Highlights from the Canadian Community Cookbook Collection

Posted on December 12, 2023 by olivia.wong

The Canadian Community Cookbook Collection contains over 250 community cookbooks, culinary textbooks, and company publications related to food products dating from 1888 to the early 2000s. It was donated to Special Collections in 2021 by Dr. Ian Mosby, a faculty member from TMU’s Department of History.

We are featuring an assortment of cookbooks in this blog, as well as in the display case on the 4th floor of the Libraries, to highlight the wide range of genres within culinary publications. We hope that these windows into Canadian culinary history, and especially the festive recipes, will inspire you to try making a new dish, or watch the Great Canadian Baking Show during the winter break!

A large portion of the collection is made of community cookbooks. These were created by women’s associations, church groups, hospitals, and community groups for fundraising purposes. They compile and publish recipes from community members and include the contributor’s name in the cookbook. These are simple publications, and would often offset printing costs by including advertisements for local businesses.

Specialties from Sugar and Spice (1948)
Recipes from Specialties from Sugar and Spice (1948)
The Kelowna Hospital Women’s Auxiliary Cook Book : a collection of tried and tested recipes (1936)
Local advertisements and recipes from The Kelowna Hospital Women’s Auxiliary Cook Book (1936)
Kid’s Kosher Cookbook
Latke recipe from the Kid’s Kosher Cookbook

Another genre is advertising cookbooks. These were published by food companies, such as gelatin, flour and corn starch producers. They often include detailed photographs or illustrations of dishes that can be made using their products. Since these were used for marketing purposes, they can help us understand trends in culinary styles and kitchen technologies.

Today …. what salad …. what dessert?: Jell-O brings DOZENS of answers…. (1928)
Desert recipes from Jell-O brings DOZENS of answers… (1928)
Salad recipe from Jell-O brings DOZENS of answers… (1928)
Working People’s Cookbook : The Practical Answer to “What’s For dinner” in Less Than an Hour (1976)
Salad recipe from Working People’s Cookbook (1976)

The collection has several educational cookbooks, which provide culinary instructions for people wanting to sharpen their culinary skills. There are also government sponsored cookbooks, which outline recommendations for food preparations, dietary guidelines, and often highlight agricultural products from the region.

Cookbook cover with a person boiling water over the stove

Book cover with a woman in blue holding a bowl of produce

Book cover with yellow illustrations of cheese

Although these cookbooks reflect the time in which they were published (Jell-O salads!), the recipes are still incredibly fun to make, and turns out they can be quite delicious! To celebrate this new collection, the TMU Libraries staff who catalogued and processed the cookbooks recreated a dish from the collection to share with others (pictured below!) To view more cookbooks from this collection, stop by the Libraries’ 4th floor exhibition case by Archives & Special Collections, or explore the titles through our online finding aid.

First Edition Photobook, 2020-2022 Award winners

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Rosalynn

The University Library First Edition Photobook Award was launched in 2015, with Alison Skyrme, Special Collections and liaison librarian and Christopher Manson, Image Arts instructor leading the awards program. The award was initiated in relation to work completed as part of a third year Image Arts course titled: The Photographic Book. For the course, students learn design and composition principles and are required to conceive of, and produce, their own photobook from their own photography.

“Over the eight years the award has been granted I have always been impressed with the quality of the work that the photography students produce,” says Skyrme.

Each year student works are submitted for the award and the winning photobooks are selected by panel. In addition to the award, the photobooks are purchased by the Library to become part of its book collection. They are housed by Special Collections and are available for viewing in the Archives and Special Collections reading room. The acquisition of these titles is supported by a donation from The Photographic Historical Society of Canada.

“Every year our collection of student books grows, we have 54 in the collection now, and it becomes a stronger and more impressive record of the creativity and talent of the photography students over time,” says Skyrme.

For the winter semester the Award winning books from the past three years will be on view in the exhibit cases on the 4th floor of the library, located just outside our reading room doors.

A complete list of award winners can be found in the First Edition Photobook Award collection record.

