culture Historicist: The Horse’s Reign

At the turn of the 20th century, urban life moved at the pace of the horse.

SHOW CAPTION  ✉ Share on:  308598 <strong>Horse-drawn streetcar in Weston, November 1925. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1266, Item 6724.</strong><br><br><br /> For over thirty years, <a href="http://torontoist.com/2009/12/historicist_snowfight_on_the_streetcar_line/">horse-drawn streetcars</a> transported citizens around routes through town until, at the end of August 1894, the last horsecars were retired from service by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Railway_Company">Toronto Railway Company</a> with the adoption of electric streetcars. Horse-drawn streetcar in Weston, November 1925. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1266, Item 6724. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/a-2014_03_08_f1266_it6724_640a-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/a-2014_03_08_f1266_it6724_640a.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/a-2014_03_08_f1266_it6724_640a.jpg 640 400 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/weston-opening-of-car-line-old-horse-car-november-28-1925/ weston-opening-of-car-line-old-horse-car-november-28-1925 0 0 308599 <strong>Lord and Lady Minto going to the races from the home of Sir Joseph Flavelle, ca. 1903. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1568, Item 340.</strong><br><br><br /> For the city's wealthy and social elite, <a href="http://www.history.utoronto.ca/material_culture/duplessi/">as historian Antoinette Duplessis shows</a>, horse-drawn vehicles were emblems of a successful life and they owned numerous vehicles, each suited to a specific purpose like phaetons, victorias, roadsters, and surreys. Lord and Lady Minto going to the races from the home of Sir Joseph Flavelle, ca. 1903. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1568, Item 340. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/b-2014_03_08_f1568_it0340_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/b-2014_03_08_f1568_it0340_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/b-2014_03_08_f1568_it0340_640.jpg 640 435 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/b-2014_03_08_f1568_it0340_640/ b-2014_03_08_f1568_it0340_640 0 0 308600 <strong>Lieutenant Governor's coach and pair, April 1911. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1312.</strong><br><br><br /> Each urban horse consumed, according to one estimate quoted by historian Eric Morris in <em><a href="http://www.uctc.net/access/access30.shtml">Access</a></em> (Spring 2007), 1.4 tons of oats and 2.4 tons of hay per year. Lieutenant-Governor's coach and pair, April 1911. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1312. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/c-2014_03_08_f1244_it1312_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/c-2014_03_08_f1244_it1312_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/c-2014_03_08_f1244_it1312_640.jpg 640 462 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/lieutenant-governors-coach-and-pair-april-1911/ lieutenant-governors-coach-and-pair-april-1911 0 0 308601 <strong>Going to Major Moss' Wedding at the Garrison Church, 1919. From the Toronto Public Library's <a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-OHQ-PICTURES-S-R-627&R=DC-OHQ-PICTURES-S-R-627">Digital Collection</a>.</strong><br><br><br /> Horses, and horse-drawn vehicles, had a role in every facet of Toronto social life, from weddings... Going to Major Moss' Wedding at the Garrison Church, 1919 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/d-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-627_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/d-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-627_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/d-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-627_640.jpg 640 444 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/d-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-627_640/ d-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-627_640 0 0 308602 <strong>Horses pulling a hearse along muddy St. Clair Avenue West, between 1908 and 1909. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 39.</strong><br><br><br /> ...to funerals.<br><br><br /> In the 19th century, the number of carriages in a funeral procession was commented upon as an indication of the deceased's social prestige. After this hearse got stuck in thick mud, the mourning family had to carry the casket themselves. Horses pulling a hearse along muddy St. Clair Avenue West, between 1908 and 1909. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 39. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/e-2014_03_08_f1244_it0039_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/e-2014_03_08_f1244_it0039_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/e-2014_03_08_f1244_it0039_640.jpg 640 465 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/horses-pulling-a-hearse-along-muddy-st-clair-avenue-west-between-1908-and-1909/ horses-pulling-a-hearse-along-muddy-st-clair-avenue-west-between-1908-and-1909 0 0 308603 <strong>Delivery trucks lining Richmond Street, looking east towards Yonge Street, February 19, 1913. