Date wanted

[centurion]

I'm trying to place something in context and to do this I neeed to date a photo. I know where, the event and approximately when but could do with more precision

Do any Canadian pals (or anyone else for that matter) know when the 1917 Victory Loan drive took place in Toronto? There are some indications that it was sometime in the Nov?Dec period but I need more precision.

[Pete1052]

Do any Canadian pals (or anyone else for that matter) know when the 1917 Victory Loan drive took place in Toronto?

Probably during 1917.

[centurion]

Probably during 1917.

Yes I think I could manage to work out that the 1917 victory loan drive took place in 1917!

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Centurion

The New York Times article on this page will be of interest to you:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html...9679D946696D6CF

Dave

[John Gilinsky]

In Toronto November 11, 1917 to December 1, 1917 inclusively. Teddy Roosevelt the former rough rider President spoke in Toronto on Monday, November 26, 1917 in the old Toronto Armouries (torn down in the early 1960s).

Reference: Toronto Star, Tuesday, November 27, 1917, page 14 (long article with extenso quotes from his speech)

John

Gilinsky

[centurion]

Dave and John

Thanks - I had found Teddy's speech. The problem I have is was the 26th Nov the begining, end or middle of Toronto's victory bond camapign? I'm trying to determine when a particular British Tank was in Toronto. I have other dates (and photos) for tank visits to two other Canadian cities followed by Boston. The photographic evidence suggests that there were two British tanks bith going under the nme of Britannia one with the name painted across its front plate the other without. I have a number of details of the Toronto visit including a photo showing that this was the one with the name painted on and what it did there (including a car crushing demo) but no dates other than sometime in Nov 1917 for the Victory bond campaign. The other two towns were Montreal (No name on front plate) and Hamilton (name on front plate). The same sort of pattern was repeated on a US tour although the unnamed Britannia seems to have tended to do more appearances in US army camps and the named one more city visits. I've picked up quite a bit of detail with alot of photos, but plotting an itinary depends on having a few firm date so I can say 'it couldn't have been that one because it was in .... on that date.

[Canadawwi]

This is a Toronto Victory Bonds drive photo in my collection. It was not dated, and I haven't been able to track down the location.

[centurion]

Nice one I like the juxaposition of 'Keep the Hun on the Run' with 'Jaeger pure wool'.

Is that a Colt mg in the foreground?

[Robert Dunlop]

It is. Doing a better job there than at the front

Allegedly.

Robert

[John Gilinsky]

Check the Toronto Star for Wednesday, October 24, 1917, page 19 for a full page advertisement which features a very prominent tank smashing through to victory while hundreds if not thousands of German infantry flee in terror!

The dates by the way in my earlier post are fairly accurate with the exception of the start date. I believe the campaign for the 4th. Canadian Victory Loan lasted at most 3 weeks starting in the 2nd week of November 1917 and concluded I believe at midnight on December 1, 1917.

Also for the interesting photo posted: It is possible that this photo was taken c. 1917 or 1918 possibly at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds (then the main military training and barracks in Toronto for the CEF) due to the large lamp post in the right foreground and possibly the other architecture of the buildings shown.

I can check into this further later if the point is really important.

John

Toronto

[Canadawwi]

It could have been at the Canadian National Exhibition (C.N.E.). That usually runs early September. The Toronto Star always had a detailed report on activities at the C.N.E. I don't have my online subscription now, but they might mention a Victory Bonds drive as one of the ongoing events.

Downtown is another possibility, if we are able to exclude the C.N.E. If the Victory Bonds campaign was targeted at the general public, it would have made sense to place the campaign booth somewhere downtown in terms of visibility.

The architecture also matches the roof line type of industrial building that you can still find around Toronto. I have seen that type of roof line near Queen and Bathurst, Queen and Sherbourne. etc. That type of street lamp was also used downtown. The last place you can still see 1915 era street lamps still in use are on Palmerston avenue. They are a bit shorter as they were residential, but the kind in the picture would have been on a business street.

This is a close up of the centre. Sorry for the width. Note that most of the men are wearing a white round pin-back button. In other newspaper reports I've read on various fund-raising (or what they called "tag days" - such as for Belgian orphans, and other war related items), the public were anxious to get some kind of pin once they made a donation, both to impress others with their patriotism, and to avoid getting solicited for a donation twice.