Address

193 1/2 Baldwin Street

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Nesker & Co., Wholesale and Retail Produce was owned and operated by Joe Nesker and his wife Bella.

Address

371 Spadina Avenue

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Hyman's Books and Art was a popular locale for the literary crowd. Hebraists were known to spend time here, discussing the latest trends in the world of literature. The owner Ben Zimon Hyman was also a Hebrew teacher but had originally trained as an engineer both in Russia and at the University of Toronto.

Address

332 Spadina Avenue

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Walerstein's ice cream parlour was owned by Abraham Walerstein, who was originally from Hamilton, Ontario. He opened it in 1917 and it became a hang out for Social Democrats.

Address

542 Dundas Street West

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The Yiddisher Zhurnal (or the Daily Hebrew Journal) was the primary organ for the Yiddish-speaking population in Toronto. This newspaper covered events in the Jewish world in Toronto and abroad. The paper was also a forum for Yiddish essayists. The long-time editor of the newspaper was Abraham Rhinewine (1887-1932). Born in Poland in 1887, he immigrated to London, England in 1902 and then came to Toronto with his wife Amy in 1907.

Address

665 College Street

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Henry Weingluck (1902-1987) was an artist and Toronto art gallery owner, who immigrated to Canada in 1948 after being imprisoned in concentration camps in France during the Second World War. He studied at art academies in Crakow, Copenhagen, and Berlin and was a pupil of Professor Max Lieberman, president of Berlin's Academy of Arts prior to the Nazi takeover of Germany. Weingluck often depicted Jewish themes in his paintings, in a style he called "academic impressionism." He exhibited in Paris with Kandinsky and Chagall, as well as at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Jewish Museum, Berlin. He painted portraits of such prominent figures as Albert Einstein, Max Schmelin, Yehudi Menuhin, and Chaim Weizmann.

Address

399 Spadina Avenue

Source

Landmarks

N. Hoffman Grocery was owned and operated by Nathan (Nahum) Hoffman and his wife Rivka. They first owned a grocery store at 339 Centre Avenue in St. John's Ward. In 1915, they moved their store to Spadina Ave.

Address

175 Baldwin Street

Source

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The Perlmutar Bakery was opened in 1911 by Arrin Perlmutar who had immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine by way of London, England. He opened the bakery on the main floor of his home while his family of seven lived upstairs. The bakery had a wood-burning brick oven until the 1960s, when the city forced them to convert to electric.

Address

29 Baldwin Street

Source

Landmarks

Mandel’s opened between 1913-1920. It was initially owned by Harry Mandel. After 1944, it was owned by one of his sons William Mandel. And, in the 1950s, it was owned by the brothers Saul, Abraham, Ben, and William Mandel, from approx. From 1960 to approximately 1965, it was owned by William Mandel (exclusively).

Address

170 Brunswick Avenue

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Kalmen Greenspan & Sons was a butcher shop located on Brunswick Avenue.

Address

319 Augusta Avenue

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Sam Gryfe started out peddling baked goods in Hamilton, Ontario around 1915. A store eventually opened at 319 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market and operated during the 1930s. The bakery is now located on Bathurst Street. The bakery was also known as Crown Bakery. There was also a location in cottage country at Jackson's Point on Lake Simcoe.

Address

182 Brunswick Avenue

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Address

295 Spadina Avenue

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Harry and Jennie Shopsowitz started Shopsy's Delicatessen, a family business in 1921. Harry died in October 1945 and the business was passed along to his sons, Sam Shopsowitz and Izzy Shopsowitz. The business grew and became known as Shopsy’s. Eventually, Sam opened a meat processing plant, in addition to the restaurants, and by 1947, he became known as the "the corned beef king" in advertisements. Shopsy's corned beef and hotdogs were sold in grocery stores.

Address

71 Kensington Avenue

Source

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This store was owned and operated by Harry Trachter and his wife Becky (Cooper) Trachter.