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 1266.</strong><br><br><br /> The most common horses seen on the street were work animals. Grocers, butchers, <a href="http://torontoist.com/2011/01/historicist_the_grenadier_ice_company/">ice merchants</a>, <a href="http://torontoist.com/2013/11/historicist-if-its-city-dairy-its-clean-and-pure-thats-sure/">dairies</a>, and retailers of all varieties maintained horses for deliveries—and the beasts' contribution of labour was essential to the success or failure of the enterprise. Doctors too needed a horse to make house calls.<br><br><br /> Bred for their utilitarian purpose, the workhorses were "[t]he commonest kind of stallions" and mixed breeds, E. King Dodds recalled in <em><a href="https://archive.org/details/canadianturfreco00dodduoft">Canadian Turf Recollections and Other Sketches</a></em> (Toronto, 1909), with "the chief consideration of the majority of owners being cheapness of service." Delivery trucks lining Richmond Street, looking east towards Yonge Street, February 19, 1913. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 1266. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/f-2014_03_08_f1231_it1266_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/f-2014_03_08_f1231_it1266_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/f-2014_03_08_f1231_it1266_640.jpg 640 440 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/f-2014_03_08_f1231_it1266_640/ f-2014_03_08_f1231_it1266_640 0 0 308604 <strong>Delivery truck outside Swansea Cash Grocery at the corner of Lavinia Avenue and Morningside Avenue, Swansea, 1913. From the Toronto Public Library's <a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-PICTURES-R-3051&R=DC-PICTURES-R-3051">Digital Collection</a>.</strong><br><br><br /> Horses knew their routes well, often departing from one stop for the next before their driver got back to the wagon. "Like every other delivery boy who drove a rig, we could place our instep on the hub of the wheel, let it revolve while our foot remained stationary, and nonchalantly mount to the seat," McAree recalled of his novel way of remounting a moving wagon during his early employment delivering groceries. "There was here a first-class opportunity of getting a broken leg, and we defied it for the adventurous thrill." Delivery truck outside Swansea Cash Grocery at the corner of Lavinia Avenue and Morningside Avenue, Swansea, 1913. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/g-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3051_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/g-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3051_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/g-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3051_640.jpg 640 449 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/g-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3051_640/ g-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3051_640 0 0

308605 <strong>Shoeing horses in Toronto, April 1928. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1266, Item 13089.</strong><br><br><br /> "He was not only a pet; oftener than not he was a bread-winner," J.V. McAree recalled of workhorses. "He contributed to the family prosperity rather than signifying it. As far back as we can remember, there was always a horse in our own family; and he was always a well-liked and respected member of it." Shoeing horses in Toronto, April 1928. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1266, Item 13089. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/h-2014_03_08_f1266_it13089_640a-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/h-2014_03_08_f1266_it13089_640a.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/h-2014_03_08_f1266_it13089_640a.jpg 640 569 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/oshawa-e-a-hoopa-58-charles-st-w-toronto-shoeing-horse-80th-blacksmithy-anniversary-april-9-1928/ oshawa-e-a-hoopa-58-charles-st-w-toronto-shoeing-horse-80th-blacksmithy-anniversary-april-9-1928 0 0 308606 <strong>Sole survivor of a fire in a McCaul Street stable, ca. 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2219.</strong><br><br><br /> People were personally attached to their horse; they didn't just insure them like an automobile. "When a man's horse was hurt in an accident, it was much the same as if his child had been hurt," journalist McAree argued. "An offer to pay the necessary fee of a veterinary would have been received in the same spirit as an offer to assume hospital charges for a wounded baby."<br><br><br /> Stables stacked with hay posed a fire hazard. The 32-year-old horse above, photographed just outside of a McCaul Street stable, was the sole survivor of a such a fire. He had worked for the same firm for 28 years. Sole survivor of a fire in a McCaul Street stable, ca. 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2219. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/i-2014_03_08_f1244_it2219_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/i-2014_03_08_f1244_it2219_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/i-2014_03_08_f1244_it2219_640.jpg 640 460 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/sole-survivor-of-mccaul-street-stable-fire-ca-1912/ sole-survivor-of-mccaul-street-stable-fire-ca-1912 0 0 308607 <strong>Horse team toiling up a muddy Weston Road hill in 1908. