Tuesday Treasures

 Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

Travel Tuesday

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My Corner of the World

Postcards

Toronto ON

Last week I took you to the northwest corner of Dundas and Yonge. Today we will look at the northeast corner. BTW Yonge St. divides the city into east and west.

City of Toronto Archives

The Brown Derby Tavern was located at 311-313 Yonge St (at Dundas St E on the northeast corner) in downtown Toronto.

Opening in 1949, the swank Brown Derby was a popular tavern that featured live jazz and swing entertainment and a small restaurant. A revolving stage in the centre of the main floor bar ensured everyone in the audience had a great seat. In 1950, the tavern opened its dining lounge in the basement called Tin Pan Alley.


Amongst the other popular venues on the Yonge Street Strip, the Brown Derby adapted to keep up with the times. Dubbed the “world’s fair of entertainment” the tavern had rooms that specialized in different genres including rock ’n roll, country, jazz and more.


From 1959 to 1967, the lounge in the basement was the Gay Nineties Room (that’s the 1890s). Attracting the quieter crowd, it was an old-time, sing-a-long room with a “straw hat and striped blazer atmosphere.” A separate entrance was added so its patrons didn’t need to mix with the raucous main floor crowd. One of its mainstay acts was Georgina Rogers and Jimmy White who performed ragtime and honky-tonk songs.

In the summer of 1969, The Derby underwent $100,000 in alterations. The exterior had a whole new look, adding a bit of fun to the already lively intersection. Above the barn-board siding were huge signs featuring Ben Turpin, Laurel & Hardy, Toulouse-Lautrec, Roscoe Arbuckle (possibly) and Charlie Chaplin all wearing derbies. The signs made the Brown Derby Tavern a definite landmark.

City of Toronto Archives

In 1974, The Derby closed. After 25 years in business, rising costs and the changing character of hardened Yonge St forced the boisterous watering hole to turn off the taps. The property sold for $1.5 million and became home to Mr Submarine along with other restaurants and retail shops. In the late 1990s, the building was demolished.

And today it looks like this!

2014

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2021