Address

649 College Street

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Moishe (Morris) Shternshis (ca. 1893-1976) was married to Fanny Rumianek (ca. 1896-1991). Moishe Stern owned and operated a dairy and delivered milk and other dairy products.

Address

420 College Street

Source

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Joseph Gary and Goldie (nee Lawrence) Gary married in 1921 in Rochester, N.Y. Shortly thereafter they moved to Toronto. Joseph and Goldie had three children; daughters Ethel (Halter) and Shirley (Cohen), and son Leslie. They owned and operated a grocery store on College Street. In 1950, after three years of visiting the region, Joseph and Goldie purchased a home on Amelia Street in Pontypool, ON. As the area was a popular summer resort spot for vacationing Jews from the 1940s to the 1960s, Joseph and Goldie decided to build 10 cottages on their land for rental, which they named Gary's Cottages. The area was relatively cheap and had a pond as its swimming spot. Kosher meals would often be brought in for the vacationers who arrived on two trains daily from Union station. The cottages were sold around 1970 and are no longer in existence, however their home is still standing.

Address

234 Augusta Avenue

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Address

231 Augusta Avenue

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Address

322 Spadina Avenue

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Opened in 1946 when the neighbourhood was still teaming with Jews working and living in the neighbourhood, this deli was one of the last to close in the area, in 1946. The Switzer family lived at 35 Nassau Street.

Address

338 Spadina Avenue

Source

Landmarks

United Bakers Dairy Restaurant was first established by Aaron and Sarah Ladovsky in 1912 on Dundas Street at Bay Street in the Ward. They moved the restaurant to 338 Spadina Ave. in 1920. Aaron Ladovsky was involved in a number of community organizations. He was instrumental in founding the Kieltzer Society of Toronto in 1913; a community based immigrant-aid association extending aid to Kielcers in Poland and around the world. Ladovsky remained an active member of the organization until his death on April 5, 1960. His restaurant provided a welcome gathering place for the Jewish community, serving traditional dishes and maintaining a friendly open-door policy. Aaron Ladovsky was known for his generosity and claimed that no one, whether they had money or not, left his restaurant hungry. The United Bakers' menu was mainly based on Sarah’s original recipes, and continues to be so to this day.

Address

275 Spadina Avenue

Source

Landmarks

Goldenberg's restaurant, which was kosher, was located at 275 Spadina Ave and was owned by Mr Joseph S. Goldenberg. He made additions to the restaurant in 1929 and 1935 by architect Benjamin Brown.

Address

350 College Street

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Wellts Delicatessen was founded by Peter and Fannie Wellts in the 1910s at 350 College Street. Peter Wellts was born in Tarnigrad, Poland in 1888 and Fannie Brown was born in New York City in 1889. They met in New York and moved with Fannie’s family to Toronto in 1910. Peter worked in the garment district prior at the start of the restaurant business. Peter and Fannie married in Toronto on November 26, 1910. They had two daughters Sylvia (b. August 26, 1911) (m. Walfish) and Ethel (b. January 7, 1928) (m. Rochwerg). They lived in an apartment above the delicatessen. When Ethel married her husband Nathan Rochwerg in 1948, they moved in with Fannie and Peter above the deli. Ethel and Nathan had three children Martin, Arlene (m. Kochberg), and Sidney. When Peter was in his 70s, it was decided that the family would move north into the Bathurst Manor and close the deli. Peter had a heart attack on December 26, 1959, before the move, and Fannie moved in with Nathan and Ethel and their three children. The deli closed in 1959.

Address

15 Brunswick Avenue

Source

Landmarks

At the turn of the twentieth-century, the Jewish population of Toronto grew with large numbers of Eastern European families fleeing hardship back home. Soon, a variety of clubs began forming, providing a place for Jewish boys and girls to participate in athletic and social programming. In 1919, several of the athletic and social groups decided to amalgamate and formed an umbrella organization known as the Hebrew Association of Young Men’s and Young Women’s Clubs. By 1930, they were known as the YM-YWHA (Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. Through the 1920s and 30s, they occupied a number of facilities in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area.