Accession Number
2009-6-1
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-6-1
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 photograph: b&w ; 25 x 20 cm
Date
1923, 1932, 1960
Scope and Content
Accession consists of the naturalization certificate of Harold Kaplan, a souvenir program from his stag party, and an original photograph of New Year's Eve 1959–1960 at the Primrose Club.
Administrative History
Harold Solomon Kaplan (1895–1973) was a Toronto-based architect who, in partnership with Abraham Sprachman in the firm Kaplan & Sprachman, was well-known for the design of art deco and art moderne movie theatres in the 1930s and 1940s and for designing buildings for Jewish communities across Canada from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Descriptive Notes
Photograph #6561 is a copy of this original.
Related records may be found in the Harold S. Kaplan fonds 27.
Name Access
Kaplan, Harold, 1895-1973
Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Part Of
Mimi Wise fonds
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 16; Item 4
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Mimi Wise fonds
Level
Item
Fonds
16
Item
4
Material Format
graphic material (electronic)
Date
[ca. 1940]
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w (jpg)
Admin History/Bio
Joseph Marin was a founder of the Beach Hebrew Institute and was involved in the Toronto Hebrew Free Loan and Farband.
Scope and Content
This item is an electronic copy photograph of a portrait of Joseph Marin.
Name Access
Beach Hebrew Institute (Toronto, Ont.)
Farband
Toronto Hebrew Free Loan
Subjects
Portraits
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
2006-9-7
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Dora Till fonds
Other organizations series
Level
Item
ID
Fonds 52; Series 7; Item 1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Dora Till fonds
Other organizations series
Level
Item
Fonds
52
Series
7
Item
1
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[194-]
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w ; 12 x 18 cm on matte 21 x 26 cm
Scope and Content
This item is a photograph of the exterior of the Primrose Club on Willcocks Street in Toronto.
Name Access
Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Clubs
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Willcocks Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 2919
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2919
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[19--]
Physical Description
2 photographs : (1 negative)
Scope and Content
For identification, see accession record.
Notes
Photo by Schlochter.
Name Access
Farband
Subjects
Students
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1981-6-3
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 1268
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
1268
Material Format
graphic material
Date
1942
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
This photograph was taken at the Borochov Branch's 25th anniversary banquet.
Name Access
Borochov
Farband
Jewish Organizations
Subjects
Anniversaries
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1977-4-2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 2918
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2918
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[between 1940 and 1945]
Physical Description
2 photographs : (1 negative)
Scope and Content
For identification notes, please see accession record.
Top row, far left: [?] Rigelhoff, choir master.
Name Access
Farband
Subjects
Students
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Cecil Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Accession Number
1981-6-3
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 2915
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2915
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[ca. 1945]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
For identification notes, please see accession record.
Name Access
Farband
Subjects
Students
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1981-4-1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 1617
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
1617
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[1939 or 1940]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Notes
Photo by Modern Studio
Name Access
Farband
Independent Workers' Circle Joint Committee
Leivick, H.
Jewish Organizations
Subjects
Committees
Lectures and lecturing
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Toronto Islands (Ont.)
Accession Number
1978-11-5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 2319
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2319
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[ca. 1940]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Name Access
Menachovsky, M.
Poalei Zion
Farband
Subjects
Anniversaries
Dinners and dining
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
1980-9-1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 4749
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
4749
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[between 1948 and 1952]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
Copy photograph of Club One, Pioneer Women, Cecil Street, Toronto.
Name Access
Club One Pioneer Women
Farband
Subjects
Clubs
Women
Repro Restriction
Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Places
Cecil Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Accession Number
1989-2-4
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 27
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
27
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca.1910]-1968
Physical Description
345 architectural drawings and other material
Admin History/Bio
Harold Solomon Kaplan (1895-1973) was a Toronto-based architect who, in partnership with Abraham Sprachman in the firm Kaplan & Sprachman, was well-known for the design of Art deco and Art moderne movie theatres in the 1930s and 1940s and for designing buildings for Jewish communities across Canada from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Kaplan was born 10 Sept. 1895, in Bucharest, Romania. At the age of three, he and his widowed mother, Tillie Hohan, moved to London, England, and in 1902 they moved to Toronto where his mother subsequently married Frank Kaplan. While in his teens, Kaplan spent time in Philadelphia living with an uncle and studying draftsmanship. Upon returning to Toronto, Kaplan attended Toronto Technical School where he took courses in architecture and building construction. He also served an apprenticeship with the architect Henry Simpson. In 1919-1920, Kaplan worked for the firm of Page & Warrington, before establishing Kaplan & Sprachman with Abraham Sprachman in 1922. In 1923, he married Dorothy Spain. They had two daughters, Phyllis (Pepper) and Ruthetta (Reiss).
