Toronto in 1958

[@deand7280]

Wonderful time capsule ! Thank you for sharing this!

[@mc693]

Imagine going back to 1958 and being able to afford a house

[@boyfrmnewyork]

My first trip up to Toronto was 1961, so this what I pretty much remember.. So cool seeing this again in living colour, thank you!

[@bdhaliwal24]

Amazing seeing it in colour. The QEW was just a busy country road back then.

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Unmistakable Pierre Berton voice The voice of the 60s-80s

[@frankieb8591]

My grandfather arrived in Toronto from Italy in 1954. Worked as a brick layer building homes as soon as he arrived

[@hithere8753]

I was born here. Its unrecognizable now.

[@sigma_curry]

What’s gone will never come back.

[@calvinbaII]

Remember """who""" took this from you.

[@Bella-g4u]

This makes me sad 😢 I miss Toronto and Canada the way they used to be.

[@mikeohagan2206]

Back when Canada was a paradise.

[@mimicotom]

My beloved Toronto that I was born in…in 1958, and lived my entire life, has now become a city choking on its own traffic and public transit that was once great, is now lagging and can’t keep up with the population increases.

[@PeterGonet]

Loved this. I was born in 58' in Etobicoke.

[@lawrencejeffrey9245]

I lived in Toronto in 1958. I was 5 years old. I can still remember asking my dad which was taller, the Royal York or the Bank of Commerce building. I can remember going down to the waterfront and seeing the lake boats tied up at the grain elevators. In this video, the CNE has just the north covered grandstand. There was a southern uncovered grandstand built in the early 60s to increase the stadium capacity for football. I loved growing up in that city!

[@RC-fh2lk]

Why do I feel so sad after watching these videos from many yrs ago. It was such a kinder world then!

[@brookelaidlaw6395]

Thanks!

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Thanks!

[@スミル日本]

alot of old people watching this and being nostalgic for the 50s. me personally i simply find it fascinating to watch color footage from the past...

[@bobbykiriakidis9753]

Absolutely immaculate quality of this video.

[@hmskinggeorgev7089]

Such a beautiful place back then, back when Canada was Canadian.

[@paulbarham1038]

A few tears before I was born. I do remember living with my mum at her parents' home for a year just down the road from Wellesley subway station back in '66. I was just comingv5 yrs old. Didn't even realize I was living right in the heart of Toronto. A bit overwhelming at times. In truth, I would have preferred to stay in Vancouver. Missed my dad. But when he eventually came to Toront, we lived at Yonge & Sherbourne, then Donlands Ave and Cosburn Ave...all in or near the downtown core. I had it pretty good...even got to go to Maple Leaf Gardens in February of '68 to watch the Leafs play the Rangers!! Toronto👍

[@bryankerr9174]

Beautiful little film. The colours are amazing.

[@idcraw]

Pierre Burton missed his voice, always a positive one for Canada.

[@winstonian88]

I can't believe what we've let happen to our culture and our country. This seems like heaven to me.

[@williamcarter4705]

Beautiful. I want to go back to that world. What a change. Love the Ex. Love the cars. Good old-time narration by Pierre Burton. Looks like some of it was shot in 1955. The City as it was when my parents met working at Eaton's downtown.

[@KHearne-r9t]

My dad arrived in Toronto from England that year. I grew up in the GTA and go back every now and then for a visit. It is almost unrecognizable now and not in a good way unfortunately. 😢

[@TheJhn924]

Great shots of Exhibition Stadium before the south grandstand was built in 1959 to accommodate The Argonauts move from Varsity...

[@kentm7731]

Seems like there was more to the film. Would love to see the whole thing if it’s available.

[@roypavao7498]

So pure and clean back in the day!! Now it's a huge mess of confusion!!

[@かめさん-m3l]

This looks way better than now

[@rosaannarilli4905]

1953 is when I moved from Italy to Toronto, I was 5 years old.

[@dm95422]

This is the Canada I remember & enjoyed. I wish there was a time machine so I can travel back to that wonderful time.

[@tdiv1952]

The good old days were SO good!!!

