The T.O. You Don’t Know

In 1793, John Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, wanted a summer cottage. So he built a relatively basic log cabin and thought it would be funny to name it Castle Frank (after his son).

He was clearly no comedian. But the joke name for his summer residence stuck.

In the 1970s, Yonge and Bloor looked very different from the intersection many Torontonians know today.

At 15 Duncan Street, beneath an otherwise unremarkable downtown building, Toronto’s punk scene found its first real home.

St. Lawrence Market was established in 1803. Not only was it the only market in Toronto where you could legally buy milk, eggs, butter and meat on Saturday, it was also the birthplace of the peameal bacon sandwich thanks to market vendor and butcher William Davies.

How did Torontonians get on TV in the ‘90s?

The easiest, cheapest way was CityTV’s Speakers Corner. For $1, you could enter the video booth at the corner of Queen and John and record your piece in 60 seconds. The best and weirdest features made a curated selection aired on Sundays.

Long before electronic music became mainstream, Toronto’s underground club scene was taking shape inside a former club space at 185 Richmond Street West.

Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) actually started his children-oriented programming in Toronto. Along with puppeteer Ernie Coombs, he started Misterogers on the CBC in 1962. Four years later, he decided to return to the US to start Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, entrusting his mission with Ernie Coombs who would go on to start Mr. Dressup in 1967.

Did Toronto newspapers really report on a puppet kidnapping?

Yes! The puppets were Uncle Chichimus and Hollyhock. They introduced the day’s programming on CBC. In 1954, they were stolen from an unlocked car, so their programming was suspended until the creator, John E. Conway (1922) 2003), could make new ones.

In the 1960s, Yorkville became the centre of Toronto’s growing counterculture movement.

85 St. George Street may look like an ordinary Toronto campus building, but it quietly played a role in one of the most recognizable films of the 1990s.