Mar 22 2023 - Day-Timers Gone By

 

What a great name for a calendar company - Day-Timers.  Do you know when they went out of business?  Likely not.  They didn't quite go out of business.  They merged with MeadWestvaco, laid off staff and moved locations to consolidate, and laid off a lot of people.  The original company, started in the 1940s was a family-run printing press hobby business changed forever. Everyone who worked in corporations had a day-timer in the 1970s to 1980s. That's just one story of a product that I used to be intimate with every day and now is gone.  There are many such companies that have disappeared over the last 10 years and we notice or don't notice them.  Do you know that Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus is gone - that was in 2017.  Just the Museum is there to remind us of their greatness. The A&P Supermarket - something familiar across Ontario - closed in 2015 and sold its locations. That was the Jane Parker in-house brand.  We enjoyed the spice cake my mother used to buy and pack in our lunches. Toys R Us - that familiar huge retail brand covering the front of the stores is gone - it had its ups and downs and finally was gone in 2017 - with $5 billion worth of debt and closing 800 locations.   We might have used a Compaq computer - gone in 2013 retired by HP after being acquired in 2002.   And all those neighbourhood Blockbuster video stores - that was 2010. There seemed to be one in every neighbourhood in west-end Toronto.  I guess I got to wondering about all of the change that seems to happen so often that I don't notice as last week Nordstrom announced it was selling its fixtures and furniture along with all its stock.  In the Eaton Centre it seems to me that it had the entrance to the subway food section.  I wonder what will happen there.  Here are the pictures - and the keywords tell me it is Saks 5th Avenue and not Nordstrom.  Something to find out.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

A Wall of China

Let's think about porcelain.  Somewhere around 960 - 1127 AD in China, the first fine porcelain was produced.  Marco Polo sailed in 1295 returning with ceramic dishes. We called dishes 'china' based on the country of origin.

One of Toronto's great experiences is a visit to William Ashley in the heart of Toronto, with its vast collections of dinnerware and everything related to elegant living and dining.   William Ashley was launched in Toronto in 1947 by Tillie Abrams.  I remember her in the store in the 1970's, demonstrating the durability of fine porcelain by smashing an expensive plate against a table edge and it did not break.

She transformed the store a number of times until it became a retail  palace.  It was a wonderful experience to walk through the store on the way to the east/west subway line.  Below is The Great Wall of China display and the water bar.  The Great Wall of China is one of their landmark displays.  

The most notable experience in this store is its New York style and sensibilities.  Elegant women who appeared to be on short leave from their Rosedale mansions were the store staff.  They always seemed to be dressed beautifully.  They were elegant, gracious and then very knowledgeable.  

As I scroll through the blog, I'd forgotten this:  "better than a gift card - give the gift of Ashley sterling silver coins in $50s, $100s or gold plated $500s."  I remember giving these coins as a gift at Christmas. 

The store has moved locations - from the Manulife Centre due to the significant renovations, and now is just down the street in the Colonnade - an equally significant landmark on Bloor Street West.   It deserves a visit to see what new transformations there are.

And what else might I find on Bloor Street - remember this picture from 2016?  Caught on my iPhone just across the street from where Ashley's is located.