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1191A.</strong><br><br><br /> Many owners, however, treated their workhorses as one might an inanimate machine. Due to the high costs of feeding and stabling, many thought it uneconomical to maintain their beasts of burden in good condition. It was, rather, more cost effective to overwork a small number of animals to death. It would not have been uncommon to see in the streets over-zealous drivers lashing their overworked beasts savagely.<br><br><br /> Inspired by a letter to the editor in November 1886 complaining about the treatment of a particular "old and worn-out white horse" seen on the streets daily, 22-year-old journalist J.J. Kelso founded the Humane Society in Toronto. The Society's stated objectives included preventing the beating of animals, the overloading of streetcars or freight wagons, and the working of disabled animals. Horse team toiling up a muddy Weston Road hill in 1908. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1191A. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/j-2014_03_08_f1244_it1191a_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/j-2014_03_08_f1244_it1191a_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/j-2014_03_08_f1244_it1191a_640.jpg 640 391 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/muddy-weston-road-hill-1908/ muddy-weston-road-hill-1908 0 0 308608 <strong>Traffic outside the Yonge Street wharf, 1907. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 483.</strong><br><br><br /> Hooves, carts, and carriages clattering across the cobbles created a thunderous noise in the city. But noise was far from all the animals created on city streets. Traffic outside the Yonge Street wharf, 1907. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 483. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/k-2014_03_08_f1244_it0483_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/k-2014_03_08_f1244_it0483_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/k-2014_03_08_f1244_it0483_640.jpg 640 512 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/yonge-street-wharf-1907/ yonge-street-wharf-1907 0 0 308609 <strong>Road repairs on Yonge Street at Eglinton Avenue, ca. 1907-1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 21.</strong><br><br><br /> Sanitary experts at turn of the century estimated that each urban horse produced between 15 and 30 pounds of manure and a quart of urine per day. Needless to say, city streets needed to be navigated with care. Rain might turn manure-lined streets slick, but dry weather could be just as bad. In the heat of the sun, dung crushed to dust under hoof and wheel could be tossed by the wind into pedestrians' faces and through open windows. There were street cleaners in most large urban centres, but it was rarely enough. Although these workers are just doing road repairs, it's easy to imagine the slightly different messes encountered on the street. Road repairs on Yonge Street at Eglinton Avenue, ca. 1907-1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 21. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/l-2014_03_08_f1244_it0021_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/l-2014_03_08_f1244_it0021_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/l-2014_03_08_f1244_it0021_640.jpg 640 458 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/road-repairs-on-north-yonge-street-at-eglinton-avenue-between-1907-and-1912/ road-repairs-on-north-yonge-street-at-eglinton-avenue-between-1907-and-1912 0 0 308610 <strong>Preparing foundations for new building on Front Street East, ca. 1903. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 113.</strong><br><br><br /> Beyond the aesthetic nuisance, horse offal presented a public health risk as an urban breeding ground for swarms of houseflies that could spread germs and bacteria. The arrival of the automobile would be widely hailed in North America in the first decade of the 20th century as a panacea to public health by removing the horse from the streetscape and thus reducing the pollution of the urban environment. Preparing foundations for new building on Front Street East, ca. 1903. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 113. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/m-2014_03_08_f1244_it0113_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/m-2014_03_08_f1244_it0113_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/m-2014_03_08_f1244_it0113_640.jpg 640 457 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/preparing-foundations-for-new-j-j-foy-building-front-street-1903/ preparing-foundations-for-new-j-j-foy-building-front-street-1903 0 0 308611 <strong>Hitching post on Wellington Street, November 1931. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1548, Series 393, Item 23619.</strong><br><br><br /> Having horses in the city required an array of infrastructure. Stables dotted the cityscape, as did iron rings and hitching posts. Horse troughs became an important addition in the late 19th century through the concerted efforts of the Humane Society, until there were over 200 publicly accessible troughs around town by 1911. Hitching post on Wellington Street, November 1931. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1548, Series 393, Item 23619. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/n-2014_03_08_f1548_s0393_it23619_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/n-2014_03_08_f1548_s0393_it23619_640-456x640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/n-2014_03_08_f1548_s0393_it23619_640.jpg 456 640 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/n-2014_03_08_f1548_s0393_it23619_640/ n-2014_03_08_f1548_s0393_it23619_640 0 0