2020 Award Winners:

Metamorphosis by Julie Ng

Interplay of Light by Jordana Petruccelli

Biotypes by Gabrielle Tyrie

Two Minutes of Progress Avenue by Austin Waddell

The Disposable Glitch by Teagan Lopes

Surveillance Culture by Yarden Haddie

2021 Award Winners:

My Mennonite Mother by Sarah Bauman

No, You by Freida Wang

You, The Light & Nothing Else by Christina Oyawale

Right Here. Right Now by Deion Squires-Rouse

Mapping Colour by Abygail De Leon

Plant Kingdom by Zongzhe Cai

Fag! by Tyler Da Silva

I Beg You to Have Patience by Caeden Wigston

My Mennonite Mother by Sarah Bauman, 2020
No, You by Freida Wang, 2020
You, The Light, and Nothing Else by Christina Oyawale, 2020
Right Here. Right Now by Deign Squires-Rouse
Mapping Colour by Abygail De Leon, 2020
Plant Kingdom by Zongzhe Cai, 2020
Fag! by Tyler Da Silva, 2020
I Beg You to Have Patience by Caeden Wigston, 2020

The full range of books created for consideration for the 2021 awards can be viewed on the TMU Artspace webpage “First Edition Photobook Show 2021“

2022 Award Winners:

Back Book by Pengxiang Zhou

Shrieking Sisterhood by Kayla Ward

The Paper by Kayla Ward

Calm and Chaos by Kay Nadjiwon

Rosemary and Thyme by Katya Lina

Need Me by Payton Keeler Cox

Meu Avo by Andrew Moreno

Bring Back the Ice to the Lake by Yixuan Mark Wang

Alcuin Society Book Design Award Winners for 2021

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Alison

Book cover featuring a photograph of Franz Kafka with the eyes cut out in circles. — Her Process: A Translation of Kafta’s ‘The Trial” by Mark Goldstein was awarded 1st place for prose fiction.

Since 1984 the Alcuin Society has recognized excellence in book design with a national awards program. The Library is happy to showcase the 39th award winners in eight trade book categories, for the combined 2020 and 2021 publishing period. The books will be on display in the exhibition window outside of the Archives and Special Collections (ASC), 4th Floor of the Library building, from Nov. 1-Dec. 16, 2022. An exhibition catalogue will be available for consultation inside the ASC during regular hours of operation.

Cookbook cover, featuring a photo of the author along with eggs and a plate of chicken. — The Double Happiness Cookbook by Trevor Lui was awarded 1st place in the reference category,

All of the books are on loan from the Alcuin Society and the Toronto Metropolitan University Library is pleased to be one of the Toronto stops for this national touring exhibition. Later, the books will be touring Germany. For a full list of venues, see the Alcuin Society website.

Book cover featuring a photograph from above of a people riding bikes, skateboards and scooters on a skate park structure — Urban Magnets – How Activity Subcultures Can Be A Catalyst For Rejuvenating Cities by Bruce Haden, Mark Holland, & Bruce Irvine was awarded 1st place in the Prose, Illustrated category.

One book, the third prize winner in the category “Pictorials” has a TMU connection since one of the co-authors of Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada is Craig Jennex, assistant professor in the English Department. The book was designed by Jessica Sullivan.

Book cover for Out North featuring images of LGBTQ2S+ activist buttons — Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada by Authors Craig Jennex & NIsha Eswaran was awarded 3rd place in the Pictorial Category by the Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.

Summer in the Collections

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Rosalynn

As we enjoy the August heat and sunshine and are gearing up for the busy bustle of the September campus. Let’s take a look at summer time and summer activities from our collections.

Bass Steroscopic Photography Collection

Five swimmers, three seated and two standing, at the beach. — Swimmers at the Beach, date unknown. (2018.09.04.01.03)

Henley Regatta in England. View of river with boats and people gathered on the shoreline — After the Finish – International Regatta at Henley, England 1909. H. C. White Co. (2018.09.04.01.03)

The Henley Regatta is still held today (Henley Royal Regatta). It was first held in 1839 and was originally staged by the Mayor and the people of Henley as a public attraction with a fair and other amusements. The emphasis changed to focus on competitive amateur rowing. There is a Royal Canadian Henley Regatta held annually in St. Catharine’s (Henley Regatta) which was first held in 1880.

Start 91

Start ’91 was the inaugural pre-orientation program offered to incoming first year students. The 2 day program was held July 26 and 27 with the purpose of providing the participants with a variety of experiences to help prepare them for university. Campus tours, resource sessions, and interactive sessions with current students, staff, and faculty were held to help develop relationships and build confidence in the attendees. In 1992 the name changed to “Summer Orientation” and was expanded to 2 two-day sessions, one in July and one in August. This was eventually replaced with “Discover Ryerson”, a one day program with sessions for both incoming students and their parents. Toronto Metropolitan University currently offers the Summer Jumpstart Program, through Student Life and Learning Support. This summer long program offers a variety of sessions in various streams in July and August

Lorne Shields Historic Photograph Collection

Person sliding headfirst down a slide into a swimming pool. — Man sliding into pool, c. 1950 (2008.001.349)

Photograph of two men in a canoe near Longlac,Ontario — Summer Snapshots Album “Longlac, Ontario” (2008.001.2.010)

Longlac, now part of the Municipality of Greenstone, sits on the North East end of Long Lake. Longlac is about 4 hours east of Thunder Bay and is a 12 hour car trip up Yonge Street/Hwy. 11 from our location at 350 Victoria Street.

