The Humble Birth of Table Hockey
Plus the future of the Honest Ed's sign, the legacy of Queen West, and more...
Donald Munro wasn't sure what to do. Christmas was fast approaching, but this was 1932 — the height of the Great Depression. He, like so many Torontonians, was out of work. He didn't have enough money to buy presents for his children. This year, he knew he was going to have to make them something himself. But what?
That's when inspiration struck. Over the next few days, Munro would cobble together a strange new invention. And while it was originally meant simply to entertain his own kids, it would go on to become an international sensation.
Donald Munro was about to invent table hockey.
The tale has been told many times since, and the details can differ from one version to another, but they all follow the same basic story. Munro got to work in the basement of his home near Donlands & the Danforth, collecting various bits and bobs from around the house and transforming them into a legendary Christmas gift. Clothes pins, butcher's wire and clock springs became forwards, defencemen and a makeshift arena. The role of the ice rink would be played by his wife Edith's ironing board. He even made sure to build the game so it could easily be taken apart once a week for laundry day.
That early version of the game was quite a bit different from the one we know today. It was more like a two-sided pinball game. The players were represented by flippers, the puck was a marble, and the board was slanted so the ball would naturally roll toward the nets. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to translate the wonders of hockey onto a tabletop. The Eaton's department store had advertised a version called "Hockey-ette" a decade earlier. And The Toronto Daily Star had printed instructions for a makeshift game they called "table hockey" involving two players blowing eggshells across a dining room table. But it was Munro's invention that would really take off. He imagined it as a one-time gift for his kids, but thanks to a little bit of luck that plan was about to change.
There was a knock at the door. It was a salesman selling flowerpots made out of melted vinyl records. The Munros couldn't afford to buy his products, but since they were about to sit down for dinner, they invited him in. During that brief visit, the salesman became deeply impressed by the new game. He suggested Munro get in touch with Eaton's, the most famous retail brand in Canada.
Timothy Eaton had opened his first dry goods store on Yonge Street back in 1869. Since then, the business had quickly expanded into one of the most famous in Canadian history. Eaton's new flagship department store at Yonge & Queen became part of a whole complex covering several city blocks, with new locations opening across the country and an iconic mail-order catalogue that brought the company into countless Canadian homes. By the early 1900s, Eaton's was already billing itself as "the largest retail organization in the British Empire." And the brand's reach would only grow from there. If Munro could get in with Eaton's, it would change his life.
The plan began modestly enough. The door-to-door salesman introduced Munro to the owner of a small radio factory who agreed to make three prototypes. The first was given to the salesman, the second to the factory owner. But the third was the most important. Munro took it downtown to Eaton's.
That day would change everything. His pitch landed; the store was impressed. They immediately agreed to put the prototype on display. By the time Munro got home, the game had already sold. Eaton's was asking for ten more. And that was just the beginning.
The rickety Christmas contraption would transform the Munro family's life. The games were priced at $4.95 — more than $100 in today's money — and they sold like hot cakes. The orders kept pouring in. Soon, the whole family had been recruited to make them. Edith was crocheting nets while the kids sanded down the wood. Before long, friends and neighbours were pitching in, too. It was the beginning of the Munro Toys company.
In the years to come, table hockey would prove to be an absolute sensation. It was originally sold under the name "National Hockey," and it quickly became a national phenomenon. It was so popular by the time the Second World War broke out that at the same time many factories were being turned over to the war effort, the government made sure Munro Toys had the materials it needed to keep supplying Canadians with their beloved new game. Munro's son, Donald Munro Jr., is even said to have travelled across Britain, from one military base to another, repairing the table hockey sets Canadian soldiers were playing during their training.
Within a couple of decades, it's thought that 75,000 Canadian families owned the game. Table hockey had become a staple of countless childhoods. And once Munro's patent expired, rival companies began producing their own versions — most notably in Montreal and Sweden. It gradually evolved into the modern table hockey game we know today. There would be new bells and whistles, major sponsorships and endorsements, and enthusiastic collectors who paid fortunes to track down the wooden originals. Today, the International Table Hockey Federation oversees a major annual tournament featuring players from all over the world.
But it all started with an ironing board and a strange idea one humble Christmas in Toronto.
You can check out a video of someone playing one of the old wooden versions of the game here. I first wrote about the invention of table hockey as part of our Toronto sports history exhibit at Museum of Toronto, having stumbled across an old table hockey set at the Hockey Hall of Fame’s storage facility in Etobicoke during our research.
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What Ever Happened to the Honest Ed’s Sign?
