vintage toronto sun ad of the day

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Vintage Ad: Brett Halliday Invites You To The Buccaneer's 8th Anniversary\
Source: the Toronto Sun, November 1, 1985.

The Warehouse starts off 2014 with from a visit from our old pal Brett Halliday, purveyor of advertorial delights in Toronto for decades. Today's selection could be classified as an outright ad, as it lacks the tidbits about the entertainment scene, local retailers, and pieces of wisdom which usually broke up Halliday's advertorial columns. 

The tone's the same, as is the colourful language. When was the last time you heard anything referred to as a "neon of activity?" Dammit, let's revive this phrase! 

SPEAKER 1: I'm bored tonight.Where shall we go?
SPEAKER 2: Let's go to (fill in the trendiest neighbourhood in your city or village)! I hear it's a neon of activity!
SPEAKER 1: Good enough for me. Or, we could go to (fill in the second-trendiest neighbourhood in your town or crossroads). I hear it's a gaslight of activity!
SPEAKER 2: Better toss your cyberpunk gear on if we're heading there...

Halliday also introduces readers to the locale readers will discover that neon of activity, the region of Malton-Mississauga. This is the first time we've encountered this hyphenated description for the area north of Pearson Airport, and suspect it may be the only place it ever appeared. We could create an alternate history of Peel Region based on this ad, where Malton demanded equal billing when the province amalgamated  municipalities to form the Town of Mississauga in 1968, and made it a provision of remaining when city status arrived several years later. The "pins in a veritable haystack" grew together to form a vibrant city centred around Airport and Derry Roads. As population and business development exploded in Malton through the 1970s, voter strength ensured that it would be the dominant political centre over Port Credit, forever dashing the hopes of perennial mayoral candidate Hazel McCallion. Developments like the Airport One shopping centre, the "Little India" cultural district along Airport Road, and a hipster strip along Goreway Drive (several blocks of which were renamed Avro Street to reflect the region's heritage) fulfilled Halliday's vision of a thriving metropolis...

Maybe we indulged in too much grog in the Captain Kidd room.

Googling the address indicates the site is currently used as a banquet hall.

Comments

Nadreck said…
Brett seems to no longer be with us. I lived in the same building as he did until recently. Last year he had a heart attack while in Australia and the doctors said that he shouldn't fly for at least six months. His sister came over and cleared out his apartment. This week mail from the government addressed to "The Estate of the Late Brett Haliday" started piling up in the mailroom.
10:12 PM
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