[@37BopCity]

Best part of Toronto in 1958 --- the arrival of Ronnie Hawkins and his Quartet from Arkansas, including a young Levon Helm on drums. This was the genesis of the band that became Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, later the Band. Canada was wide open for rock and roll and rockabilly back then, and the Hawk became the Founding Father of Canadian Rock and Roll. I don't think there has been anyone as hugely popular and influential in Canadian rock and roll history as the Hawk. He really did set a standard for professional excellence in performing live and in recording. There was also a really great jazz scene in Toronto, with many great clubs featuring all the biggest names from the US (and Canada like Oscar Peterson). Unfortunately they are virtually 98% gone now. It was a true Renaissance that we'll never see again.

[@cwjonesII]

Would be great to have the rest of this documentary.

[@CraigStCyrPlus]

Such crisp footage.

[@alexsmith-ob3lu]

Wow, amazing how things were totally different back then! Thanks for sharing!

[@perrysar5954]

I visited Toronto in 1980,last year I returned and I didn't recognize Younge street anymore,all the mom and pop shops were gone,its freakin MASSIVE now!!

[@xanthousproxy5937]

Wow looked better and more prosperous in 1958 than it does today.

[@Faizain2pk]

This video is from the documentary Trans-Canada Summer.

[@TributetoCanada]

Enjoyed seeing this...thank you!!

[@aiqueenla2786]

Wow it was so beautiful!

[@borysandreyev9717]

Класс! Я родился в 1957г за 10000 км от Торонто и не думал что буду жить в нём последние 20 лет. А выглядел город очень ухоженным.

[@moosejawrobinson]

Back when the QEW had trees. Wonderful times.

[@alexeigrayling]

much better than today!

[@bejoyful]

Excellent film quality!

[@sandwich-breath]

So clean and orderly. None of the modern illness and dysfunction that we see in Toronto and every major city in the west. This documents the high water mark of our society.

[@gregory6401]

I was born in 1958 and I wish Toronto and the QEW still looked like that. People always dressed well when they went out. The only thing that has stayed the same are the crashing cars. Today, that's just the parking lot at Walmart.

[@gordonmohr2268]

it was great life back then.

[@lvfreeAdventures]

I wish I had a time machine

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Those pizzicato violins 🎻 make me want to rush around and purchase consumer goods

[@Butman28]

Ah, the good old days

[@bastymanguy]

Well there definitely was less stress for people back then compared to nowadays by way of digital technology. Just because things become more convenient, it doesn’t mean that the stresses of daily modern life have diminished.

[@seandilallo8718]

Canada was such a beautiful country, before it was destroyed.

[@scottdavis1549]

When a house cost 3 years pay.. about nine grand. To pay off over 25 years. The good ol’ days indeed.

[@parkerbohnn]

Mortgages were 5 percent back then an extremely low rate as the era of double digit interest rates followed.

[@HeyShash]

Great watch, thank you.

[@keyzenthiru]

i always loved the old cars

[@luciaczitrom8632]

And looked so clean

[@skeena59]

Pierre Berton narrating what seems like a giant ad for the CNE.

[@laurenl5843]

Great video!

[@lifeisgood6959]

No Canadian flags were harmed in this production! Ahhh the good old days!

[@am74343]

You know a film is gonna be good when you hear horns and quickly-plucked violins!

[@tracyrichards6545]

My grandma was a Toronto baby in 1904 💔❤️

[@parkerbohnn]

1898, 1901, 1903, 1905 the years my grandfathers and grandmothers were born in Toronto. My grandfather on my father's side was very wealthy during the Great Depression.

[@janetakesproductions5240]

Pierre Burton - great voice

[@davidfanara3229]

A Canadian legend , he wrote books that are entertaining and enlightening. I will read all of his books someday.

[@Laughandsong]

Back when the CNE was relevant. It has not been for the last 20 years.

[@sheepdawg99]

Was born in 58, nice to see things haven't changed much 😅

[@RacerX888]

Yeah, me too in December. I miss those days. But the 70's in Toronto was the greatest time ever.

