Slum house, ‘The Ward’, 1911. (21/96)
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At least they had a roof. Thousands of people today don’t even have that.
The Ward was the worst place in Toronto. The majority of people lived there because it was the only place they could afford and they stayed only as long as they had to. As soon as possible they moved to a more suitable place. And no one was buying for a long time, they were renting. Most were barely earning enough to put a roof over their heads and feed a family. Read a little bit about the history of this city and country.
I lived in Cabbagetown when I was a kid in 1957 or so… It was brutal… there were big rats in our yard, lots of dirt and misery. We were the generation after war… we all had it tough I guess. Our kids will never know real sacrifice and hunger.
What did people do back in the day to boost their self-esteem and get the right help needed to find jobs?
I have a dear friend who is 68 and grew up on welfare in Toronto in a 2 bedroom apartment with her mom and three sisters. She learned to read.
She would line up at the bookmobile when it came around her neighbourhood and read her little heart out. Started working part time jobs during high school and put herself through College. She has a high level position at the Ministry of Transportation. Owns her own home. I walk her dogs now and then.
Her library bookshelf never fails to make me cry. Crammed with all the classics my mom read us as children: Secret Garden, Wind and the Willows etc. her mom was working 2 jobs just to put food on the table. She had no mentor. She had resilience
My eye is drawn to the lace on the curtains. “House proud’ even when the house is in hell
My grandmother and 4 children lived in the Ward, my Mom always told me they hardly had enough food…
my mom grew up in rural Saskatchewan; born in 1924 and one of Six children. Her paternal grandmother sent a crate from Eatons out West on the train every Christmas and a teacher to homeschool them. Mom said if they hadn’t received those crates they wouldn’t have survived. Always included two coats for the eldest children. Out of those 6 children 5 went to University. My mother was the first woman to graduate from University of Saskatchewan in Mechanical Engineering. Dad was her lab partner.
Poverty was a shared existence back then. It would be far more difficult to grow up in want surrounded by plenty