308612 <strong>Stable at John Ross Robertson's mansion, Culloden House, on Sherbourne Street, 1888. From the Toronto Public Library's <a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-PICTURES-R-3740&R=DC-PICTURES-R-3740">Digital Collection</a>.</strong><br><br><br /> Urban stables could be crowded, dark, and poorly ventilated. Rarely cleaned, the stables gave off a strong odour of horse urine and manure mixed with harness oil and hay. Only wealthy citizens, who had the advantage of being able to afford land, could provide their steeds with more spacious stables and the freedom to roam over pastures of any size. Stable at John Ross Robertson's mansion, Culloden House, on Sherbourne Street, 1888 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/o-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3740_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/o-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3740_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/o-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3740_640.jpg 640 501 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/o-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3740_640/ o-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3740_640 0 0 308613 <strong>Horses and delivery wagon stuck in the mud, 1914. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 29.</strong><br><br><br /> The conditions of the roads could create slick, treacherous situations for the animals. Catherine Sampson's grandfather's delivery horse Teddy very gingerly negotiated the steep hill at Hogg's Hollow. "The stout, dapple grey Percheron gelding would position himself at the crest of the hill and drop to his haunches," she <a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=cjgyAzes8yUC">writes in her memoirs</a> He basically sat on his tail and put his front legs out in front to act as brakes. From the top of the hill, Teddy slid cautiously down the hill, bringing the wagon to a halt by digging in his heels. The borium studs on his shoes trailed a grooved path in the glassy ice and snow. Finally, his shoes took firm hold. He stood up and nonchalantly continued his route." Horses and delivery wagon stuck in the mud, 1914. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 29. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/p-2014_03_08_f1244_it0029_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/p-2014_03_08_f1244_it0029_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/p-2014_03_08_f1244_it0029_640.jpg 640 482 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/horses-and-delivery-wagon-stuck-in-the-mud-1914/ horses-and-delivery-wagon-stuck-in-the-mud-1914 0 0 308614 <strong>After this fire wagon got stuck on a muddy Earlscourt road, ca. 1912, the firemen had to walk a half-mile to the blaze. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 7282.</strong><br><br><br /> Streets jammed with horses, each beast with a mind of its own, could be a dangerous place for pedestrians. Municipal bylaws prevented drivers from galloping their horses—and only policemen were legally allowed to ride mounted on city streets. Nevertheless, startled runaway horses were not uncommon sights. York University historian Sean Kheraj recounts one incident in September 1897 when a skittish horse hauling fruit and vegetables to market bolted wildly, crashing his wagon into another and delaying traffic for hours along bustling Queen Street East. More frequently than stampeding, Kheraj writes, horses kicked, bit, or trampled passersby, with children at particular risk. After this fire wagon got stuck on a muddy Earlscourt road, ca. 1912, the firemen had to walk a half-mile to the blaze. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 7282. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/q-2014_03_08_f1244_it7282_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/q-2014_03_08_f1244_it7282_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/q-2014_03_08_f1244_it7282_640.jpg 640 395 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/fire-wagon-on-muddy-road-ca-1912/ fire-wagon-on-muddy-road-ca-1912 0 0 308615 <strong>Horse-drawn fire wagon with water tank on Bloor Street West, 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 10.</strong><br><br><br /> Horse-drawn wagons were <em>the</em> means of fighting fires in the 19th century, allowing firefighters to reach a fire with relative ease, with all the necessary equipment in tow.<br><br><br /> From the Toronto Fire Services' formation in 1874 to 1890, the department contracted livery stables to supply horses to pull its fleet of pumpers, ladder trucks, reels, and salvage wagons to carry away rubbish. The department, Mike Filey writes in <em>Toronto Sketches 11</em> (Dundurn, 2012), then purchased 28 horses at a cost of $4,630.