Cool pictures

Yesterday, while searching for random images, I ran across Today's Inspiration. This blog discusses illustrations from the 1940s and 1950s. If you're into this stuff (as I am), you should check it out.

And I know I've mentioned it before, but Shorpy, The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog also totally rocks my world.

Toronto life

I was at the North York Centre library today, and found some old Toronto Life magazines from the late 1960s. Some of the more interesting items that I found in these magazines include:

• A June, 1967 article entitled "Where would Canada be without Toronto to hate?" Some things change, and some things stay the same.
  
  
• A February, 1968 profile of Mel Lastman, back before he entered North York politics:
  
  But do you know Mel Lastman? Probably not. Mel Lastman is a shy, self-effacing appliance dealer until he steps into a phone booth and emerges as (Shazam!) The Bad Boy.
  
  
• A November, 1966 portrait of Barbara Amiel.
  
  
• The society pages always described married women using their husband's names, as in "Mrs. John Smith".
  

But what caught my attention the most was an ad in the May 1967 issue that advertised a new luxury apartment complex. The ad featured a drawing of a charming executive couple, and this copy:

Are you old-fashioned enough to accept the idea of a morning stroll to the office? You'll meet an awful lot of people doing exactly the same thing. You know, they smile a lot more too.

The apartment complex offered the following amenities:

• Private health club and gymnasium
• Tennis, squash and shuffleboard courts
• Indoor pool in each building
• Own shopping centre
• 20 acres of parkland
• Two outdoor Olympic-size pools
• Artificial skating rink
• A full-time recreation director
• Putting green
• Adult-only living (no children allowed)

And what was this New Utopia, you might ask? None other than St. James Town.

I sometimes wonder whether the huge condominium blocks currently being put up are running the risk of a similar fate.

Transit geekery

I found some web sites this morning that are eye candy for transit geeks: Transit Toronto and Mike's Transit Stop. Both of these sites contain lots of images of old TTC route maps.

Some of the old maps are fascinating: the May, 1964 map shows what has to be the shortest TTC route in history. The Gerrard 38 bus ran on Gerrard Street from Main to Bingham, which is a distance of ten blocks, or less than three-quarters of a mile. It would take about 15 minutes, tops, to walk the entire length of the route. That driver must have been bored to tears by his job.

Transit lovers, or riders, should also check out Steve Munro's web site and the TTC's route schedules page.

Try the veal

I was cleaning out an old box of papers today, and found the following list of artists scheduled to appear at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Ledyard, Connecticut, during June and July of 1997:

June 4: Donald O'Connor
June 6: Kathy Mattea
June 7: Tower of Power
June 8: George Jones
June 10: Miss Connecticut Pageant
June 15: Live Boxing ESPN (Don Diego Poeder vs. Terry Ray)
June 16: Kingston Trio
June 18: Live Kick Boxing (Jeff "The Duke" Roufus vs. Pat Smith)
June 20-21: Victor Borge
June 22-23: Randy Travis
June 24-25: The McGuire Sisters
June 26-27: Crosby, Stills, Nash
June 28: Jay Leno
July 7-8: Sawyer Brown
July 9-10: Joe Walsh
July 12: Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Bobby Rydell
July 15: Marty Stuart and Lee-Roy Parnell
July 18-19: Engelbert Humperdinck
July 20: Jeff Foxworthy
July 24: Patti LaBelle
July 25-26: Willie Nelson
July 30-Aug 3: Barry Manilow

Retro Christmas goodies

Here's some cool retro eye candy to help you celebrate Christmas, as provided by the Archives of Ontario web site. A lot of this material is related to Eaton's.

• A 1953 Eaton's Santa Claus Parade colouring book and one from 1956 (you can also find 1951, 1952, 1960, and 1961 colouring books on the same page)
• Some 1955 TV commercials
• Footage of the 1953 Eaton's Santa Claus parade
• Collections of childhood toys
  
• A celebration of winters long ago, including a big, beautiful 1903 Eaton's catalogue cover

I hope everybody reading this is having a good holiday!

Going back in time

I love the Internet Archive.

For one thing, it contains a copy of the long-lost page for the Fibblesnork Uber-Garlic Pickle ("the only pickle with hang time"). Here is the recipe, and here are some quotes from satisfied customers. Since I normally order my chicken wings with either mild or bland sauce - whichever is wimpier - I dare not try one.

The Internet Archive includes copies of every single web page throughout history that they could get their hands on. It isn't a complete record, but it's pretty impressive. For example, it has preserved copies of my web site from 2000 and 2003. (Try not to laugh too hard - hey, you had to learn too.)

But, best of all, it contains the Prelinger Archives. This is a collection of old health and safety films from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s - the sort you or your parents might have been shown in health class. (Health class was always a little strange because - at least in my school - they had separate health classes for boys and girls. You always wondered: what was going on in the other class?) The archive also includes collections of old commercials, animated short features, and much, much more. And everything in the archive is in the public domain. You can download these films, watch them, show them to your friends, include them in your own works of art, or anything you want.

Here's some of my favourites:

Duck and Cover (1951): One of the most famous health and safety films ever. Bert the Turtle tells kids what to do if an atomic bomb goes off in their home town: duck as low as possible, and cover yourself with a coat or an old newspaper.

The House In The Middle (1954): The premise is simple: neat, tidy and freshly painted houses are more likely to survive an atomic blast. You absolutely have to watch this movie.

Boys Beware (1961): You might think that the streets of Fresno were safe for boys, especially in the early 1960s. Not so fast, says Sid Davis Productions: after all, there are, gasp, homosexuals lurking everywhere! Companion movies from Sid Davis are Girls Beware and The Strange Ones.

In My Merry Oldsmobile (1932): Wonderful early animated feature, plus singalong footage. The cartoon probably could not be shown on national television today, as it's a bit too suggestive for the delicate eyes of network censors. (Plus, it includes footage of a newly married couple fighting each other with boxing gloves on.)

Are You Ready For Marriage? (1950): The title alone is worth the download.

Body Care and Grooming (1948): Ditto.

My Japan (1945): Made when America was at war, this is a portrayal of the enemy as hard-working and ruthless. Its intent was to scare Americans into fighting harder. Features a Caucasian actor with ludicrously bad Japanese makeup and accent.

Your Name Here (1960): A sendup of self-congratulatory advertising films produced by companies that wanted to trumpet their achievements to the world.

All of these films, and everything else in the archive, are available in DVD quality or in a more compact computer-viewable size.