The Toronto Star has a long, rich history of capturing the city in photos. Every Monday this summer, we will take a look back at images of the city that we’ve likely forgotten.

In less than a week, the sun will rise on the Canadian National Exhibition’s 140th year. The familiar smell of fried doughnuts and the sound of children’s laughter will waft up to meet the flashing lights and the dangling legs of people on the Sky Ride.

Fifty years ago, in 1969, the CNE was opened by then prime minister Pierre Trudeau. The grandstand lineup featured Glen Campbell, Bob Hope and The Monkees. The theme of the two-week fair was “The Way of the Future,” and it featured a building called Galaxii, with entertainment based on the space age.

A Toronto Star article from August 1969 detailed the experiences of 14 young people who braved pelting rain to camp outside the Princes’ Gates at the CNE grounds. The first people in line, some of whom waited for two weeks with a tent, got to meet the CNE president, were gifted Bulova wrist watches and given free meal tickets and ride passes.

These days, with tickets available in advance online, it’s unlikely to see people camping out to get onto the fairgrounds anymore. But for many Torontonians, the CNE remains a cherished end-of-summer tradition.

Lee Shimano, author of Treasures of the CNE, says in the ’60s and ’70s, the CNE was a family affair. “It’s always been a tradition,” she says.

She grew up near the CNE grounds. Her family allowed fair goers to park their cars on their property and Shimano used the quarters they paid to go to the fair.

“As kids we’d wait the whole year for it,” she says. She would play on the CNE grounds, watching the carnies set up the kiosks and rides.

“The CNE was this huge magical world,” she says. “And unlike Wonderland, which is open for several months in the summer, it was only open for I think at that time 10 or 14 days. So it was very special.”

Her own kids are “major CNE fans.” Their kids are too.

Shimano began collecting CNE memorabilia because of the positive memories the items brought her, and chronicled stories of people who love the CNE into a book, self-published two years ago and available from Friesenpress.

She says while the entertainment, atmosphere and bright colours are the same as she remembers, she recalls the vendor being more diverse with people making individualized souvenirs on the midway.

“I do not love it the way I used to love it, I love it very differently now,” she says. “But I can still get sort of a hint of all the same old feelings … even just being there.”

Photos from the 1969 exhibition are a “time capsule of what was popular at the time,” says CNE archivist Alicia Cherayil. “We’ve changed so much but we’re still at the heart the same.”

She says she loves hearing people’s memories of the exhibition whenever the CNE displays archival photos. Most people tell her they had their first job at the Ex, or have memories of visiting with their family.

“Everybody has a connection here and it’s really exciting to meet people outside of the fair and we can all kind of have that common memory of a good time at the fair,” she says. “So I’m hoping that that’s what we continue to do — provide experiences and memories for people for years to come.”

Cherayil says the 1969 theme of looking to the future is “a really interesting juxtaposition” to the way the CNE continues to celebrate older traditions such as agriculture and industry.

“It’s providing something that (people) couldn’t get elsewhere, which is a place for families to gather and create memories, whether it be eating crazy food, riding rides (or) seeing art.”

A big part of the CNE, then and now, is that crazy food — whether it’s the ice cream waffle that debuted at the fair in 1940, the deep-fried butter balls that gained attention in 2010 or more recent viral creations like the 24-karat-gold-plated ice cream bar and bacon-wrapped grilled cheese.

But while some food items seem to be growing wackier each year, other vendors are keeping things simple.

Tom Brazier, owner of Tiny Tom’s Donuts, says tradition is a big part of why so many people make getting a bag — or several — of doughnut an essential part of their CNE experience.

Brazier’s father exhibited Margaret’s Donuts at the CNE in the 1940s. He bought equipment for “little doughnuts” from a U.S. company in 1958 and a year later, Tiny Tom’s opened at the CNE and the Central Canadian Exhibition in Ottawa. As the business expanded, they became a popular destination for fairgoers, Brazier says.

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“The expression was, ‘You can’t go home without your doughnuts, without your Tiny Tom Donuts.’ ”

He says while the food at the fair has changed over the years, “Tiny Tom’s remains a constant.” They haven’t changed anything, he says, other than adding two new flavours — apple cinnamon and chocolate — in 1994.

“People say, ‘Well, why don’t you update your logo? Or why didn’t you do this? Or why didn’t you do that?’ But I think that people appreciate the fact that (Tiny Toms are) still a little bit of tradition.”

Raneem Alozzi is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @r_alozzi