<br><br><br /> As with all other horse-drawn transportation, road conditions sometimes made it difficult for fire trucks to negotiate muddy streets, forcing firefighters to get out and walk. It wasn't too many years before Toronto Fire Services was seeking to modernize, first by purchasing Ford runabouts for its district chiefs, then by replacing all horse-drawn equipment with motorized alternatives. Horse-drawn fire wagon with water tank on Bloor Street West, 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 10. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/r-2014_03_08_f1244_it0010_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/r-2014_03_08_f1244_it0010_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/r-2014_03_08_f1244_it0010_640.jpg 640 394 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/horse-drawn-fire-wagon-with-water-tank-bloor-street-west-1912/ horse-drawn-fire-wagon-with-water-tank-bloor-street-west-1912 0 0 308616 <strong>Horse-drawn fire reel and car from Adelaide Street West Fire Hall, 1919. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 11.</strong><br><br><br /> "The motor-driven vehicle is, I am convinced, destined to completely supersede the horse in the near future in fire departments," Fire Chief W.J. Smith told the Ontario Motor League after the department began acquiring its first motorized vehicles in the 1910s. "Here, in Toronto, we have demonstrated that under any and all climatic conditions motor propelled vehicles can go and take only one-third the time to do it. More, we have put out motor drawn vehicles through tests that no horses could successfully pass." <br><br><br /> Smith added: "It all resolves itself to a question of economy and efficiency, and that question admits of but one answer—the motor. A difference of but a few minutes—even seconds—makes an enormous difference in many fires—and our motor propelled vehicles reach the scenes of fires in one-third the time or less that it takes the horse-drawn vehicles." Horse-drawn fire reel and car from Adelaide Street West Fire Hall, 1919. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 11. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/s-2014_03_08_f1244_it0011_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/s-2014_03_08_f1244_it0011_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/s-2014_03_08_f1244_it0011_640.jpg 640 504 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/horse-drawn-fire-reel-and-car-adelaide-street-west-fire-hall-1919/ horse-drawn-fire-reel-and-car-adelaide-street-west-fire-hall-1919 0 0 308617 <strong>Sleigh and automobile crossing Toronto Bay on the ice at the foot of York Street, ca. 1911. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 255.</strong><BR><br><br /> At first, the automobile co-existed with the horse when it <a href="http://torontoist.com/2012/05/historicist-the-dawn-of-the-horseless-era/">appeared on city streets</a>—though the new contraptions speedily and noisily kicking up dust could startle horses.<BR><br><br /> The <a href="http://torontoist.com/2009/01/historicist_those_vicious_devilish/">number of automobiles on Ontario streets</a> grew exponentially from 535 in 1904, to 31,724 in 1914, and 303,736 by 1925—by which time the automobile had gone from plaything for the wealthy to a necessity. Sleigh and automobile crossing Toronto Bay on the ice at the foot of York Street, ca. 1911. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 255. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/t-2014_03_08_f1244_it0255_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/t-2014_03_08_f1244_it0255_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/t-2014_03_08_f1244_it0255_640.jpg 640 336 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/crossing-toronto-bay-on-the-ice-foot-of-york-street-ca-1911/ crossing-toronto-bay-on-the-ice-foot-of-york-street-ca-1911 0 0 308618 <strong>Automobile passing horse-drawn vehicles on Eaton Road in Lambton, 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 46.</strong><BR><br><br /> Horse traffic decreased rapidly. Traffic surveys found that 349 automobiles and 248 horse-drawn vehicles passed through the Bloor and Dundas intersection each day in 1914, but by 1925 there were 7,943 cars and only 15 vehicles under horse-power.<BR><br><br /> The automobile's emergence as the dominant mode of travel impacted the sound and smell of the city, the pace of urban life, housing design, and patterns of street traffic (and congestion). It resulted in the introduction of new laws and traffic regulations. Automobile passing horse-drawn vehicles on Eaton Road in Lambton, 1912. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 46. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/u-2014_03_08_f1244_it0046_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/u-2014_03_08_f1244_it0046_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/u-2014_03_08_f1244_it0046_640.jpg 640 368 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/eaton-road-lambton-1912/ eaton-road-lambton-1912 0 0

