Book ~ "Toronto Sketches 4: The Way We Were" (1995) Mike Filey

From Goodreads ~ Mike Filey's "The Way We Were" column in the Toronto Sun continues to be one of the paper's most popular features. In Toronto Sketches 4, the fourth volume in Dundurn Press's Toronto Sketches series, Filey brings together some of the best of his columns.

Each column looks at Toronto as it was, and contributes to our understanding of how Toronto became what it is. Illustrated with photographs of the city's people and places of the past, Toronto Sketches is a nostalgic journey for the long-time Torontonian, and a voyage of discovery for the newcomer.

Mike Filey had a column in the Toronto Sun for about 30 years and I read it for many years (I like learning about the history of Toronto) ... this book is a compilation of some of his columns.

We learn about Scadding Cabin, transit, Mother Parker's Tea Company, Hurricane Hazel, the Santa Claus Parade, Walt Disney's Canadian connection, the Toronto Postal Delivery Building (which would became the Air Canada Centre), Telemeter (pay-per-view back in 1960), the organ that was in Shea's Hippodrome and now in Casa Loma, and more.

Even though the book was published in 1994, it was still an interesting book because it dealt with many historical events in Toronto ... for example, the Air Canada Centre (ACC) was still in the discussion stages (it opened in 1999) when the book was published.

Toronto Postal Delivery Building  (in the foreground) in 1944

Now the Air Canada Centre (ACC),
where the Toronto Leafs, Raptors and Rock play

If you live in Toronto or are from Toronto, you should check it out.