Eight (more) strange covers from Toronto Life’s first 50 years

Eight (more) strange covers from Toronto Life’s first 50 years

To celebrate Toronto Life’s 50th anniversary, we’re revisiting the best stories, photos and issues from the magazine’s past. Here, eight of our best, weirdest and most eerily relevant covers

For our first 50th-anniversary cover round-up, click here.

May73-Sun

May 1973
What Kind of Girl is a Sunshine Girl?

Our where-are-they-now feature on the Toronto Sun’s most popular page revealed where the paper found its models (on campuses and in lines at Massey Hall), what happened after the shoot (job offers and a lot of creepy phone calls), and what the Girls thought of Women’s Lib (“I really think they should have a Sunshine Boy.”)

 

May74-Swinging

May 1974
Swinging in Toronto

Author Erna Paris was a pioneer of that timeless journalistic tradition: awkwardly attending a swingers’ party only to discover it’s a not-so-steamy smattering of middle-aged wallflowers. She writes, “They’re about as ‘liberated’ as high school bobbysoxers in 1952.”

 

Nov74-Plants

November 1974
Plants as Pets

We have a few questions about the whole plants-as-pets concept—to start, since when do people play cello to their pets?

 

Jan78-StLawrence

January 1978
The Ascension of St. Lawrence

Toronto Life opted for a…shall we say…literal take on “The ascension of St. Lawrence,” a feature about the buzzy vibrancy of the area around the Gooderham Building.

 

July85-Jays

July 1985
Jays Win Series!

Wait, what was that publication date again? July 1985. Yes, in the dog days of the ’85 season, seven years before the Blue Jays won their first World Series, we predicted the boys would be champions and asked a slew of local journalists—Christie Blatchford, Paul Godfrey, Don Obe—to predict how that year’s supposedly victorious post-season run would unfold. The Jays ultimately fell to Kansas City in the ALCS, but not before we ranked the Blue Jays’ best butts.

 

Apr95-Dining

April 1995
Where to Dine Out

If this pint-sized, insect-averse gourmand is still somewhere around these parts, we’re betting he was first in line to try the cricket tacos at this year’s CNE.

 

Jan98-Cheap

January 1998
Where to Get Good Stuff Cheap

The 1998 edition of our recurring bargain-hunting package was—and still is—Toronto Life’s best-selling cover. The lesson: simpler is better, and never underestimate the power of $2 cocktails.

 

Mar99-Dalton

March 1999
Dalton Who?

Four years before McGuinty took the top job at Queen’s Park, we profiled the “dragon slayer—the man who will attempt to topple Mike Harris.” It was probably the first and last time someone described Premier Dad as a dragon slayer.