“Summer at Ryerson” series

The “Summer at Ryerson” series was organized through the department of Continuing Education. It ran between May and August and offered courses for personal interests such as dance, fitness, canoeing, scuba diving, and snorkeling. During the second year of running, they added in craft shows and weekly concerts by Lake Devo and in the Kerr Hall Quadrangle. In 1982 it offered 4 courses in sailing – a program that would continue into the Fall and Winter semesters with the chance to sail the Caribbean. The last Summer at Ryerson appears to have been held in 1985.

People seated on grass in Kerr Hall Quad listening to music — People seated in the Quad listening to music, 1980 (RG 122.10.0110)

President Walter Pitman releasing balloons in the air while other look on — President Walter Pitman officially opening the first Summer at Ryerson in 1979 (Rambler Magazine, July 1979)

President Walter Pitman officially opening the first Summer at Ryerson in 1979 (Rambler Magazine, July 1979)

Stay tuned for next month’s blog highlighting a recent acquistion to Archives and Special Collections’ holdings.

Archives A to Z 2022 Week 1

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Rosalynn

We’re joining the Archives of Ontario in their #ArchivesAtoZ month-long campaign. The aim is to increase the public’s awareness of archives and their collections. We’ll be sharing four blog posts throughout the month showcasing items from our holdings and demystifying archival concepts related to each letter of the alphabet.

April 4: A to F
April 11: G to M
April 18: N to S
April 25: T to Z

Artifacts (oversized!)

Archives and Special Collections often go beyond papers, books, and photographs in their collections. Many will have objects and artifacts as well. Our Archives and Special Collections is home to a robust collection of artifacts in all shapes and sizes, including many oversized and heavy ones that make storage tricky. Here are a few examples from the collections. (tap on the photographs to learn more about the objects)

EMI 203 Image Orthicon black and white TV Studio Camera. One of three used in the RTA studios in the 1960’s. (RG 102.39)

Books

Our collection contains a large variety of published materials including books and journals. The Archives previously collected the published works of faculty. Special Collections houses rare books with a photographic focus, children’s books and History of Toronto books. They also have a large collection of photography related journals. Unlike the rest of the library – these books are not out on open shelving for viewing – they need to be pulled by Archives and Special Collections staff, and they are not available to take home. The books can be searched using the library catalogue and narrowing the location to either Archives or Special Collections

Campus Maps

Campus maps are an important part of our collection. They show the evolution and growth of the campus starting with its creation in 1948. They highlight not just the growth of the campus, but also show movement within the campus by the programs and schools that make up the University. For example the School of Architecture is currently located at 325 Church Street. But in the 1960s it was located at 44 Gerrard Street (former School of Performance building), in the early 1970’s it was housed at in the City Hall annex building at 465 Bay Street and after a fire in that building Architecture was housed at 720 King St. (near Bathurst).

1948 Campus map. None of the buildings on this map are still in existence. They were all torn down to make way for Kerr Hall.

Doozers

The Doozers, a favourite of the Archives and Special Collections staff, were part of the Jim Henson Television show “Fraggle Rock”. These tiny creatures were forever building structures only to have them eaten by the Fraggles. The photograph and the book are part of the Robert Hackborn Fonds. This collection contains extensive documentation of the creative processes for television show including on-set images, sketches of set designs and correspondence. Robert Hackborn was a Canadian set designer and art director. He started working at the CBC in 1955 as a scenic paint artist and later progressed to the Set Design Department where he would produce versatile special visual effects incorporated in years of Canadian film and television programming. (Tap on the photographs to learn more about the records)

Exhibition publications

Special Collections has a selection of pamphlets, press releases and publications for exhibitions in museums, galleries, festivals and universities across Canada, the United States and abroad. The collections is continuously growing, but the original acquisition was donated by Alison Nordström, the Curator of Photographs at George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, who collected the material between 1986 and 2011.