It’s been seven years since Honest Ed’s was demolished — and seven years since its iconic signage last graced the corner of Bathurst & Bloor. So, The Toronto Star’s Serena Austin decided to track down the massive sign that was saved during construction and get an update on plans for it — while also interviewing me about my thoughts on its future.
The sign currently sits in a storage facility in Orillia and progress on restoring it so it can go back up on public display has been slower than anticipated. But David Mirvish told her he’s still confident it will eventually return to the streets of Toronto. “Someday,” he promises, '“it will be able to be put up.”
The Legacy of Queen West
The story about Honest Ed’s isn’t the only interview I gave to The Toronto Star over the holidays. I also talked to Mark Colley about the history of Queen West. With CP24 leaving its famous headquarters at 299 Queen, he decided to take a look back at the days when those few downtown blocks were at the heart of arts and culture in Toronto.
My own first formative visit to Queen West came in the middle of the 1990s. I was about fourteen years old when my older sister took me to see an all-ages Rheostatics show upstairs at the Ultrasound — just a couple of doors down from the Citytv building. “It was,” as I told Mark, “the greatest thing I had ever seen.” That day played a big part in my falling in love with the city.
Announcing “From Hogtown To Downtown” With The LIFE Institute!
I’m kicking off the new year by bringing back my most popular course — and this time it’s thanks to the LIFE Institute!
From Hogtown To Downtown: A History of Toronto in Eight Weeks is an overview of the history of our city. And I’m thrilled to be offering it through the LIFE Institute, which provides educational programming for “older adults” (50+) and is affiliated with Toronto Metropolitan University’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.
Description: The history of Toronto is filled with fascinating stories that teach us about ourselves and our community. In this eight-week, online course, we'll explore the city's past from a time long before it was founded, through its days as a rowdy frontier town, and all the way to the sprawling megacity we know today. How did Toronto become the multicultural metropolis of the twenty-first century? The answer involves everything from duels to broken hearts to pigeons.
When: Tuesdays at 12:30pm from January 28 to March 18.
Where: Online over Zoom.
How Much: $99 with a membership.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LIFE INSTITUTE
LEARN MORE ABOUT CURRENT COURSES, INCLUDING MINE
QUICK LINKS
The best of everything else that’s new in Toronto’s past…
GROUP OF SEVEN NEWS — Some good news about the Group of Seven art and murals that were destroyed during the fire that gutted St. Anne’s Anglican Church last year. Some of them aren’t entirely gone; pieces have been salvaged and are currently being restored. Aarjavee Raaj wrote about it for CP24. Read more.
EXCITING NEW BOOK NEWS — Here’s one I’m looking forward to reading. Back in 1910, the guy who built Casa Loma, Sir Henry Pellatt, took hundreds of Canadian soldiers to England in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s Own Rifles. Now, author Mima Brown Kapches has told the story of that famous voyage in The English Trip of 1910: Toronto, Sir Henry Pellatt, the Queen's Own Rifles and the Press Gang. Read more.
SECRET NEWS — In other Casa Loma news, Peter Edwards writes in The Toronto Star about how the “during the Second World War, the secret tunnel and attached rooms helped save Allied lives and shorten the war” thanks to a very secret project. Read more.
HO HO HO OH NO NEWS — Jamie Bradburn has a couple of new pieces over at Toronto Today. The first takes a look at the story of a Toronto man who was thrown in jail for declaring that Santa Claus isn’t real. Read more.
Y2K NEWS — Jamie’s second piece takes us back 25 years (oh my god how has it been 25 years?!) to the Y2K panic of New Year’s Eve 1999. Read more.
OLD MONEY NEWS — On Bluesky, Shawn Micallef (with a tip of the hat to Ivor Tossell) shared a fascinating old piece about Toronto from The New York Times. Published in 1970, it explores the city as it was back then through the eyes of its old money families like the Eatons and the Gooderhams. Read more.
OLD CHRISTMAS TREE NEWS — Also on Bluesky, Jeremy Hopkins uncovered a delightful story about a Torontonian idea for reusing Christmas trees back in 1924: they were planted in the frozen ice of our harbour to mark a safe path across to the islands. Read more.
INCORRIGIBLE NEWS — Meanwhile, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory Bluesky account reminds us of the days when young women in our city risked being labelled as “incorrigible” and institutionalized if they dared visit dance halls and cabarets. Read more.
They also shared a link to a documentary about Velma Demerson, who I wrote a chapter about in my Toronto Book of Love. She was imprisoned at the Mercer for getting pregnant after falling in love with a Chinese-Canadian man. You can stream it with a free account at the Knowledge Network. Watch it.
