"Torontonians take to the streets following the news of 'Victory in Europe', May 8, 1945.
A Victory Bond Drive promotion decorates the City Hall's clock tower."
And here it is today:
The buildings to the left have changed a lot, and the near buildings on the right. But the lower part of the 'Hudson's Bay' building is (a somewhat modernized version of) the original, and of course old city hall is much the same. I notice that my photo shows the gargoyles near the top of the clock tower better than the original . (The clock itself is cut off in both photos)
20150202 Update: The original picture shows a symbol (the number '8' in a wreath) both on the bottom of the donation thermometer and also along the side of the Simpson's store. Thanks to Mark Brader for finding out that it was a temporary symbol -- the 8 refers to the 8th victory-bond drive of the war, a 20-day campaign that had started on April 23. See also further information at this page on 'National Flags of Occasion'.
20150204 Update: I was sure that I should have been able to see at least a couple of gargoyles on the original clock tower picture - then found this:
According to http://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/22/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-old-city-hall/ one of the gargoyles actually fell off and went through a roof. This link also contains some interesting background including how the architect Lennox had the letters of his name carved under the eaves...I'll have to drop by and take a look.
20150202 Update: The original picture shows a symbol (the number '8' in a wreath) both on the bottom of the donation thermometer and also along the side of the Simpson's store. Thanks to Mark Brader for finding out that it was a temporary symbol -- the 8 refers to the 8th victory-bond drive of the war, a 20-day campaign that had started on April 23. See also further information at this page on 'National Flags of Occasion'.
20150204 Update: I was sure that I should have been able to see at least a couple of gargoyles on the original clock tower picture - then found this:
"Four gargoyles were placed on the corners of the Clock Tower in 1899, but they were removed to the effects of the weather on the sandstone carvings in 1938. In 2002, bronze casts of the gargoyles were reinstalled. The replicas are not duplicates as the original designs were lost."
That was from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_City_Hall_(Toronto)According to http://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/22/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-old-city-hall/ one of the gargoyles actually fell off and went through a roof. This link also contains some interesting background including how the architect Lennox had the letters of his name carved under the eaves...I'll have to drop by and take a look.
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