Cabbagetown Remembered

Mike Filey, a Toronto historian, is author of Like No Other in the
World: A History of Toronto’s Skydome and co-author of Pantages
Theatre: Rebirth of a Landmark.

A relative newcomer in the Canadian publishing field, Boston Mills Press (or, to save space and computer ribbon, B.M.P.) has presented fans of things historical with more than 100 titles in its eleven years of publishing — from the sublime (Arrow)to the ridiculous (Train Wrecks for Fun and Profit). A worthy addition to the former collection is a new Toronto book by George Rust-D’Eye titled Cabbagetown Remembered. One of a spate of “sesqui” books published in tribute to the city’s 150th anniversary, this one actually started out as a simple addition to the Toronto Public Library series of local history handbooks. Owing to some differences of opinion between the author and publisher, Rust-D’Eye decided to approach B.M.P., and presto. We’re all the better for this slick, horizontal-format look at a well-known but little understood part of Toronto. Divided into many sub-sections, the book covers, in text and photographs, community features such as education, industry, religion, transportation, and others, with particular emphasis on how these features affected the “cabbagetowners.” One of the most interesting sections deals with the businesses in Cabbagetown. Did you know, for example, that Charles Wilson Ltd., Chairman Mills and Tidy’s Flowers all got their start in Cabbagetown? And the name Cabbagetown? For the proliferation of cabbages grown by the newly arrived immigrants, particularly the Irish, around their small houses in an area bounded by Gerrard, Parliament, and Queen Streets and the Don River. Once a term of derision, Cabbagetown has grown in both stature and size. This book tells all! Most enjoyable.