Accession Number
1982-7-6
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1982-7-6
Material Format
object
textual record
graphic material
Physical Description
1 poster
3 cm of textual records
Artifacts
Date
1928-[ca. 1944]
Scope and Content
This accession includes a Standard Theatre poster for the play Sheindele from Slabodke, staring Mischa and Lucy German (1928). This production was also known as Papirosn-makherin (Cigarette Maker) and Reizele from Slabodke and was staged in 1927 in the Hopkinson Theatre then in Philadelphia with Clara Young, Lucy German, and Vera Rosanka.
Also included are pages from a scrapbook with Jewish Standard editorial writings from the 1930s by Hye Bossin. Topics include life on Spadina Avenue and in Kensinton Market, Yiddish entertainers, Emma Goldman's visit to Toronto, Caplan's Cafe, athletes, and the Toronto Islands. As well, there is a metal plate for F. B. Harris, circa 1944, with an inscription on it in memory of Sgt. F. B. Harris who "died in his country's service 6 June, 1944."
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: The Standard Theatre poster and Emma Goldman interview are available as digital files.
Subjects
Newspapers
Theatrical posters, Yiddish
Name Access
Bossin, Hye
Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940
Harris, Fred. B.
Standard Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
Spadina Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Level
Item
ID
Item 2505
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2505
Material Format
graphic material
Date
17 April 1928
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 21 x 26 cm
Scope and Content
This item is a copy print and corresponding negative of a poster for a performance by Isaac Nelson's New York Free Yiddisher Folk Theatre, which happened at the I.O.O.F. Temple at 41 Gore Street in Hamilton. The poster is written in Yiddish.
Name Access
Isaac Nelson's New York Free Yiddisher Folk Theatre
Subjects
Theatrical posters, Yiddish
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
Hamilton (Ont.)
Accession Number
1980-7-7
Source
Archival Descriptions
Accession Number
2012-10-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2012-10-4
Material Format
graphic material
Physical Description
1 photograph : col. ; 26 x 21 cm
Date
[between 1925 and 1935]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of a photograph of a poster advertising the showing of the movie "Yiskor" or "Thou Shalt Remember" at the Standard Theatre. This film was released in 1925 and manufactured by S. Geyer Inc. in New York.
Subjects
Theatrical posters, Yiddish
Name Access
Standard Theatre
Source
Archival Accessions
Address
42 St George Street
Source
Landmarks

In 1919, Mr. Mendel Granatstein commissioned Benjamin Brown and Robert McConnell to design a three storey Classical Georgian style house located at 42 St. George Street. The house contained a unique feature -- a retractable roof used on Sukkoth. In 1947, the house was acquired by the University of Toronto and was used for a variety of purposes until it was demolished in 1999. The Bahen Centre for Information Technology now stands in its place.
Address
42 St George Street
Time Period
1919-1999
Scope Note
In 1919, Mr. Mendel Granatstein commissioned Benjamin Brown and Robert McConnell to design a three storey Classical Georgian style house located at 42 St. George Street. The house contained a unique feature -- a retractable roof used on Sukkoth. In 1947, the house was acquired by the University of Toronto and was used for a variety of purposes until it was demolished in 1999. The Bahen Centre for Information Technology now stands in its place.
History
Mr. Mendel Granatstein was a member of one of the early Jewish families of Toronto. In 1895, he founded M. Granatstein and Sons, Ltd., a junk dealing company, and by the early 20th century, he had become one of the most prosperous Jews in Toronto. Mr. Granatstein was also a community leader, having a hand in the foundation of Beth Jacob Synagogue.
Category
Architecture
Residences
Source
Landmarks
Level
Item
ID
Item 2318
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
2318
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[1922?]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
The poster contains the name of participating actors, including Nathan Rosen.
Notes
Original poster 27" x 42".
Name Access
Rosen, Nathan
Yiddishe Folks' Bineh of Toronto
Subjects
Theatrical posters, Yiddish
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
Hamilton (Ont.)
Accession Number
1978-4-10
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
ID
Item 4294
Source
Archival Descriptions
Level
Item
Item
4294
Material Format
graphic material
Date
[1925 or 1926]
Physical Description
2 photographs : b&w (1 negative)
Scope and Content
Identified third from left: William Shankman.
Notes
Photo by Midland Press Agency, 520 Suffolk St., Birmingham.
