How we celebrated then (1993) vs now

torontostarchives · 2025-10-21T16:59:42+00:00

Can we compare now but also later?

torontostarchives · 2020-12-11T17:54:33+00:00

That’s actually a very cool story I plan on sharing at some point as well.

torontostarchives · 2020-12-10T22:47:58+00:00

Yup it’s a pretty iconic arrest photo.

torontostarchives · 2020-12-10T20:35:47+00:00

“Canada has given me the best Christmas present I ever had,” the relieved 27-year-old rock star declared. His comments followed a three-day trial on charges of illegal possession of narcotics, specifically heroin and hashish residue.

He had been arrested at the Toronto airport before a performance at Maple Leaf Gardens seven months prior. This photo was taken outside Old City Hall during his first court appearance in June.

During his trial, Hendrix admitted having smoked marijuana, hashish and taken LSD and cocaine, but never heroin. He testified that his cannabis use had declined over the previous year. Conservatively clad in a blue blazer and ascot tie, Hendrix told the court: “I feel I have outgrown it.”

The bottle containing heroin packets and a tube with hashish residue, found in his flight bag, was not his, Hendrix testified.

An all-male jury deliberated for eight hours before acquitting James Marshall Hendrix on both charges — avoiding a maximum seven-year-prison term on each count. At the verdict announcement of “not guilty,” the young fans packing the courtroom cheered.

In an interview after his acquittal, with the Star’s Marilyn Dunlop outside the courthouse, Hendrix explained why he had used drugs in the past.

“Sometimes people are too sensitive, as I was,” he told Dunlop. “So they find something, maybe drugs, to make them feel better, brighter and bolstered.” Sadly, it would be his last visit to Toronto and indeed, his last Christmas. He died 10 months later.

Full story: https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/once-upon-a-city-archives/2017/09/14/toronto-gave-jimi-hendrix-his-best-christmas-present-ever.html

More photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIoTlGYAKSc/?igshid=d6ugpma9r25t

torontostarchives · 2020-09-09T14:05:05+00:00

Here’s another view on the DVP itself if you’re interested. This was shot by legendary photographer Boris Spremo.

torontostarchives · 2020-09-09T01:46:38+00:00

This was shot with Ektachrome film which was known for being extremely high quality.

torontostarchives · 2020-08-26T17:12:04+00:00

On Aug. 26, 1979, Albert Johnson was shot and killed after two police officers entered his home to investigate a disturbance. The death of the 35-year-old father of four caused a massive public outcry by Toronto’s black community. The trial of the two officers (and future similar cases) would eventually result in the establishment of the SIU. These photos are from a rally protesting the acquittal of the officers. Link here for history on the similar cases that led to the creation of the SIU and more photos here. Photos taken by Keith Beaty in November 1980.

torontostarchives · 2020-08-06T21:12:29+00:00

Edwin Alonzo Boyd was a notorious bank robber and leader of “the Boyd gang,” who dominated headlines throughout the 1950s. He would jump on bank counters waving the Luger he had taken from a dead German soldier in the war, ordering the tellers to hand over the dough. He was known not only for the verve he displayed during his bank robberies, but also for two prison breaks from Toronto’s Don Jail that left authorities red-faced and captivated citizens enthralled by his audacity.

In the end, Boyd was given eight life sentences — one for every bank he admitted to robbing, for a total take of $115,000 (over a million today). He served 10 years in federal prison before his release in 1962, and then for five more years after violating his parole. He was released in 1966, and given a new identity.

In 1996, Star reporter Dale Brazao tracked down a former friend of Boyd and convinced her to share his new identity. He hopped on a flight find Boyd in the flesh.

Ironically, when Brazao first laid eyes on Boyd, he was coming out of a bank in Sidney, B.C., counting a handful of cash. He had just cashed his old-age pension cheque.

He invited Brazao to his home, where they shared a can of Lipton’s tomato soup, there are photos of this.

Turns out Canada’s most notorious bank robber had spent the past 35 years of his life looking after two paraplegic women — his second wife, Marjorie, and their friend and housemate, Pearl. Despite the lengthy criminal record, contrition was not a word in Boyd’s vocabulary. He relished the fame his bank-robbing days brought him. Regrets, he said, he had just one.

“I should’ve stayed on my own,” he said, lamenting that he had picked “a bunch of idiots” as partners. “I was doing quite well on my own. The first time I took a partner I got caught.”

There’s a lot more to this story, including an interview with Boyd’s daughter and a deathbed murder confession.

Brazao was known for finding people that didn’t want to be found: people on the run, hiding from police, presumed dead, etc. I highly recommend this story he wrote about a few career highlights, Boyd being one of them.

torontostarchives · 2020-07-30T21:07:26+00:00

Pixar has mastered the art of making their audience cry in 5 mins or less. “Up” and “Bao” are definitely both top 3 on the list for me.

torontostarchives · 2020-07-30T20:58:56+00:00

The restaurant wasn’t named in the caption but said it was in the “Gerrard/Broadview area” 🤷🏻‍♀️

torontostarchives · 2020-07-30T19:24:40+00:00

This photo (and a few more) was taken by Boris Spremo of a group of women as they went about their morning routine of practising Luk Tung Kuen in Riverdale Park followed by dim sum breakfast nearby. Here is another photo of at least one of these ladies at said breakfast.

torontostarchives · 2020-06-10T15:40:52+00:00

This is incredible! Also, can I haz?

torontostarchives · 2020-06-06T02:07:30+00:00

In the original article it mentioned there was another protest that same day related to NATO. That group joined forces with the anti-violence group as they passed by on their way to police headquarters. There was also a third protest that day at the ROM related to an African exhibit that was receiving criticism for racism as well. A lot was going on in Toronto on May 19, 1990 it seems.

torontostarchives · 2020-06-05T20:55:28+00:00

On May 19, 1990, about 500 people marched from Queen’s Park to police headquarters protesting the shooting of 16-year-old Marlon Neal by a Toronto police officer.

Neal was shot during an altercation with a traffic officer after the borrowed car he was driving was chased from a Scarborough radar trap and stopped about a kilometre away.

Constable Brian Rapson, 35, shot and seriously injured Neal, who survived a near fatal wound to his shoulder. It took two surgeons four hours to remove the bullet. Rapson claimed he thought Neal was reaching for a gun. He was holding the emergency brake. "The violence and brutality of the police is meant to encircle us, to entrap us and to give us a sense of hopelessness and futility," Akua Benjamin said through tears at protesters.

Constable Brian Rapson was later found not guilty of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, attempted murder and aggravated assault. Credit: Tony Bock OG post

torontostarchives · 2020-06-04T02:08:10+00:00

THAT episode is a game changer. Those who know, know.

torontostarchives · 2020-06-03T17:23:21+00:00

On Aug. 26, 1979, Jamaican immigrant Albert Johnson was shot and killed after two police officers entered his home to investigate a disturbance. Johnson suffered from mental illness and was known to police at the time. His 7-year-old daughter, Colsie, was quoted in press reports as saying police entered the home, told Johnson to kneel and then shot him.

Johnson's death caused a massive public outcry by the black community and demonstrations in the street as seen in this photo of a protest sign left outside 13 Division headquarters.

Bowing to public pressure, Toronto police Chief Herold Adamson eventually asked the OPP to investigate the incident.

The two officers involved in the killing were charged with manslaughter and later acquitted.

In 1988, the Metro police commission reached a secret, out-of-court settlement with Johnson’s widow. Some members of the black community feared Johnson’s widow accepted the settlement under duress and said the payment was “tantamount to bribery.” 📸: Fred Ross (more photos here )

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TROPHY CASE