Traffic Signal Box - Toronto Map Maze

 

Location: Eastern Avenue at Carlaw

Date photo taken: 9 January 2021

Image #21 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

If you find yourself near the corner of Eastern Avenue and Carlaw with some time on your hands, pop over to the north east corner and find this traffic signal box. On it artist Pam Lostracco has created a maze using Toronto's streets and rivers. The CN Tower is marked as the start and there are other destinations, many of them greenspaces, to discover as you work your way through the maze and around the box. A fun and different way to discover the city.

Drink Canada Dry

 

Location: 900 Queen Street East   

Date photo taken: 28 April 2019

This awesome vintage Canada Dry sign hangs out front of Eddie's Convenience on Queen Street East just west of Logan. Whenever I see vintage signs like this, I wonder about their story - when they were first hung and how it is that they have survived. So I turned to the city directories to see if I could discover anything. It turns out that Eddie's Confectionery, the business name that appears in faded letters at the top of the sign, first appears in the city directory at this location in 1954, operated by Sylvia Rosenbloom. The "Eddie" is explained if you look further back. In earlier years, the listing for this address simply read "Rosenbloom, Edward, confy". 

With stores on retail strips coming and going and changing from one type to another, it was interesting to me to discover that since this address first appeared in the city directory in the late 1900s, it has been occupied by a number of different people - Norman Shier, Geo Sernissi, Nathan Besserman, and perhaps others - but it was always a confectionery.

Billie Holiday

 

Location: Logan Avenue, north of Lakeshore
Date photo taken: 4 September 2020

This beautiful portrait of jazz great Billie Holiday forms the southern part of a huge mural on Logan Avenue, just north of Lakeshore. If you're a fan, you might know that Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia. The northern end of the mural features another jazz legend, also with a Philadelphia connection. You'll have to visit the mural to find out who.

Brick Obelisk

 

Location: NW corner of Dundas & Carlaw

Date photo taken: 9 January 2021

While the artist may have chosen to name this piece Brick Obelisk, it is in fact made of Corten steel which has been cut with an intricate pattern. Lit from within by LEDs, the lines are even more pronounced at night. For those who take a closer look, and are perhaps familiar with the area's geography, some elements may begin to look familiar. Pierre Poussin, whose artist statement notes that he thinks art should be "tailor-made for the space it inhabits," overlaid maps of the area from various eras to create the pattern, and the shape was inspired by the smokestacks that once dotted this formerly industrial area. Together, they form a fitting ode to the neighbourhood's past and a beautiful addition to the intersection.

Art Wire & Iron Co.

 

Location: Lakeshore Blvd between Carlaw and Leslie

Date photo taken: 1 May 2021

Last week I talked about the dismantling of the eastern-most part of the Gardiner and the public art project that arose from the demolition. If you look carefully at the pillars that are part of the installation, you'll notice that each has a large plaque affixed to it. These are actually stainless steel plates, each etched with an image of local significance. Some of them document the dismantling of the elevated portion of the roadway, while others delve into the more distant history of the area. This particular image shows employees at the Art Wire & Iron Company Limited on Carlaw Avenue, probably in the mid-1940s. The Art Wire & Iron Company set up shop at 3 Carlaw Avenue around 1923, with Charles R. Shipway as proprietor and manager. They specialized in ornamental iron work. The building still stands today and is now the home of Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. The former business name is still visible in ghostly letters on the exterior.

Fun fact: Prior to the Art Wire & Iron Company locating at 3 Carlaw, the site housed a chemical manufacturer, and before that, Fuller Stanbury Co, one of the many pork packers that helped give Toronto its Hogtown nickname.