308619 <strong>Performers forming a pyramid at the C.N.E., 1922. From the Toronto Public Library's <a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-OHQ-PICTURES-S-R-633&R=DC-OHQ-PICTURES-S-R-633">Digital Collection</a>.</strong><BR><br><br /> The introduction of the automobile and motorized delivery truck pushed the horse from the forefront of civilian life—at least for the labouring class. Equine encounters were relegated to the sphere of spectator entertainment, like rodeos, horse-racing, and other popular entertainments. Performers forming a pyramid at the C.N.E., 1922 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/v-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-633_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/v-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-633_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/v-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-633_640.jpg 640 472 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/v-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-633_640/ v-2014_03_08_ohq-pictures-s-r-633_640 0 0 308620 <strong>Harness racing at the C.N.E., between 1900 and 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 267A.</strong><BR><br><br /> Touts watched horseraces at the <a href="http://heritagetoronto.org/torontos-horse-racing-history/">half-dozen</a> Toronto-area <a href="http://www.thegridto.com/city/sports/horse-tory-lesson/">racecourses in operation</a> during the first decades of the 20th century—and harness-racing at the C.N.E. in particular. Widespread gambling on the ponies—first illicit, then <a href="http://torontoist.com/2009/06/historicist_brawls_gamblers_and_longshots/">legal</a>, always <a href="http://torontoist.com/2013/06/historicist-little-saratoga/">controversial</a>—greatly increased the popularity of horse racing among common folks.<BR><br><br /> "At Dufferin Track all men are equal," Abe Orpen, owner of numerous racetracks, told a reporter in 1932. "We have no snobs or high hatters at Dufferin. That’s a race track for men who are men." Harness racing at the C.N.E., between 1900 and 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 267A. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/w-2014_03_08_f1244_it0267a_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/w-2014_03_08_f1244_it0267a_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/w-2014_03_08_f1244_it0267a_640.jpg 640 305 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/sulky-races-cne-between-1900-and-1930/ sulky-races-cne-between-1900-and-1930 0 0 308621 <strong>Diving horse at Hanlan's Point, ca. 1908. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2281.</strong><BR><br><br /> At <a href="http://natickmass.info/Gorman.htm">Hanlan's</a> <a href="http://torontoist.com/2013/05/a-history-of-expansion-schemes-for-the-island-airport/">Point</a>, in the first decades of the 20th century, King and Queen—John W. Gorman's famous white horses—<a href="http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/05/nostalgia_tripping_hanlans_point_amusement_park/">entertained spectators by diving<a/> into the lake from a high platform "without a whip and with the horses own volition," according to press reports of the time.<BR><br><br /> After performing as a travelling act at amusement parks, carnivals, and circuses across the continent, King and Queen retired to a farm in New Hampshire. Diving horse at Hanlan's Point, ca. 1908. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2281. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/x-2014_03_08_f1244_it2281_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/x-2014_03_08_f1244_it2281_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/x-2014_03_08_f1244_it2281_640.jpg 640 521 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/diving-horse-at-hanlans-point-ca-1908/ diving-horse-at-hanlans-point-ca-1908 0 0 308622 <strong>Polo game at Old Woodbine Raceway, 1923. From the Toronto Public Library's <a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-PICTURES-R-3567&R=DC-PICTURES-R-3567">Digital Collection</a>.</strong><BR><br><br /> Horsemanship became associated with upper-crust recreation. Ontario horse-breeders shifted from filling the market for common work horses, E. King Dodds argued, to focus on breeding a superior type—for speed, style, and use as saddle horses. Polo game at Old Woodbine Raceway, 1923 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/y-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3567_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/y-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3567_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/y-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3567_640.jpg 640 355 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/y-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3567_640/ y-2014_03_08_pictures-r-3567_640 0 0 308623 <strong>Grand champion of a Horse Show, July 2, 1929. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 70, Item 307.</strong><BR><br><br /> Horse shows were common, with judges awarding prizes for the best horses in categories ranging from standard-bred roadster stallions and shire mares to hackney stallions and saddle horses. Some <a href="https://archive.org/details/canadianmilitary00canauoft">shows</a> included competitions pitting military officers against each other in displays of horsemanship: riding and jumping, using sables and foils—even a horseback tug-of-war.