Streetcars ...Toronto in the Sixties

[Miningman]

Remember any of these these things? Texaco gas stations, Supertest gas stations ( Canadians only, sorry.. Supertest was THE BEST!), when gas stations had their own tow trucks, newspaper boxes everywhere, phone booths outside everywhere, and any or all of those fabulous cars.

4158 a Carlton car signed for short turn at Lansdowne is empty and proceeding west to Dundas Street where it will turn back eastward to Lansdowne then north one short block and will reappear at this same intersection at far right to return eastward on College Street. Note the trolley coach wires on Lansdowne. Texaco was long a popular brand of gas and oil owned by McColl-Frontenac. Supertest was a smaller Canadian-owned service station chain. At this time many service stations had their own tow truck. Note the Globe & Mail newspaper box. A national newspaper still around but no longer in street boxes. December 1964 Paul McGrane Collection ENLARGE

How about White Owl cigars or tobacco ads in general. 10 cents! Don't know if you had White Owls Stateside but I'm sure you had an inexpensive good manly stink em up Cigar. 

4394 a St.Clair route car destined for Keele Street western loop. Interesting is the White Owl cigar advertisement a popular inexpensive smoke. 10 cents! Also, the telephone booth (remember those?) painted in non-Bell Telephone Company colours likely for Loblaws grocery supermarket (out of view to left) just east of Bathurst Street at Nordheimer Ravine . Still there! 9/1963 Paul McGrane Collection

 

[gthomson]

Hey love this post. I might be the only other person on this forum who can relate. I would love to see more like this and feel free to message me in case others aren't insterested. 

[Miningman]

gthomson-- Thank you. There are several TTC posts and streetcars in general throughout the threads if you go back in the pages, found at the bottom. 

My thread 1)" Streetcars, Trains and Ships in the same patch of land. That's Transportation! 2) Before and After, 108 years,3) Streetcar, Street traffic and Subway cars in one scene. 4) Glass top Brill... only 5 ever built"  are all Toronto scenes and can easily be found. There are many more in Classic 

NDG has posted many on the Montreal Streetcar and Interurban systems and David Klepper has tons of stuff on New York City in the Classic threads.

 

[Overmod]

Texaco in the States was famous for Bob Hope as a spokesman (and the infamous Pennzoil case in the '80s, over Getty Oil, where Texaco, a New York company, and Pennzoil, a Texas company, were oddly at odds.  Frankly, Esso Extra was better than either Texaco or that maple-leaf brand ... and a good thing as, if I remember correctly, Canadian Texaco locations all became Esso at the beginning of the '90s.

White Owl and Muriel famously dueled for the popular cigar market in the late '60s: I confess to being more fond of Edie Adams (who, like my father, hailed from Kingston, Pennsylvania and then settled in Tenafly, NJ) -- if you can find her ad parody of 'Big Spender' from Sweet Charity, which prominently features that ten-cent contemporary price, do so!  Of course, then as now, I don't care for cigars...

[Deggesty]

My oldest brother, a chemical engineer, began working at Esso's plant in Baton Rouge in 1944, after two yeara of gradutae work at Chapel Hill, That was the only compnay (with its corporate changes) he worked for--including his two years in Venezuela about 1958-60. 

[Miningman]

Yes that's correct Overmod.. Texaco was bought up by Imperial Oil Esso. Supertest went to BP, which in turn became PetroCan. PetroCan still markets a 'Supertest' oil. 

Cigars--Good to know you had White Owls stateside. Was not sure. Good chompin' down Cigar. Strong scent. I fulfilled a lifelong goal of smoking a Prince Albert in Prince Albert ( outside the Dairy Queen ) 

The 'guys' and one gal come over maybe 6 times a year to my place for a cigar night, Scotch, cognac or Brandy. Their spouses would never allow that at their respective houses. My dog doesn't mind a bit. 

[Miningman]

Wonder if they still practice this rather risky procedure of leaving a car unattended in the middle of the city...' waiting time'.

4393 sitting at safety island appears to be empty, not even an Operator! Facing south on Spadina Avenue at Dundas Street West. Signed for Runnymede loop western destination. Car will turn right here. Likely being short turned and waiting time. Dominant building in left background was built 1875 as Knox College at 1 Spadina Crescent (street splits around both ends). 5/20/1967 Paul McGrane Collection

 

Here we see streetcars on the Danforth. Today it is 'Greek Town' an upscale Greek ethnic area famed for its great food and cafes. It is referred to as The Danforth.

4412 signed DANFORTH BLOOR on Danforth Avenue at Parkmount Road (3 blocks west of Coxwell). 
4/24/1965 Paul McGrane Collection 

Nothing quite like a ride out along the Lake into Mimico and beyond. The TTC goes out a long ways.

Long Branch route car 4415 eastbound on Lake Shore Rd. in Mimico. 8/1966 Paul McGrane Collection 

A time now gone but not that long ago.

Lots of history iu this scene in downtown. 4416 a Queen car is turning south on Spadina Avenue short turning. 
Turretted building at left is Bargain Benny's, a long ways down from its historic past. 
Built 1908, the Auditorium Theatre was a silent movie house renamed 1915 as the 
Pickford Theatre for "America's Sweetheart" (born in Toronto in 1893!). 
The upper floor was the Moler Barber College. Demolished 1972.
11/1966 Paul McGrane CollectionIt 

[Flintlock76]

Overmod

Texaco in the States was famous for Bob Hope as a spokesman (and the infamous Pennzoil case in the '80s, over Getty Oil, where Texaco, a New York company, and Pennzoil, a Texas company, were oddly at odds.  Frankly, Esso Extra was better than either Texaco or that maple-leaf brand ... and a good thing as, if I remember correctly, Canadian Texaco locations all became Esso at the beginning of the '90s.

White Owl and Muriel famously dueled for the popular cigar market in the late '60s: I confess to being more fond of Edie Adams (who, like my father, hailed from Kingston, Pennsylvania and then settled in Tenafly, NJ) -- if you can find her ad parody of 'Big Spender' from Sweet Charity, which prominently features that ten-cent contemporary price, do so!  Of course, then as now, I don't care for cigars...

 

My father went to Tenafly High School with Edie Adams!  At the time her name was Elizabeth Enke, they were in several classes together and she signed his yearbook.

White Owls?  Oh yeah, I remember White Owls!  My grandfather smoked 'em, the "New Yorker" variety.  Smoked them myself for a while.  One night I was out cruising with some friends and we decided on a wacky experiment, i.e. "How fast can we smoke this car up with the 'White Owls' if we keep the windows closed?"

Fifteen seconds.  Good thing we were parked, we bailed out of the car like it was a burning house!

Anyway, here's Edie for Muriel cigars.  Both Muriel's and White Owls are still around BTW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCT3c5FI5E  

I remember George Burns pushing El Productos.  Ol' George lived to be 100, obviously they didn't do him any harm!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiADy2qchrI

How about a sing-along with the Dutch Masters?

Considering the song, it's probably the last commercial aimed at the World War One generation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtZkfGZIYoM  

Imagine cigar commercials nowadays?  The roof would come off from the screaming wienies!

[Miningman]

From Mike :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYRCeTTREQ