The Forgotten Newspaper Baron
Plus the deep history behind a new development, art, hats and more.
Eight decades ago, there were few people in Toronto more powerful than George McCullagh — and in some ways, few more frightening. But today, barely anyone has heard his name. And I have to admit that until just a few weeks ago, I was one of those who didn’t know anything about him.
But a new book about Toronto’s forgotten newspaper baron is being released this week. Big Men Fear Me: The Fast Life and Quick Death of Canada’s Most Powerful Media Mogul by Mark Bourrie hits the shelves on Tuesday. I learned about it thanks to a recent tweet from Jamie Bradburn that sparked my interest. In it, he described McCullagh as “flawed and fascinating.” And oh boy, was he ever.
McCullagh started at the very bottom of the newspaper industry. He dropped out of high school in the early 1920s so he could work for The Globe, trudging from farm to farm in the countryside outside London, selling subscriptions door-to-door. He managed to work his way up from there, becoming a business reporter before quitting to pursue a new career as a stockbroker. “The next time I come in,” he promised his publisher on his way out, “I’ll be buying the paper out from under you.”
And that’s exactly what he’d do.
While the economy was tanking in the early years of the Great Depression, McCullagh was making his fortune thanks to some timely investments in gold mines. Within a few years, he’d made enough money to make good on his boast. In October 1936, he bought The Globe — exactly 86 years ago yesterday. A month later, he bought The Mail and Empire, too. It was McCullagh who merged the two old newspapers to create today’s Globe and Mail.
But behind all that success, he really was deeply flawed. He was a notorious alcoholic. His had a reputation for sexual harassment; women who worked at the newspaper hid when they heard he was looking for them. And then, there were his political views.
It was McCullagh who began the Globe’s drift to the right, shifting its support from the Liberals to the Conservatives over the course of his time at the helm. But that was nothing compared to the much more dramatic changes he wanted to make, not just to the paper but to Canada itself — ideas that would threaten the very foundations of our democracy.
McCullagh championed the idea of a one-party system that would be controlled by big business. And he had the money, platform, and connections he needed to promote the concept, so that it wasn’t just a crackpot’s pipe dream but a possibility seriously discussed at some of the highest levels of power. As Bradburn puts it in his Torontoist article about McCullagh, “The Toronto Star called it ‘a campaign which undermines the confidence of Canadians in democracy,’ while the Vancouver Sun saw the logical end of McCullagh’s campaign as ‘a Canadian Fascism.’” That threat must have felt very real with the Second World War just months away.
Thankfully, the idea never got the support it needed to become a reality. The campaign sputtered after a poorly-attended rally at Maple Leaf Gardens. But McCullagh would continue to wield immense power for another decade to come, even buying The Toronto Telegram in the years after the war.
But he also suffered from terrible depression. It had plagued him for years, and in the end it seems to have taken his life. He was found dead in his swimming pool at the age of 47. The newspapers would claim it was a heartattack, but the truth was that he’d died by suicide.
Read Jamie Bradburn’s Torontoist article about George McCullagh
Read the Literary Review of Canada’s review of Mark Bourrie’s new book
THE SMITH BLOCK’S DEEP ROOTS — A TALE OF HUNTING, FARMING & BASEBALL
The Smiths were one of Toronto’s founding families. William was one of the builders who arrived in the summer of 1793 to begin construction on a muddy little frontier town in a place that had already been home to First Nations for thousands upon thousandd of years
Smith built Toronto’s first church, as well as the lighthouse that keeps watch over the islands to this day, and homes for many of the town’s leading citizens, too — including a log cabin for the Simcoes, which they would call Castle Frank. He served during the War of 1812 and was taken prisoner when the Americans invaded the town. He died just a few years later. But his family name still lives on in our city thanks to a block of Victorian buildings in Riverside — ones a developer now plans to restore and expand.
It was in the same year William died that his son bought that land. The family would have a farm there on the eastern banks of the Don River — where Queen Street crosses it — throughout most of the 1800s. His son loved to hunt there in the days when it was home to bears, deer, foxes and groundhogs. And he could easily travel down to the marshes of Ashbridge’s Bay, filled with immense flocks of waterfowl.
