City skyline lit-up
Light!, 1925
The Toronto Hydro Electric System Fifteenth Annual Report, 1925
Series 1143, Item 3777

 

The wonder of electric light made it possible to extend working hours later into the evening, but for those lucky enough not to be working, a whole new world of after-dark entertainment became available.

 

Bright spots of light shine from baseball stadium bleachers.
Night game at the baseball stadium on Hanlan’s Point, August 16, 1928
Series 71, Item 6154

 

Hanlan’s Point stadium was built in 1897 for the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. In 1914, Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run into the waters of Lake Ontario from this stadium.

People line up at a two-storey wooden concession building that is outlined on all corners with lights.
Flora-Dew concession at Hanlan’s Point, September 12, 1928
Series 71, Item 6250

 

Night-time illumination for sporting events was particularly popular during the Depression. During the long, hot summer evenings, Torontonians thrilled to night baseball at Maple Leaf Stadium on Bathurst Quay and to softball games at Sunnyside Stadium.

People also flocked to amusement areas such as Hanlan’s Point at Toronto Island, Sunnyside and the Canadian National Exhibition for evening entertainment. Midway rides such as the ferris wheel or the merry-go-round were immeasurably more exciting in the dark and few could resist the neon signs which beckoned one to try new and titillating fair games. There were also concession stands lit up like Christmas trees, where you could satisfy all your cravings for Orange Crush and hot dogs.

 

Round canopy with lights around the rim and up to the pointed roof.
Merry-go-round at Hanlan’s Point, July 31, 1929
Series 71, Item 7077

 

Hanlan’s Point originally was a sandy shoal at the western end of Toronto Island. Greatly expanded by land-filling, the area is now occupied by the Island airport. The amusement area existed from the 1890s to the late 1920s.

 

Neon signs saying Casino and Bingo. One looks like a bingo card.
Bingo at the CNE Midway, August 28, 1953
Fonds 1653, Series 975, File 1352
Ferris wheel with wheel and spokes outlined in lights.
Ferris wheel at the CNE Midway, August 28, 1953
Fonds 1653, Series 975, File 1352

 

For three weeks in August, the Canadian National Exhibition provides a playground for children and adults alike. With these two pictures, one can almost smell the cotton candy and the corn dogs, and sense the peculiar excitement of the midway on a hot summer night.

 

Variety of structures lit-up
Sunnyside at night, from bridge to Parkdale Canoe Club, May 9, 1925
Fonds 1266, Item 5170

 

The Sunnyside Amusement Area opened to the public in 1922. It was situated on land that was formed from sand dredged from Toronto Bay by the Toronto Harbour Commissioners, pushing the original shoreline up to 600 feet out into the lake. The hydro towers that had been constructed in the water near the shoreline in the late teens consequently became landbound and ran through the north end of Sunnyside. The amusement area was demolished in 1955 to make way for the Gardiner Expressway.