Toronto In The 1920s Essay

Toronto in the 1920’s included the advancement of woman status and rights, new leisure activities, the creation of the NHL and technology (cinema, radio and television). The leisure activities included travelling to cottages and beaches, sports and recreational activities included topagging, bob sleighing and the introduction of hockey (White 47).White collar workers and blue collar workers caused a class division and placed workers in separate industries and created a class system ( Piva 17).
Toronto’s leisure activities shifted each season and depended on each person’s economic status. Winter sports included bob sleighing, topagging, and skating. Popular hills for topagganing also functioned as a place for teenagers to gather and meet.

(Eglinton Park, Sherwood Park, Aura LeeHill, The Ravine South of Chastsworth and Rosedale Golf Course). Sunnyside Beach included canoeing and bathing, Terraced Tea Gadens and Dacning, rollarcoaster rides, a giant record player, watersides ‘called The Chutes’), and was home to many events including the The Argonant Rowing Club, The Parkdale Canoe Club). Local Hockey was popular , and it was the beginning of a new excitement of a national symbol for Canada. There were two teams; the Women’s Hockey team (charged tickets for 55cents, 80cents, and 1.00 ) and the local hockey team called the Toronto St. Patricks, which would later enter the NHL. Skating occurred at the Roselawn and Castlefield . Spring activités from children, included playing marbles ( Ritchie 135).

For Toronto included 34, 364 and white collar workers and blue collar workers. Blue Collar workers included industries such as transportation (making 1224.02) , construction, (1047.16) public adminstration 1130.12 , manufacutring 1047.16 , trade (1055.70) , service (949.60) agricultural labourers (761.18) ,unspecified industries (790. 34). Total blue collar workers made 1053.62 and total white collar workers made 1605.33 dollars ( Piva 31 ). White collar industries included ; clothing and allied products, iron and steel, food and allied products, printing and engraving, wood products, and leather and rubber goods, the number of collared workers in 1921 were 34, 364. Blue collar workers and white collar workers, separated the division. Blue collar workers consisted of . Another profession included artists; The Group of Seven was influential in the Toronto art scene. Tom Thomson lead the group of seven. In the 1920’s, the Art Gallery of Ontario showed local artists in the Canadian scene, one of the first of an exhibition. Other artists in the local scene included A.Y Jackson, Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer.
The types of newspapers included The Mail, The Empire and The Globe (cost was two cents) providing different angles of entertainment for Toronto (72 White).

New technology changed entertainment, including the radio, and television, phonographs, and cinema , and newspapers. Radio changed the way message and news were disseminated, invented by Ted Edwards Rogers (wireless radio), and local channels included ( CFRB, CFCB) The broadcasting of the Globe had five radio stations in Toronto - CFCA, CFRB,CFCL CKGW and CKNC) (White 81).

Phonographs played popular music at the time, mostly European. Popular singers heard at the time included Al Jolson, and popular songs included “ Happy Gary, Amos and Andy, The Shadow, Fred Allen and Jack Benny. Entertainment included musical theatre; popular plays included the Rio Rita and The Broadway melody, the cinema played movies such as Santas Paradaise . Musicians included The New Symphony (led by Lugis Von Kunits) Hart House String Quartet, Toronto’s militia bandsman, and the Mendelssahn

Choir.

Toronto school’s were a new concept to be accepted . In the 1920’s 100 primary private girls and boys schools (divided into primary and secondary schools). New Primary Girl schools included; Bishop Strahan, Branksome Hall, Glen Mawr, Havergal dn Moulton. Srict policy customs included being punished with a belt.

Women were not well paid in the 1920’s , and had created movements to advance themselves and took part in creating organizations to improve society(American Women’s Club of Toronto).

Prominent woman figures included Nellie MClung,
Women’s jobs included office girls, sales people,nurses, school teachers and telephone operators and for a brief period took over men’s jobs in the war. Women in the 1920’s, predominately stayed at home as housewives. For the first time were allowed to vote in 1921. White collar woman jobs industries included categories of clothing / allied products (10.042) workers, iron and steel - 9,343 products, food and allied products 4,610 .printing and engraving (4,402) wood products 3,157 , leather / rubber goods (2,8186 workers),

In the 1920’s several restrictions impacted the way people lived; the Ontario Temperance Act prohibited people from buying alcohol, in 1921. The Ontario Temperance Act Chinese workers were not allowed to hire white woman, certain activities were prohibited on a Sunday including driving new cars, and the building of house (White

58).

The 1920’s home in Toronto consisted of the introduction of the The Toronto Electric System (covered 40,000 meters in the city, 141,000 meters by 1924) electricity had an impact on the way people lived. The introduction of electrical appliances (including the electric dishwashers) and the founding of Toronto Electric System impacted the way people lived, allowing for more free time. The house in the 1920’s included a tiled bathroom. Houses were heated by a furnace or an oil fuel tank. Families in the 1920’s took part in certain activates in the family home to upkeep their house, among the apartment expansion in Toronto. These actives included keeping the home warm with coal. The average Toronto home was up up kept for 100.00. and it heated by fuel, although newspapers were sourced as a material for insulation. (Ritche 125).
The war in the 1920’s had an impact on the way people lived. Food prices increased profit, and rationing of food and oil was implemented , and it was harder to find work.
In the 1920’s Toronto’s consisted of several ethnicies that continued to grow including The Italian Community French, British, and the Ukarians and Polish, the Iroquois and the Chinese . The Italian community predominately worked in construction, and lived in The Ward, Dundas and Collage and west area of Dufferin Street. (WHITE 83 ). Each ethnicity had dominate jobs in Toronto The Chinese ( 21,000) operated mainly laundry mats, and operated the Shin WAh Daily News . The Italians worked mainly in construction jobs and labour.

Industrial, Growth and Trade - The Fur Trade was a part of Toronto’s growth, as well as the automobile industry , MC Laughlin’s Branch Plant, in the 1920’s, it included the automobile industry, corporate buildings (Canadian Bank of Commerce, Toronto Banks , The Imperial and the Bank of Toronto, The Commerece was Toronto) and the apartment boom.
Overall Toronto in the 1920’s had advanced, in many areas during the 1920’s including technology, media, and industry, women’s rights .