Gardiner East Dismantling

 

Location: Lakeshore Blvd between Carlaw and Leslie

Date photo taken: 1 May 2021

In 1999 Toronto City Council voted to demolish the eastern-most portion of the Gardiner expressway. This section served no real purpose, having been built to link up to a Scarborough Expressway that was never built. When it was demolished in 2001 the work involved a reinvention of this section of the Lakeshore. It was designed to accommodate more traffic capacity but also included bicycle lanes, landscaping and public art. Artist John McKinnon took the expressway itself as his inspiration, transforming remnants of the structure into a visually striking new installation. In his words: "Probably the most oppressive part of the Gardiner is the overhead deck and with the deck removed the columns take on a life of their own and that is actually the best part. It almost has a kind of marching Stonehenge… sort of almost millennial sense about it. And this kind of thing actually is what gives now the whole piece a distinct character."

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Location: Lane off Natalie Place

Date photo taken: 21 February 2022

I know that it's not spring yet and that there are still plenty of cold days ahead, but the weather on the weekend provided a little taste of things to come. Soon we'll all have the option to stop and smell the flowers. This mural is by illustrator Natalie V. Bochenska, also known as Natalie Very B.

 

Otter and Turtle

Location: alley south of 189 Booth

Date photo taken: 8 May, 2021

This otter and turtle form part of a long mural that covers the low wall around the south and west sides of the new building at 189B Booth Avenue in Riverdale. It was painted this spring by Philip Cote. He was commissioned by the Red Door Family Shelter to create something that would "educate, inspire and imbue healing energy to our clients, staff, volunteers, and supporters for years to come”. According to Carol Latchford, Executive Director of Red Door, they also plan to create “programming opportunities for children, and adults too, to learn and understand the stories associated with Philip’s mural.” The Red Door Shelter provides sanctuary to women, children and families in need, with 64% of their residents being children. In this new space, they will be able to provide each family with their own bedroom and washroom, a first for the organization. 

Water Dragon

Location: Construction hoarding at Lakeshore east of Coxwell
Date photo taken: 26 February 2021

The City is undertaking its largest ever storm water management program to help improve water quality in the Don River and the along the waterfront. The first phase involves the creation of a huge tunnel system for capturing and storing excess water during storms. The hoarding which was erected around the construction site on the western edge of the park known as Main Sewage Treatment Playground has provided a huge canvas and last October more than 90 artists were invited to create their vision of a water-themed work of art. This one is by Cesar AR, or Cesar Alonso, a Colombian born artist based in Toronto. 

RUNT Critters

Location: 1600 Gerrard St. E. at Rhodes

Date photo taken: 20 February 2016

Back in the 1980s Lee's Palace commissioned a mural for the front of their Bloor Street building. The job went to a young artist who was working as a waiter and a Toronto icon was born. Despite the passing of years, Alex Currie, who goes by either RUNT or Al Runt, has stayed true to his style, which he describes as "naiveté, with fart jokes." This detail is not from the repainted Lee's Palace but from an east-end mural - it covers the front and part of the side of the storefront at 1600 Gerrard Street East. 

Little Free Library

Location: 123 Woodfield Road
Date photo taken: 12 April 2015

This is a Little Free Library sitting in the front yard of 123 Woodfield Road. Normally on this blog if I post something that is sitting in a person's yard, I don't publish the address. In this case however the whole point of these boxes is for the community to use them. The idea is simple, and it's spelled out on the little sign on the roof: Take a Book. Return a Book. From the first box built by a man in Wisconsin for his own yard in 2009, the idea has snowballed. As of 2016, there were over 50,000 Little Free Libraries in over 70 countries, including over 100 in Toronto. If you're interested in hosting your own free library, you can buy one pre-made or download plans to build your own from the Little Free Library website. If you just want to browse someone else's collection, they also have a map to help you find the one nearest you.

Note: I think this library may have grown since I took this picture. Can anyone confirm if it's now two-storeys tall?

Leslieville Bench

Location: Jimmie Simpson Park, Queen St. E.
Date photo taken: 2 May 2016

Colourful benches like this one can be found scattered throughout Leslieville thanks to the local BIA. The pattern, which falls a little short of rainbow, is inspired by their striped logo.