Exhibition announcement from the file 2012.014.01 -Exhibition prior to 2000

Frank Sommers interviews

The Frank G. Sommers Fonds contains text and audio records of interviews he conducted with European and Canadian film directors Marianne Ahrne, Walerian Browczyk, Bert Haanstra, Claude Jutra, Ettore Scola, and Alain Tanner between 1978 and 1979. The goals of the interviews were to review converging trends in international cinema through director’s perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the works.

Promotional material accompanying the Ettore Scola interview (2018.019.05)

Next week we’ll highlight items and archival concepts for the letters G to M!

2021 Archives and Special Collections Virtual Alumni Open House

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Cathy

With our doors closed to visitors for a second COVID year, let’s go back and visit anniversary years close to 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, and 10 years ago.

We are located within the Library (Library Building), 4th floor, opposite the elevators :

First, a peek into the Reading Room with tables and chairs spaced out for physical distancing :

Student newspapers are available to peruse on-site. However, there are no digitized copies.
Bound copies of The Ryersonian and The Eyeopener are seen here :

Fortunately, we have this Victorian stained glass window from a Church Street residence Ryerson briefly used for offices in the early to mid 1970s. The house, with other buildings, was demolished for the Architecture Building in the late 1970s :

A behind-the-scenes look into the vault – storage for some of our collections :

Many of the collections are held in archival boxes, such as these grey Hollingers :

Our extensive clipping files are an excellent source of information, including subjects on campus, faculties and programmes, sports, students, faculty members, events, and many more :

Inside an artifact box :

A sample of what might be displayed for Alumni Weekend. Did you use one of these calendars :

…or maybe you wore one of these…

However, it’s been 70 plus years since these adding machines were used in Business courses :

Students started the year in September 1961 with a campus still in transition from the old (Ryerson Hall, now demolished, behind the magnificent tree and its out buildings), to the new with Kerr Hall, here under construction. KHE is in the background…

The photograph above shows the south and west facades of Ryerson Hall, while the photo below (October 1961) you can see the north and west facades of Ryerson Hall. KHE and its radio tower are visible behind and in the foreground, the trench for KHW :

Shot glasses were student union graduating gifts. Clearly visible is 1971 :

For those of you who started your final year in 1971, you might be in this 1972 graduating class :

Did you skate on the rink in 1981 :

A 1995 procession of graduands reflects all graduates’ experience whose ceremonies were in the Ryerson Theatre :

If you graduated in 2001, you might have been at this ceremony when Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel received Honorary Degrees :

And, finally, what was the tuition in each of the feature years?
Annual tuition includes ancillary fees (not course fees) :

1951/1952 = $62

1961/1962 = $246 – $256

1971/1972 = $318 – $328

1981/1982 = $756

1991/1992 = $2,042

1996/1997 = $3,365

2011/2012 = not available

and currently (2021/2022) = $7,053 – $11,140

Thank you for joining us for our second virtual alumni event.

We hope we see in you person in 2022!

Re-visit the 2020 Virtual Alumni Open House blog

Canadian Radio and Television History at Ryerson – November 1949

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Rosalynn

This month marks the 70th anniversary of two important Ryerson and Canadian milestones – The opening of CJRT – Canada’s first educational radio station on the FM band, and the broadcast of “This is the Fashion – marking Canada’s first live television show produced for a general audience.

CJRT FM is on Air

On November 1, 1949 Canada’s first educational radio station on the FM band went on the air. The station was licensed as a completely non-commercial enterprise and operated in conjunction with Ryerson’s Schools of Broadcasting and Electronics. The University of Toronto, the Ontario Department of Education and other Boards of Education in and around Toronto would also take part in programming. The first night of broadcasting was 3 hours in length and included a half hour of recorded music, followed by “CJRT Testing” a documentary on FM broadcasting and CJRT, and finally a concerto of works by a variety of composers.

(RG 159.2)

The station was officially opened on November 22, 1949 by Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Ontario Minister of Education Dana Porter

“CJRT Finest in the World – Frost” Ryerson Institute of Technology The Little Daily

This is the Fashion

On November 14, 1949 Staff and students from Ryerson’s Schools of Fashion Design, Electronics, and Broadcasting combined their talents for “This is the Fashion”, a 20 minute live fashion/comedy broadcast. Using equipment loaned from Famous Players, the show was performed in the School’s boardroom and broadcast to an audience of 200 Radio Industry professionals in the school’s auditorium. The purpose of the night was to promote FM radio and FM radio tuners.

Control room during TV Broadcast of “This is the Fashion” (RG 102.18)

A Window in Time – 1899

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Rosalynn

What is that date on the window?