[@paulbarham1038]

Just to keep things in balance, it wasn't all good back then. I remember the horrible stench passing the three large smoke stacks when dad drove past them going east on the Gardiner Expressway. Absolutely horrid smell! I dreaded it...and how dirty the Don River was...but more than ample good things to compensate for the bad

[@d.jphillips9040]

Wow! This is amazing.

[@MadProperBeats]

Just look at those ppl .. good old days

[@SeanRosairo]

We CAN work towards this again. Instead of partisan politics, we should be investing in reasonable places for people to actually live affordably. Instead now we are so focused on Luxury houses and condos, and that is a big source of Toronto's stress. Imagine if we had those affordable townhouses and low apartments again. In the 50's and 60's, Toronto invested heavily making our Subway lines, those two lines are still the only ones that carry a much more bustling and busy city. We need to properly invest in transit again. Most people back then had fun manual rear wheel drive cars back then, now people drive dreary appliances with auto-this and self-driving that, imagine if we got the majority of commuters into transit again. Moist people already don't want to drive, so imagine if they don't have to!

[@MH_Bikes]

If you're feeling nostalgic, go to Commerce Court North. (The small Empire State Building lookalike) It still has wooden elevators that are terrifying. Tallest building in the British Empire for quite some time.

[@MH_Bikes]

The old QEW, where cars just pulled up to, and exited at roads.

[@Johnnymahon218]

Toronto was once a nice place.

[@halloweenjack569]

What a lovely place to live and raise a family

[@danielleclare2938]

Look how fit and well dressed everyone is. What happened???

[@418laylah]

This full documentary is free to watch on the national film board of Canada website.

[@novadude1968]

So cool thanks made my day.

[@withershin]

this shot at 0:45 is nuts. 1958. A railroad super hotel and I think a Scotiabank building. Toronto!

[@lvalledor3440]

The definition of this video makes 1958 look like at least 1988

[@9jfd1]

Born in Scarborough 1981, this is amazing how basic the skyline was.....QEW looks like a cottage road lol

[@Bluzian74]

Fantastic stuff! Greetings from Guelph. Thank you!

[@bobbyjames4300]

Classy back then. Everyone was on the same page. So different now in a negative way.

[@TheSegacampGamerandWerecamp]

wow this must be going back to when before my Parents were Born! They Lived for the Longest Time in Ontario!

[@daveeastern7023]

Good old days. Sad to see where we are now.

[@smokescreenFromThe6ix]

Wonder how they knocked down those skyscrapers at 0:40. They don't exist anymore. 🤔

[@dexter_fr_55]

nostalgia is one hella a drug

[@dougpeng3093]

Wow, unrecognizable!

[@BeeRich33]

When Toronto was good.

[@davidreichert9392]

I like how it ends with the rise of the car... we know how that turned out in the end.

[@melvric]

Back when they knew how to build roads.

[@waynesbutler7834]

1958, one year before i was born. My mother and father met when he was going to Ryerson business college and boarded at a home on Winchester street across from what use to be the Riverdale Zoo. I do remember visiting my grandmother with the intersection of Parliament and Winchester being a dangerous seedy place. Is the Winchester hotel still standing ? alot of stabbings there apparently back in the day.

[@jamessykes2760]

We didn't have locks on our doors until 94.

[@marathon1972]

So many things have changed but if we could snap our fingers and have it the exact same as then, would we really?

[@RyantheCanuckpirate]

1 million people.. jeez, barely bigger than Winnipeg

[@talon1706]

The summer before my presence was known.

[@toastnjam7384]

01:20 Those cars would be worth a lot of money today. Stunts shows and destruction derby's destroyed a lot of now valuable classic cars.

[@HiVizCamo]

Embedded piano ad in the opening frame 👍

[@nsxt290]

That was qew back in the day?! Wow, id love to see 50 60s

[@tweedman0]

Ahhhh....the good old days.

[@brianmorrison8652]

Born in York(Toronto) in 1964, my home, was great growing up in downtown, miss it very much, today it is a much different city, it’s ruined now, why I live 5 hours north

[@iamreallyright]

Definitely much better now, in terms of fun and innovation in most measures, if not all.

[@thomasf-y5w]

Cool the year of my birth and I don't remember anything living there or born there as we moved to Muskoka to live until today.