What Kensington Market was like in the 1970s

Ellis Wiley's some 1,500 street photographs are a vital part of the City of Toronto Archives collection. An accountant by trade, Wiley was an enthusiastic amateur who photographed landmarks like the CN Tower, Fort York, Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, Ontario Place, and much of downtown in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, in doing so capturing important moments in the development of the city.

His photographs of Kensington Market in the 1960s and 70s aren't classics, but, like his other work, they capture a neighbourhood in a state of change. Following the second world war, the predominately Jewish market area became a popular destination for immigrants from other parts of the world, like the Caribbean, India, Philippines, Vietnam, and Latin America, as well as punks, hippies, and bohemians in the 1980s.

These photos, taken in the 1970s, show live poultry on display outside Augusta Kosher Poultry and Meat Market, colourful bolts of fabric, and chaotic food stalls around the time the important CBC sitcom King of Kensington was filmed. The program mirrored the culture of Kensington at the time and helped to reinforce its values.

"The show's depiction of Kensington Market as a resilient urban village within a growing metropolitan centre realistically mirrored the community's resistance to urban renewal and freeway construction plans that were destroying similar communities in other parts of Toronto," the Kensington Market Historical Society writes.

Take a look at Kensington Market as it used to be.

Boy teasing a chicken.

Eggs for sale at Augusta Kosher Poultry and Meat Market on Augusta Ave.

Fruit stand with "Air Conditioned" Portugal Barber Shop in the background.

Fruit, vegetables, and people spill off the sidewalk at Nassau and Augusta.

West Indian Specialities and "Lewie's" or "Lenie's" coffee shop.

Looking west on Baldwin St. towards Toronto Western Hospital.

Examining fabric.

""Bird Call, Cashews-Pistachios And soft toys."

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Images: City of Toronto Archives

by Chris Bateman via blogTO