<br><br><br /> Since 1922, <em>the</em> horse show in Toronto has been held annually as part of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Agricultural_Winter_Fair">The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair</a>. Grand champion of a Horse Show, July 2, 1929. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 70, Item 307. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z1-2014_03_08_s0372_ss0070_it0308_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z1-2014_03_08_s0372_ss0070_it0308_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z1-2014_03_08_s0372_ss0070_it0308_640.jpg 640 486 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/z1-2014_03_08_s0372_ss0070_it0308_640/ z1-2014_03_08_s0372_ss0070_it0308_640 0 0 308624 <strong>Hunt meet at Lady Eaton's property, ca. 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1322.</strong><BR><br><br /> Since the turn of the century, the <a href="http://www.torontohunt.com/About-Us/History-2.aspx">Toronto Hunt</a>, founded in 1843, didn't engage in fox-hunting proper, but rather drag-hunting. This entailed spreading scent to lead hounds and hunters over a pre-determined but natural course—simulating the route a fleeing fox might take—over all manner of terrain and jumps to challenge and thrill hunters. Hunt meet at Lady Eaton's property, ca. 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 1322. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z2-2014_03_08_f1244_it1322_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z2-2014_03_08_f1244_it1322_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z2-2014_03_08_f1244_it1322_640.jpg 640 261 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/hunt-meet-at-lady-eatons-king-1930/ hunt-meet-at-lady-eatons-king-1930 0 0 308625 <strong>Hunt at Thanksgiving, ca. 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2383.</strong><BR><br><br /> A common route in the 1920s and 1930s took riders east from the club grounds on Kingston Road, north beyond Danforth Road, then east across to Dufferin Street, to end at Armstrong's Hotel, north of Eglinton. The growing city's encroachment into the surrounding wilderness eventually pushed club excursions further and further north to Aurora. Hunt at Thanksgiving, ca. 1930. From the City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2383. https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z3-2014_03_08_f1244_it2383_640-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z3-2014_03_08_f1244_it2383_640.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z3-2014_03_08_f1244_it2383_640.jpg 640 453 https://torontoist.com/2014/03/historicist-the-horses-reign/slide/thanksgiving-hunt-ca-1930/ thanksgiving-hunt-ca-1930 0 0



With over 7,400 horses living and working in Toronto by 1891, the city streets were filled with horses, and their presence was essential to urban life. Carriage horses bore wealthy citizens around town while common folks boarded horse-drawn streetcars. Workhorses hauled freight from the railway to businesses and delivered goods to homes. They laboured on work sites and hauled waste away. Without horses, police officers and firefighters would’ve strained to fulfil their duties.

In a piece reprinted in Culled From Our Columns (Longmans, 1962) shortly after his death, long-time Globe and Mail columnist J.V. McAree reminisced nostalgically: “At a time when, as it seemed nearly every fourth citizen had a horse, the number of those who valued and recognized a good horse was naturally much larger than it is today, when not many more citizens own horses than own camels. Let no one believe that when the horse and buggy passed, something lovely and almost holy did not pass with them.” The age of the urban horse, however, was far from idyllic. Jammed into busy streets, they produced noise, waste, and a potential danger to passersby if startled.

Within decades of the advent of the automobile, McAree complained Torontonians had forgotten what coach whips, hames collars, martingales, and snaffle bits were. “In other words,” he wrote mournfully, “the horse is a stranger to hundreds of thousands of them, and it is hard for them to imagine a time when all the work that is now done by automobiles and trucks was done by horses.”

Sources consulted include: Sixty Golden Years…1915-1975: The Story of Motoring in Ontario (Ontario Motor League-Nickel Belt Club, 1975); Stephen Davies, “Reckless Walking Must be Discouraged: The Automobile Revolution and the Shaping of Modern Urban Canada to 1930,” Urban History Review, Vol. 18, No. 2 (October 1989); Paul Huntley, City Dairy Toronto (Paul Huntley, 2011); John Joseph Kelso, Early History of the Humane and Children’s Aid Movement in Ontario, 1886-1893 (1911); Sean Kheraj, “Living and Working with Domestic Animals in Nineteenth-Century Toronto,” in L. Anders Sandberg, Stephen Bocking, Colin Coates, and Ken Cruikshank, eds., Urban Explorations: Environmental Histories of the Toronto Region (L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, 2013); James Lemon, Toronto Since 1918 (James Lorimer & Company, 1985); Clifford Sifton, “Toronto Hunt 1843-1931 Toronto and North York Hunt 1931-1974,” The York Pioneer (1975); and Joel A. Tarr, “Urban Pollution-Many Years Ago,” American Heritage Magazine (October 1971).

Every Saturday, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.