Kaplan & Sprachman were best known for their more than 300 movie theatre projects completed from the 1920s to the 1960s, designing and renovating theatres across Canada in progressive "modern" styles and using innovative building materials. In 1937, they were awarded the bronze medal in the Sixth Biennial Toronto Exhibition for their interiors to the Eglinton Theatre (400 Eglinton Ave. W.) in Toronto, considered to be the finest example of their Art deco design work.
Over the course of their careers, they designed many synagogues for the Jewish community, such as the Anshei Minsk and Shaarei Shomayim synagogues in Toronto, Beth Israel Synagogue, Edmonton, and Beth Israel Synagogue in Vancouver. They also designed the new Mount Sinai Hospital, the Oakdale Golf & Country Club, the Jewish Home for the Aged (Baycrest), and the Jewish Community Centres of Toronto and Hamilton. Their design for the Oakdale Golf & Country Club was chosen as a Canadian entrant in the Arts Competition of the 14th Olympic Games in London, 1948.
In addition to the projects already mentioned, Kaplan & Sprachman worked on retail stores, warehouses and factories, apartment buildings, and single family residences. Their partnership continued until 1965, when the firm of Kaplan & Sprachman was dissolved as of 30 October 1965. Kaplan continued to work as an architectural consultant for several years after this date. Harold Kaplan died 1 April 1973 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Kaplan was a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Ontario Association of Architects, and the Province of Quebec Association of Architects. Kaplan & Sprachman's contribution to the architecture profession was recognized by the Ontario Association of Architects when both Kaplan's and Abraham Sprachman's names were entered on the Honor Roll for prominent members of the profession, established by the association in 1989.
Scope and Content
The fonds documents Kaplan's work as an architect from the 1930s to the 1960s with Kaplan & Sprachman and some of the consulting work he undertook after the dissolution of the partnership in 1965, primarily through architectural drawings and photographs. The preponderance of the materials relates to a series of renovations of Loew's Yonge Street Theatre (189 Yonge St., Toronto, now the Elgin Theatre) and the Uptown Theatre (764 Yonge St., Toronto, just South of Bloor St.) between the 1930s and 1960s, and Kaplan & Sprachman's design of the Primrose Club (Russell Hill Rd at St. Clair Ave., Toronto) in 1958-1959. There is also a large number of photographs by commercial photographers of movie theatres designed or renovated by Kaplan & Sprachman.
Project records are arranged chronologically, with sub-sub-series defined for successive projects at the same site. Some of the materials document project proposals which were not carried out (e.g., proposed renovations of the Winter Garden Theatre).
Other series in the fonds contain business correspondence and newspaper clippings concerning Kaplan & Sprachman projects, and a small amount of personal material such as family photographs, awards Kaplan received over the years for his design work and a colour photocopy of the invitation to Kaplan's stag party in 1923.
Notes
Includes: 132 photographs (131 b&w, including 8 negatives; 1 col.), 8 cm of textual records, and 1 bronze medal.
Name Access
Kaplan, Harold S., 1895-1973
Kaplan & Sprachman (Firm)
Loew's Yonge Street Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)
Uptown Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Winter Garden Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Physical Condition
Some of the blueprints and drawings are torn or water-damaged. All of the architectural drawings are currently stored in rolls.
Related Material
Accession 2003-7-1 contains additional photographs of buildings designed or renovated by Kaplan & Sprachman, as well as a copy of a published inventory of Kaplan & Sprachman movie theatre projects, compiled by Mandel Sprachman from Kaplan & Sprachman records
Mina Sprachman, widow of Abraham Sprachman, discusses Kaplan & Sprachman in oral history recording AC-142
Kaplan & Sprachman records can also be found in the Mandel Sprachman fonds, at the City of Toronto Archives
Creator
Kaplan, Harold S., 1895-1973
Accession Number
2003-6-1
2004-3-4
Source
Archival Descriptions