Spring Romance — St. Clair West Oral History Project

While we never know when it will arrive, it seems safe to say that Spring has finally sprung in Toronto! And to paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson, in Spring our thoughts will turn to love. Happily, as covid restrictions lift so do barriers to in-person dating. Romance is in the air!

While today’s technology offers many options for meeting and connecting there was a time when we relied on blind dates or church socials to find a mate. And as to dates, it seems a lot of time was spent in the dark eating popcorn and watching movies. For a peek at how it was done before the age of “swipe right”, check out some of these stories.

Dorothy Bader recalls a time when you would dress up in your finery for dances at Palais Royale and the Palace Pier, a site where now the only swaying is done by condo towers. Even the YMCA on College St would offer big band music, but only music – no food or drink allowed.

Artist’s sketch from Jan 10, 2016 article by Mike Finley, Toronto Sun.

For the younger crowd, though, there was often safety in numbers. During high school Paul Magder and his friends may have socialized more as a group at dances and parties, but he was asked on a date to a Sadie Hawkins dance! For Linda MacDonald much of her social life revolved around her church’s youth group, though she did have a special beau who played in the Drum Corp. She followed the band to many of their performances. Did drum corps have groupies?

As Doreen Boone explains many a romance began at Ma Thrower’s, a soda shop that was a favourite hangout of neighbourhood teens. For Doreen, however, dates with her beau involved either Marlies games or movies. As they were both big hockey fans, they saw many of the local teams play. Although her future husband had worked as an usher at the Oakwood Theatre, because of the abundance of theatres along St. Clair they always had a choice of movies to see!

Leonard Luksenberg was also a movie fan so naturally he took his first date to one. Since he was only in grade 8 at the time, we must assume it was not an R rated film! It seems, as Paul Hersenhoren recalls, excluding the movie theatres, there wasn’t much night life on St. Clair. Might have been due to the lack of bars on the street.

George and Colleen Dunkley’s courtship began with a song. George was the student conductor of the Trio choir, an all-female group. He had a bit of a reputation as a “player” having dated a few of the previous choir member. Once 15-year-old Colleen joined the choir, however, the only thing young George played was the piano!

Craig and Anne Werden share some delightful stories of their courtship including how a bass brought them together. I can’t tell you more than that. You really have to listen to them telling their story.

And remember, if you have stories about living or working along St. Clair West, we are happy to help you share them. Contact us at info@stclairwest-oralhistory.com.