When department store rivals celebrated Canada's first subway.
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| A display window at Simpson's |
With all the drama in the news about potential subway
construction in Scarborough, and the bickering amongst various levels of government, Toronto Shopkeeper looks back to the dawn of Toronto's subway system.
On March 30, 1954,
after five years of construction, the Yonge subway line was officially opened
by Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto Mayor Allan A. Lamport. The line
ran from its northern terminus at Eglinton to Union Station. Along the way it
passed under the flagship stores of the city's two most important retailers Eaton's
and Simpson's
The department store competitors commemorated this first
subway in Canada
with a series of display windows focusing on innovation and accomplishment.
While to modern eyes the displays may appear slightly hokey, they offer a nostalgic glimpse into how important the subway was to the development of the modern city. Yet somehow it seems inconceivable that a modern retailer would celebrate a TTC project in the same way.
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| A display window at Simpson's |
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| A display window at Simpson's |
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| A display window at Eaton's |
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| A display window at Eaton's |
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| A display window at Eaton's |
[Photos via City of Toronto Archives]