Subjects
Orchestra
Theaters
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
Birmingham (England)
Accession Number
1987-9-5
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Theatre (189 Yonge St., Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
ID
Fonds 27; Series 1-1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Theatre (189 Yonge St., Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
Fonds
27
Series
1-1
Material Format
architectural drawing
textual record
Date
1913-1959
Physical Description
57 drawings : pencil on tracing paper, blueprints and other reproductions ; 72 x 114 cm or smaller
1 cm of textual records
Admin History/Bio
Built in 1913, Loew's Yonge Street Theatre and Winter Garden Theatre complex was the flagship of Marcus Loew's Canadian theatre chain. The theatres were designed by Thomas Lamb as a "double-decker" theatre, with the Winter Garden located seven-stories above the street-level Yonge Street Theatre. This was the only double-decker theatre built in Canada and one of less than a dozen built internationally. The design was considered economical in that it provided a greater amount of seating on a given piece of real estate while allowing the theatre operator to present the same daily show in two theatres. The shows included both vaudeville acts and silent movies.
In 1928, there was a major fire on the site and the Winter Garden Theatre was closed due to the decline in popularity of vaudeville. By 1930, the Yonge Street Theatre was solely a movie theatre, equipped for sound movies. Over the years it gradually fell into disrepair, but continued as a movie theatre until 1981. It was renamed the Elgin Theatre in 1978.
In 1981, the Elgin and Winter Garden were purchased by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and in 1987 the foundation began a two and half year, $30 million restoration of the theatres. The theatres re-opened in Dec. 1989 exclusively for theatrical productions.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of seating plans, blueprints of structural details, and floor plans, sections and elevations for successive alterations (to the entrance, lobby, basement, etc.) of the theatre. The sub-series includes a copy of a city building permit dating from 1934 for renovations carried out by Loew's Theatres Engineering Division. Some of the blueprints date from the original construction of the theatre in 1913.
The sub-series is organized into 9 sub-sub-series, corresponding to project dates of 1913, 1919, 1934, 1939, 1949 (two projects), 1952, 1957 and 1959. The earliest materials, such as those from 1913 and 1919, were not created by Kaplan & Sprachman, but were no doubt used as reference materials for their work at the theatre.
Please note that the blueprints of structural details such as columns and roof reinforcing beams may apply to the theatre complex as a whole, including the Winter Garden Theatre.
Notes
Title is derived from the formal titles of the drawings.
Name Access
Lamb, Thomas
Elgin Theatre (Toronto)
Winter Garden Theatre (Toronto)
Subjects
Theaters
Physical Condition
Some drawings are torn & damaged.
Some are discoloured or damaged by deteriorating pressure-sensitive tape.
Places
Yonge Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Accession Number
2003-6-1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Uptown Theatre (Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
ID
Fonds 27; Series 1-2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Harold S. Kaplan fonds
Architectural projects series
Loew's Uptown Theatre (Toronto) sub-series
Level
Sub-series
Fonds
27
Series
1-2
Material Format
architectural drawing
graphic material
Date
1919-1968
Physical Description
132 architectural drawings : pencil (some on tracing paper, some hand col. using pencil crayon), blueprints and other reproductions ; 76 x 106 cm or smaller
5 photographs : b&w ; 44 x 55 cm or smaller
Admin History/Bio
One of sixteen theatres in Canada designed by the well-known architect Thomas W. Lamb, the Uptown Theatre opened in 1920 as a movie and vaudeville theatre of almost 3000 seats, and was later the first theatre in Toronto equipped for sound movies. In 1960 the Uptown's main auditorium was destroyed by a major fire. Kaplan & Sprachman participated in the theatre's subsequent renovation.
In 1969 the Uptown was split into a five screen theatre through conversion of the theatre's balcony, backstage and basement areas. The Uptown was closed and demolished in late 2003 following the 28th Annual Toronto International Film Festival after the cinema operator, Famous Players, decided to close it and other theatres rather than comply with an Ontario Human Rights Commission order to make the theatres fully wheelchair-accessible.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of seating plans, blueprints of structural details, floor plans, sections and elevations for successive alterations (to the entrance, lobby, escalator, etc.) of the theatre, as well as several photographs of the Uptown's entrance and auditorium. The sub-series includes a number of hand-coloured drawings of the main auditorium dating from 1962, with paint and fabric samples attached, apparently associated with the re-building of the auditorium following the fire of 1960. The sub-series also includes a set of photo-reproductions of Thomas Lamb's original 1919 plans for the theatre, acquired by Kaplan & Sprachman in 1960.
The sub-series is arranged in 9 sub-sub-series corresponding to project dates of 1919, 1936, 1945, 1949, 1960, 1962, and 1968. The final sub-sub-series relates to work done by Kaplan after the dissolution of Kaplan & Sprachman.
In several cases, a sub-sub-series includes drawings and plans from earlier projects, used as reference materials for the current project.
Name Access
Lamb, Thos. W. (Thomas White), 1871-1942
Uptown Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)
Subjects
Theaters
Physical Condition
Some drawings torn or water-damaged. Some are discoloured or damaged by deteriorating pressure-sensitive tape.
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
2003-6-1
Source
Archival Descriptions