Sandra Selby

Balmy Beach Club

I grew up here...my grandparents owned a lot of property in this area The Boardwalk ran from Balmy Beach Canoe Club right over to almost the Woodbine Race Track....along the sand and next to the water....When I was in my late teens we used to go to dances at Balmy Beach on the weekend ....well chaperoned but great music...and what an atmosphere....

I was trying to find the War Canoes that were teamed by about 20 men finally found a picture for you to see I used to love watching them on Saturday afternoons....

Into the 1930s, households used large blocks of ice to keep food cold in "iceboxes."

Borden's was a large dairy that delivered to your house. "Prince," a 5-year-old chestnut gelding, makes deliveries for Matthew's Groceries and Fruit in 1911.

I remember this library very well...when I was very young just a little kid my Mom used to take me to this library with her in Kew Beach Park so I could pick out books about Peter Cottontail and the kittens that lost their mittens...what great days they were....there was an adult section and a section for kids...but you were taught to treats the books with respect just like you were taught to teach other people with respect....thing of the past now days...

Where I lived at the Beach there was a beautiful ice skating rink we just had to walk across the boardwalk a few streets and end up in Kew Gardens...it would be very cold and you could see your breath in the air until you started to skate.......my Dad was a champion speed skater and my Mom was a figure skater....so needless to say I learned very early to figure skate...and maybe threw in a little speed skating....backwards when I was showing off....

When I lived in Mississippi...I used to go to the Skating Shows...really an enjoyable day...I had a friend a lot older than me.... who loved them...and she was always happy when we got tickets...she was like a little girl in Wonderland...

The last time that I visited the Silver Rail Tavern was in 1997, when I wanted to take my Mom out for a nice lunch....and I visited it for lunch. I chose “the Rail” as I knew that when she had been younger, it was one of her favourite places to dine.... She was thrilled with my choice, as she had not been inside it for many years. When she stepped in the door, she said, “It's exactly as I remember it. Oh! how I enjoyed eating lunch in here and having those lobster and melted cheese sandwiches you used to buy me...I enjoyed those wonderful sandwiches too... The Silver Rail did indeed change very little since it first opened, and this was one of it's charms. The Silver Rail was renown for its excellent cuisine, specializing in steaks, roast beef, and seafood. In the 1940s and 1950s, these were the usual items on restaurant menus in Toronto, as they were based on traditional British fare. The dishes were popular, even though they were rather basic if compared with the city's multi-ethnic and gourmet menus of today. The bar more than compensated for the lack of variety in food, as it stocked a large assortment of whiskies, brandies, champagnes and a wide range of cocktails. The year it opened, highballs were 45 cents. Its location was close to Massey Hall, around the corner on Shuter Street. This made it a favourite for a drink, either before, or after a concert or event. The first month The Rail was open, it earned $90,000 in profits.

The Regent Theatre at 551 Mount Pleasant Road is an old neighbourhood theatres that has survived into the modern era. The theatre opened in 1927 as an entertainment and movie venue. Its architect was Murray Brown, a Scotsman by birth who opened a practice in Toronto in 1914. He designed many theatres in the city, such at the Park Theatre (Bedford) on north Yonge Street. Murray Brown is not to be confused with Benjamin Brown, who was the architect of several Art Deco warehouse lofts on Spadina Avenue, as well as the Victory Theatre at Dundas and Spadina. The Victory was one of the city's notorious burlesque theatres.

In the 1920s, the city was expanding northward, and the empty fields and dirt roads of the Mount Pleasant/Eglinton area were disappearing due to a residential building boom. It soon became obvious that it was an ideal location for a neighbourhood theatre When the Regent Theatre opened in 1927, it was a part of the Famous Players Chain. Its original name was the Belsize, likely after the well-known residential area in London. The theatre possessed an impressive lobby and a single screen, set amid an opulent interior that contained decorative arches, ornate plaster trim, and small Venetian-style balconies with box seats. The auditorium included a stage area to accommodate live theatre as well as movies. The Belsize had 726 leatherette seats and an additional 205 in the balcony.

I used to go to a lot of Live Theatres on Yonge Street...

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