Doreen Boone
AUDIO INTERVIEW
SUMMARY
October 31, 2014
00:25 PERSONAL HISTORY: She lived at 6 Barrie Ave. She was very young when she moved there. She was born in 1929 and lived in the area until 1949. She went to Humewood School when she was 5 years old (1934). When she moved to Barrie Ave she went to Rawlinson School.
02:50 DEMOGRAPHICS: Parents both from England. Father was a Sergeant Major in WWI and her mother had been in domestic service. She was in charge of the cutlery etc.
03:35 WAR: Her father was injured and gassed in WWI: he was at Vimy Ridge.
03:55 HEALTH CARE: Her father was a remedial instructor at Christie Street War Veterans’ Hospital. He had also been treated there.
04:14 TRANSIT: Her father drove streetcars from the Barns down Bay St to the downtown area. He would come home at odd hours. He was a people person and loved his work. All the streetcars were parked in “alleyways”.
06:51 HEALTH CARE: The Christie St. Hospital Veteran’s hospital wasn’t far from St. Clair. There were lots of war vets there. She remembers visiting her dad at the hospital because he was in and out of there himself. Patients had to stay a long time.
08:24 RECREATION/ YOUTH GROUPS: She attended Vaughan Road Collegiate. She and her girlfriends walked great stretches of St. Clair, between Bathurst and Lansdowne.
09:30 THEATRES: Each Saturday she was given money to go to the local theatre. She lists some of the theatres and their locations: Radio City, The Christie. She describes her experiences: the variety of movies and the cost of admission.
11:33 LIFE ON ST. CLAIR / TEENS / RESTAURANTS / WAR: She would go to Ma Thrower’s Soda Shop with her friends between and after walks. Ma would look out for them. Ma would also communicate with the young men who went overseas during WWII. Ma decorated her shop window with what was sent to her from the boys overseas.
14:29 SHOPS: She remembers the grocery store where she went to get meat and has a recollection of the pickles.
15:06 RECREATION: She recalls going to Crang’s Swimming Pool and how she was given 25 cents on Saturday, and during the summer, to stay the day.
15:26 TRANSIT/ STREETCARS / WORK: Doreen describes her father’s job as a streetcar operator and her mother’s duties as a conductor in the days of WWII.
19:10 WORK: She talks about travelling to her job at Eaton’s at Queen and Yonge.
19:45 SCHOOL: Doreen regrets leaving Vaughan Road Collegiate in grade 11 in order to go to work.
20:30 LANEWAYS: When she lived at 250 Oakwood (just north of St. Clair) they would sometimes have mice that her father would let out the window onto the laneway. This bothered her because on the other side of the laneway was a place they stored furniture. She could see rats and mice. Laneways were part of people’s yards and access to garages. Laneways were used for deliveries. Never frightened of going up a laneway.
22:40 RAVINES: She remembers a dirt road in Cedarvale Ravine that was kept well oiled and where she walked with her father on Sundays.
24:05 PERSONAL HISTORY: She was born south of St. Clair and lived in an apartment over a store before she moved up to 298 Vaughan Rd. Her family moved from here to Barrie Ave.
25:13 SCHOOL: Doreen talks about her time at Rawlinson School. She recalls her Principal, Mr Cryderman, as being strict but fair. She also remembers a young gym teacher. She recalls the teachers as being very dedicated.
27:12 DOMESTIC LIFE/ LIFE OF CHILD: She shares memories of her house on Vaughan Road, close to Humewood School. Her stories include a Christmas time when she was overwhelmed by gifts as the only girl. She also remembers her brother babysitting. A man used to come around with a pony and people could have their picture taken on it. You can see the photo of Doreen on the pony on our website.
32:30 DELIVERY PEOPLE: There was a milkman, breadman and man who sold tea. They delivered door to door.
33:00 DOMESTIC LIFE: She recalls cooling milk and cream outside in an orange crate. It was more common to have an icebox. Doreen describes the icebox. The ice was delivered in a truck for 25 cents. If you wanted ice for a drink you chipped it off the block. She remembers running after the truck to get ice chips off the back of the truck. It wasn’t long after that they had electric fridges.
35:15 SHOPS: Doreen relates a story of a refrigerator salesman who trusted that they’d pay later for their new fridge - they had to wait for income tax refund to come in. The shop was situated on Bathurst just south of St. Clair.
37:53 RECREATION: She remembers walking to Casa Loma and taking pictures. She explains that on Sundays they were dressed up in a coat and stockings. It was considered something nice to do. Her family would have a nice dinner on Sunday.
39:00 HOUSE OF WORSHIP: She went to St. Clair United Church. Because her parents often worked on Sundays she would sometimes attend services with friends at other churches. But St. Clair United remained her church and she was eventually married there.
40:47 DEMOGRAPHICS: She recalls only one black student at Vaughan Collegiate and he played football - everybody called him Snowball.
41:17 PERSONAL HISTORY / RECREATION: Her husband also played football. The seniors were the stars. She didn’t know her husband then. He was the brother of her friend but they didn’t get together until later.
42:0O DATING / THEATRES: Her husband was an usher at the Oakwood Theatre. They used to go to the show there - it was close by.
42:37 DATING: They were both interested in hockey. so they would attend a lot of local games. They used to go to see the Marlies, even if they had to stand-up.
43:30 THEATRES: She remembers the Paramount Theatre on the southside of St. Clair and the Dufferin Theatre, along Dufferin just north of St. Clair.They were both movie theatres.
43:54 NEIGHBOURHOOD: She briefly mentions the Mossop family on Barrie, who had a girl and two boys.
44: 29 A CHILD’S LIFE: She remembers her house on Barrie. It was a bigger house with her bedroom on the 3rd floor where she would do her art on the backside of wallpaper and tape it to the wall. She was a bit lonely with her brothers so much older and her parents working.
45:17 SERVICE STATIONS: There was a Shell Station at the corner of Winona and St. Clair
45:59 LIFE OF A CHILD: She recalls when she and her friend and neighbour both had a childhood illness and they called out of the window to each other.
46:24 DOMESTIC LIFE: Most women stayed home once they had children, this was taken for granted. Her mother only worked at the TTC for awhile - she did volunteer work instead. Her mother had a friend who was in the psychiatric Hospital in Orillia whom she would visit by bus. Her mother knew an older lady whom Doreen called her aunt. Doreen’s maiden name is Bullen and the lady’s name was Buller (she lived in Highland Creek).
48:04 DOMESTIC LIFE: Doreen’s routine included getting up, doing chores, going to school, coming home and making dinner. She also did chores on Saturdays - floors needed to be polished.
48:49 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREETLIFE / RESTAURANTS: She remembers walking along St. Clair with her friends and going into Ma Thrower’s. This was a very friendly experience for her. She feels that parents didn’t keep track of children then as they do now, but that they would likely know where she was.
49:24 YOUTH ACTIVITIES / WAR: Doreen took the streetcar to piano lessons until her teacher joined the army and went overseas. She notes that a lot of things were interrupted because of the War.
49:45 WORK / WAR: She worked at Eaton’s for awhile. She worked in hosiery and gloves. She mentions rationing.
50:57 HEALTHCARE / WAR: Doreen describes her father’s role as a remedial instructor for shell-shocked veterans at the Christie Street Hospital. This included taking the patients on trips through the neighbourhood where it had been pre-arranged to stop traffic. She provides a detailed description of their trip to have a haircut.