment." She also learned to love Honest Ed's and the personable bakers Mechel and Fryda Krebs, who were her landlords and would keep her mail for her. Kirsten, who had temporarily sublet the apartment, left a year later when the original tenant returned. Her video is part of our Mapping our Memories project, which is supported in part by the Government of Canada's New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP).

Johnming Mark came to Canada in 1964 with his mother and brothers, largely thanks to the hard work of his paternal grandparents who ran a laundry at 8 Brock Ave. in Parkdale. When John arrived, his grandfather had passed away and his grandmother, who could not speak English and could not write in Chinese, nevertheless continued to run the laundry effectively and profitably. John has sketched the old washing machine he remembers and the clothes hung in a room, heated by a coal-burning stove, to dry. In his early teens, John helped after school, doing the ironing, and watched his mother doing piecework, sewing on an old treddle Singer Sewing Machine. To this day, he credits those experience with fabrics and sewing for his interest in art, textile design and quilting. John's video is part of our Mapping our Memories' project, funded in part by the Government of Canada's New Horizons for Seniors' Program (NHSP).