Celebrating Mother's Day
Happy Mother’s Day!
We would like to take this opportunity to celebrate of all of the mothers, grandmothers, and female role models in our lives, and focus on some of the stories of amazing women in our oral history interviews.
What could be better suited for Mother’s Day than flowers? 💐
In our interview with Carolyn Bennett, she reflects on early memories of visiting her grandmother’s flower shop at Yonge and St Clair. This remarkable woman, Caroline Denby, owned two flower shops in Toronto beginning in the 1930s, with her daughter (Carolyn’s mother) then becoming the owner of Eunice Denby Flowers.
Caroline and Eunice Denby were also members of the Soroptimists, an international movement of business and professional women. Carolyn tells us how her grandmother taught her the importance of kindness, and of making people feel loved when they visited the flower shop.
Portrait of Eunice Denby, by Carolyn Bennett on Twitter @Carolyn_Bennett
Daisy and her daughters at the Hippo School’s 50th anniversary in 2001, with a commemorative quilt.
Valerie Endicott recalls the history of the Vaughan Co-Op/ Hippo School during her oral history interview.
Founded in the 1940s by Daisy Dotsch, the school was controversial in a time when society still felt that the mothers should be looking after their own children in their own homes. Valerie talks of the importance of Daisy Dotsch as an early childhood educator, and Daisy’s archives are now cared for by the University of Toronto, in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library!
In Neil Naiman’s interview, he fondly recalls the stores along St. Clair West where his mother used to shop; Kresge’s, Power Store, and the Health Bread bakery on the corner of Raglan and St. Clair West. Our featured story and video “St Clair Clips” highlights many recollections of beloved stores and businesses on St. Clair.
Neil also remembers taking a streetcar with his mother to see movies at Shea’s Cinema. He retraces the route it took along St. Clair, down Avenue Road and then down Bay Street. The Toronto history blog “Taylor on History” has an excellent post about the history of the iconic Shea’s Hippodrome, as well as beautiful photos of the theatre in its prime. It was demolished in 1956 to make way for the new City Hall.
Shea's at 440-448 Bay Street in 1953
The Wong family in Montego Bay, Jamaica
Donovan Wong’s mother features in his memories of immigrating to Toronto from Jamaica in the 1970’s.
He talks about the fruit market at the corner of Rushton and St. Clair West, which was run by his mother’s friend Maria, the matriarch of her family and business.
Donovan also has strong memories of adapting to the cold of Canada - his mother didn’t take to it much at first! One standout story revolves around a winter when his mother’s car got stuck in the snow. A kind Italian gentleman on Eglinton came out and invited them into his home. Donovan, his mother, and brother were grateful for the warm tea and coffee, and it’s one of his fondest memories of the time.
We hope you enjoyed reading about the fabulous mothers in these interviews!
Take some time to explore more childhood memories in our featured story “Children at Play”, with audio excerpts and archive video on the theme of growing up in the St. Clair West neighbourhood.