9 Forsyth -The Eaton's Order Office

11 Forsyth - Balvers Bakery and Grill

(now empty Lot beside the Parkin House)

Memories:  

• Cathie Jones:The car belonged to George Mantle who ran the projection room at the Plaza Theatre and it was cream and red but I can't remember the year
• David Edwards:  I'm going to say... 1955 Pontiac Chieftain.
• Ruth Thompson:  I think it is a 1956 because of the little lift on the top of the back fender thanks Don Thompson
• Richard Deering:   Miss Jennie Sweet ran the Eatons Store. She lived with her brother Art and sister Bessie on North Hastings Avenue. I delivered the Toronto Telegram to their house. Nice people.
• Sharon Anne Vesterfelt:   Bessie was a great seamstress.
• Richard Deering:   Those were the simple days. No worries, good neighbours and a great place to grow up.
• Julie Mckenzie-Post:   Theo Balavar made the best butter tarts and fresh bread I have ever had
• Nancy Derry-Sopha:   and the best bran muffins...with dates!
• Barb Broadbent:   Recipes from Broadbent's bakery in Newmarket On.
• Jo-Anne Potter Harbinson:   I remember the cream puffs and honey dip donuts were the best on a Saturday morning!! fresh from the oven.😊         

The Story of the Eaton's Catalogue

The first Eaton's catalogue was a 34-page booklet issued in 1884. As Eaton’s grew, so did the catalogue. By 1920, Eaton's operated mail order warehouses in Winnipeg, Toronto and Moncton to serve its catalogue customers. Catalogue order offices were also established throughout the country, with the first opening in Oakville in 1916.

The Story of the Eaton's Catalogue

The first Eaton's catalogue was a 34-page booklet issued in 1884. As Eaton’s grew, so did the catalogue. By 1920, Eaton's operated mail order warehouses in Winnipeg, Toronto and Moncton to serve its catalogue customers. Catalogue order offices were also established throughout the country, with the first opening in Oakville in 1916.

At a time when Canada's population was predominantly rural, often living in isolated settlements, the Eaton's catalogue provided a selection of goods that was otherwise unavailable to many Canadians, much like the Sears Roebuck catalogue in the United States. It served an important economic role, as it broke local monopolies and allowed all Canadians access to the prices and selection enjoyed in some of the larger cities. The catalogue offered everything from clothing to farming implements. Some Canadians even purchased their homes from the catalogue, with Eaton's delivering to them all the materials necessary to build a small prefabricated house. Today, a large number of Eaton's catalogue homes still exist throughout the country, primarily in the West. The catalogue had many other uses, ranging from its use as a learning tool by settlers learning to speak English, to its use as goalie pads during hockey games.

Over time, the catalogue became a less profitable operation, and by the 1970s, it was a money-losing proposition. As Canada's population became more urban over the course of the 20th century, Canadians had access to a greater number of local stores, and were less reliant on catalogue purchases. By the mid-1970s, it was estimated that 60% of the suburban customers throughout Canada lived within a thirty-minute drive of an Eaton’s store. Others blamed Eaton’s management for the catalogue’s failures, pointing to the similar Simpson-Sears catalogue (now the Sears Canadacatalogue), which continues to this day even though it has never enjoyed the iconic status or popularity of the Eaton's catalogue.

At a news conference on January 14, 1976, Eaton's announced that the 1976 spring-summer catalogue would be their last. 9000 mail-order employees were out of work. Many Canadians were in shock. In one notable incident, Barbara Frum  of CBC Radio’s  As It Happens opened her interview of Eaton’s president  Earl Orser with the question "Mr. Orser, how could you?"

(Wikipedia)

For  more on the Story of the Rise and Fall of the T. Eaton's Co.,  click here.