Y is for Yorkville
Now known as the ritzy neighbourhood north of Bloor, between Avenue Road and Yonge Street, Yorkville was once a distinct village on the northern edge of Toronto.
By the 1960s, young bohemians and artists had flocked to the neighbourhood. Old Victorian-era homes were cheap to rent and were transformed into art galleries, coffee houses and hip boutiques.
The Yorkville perch, for these young men, was on top of the newspaper ‘honour’ boxes offering the three Toronto daily newspapers of the 1960s: the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star and Toronto Telegram.
The cost of a newspaper at the time was 10 cents a copy, 60 cents a week.
A late February thaw allowed Yorkville’s cafes to “cautiously” serve customers.
Coffee houses like the Riverboat, the Penny Farthing, the Purple Onion, and the Mynah Bird abounded in Yorkville throughout the 1960s, lining both Cumberland and Yorkville Avenues.
Although this photograph was taken during Yorkville’s heyday, in June 1968, it didn’t appear in
the Toronto Star until 1982, when it was paired with another photo illustrating a series on the difficulties teenagers were facing.
Explore more!
Discover more images from the Toront Star Photograph Archive by exploring our past virtual exhibit: Exposed: Highlights from the Toronto Star Photograph Archive and by searching our Digital Archive.