The Warwick Hotel Toronto was a hotel located at the corner of Dundas Street East and Jarvis Street, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [1] It was notable as being the site of significant dance band performances until approximately 1960, after which it became notable as a location for burlesque entertainment.
The hotel was initially a higher end hotel in downtown Toronto, featuring many of the dance bands of the 1940s and 1950s. The building was constructed in 1910 and originally known as the Royal Cecil Apartments. [2] It was later known as the Royal Cecil Hotel and was owned by millionaire contractor James Franceschini. During World War II, Franceschini was interned, based on his alleged association with Mussolini. [3] [4] As of the 1950s, the hotel was owned and renamed by Harry Sniderman who, with his associates, at one time owned three of the four corners at Dundas and Jarvis. Sniderman was a former semi-professional athlete, once regarded as the best fastball pitcher in Canada. [3] [5]
Author Hugh Garner made his home at the Warwick Hotel for a period, and referenced the hotel in his pseudonym, Jarvis Warwick, when writing pulp fiction. [6]
As of 1960, the hotel had changed its focus to burlesque entertainment, and was notable as having one of Toronto's earlier crossdressing personalities, Allan Maloney, hosting the evening in his alter ego as Brandee. [7] [3]
Church and Wellesley is an LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street to the east, with the core commercial strip located along Church Street from Wellesley south to Alexander. Though some LGBT-oriented establishments can be found outside this area, the general boundaries of this village have been defined by the Gay Toronto Tourism Guild.
Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s.
Dundas is an urban district and former town in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is nicknamed the Valley Town because of its topographical location at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment on the western edge of Lake Ontario. The population has been stable for decades at about 20,000, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley Conservation Area.
Mutual Street Arena, initially called Arena Gardens or just the Arena, was an ice hockey arena and sports and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1912 until 1931, with the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens, it was the premier site of ice hockey in Toronto, being home to teams from the National Hockey Association (NHA), the National Hockey League (NHL), the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the International Hockey League (IHL). It was the first home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who played at the arena under various names for their first 13½ seasons. The Arena Gardens was the third rink in Canada to feature a mechanically frozen or 'artificial' ice surface, and for eleven years was the only such facility in eastern Canada. In 1923, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game, the first radio broadcast of an NHL game, and the first broadcast of an ice hockey game by long-time broadcaster Foster Hewitt.
Hugh Garner was a British-born Canadian novelist.
Sam the Record Man was a Canadian record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, its ads proclaimed that it had "140 locations, coast to coast".
Etobicoke—Lakeshore is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968.
Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Jarvis Street where it is located. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of Education (TBE).
The Garden District is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The name was selected by the Toronto East Downtown Residents Association (TEDRA) in recognition of Allan Gardens, an indoor botanical garden located nearby at the intersection of Carlton and Jarvis Streets. The Garden District was officially designated by the Mayor and Toronto City Council in 2001, while TEDRA has since been renamed the Garden District Residents Association. Part of the neighbourhood is within official City of Toronto neighbourhood of Moss Park.
The Toronto RCMP Building at 225 Jarvis Street was the headquarters for the RCMP "O" Division detachment in Toronto from 1972 to 1993.
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the northwest, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west. It is also the home of the municipal government of Toronto and the Government of Ontario.
The King Street Gaol was Toronto's first jail, built in 1798 on the outskirts of York, Upper Canada. A log structure with 10 cells and a hanging yard, it was located on the south-east corner of King Street and Yonge Street, where the King Edward Hotel stands today. The jail quickly fell into disrepair, leading it to be abandoned. The east cells of the jail were completely rotten, the ceilings in the different rooms were insufficient, and the sheriff didn't feel safe when having to confine prisoners in cells or debtor's rooms. It was replaced by a brick jail in 1824.
Allandale is a historic house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was built by prominent brewer Enoch Turner in 1856 on Sherbourne Street just north of Dundas St. When it was built this was the fringe of the town, and the house is rural in appearance with a style common to rural Ontario in this period. The house was named after William Allan, who had owned the large Moss Park estate upon which the house was built.
Downtown Yonge is a retail and entertainment district centred on Yonge Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Downtown Yonge district is bounded by Richmond Street to the south; Grosvenor and Alexander Streets to the north; Bay Street to the west; and portions of Church Street, Victoria Street, and Bond Street to the east. All property owners and commercial tenants within these boundaries are members of the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area association, founded in 2001.
Jarvis Street is a north-south thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, passing through some of the oldest developed areas in the city. Its alignment extends from Queens Quay East in the south to Bloor Street in the north. The segment south of Front Street is known as "Lower Jarvis Street" while the segment from Bloor Street to Mount Pleasant Road is known as "Ted Rogers Way".
The Standard Theatre is an inactive theatre in Toronto that originated as the city's main venue for Yiddish theatre, and later became the Victory Burlesque, which would be the last traditional burlesque theatre in Toronto when it closed in 1975. It is located at 285 Spadina Ave. the corner of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street.
Ossington Avenue is a main or arterial street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of downtown. While the northern 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of Ossington Avenue is residential, its southern terminus is popularly known as the Ossington Strip, an area popular for its dining, nightlife and shopping establishments.
George Street is a north–south street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from south of Front Street, north to Gerrard Street. Its southern blocks are within the grid of the townsite of the original town of York, Upper Canada. George Street was once one of the most exclusive and expensive addresses in the city. Today, the north end of the street, next to Seaton House men's shelter, is an example of urban blight. The City of Toronto government is redeveloping the street with a new Seaton House institution focused more on long-term care. Several abandoned buildings have been bought by the city, and others have been expropriated to facilitate the redevelopment – the George Street Revitalization Project.
The Broadway Theatre was a burlesque live theatre and cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The theatre was opened under the name of Globe Theatre, in 1918. It was renamed the Roxy Theatre in the early 1930s and assumed its final name, the Broadway Theatre, in 1937. It was located on the southwest corner of Bay and Queen streets at 75 Queen Street West.
Chinatown, Toronto is a Chinese ethnic enclave located in the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred at the intersections of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West.