It was thanks to William’s grandson that the farm would be used for sports. John Smith was a cricketer and a founding member of the Toronto Curling Club. So, when he inherited the family farm, “Uncle John” was happy to let local sports teams play in his fields. And he would eventually make that arrangement official.
By the 1880s, a new sport was taking Toronto by storm. Baseball had been played in our city since at least the 1850s, but now we boasted our own professional team. The Toronto Baseball Club spent its first season playing out of the Rosedale Lacrosse Grounds. But John Smith gave them a new home. They leased his fields to build Toronto’s first baseball stadium. At first, it would be known as the Toronto Baseball Grounds. But when Smith sold another chunk of his property to the Lever Brothers, they built the Sunlight Soap Works factory next door and the ballyard became known as Sunlight Park.
And so, it was on the Smith farm that Toronto won its first baseball championship all the way back in 1887 (one of the first steps down the long path that brought us to last weekend’s nightmare against the Mariners).
Smith soon sold the strip of land he lived on, too. His house, which must have stood right next to the ballpark, was demolished to make way for a new row of Victorian storefronts: The Smith Block.
Those storefronts have been there ever since — although the elegant central section burned down in the 1960s and is now home to a little parking lot. You’ll even find a reminder of that old championship baseball team. One of the storefronts is occupied by the Cannonball Café, named in honour of Cannonball Crane — the eccentric hero of the 1887 team and one of the people who gets a chapter in my Toronto Book of the Dead.
Now, the Smith Block looks like it’s about to enter a new era. Streetcar Developments is looking for approval to rebuild the central block, renovate the storefronts, and add housing.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SMITH FAMILY
Before we continue, just a very quick reminder that The Toronto History Weekly will only survive if enough of you are willing to switch to a paid subscription. Only about 5% of readers have made the switch so far, which basically means that by offering a few dollars a month you’ll be giving the gift of Toronto history to 20 other people. You can make the switch by clicking here:
QUICK LINKS
The best of everything else that’s new in Toronto’s past…
ART VS. ART NEWS — Jamie Bradburn seems to have been busy this week. First up, a new piece for Spacing all about the “satirical performance art trio” who finished second in the race for mayor back in 1982. Read more.
SUFFRAGE NEWS — He also shared an article from his Torontoist archives, which takes a look back at who has — and hasn’t — been allowed to vote in our city’s elections. Read more.
HAT TRICKS NEWS — And finally, he inspired a little from the City of Toronto Archives about Sammy Taft and his legendary hat shop on Spadina. He invented the idea of a hat trick, and outfitted big stars like Louis Armstrong, Bob Hope and Cab Calloway, all of whom you’ll find pictured in their post:
Click to see the full post.
SIGNS THAT DEFINE TORONTO NEWS — Dylan Reid published a new edition of his Desire Lines newsletter this week. In it, among other things, he previews the upcoming Spacing book The Signs that Define Toronto, “a wonderful trip through a century or more of signage.” Read more.
THE ISLANDS USED TO BE WETTER NEWS — I’m fascinated by the evolution of the Toronto islands. When our city was founded, they weren’t even islands at all. They were a big, long sandbar still connected to the mainland. It wasn’t until a couple of big storms in the 1850s that the eastern gap was created. So, I was quite interested to see some photos the City of Toronto Archives shared on Twitter a couple of months back, showing us what the island looked like in 1899. They were snapped by the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse and show a few decades after those big storms, the islands were still a very different place than they are today:
REGENT RENDERING NEWS — Last week, I mentioned that the old Regent Theatre on Mount Pleasant is being renovated and reopened as a theatrical and event space. This week, blogTO shares a new rendering of what it will look like, with a glassed-in rooftop and new signage. Read more.
TORONTO HISTORY EVENTS
GHOSTLY WALK THROUGH THE TOWN OF YORK
October 20 & 28 — 7pm — The Town of York Historical Society & Toronto’s First Post Office
“Brave the darkness as we head into the city to explore the ghostly haunts of the Old Town of York, and hear tales of dread and mystery from those who walked Toronto’s streets before us. The walk will proceed rain or shine, so please dress for the weather. Tours start/end at Toronto’s First Post Office.”