The Archives and Special Collections (A&SC) windows feature a series of seemingly random numbers worked into the window’s graphic pattern. The numbers are actually dates, chosen by A&SC staff, that are significant to the City of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Archives and Special Collections. Over the course of the next year our blog will feature some of the window dates and explain their significance.

1899

In 1899, after successfully operating on the American market for over a decade, George Eastman dispatched Kodak employee John G. Palmer to Toronto to determine the viability of establishing a subsidiary in Canada. Palmer discovered a robust market for photographic products and, on November 8, 1899, Canadian Kodak Co., Limited was incorporated under the Ontario Company’s act. The nascent company established headquarters in downtown Toronto, embarking on a relationship with the city that would last more than a century and would constitute the heart of the company’s manufacturing operations in Canada.

For more information on Kodak Canada, please read our earlier blog – “Kodak in Toronto”

The New Archives and Special Collections Reading Room is Open for Business!

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Rosalynn

Now open to all students, staff, faculty!

The new Archives and Special Collections reading room is now open for business. We are now located on the 4th floor of the Library in LIB 404, adjacent to the new quiet study and teaching room, LIB405. The Archives and Special Collections reading room is open from Monday – Friday form 9-5.
Artifacts and exhibits are still being installed, but we are open for visitors and researchers. Here are a few photographs of our new digs.

At the front desk, Daisy and RISIS are waiting to welcome you.

One of our “new” reading room tables, actually used by in a Ryerson Board Room in the 1970’s.

The reading room research materials are now all handily in one spot.

One of the most exciting changes for A&SC staff is the new mobile shelving for the collections. Not only did it double our storage capacity, it is also totally separate from the reading room and offices.

For Instructors and Faculty: Teaching With Archival and Special Collections Material

If you are a teaching a class that might benefit from including primary source material, the quiet study/teaching space can be booked for classes. The archives and special collections staff can work with you to select books, photographs, documents, artifacts or other primary source materials from our collections. More information on our collection can be found on our website, and you can search for material on our online database. For more information, or to book a class, please email the Archives and Special Collections at asc@ryerson.ca.

New Quiet Study Area:

A large quiet study area outside of Archives and Special Collections (LIB405) is now open as well and is available during library opening hours, but will occasionally be closed for booked classes. Signage will be posted indicating scheduled bookings.

The A&SC staff encourage you to stop by and visit if you get the chance.

Integrated Pest Management 2.0 in A&SC

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Teresa Wong

Pokémon Go pests infesting your reading room? Who you gonna call? Student intern! Problem: your once peaceful reading room has been overrun with strange colourful pests.

Drowzees were found all over the place, whether it be hiding with our reel collection…

…or sitting by the Archives entrance waiting for archival research assistance.

Speaking of sitting, a Jynx was spotted on top of the Normal School desk. It seemed to be enjoying itself hanging out with Egerton Ryerson and our resident Kodak Kolorkin genealogist.

A Pidgey was discovered lounging on the architectural model of the Toronto Normal School and St. James Square.

IMG_2016-07-20-11485454 — Toronto Normal School and St. James Square architectural model.

Pokémon seem to really enjoy our architectural models as a Bellsprout was found listening in on a meeting.

IMG_2016-07-20-11464380 — Jorgenson-Learning Resources Complex architectural model (RG 8.17)

A Rattata was seen keeping one of the reading room tables all to itself.

Even the books from Special Collections were infested with Zubats flying around the shelves.

However, our biggest problem seems to be in the stacks. In the span of a few minutes a Gastly, a Rattata, and a Spearow had to be caught in order to keep everything in order!

We’ve resorted to hanging these pheromone traps around the archives and tracking them down…

…but if anybody can think of a better way to capture and remove these critters, we’d love to hear from you. We’d hate to have to resort to letting these hard workers out of their box…

doozer twitter 1001 (1) — Doozer figurines (2012.005.05.07)

…but if we need to, our contingency plan involves setting up intricate sugary lattice traps in the hopes of attracting and capturing these pests.

For now we’re hard at work catching Pokémon when we find them! Or you might say we’re hardly working…

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2020 Award Winners:

2021 Award Winners:

2022 Award Winners:

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Start 91

“Summer at Ryerson” series

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CJRT FM is on Air

This is the Fashion

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What is that date on the window?

1899

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Now open to all students, staff, faculty!

For Instructors and Faculty: Teaching With Archival and Special Collections Material

New Quiet Study Area:

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