$16.93 for non-members; $11.62 for members
A DAUGHTER REBELS: THE STORY OF ANNE POWELL
October 20 — 7:30pm — Online — Etobicoke Historical Society
“For Anne Powell in 1807, life in York (now Toronto) was unbearable. Her mother's rules of genteel propriety were intolerable, as were her father's insistence that a daughter's only role in life is to marry. But Anne craved a different future. As a midwife and nurse, she saved a friend from a botched abortion, delivered a servant's baby, and nursed the wounded during the American invasion of York - activities her parents hated and opposed. Author and educator Ann Birch will draw on her research from her historical novel, A Daughter Rebels, to follow the adventures of the real-life Anne Powell as she dared to challenge the norms of early 19th century society.”
Anne Powell was one of the figures I was most fascinated by while writing The Toronto Book of Love!
Free for members; an annual membership is $25.
TRACING IRISH IMMIGRANTS
PART ONE: THE IRISH COME TO TORONTO
October 20 — 7:30pm — Online — Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society
“An exploration of pre-Famine and Famine Irish migration to Toronto in the 19th century, and a reflection on the records used to track Irish individuals and families. There will be a special emphasis placed on tracking nearly 200 Irish orphans who were placed from the Widows and Orphans Asylum in Toronto in 1847–1848. Speaker: Mark G McGowan is a Professor of History and Celtic Studies at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.”
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PART TWO: TRANSPORTING IRISH FAMINE EMIGRANTS IN THE CANADAS IN THE SUMMER OF 1847
October 27 — 7:30pm
“Laura Smith and Charmaine Lindsay will give an overview of the Canadian government’s management of destitute emigrants from Ireland during the mid-1840s and particularly in the peak Famine year of 1847. They’ll discuss the findings and progress of the ongoing Tracing Famine Migrants in Ontario project, which is combining a little known group of records known as the Emigration Service Fund, with genealogical and historical research to trace the journeys and ultimate fates of approximately 5000 Irish emigrants who were provided with government transportation into rural townships from Toronto and Cobourg in the summer of 1847. Finally, they’ll discuss ways in which members of Toronto Branch might assist in the next phase of the project which is tracing emigrants treated at Toronto’s Emigrant hospital in the summer of 1847.”
$20 for non-members; $15 for members. Tickets include admission to both events.
SCHOOLING THE SYSTEM: A HISTORY OF BLACK WOMEN TEACHERS
October 27 — 7pm — Online & at Toronto’s First Post Office — Town of York Historical Society
“Dr. Funké Aladejebi will speak about her most recently published book, Schooling the System: A History of Black Women Teachers and her exploration of the intersections between race, gender and access in Canadian educational institutions. ‘Using oral narratives to tell the story of black access and education in Ontario between the 1940s and the 1980s, Schooling the System provides textured insight into how issues of race, gender, class, geographic origin, and training shaped women’s distinct experiences within the profession. By valuing women’s voices and lived experiences, Dr. Funké Aladejebi illustrates that black women, as a diverse group, made vital contributions to the creation and development of anti-racist education in Canada.’”
$22.23 for non-members; $16.93 for members.
ARTIFACTS & APPARITIONS: AN EVENING TALK
October 27 — 6pm — Clark Centre for the Arts (191 Guildwood Pkwy, Scarborough)
“Join us for an informative talk about the history of our site and archival collection with Alex Avdichuk, Supervisor Collections & Conservation for the City of Toronto. You will also get to hear tales of the ghosts that are said to roam our halls.”
Free!
TWO WAYS TO WRITE HISTORICAL TORONTO
November 14 — 7pm — Another Story Bookshop
“Jane Cawthorne’s debut novel, Patterson House, is set in the Beach between 1850 and 1954. Historian Katherine Taylor’s photographic history, Toronto: City of Commerce 1800-1960, nominated for the Heritage Toronto Book Award, traces the ever changing commercial landscape of Toronto and recounts the stories of vanished businesses and their owners and workers. What goes into writing the history of a place? Both Jane and Katherine will read from their work and, in conversation with MC Judy Rebick, will discuss these two very ‘Toronto’ books.”
Free!