SWEET DADDY NEWS — A local wrestling icon passed away on New Year’s Eve. Adam Laskaris remembers Sweet Daddy Siki for blogTO. Read more.
BONG BONG BONG NEWS — The Muddy York podcast reminds us that it was 125 years ago this week that the bells of Old City Hall rang out above Toronto for the first time, while sharing some neat close-up photos of them I haven’t seen before. Check them out.
TERRIFYING TALKIE NEWS — The Muddy York account also shared another fun anniversary: it was during the holiday season of 1928 that our city’s first “talkie” debuted at the Tivoli Theatre:
(Click to open on Bluesky.)
SUBTERRANEAN NEWS — For Heritage Toronto, Shannon Buskermolen explores the lonnnnng history of battles over the idea of digging a tunnel to the island airport, which it turns out were first sparked all the way back in 1929. Read more.
TORONTO HISTORY EVENTS
NEWSGIRLS: GUTSY PIONEERS IN CANADA’S NEWSROOM
January 22 — 6:30pm — Don Mills Library
“Toronto author Donna Jean MacKinnon documents the lives of leading female reporters who began their careers during newspapers' Golden Age (1920-1960). Her fascinating presentation recounts how these trailblazers covered every beat from art, fashion, and crime to social issues and politics.”
Free with registration!
ILLUMINATING THE NIGHT: THE MAGIC LANTERN SLIDES OF WILLIAM JAMES & THE HISTORY OF TORONTO
January 23 — 7pm — Toronto’s First Post Office – Town of York Historical Society
“Join Richard Fiennes-Clinton as he discusses William James, the notable Toronto photographer who took thousands of images of the City in his career spanning several decades. Richard will discuss how James often made his images viewable to the people of Toronto by displaying them on his "magic lantern", a projector that used kerosene for the power of illumination and hand-tinted dozens of theses slides. William James and his luminary slides will be the subject of this presentation bringing light and colour to this often darker and wintry time of year.”
$22.63 for non-members; $17.31 for members.
CURATORIAL TOURS OF BLACK DIASPORAS TKARONTO-TORONTO
January 25 & February 22 — 1 & 3pm — Museum of Toronto
“Join us at Museum of Toronto for a curatorial tour of the Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto exhibition. Led by a member of Museum of Toronto, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at this exhibition while learning about the importance of oral histories and community archives.”
$10 recommended admission.
THE HOWLAND LECTURE
January 26 — 2pm — Lambton House — Heritage York
“Howland Lecture with Darin Wybenga, Heritage Interpreter for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation on the Mississaugas and the Humber.”
Free, I believe!
AN OVERVIEW OF 400 YEAR OF BLACK HISTORY IN CANADA
February 1 — 2pm — Richview Library
“Historian and author Channon Oyeniran (The Time Travel Adventures of Ara: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad) provides an overview on the rich and expansive history and experiences of people of African descent in Canada over 400 years. The presentation will the topics of Black enslavement and the history of slavery in Canada, and the stories and achievements of significant individuals and groups that have contributed to various aspects of Canadian society (e.g. science, business, politics, art & culture, etc.).”
Free with registration!
OUT FROM THE SHADOWS: WOMEN AND THEIR WORK IN 19th CENTURY TORONTO
February 4 — 2pm — Yorkville Library
“Author Elizabeth Gillian Muir discusses her book, An Unrecognized Contribution: Women and their Work in 19th-century Toronto, which details the work that women did in the city that has not been recognized in early histories. While women did own factories, taverns, pubs, stores, market gardens, butcher shops, brickyards, and other commercial ventures, their contributions to these industries have been hidden for decades. The presentation will include photos and time for a Q & A.”
Free!
FINDING 19th-CENTURY BLACK HISTORY IN TORONTO
February 5 — 7:30pm — Online & Swansea Town Hall — Swansea Historical Society
“February is Black History Month, and we have invited Hilary [Dawson] to share her interesting and little-known stories concerning the contributions of Toronto’s Black community in the 1800s. Hilary spoke to the Swansea Historical Society on a related topic more than 20 years ago, and we are delighted that she will be returning in February.”
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN: COL. JAMES FITZGIBBON’S TRIUMPHS AND FAILURES IN CANADA
February 13 — 7pm — Toronto’s First Post Office — Town of York Historical Society
“Join historian Dr. Jane McGaughey as she discusses the life and times of Colonel James FitzGibbon, one of the best-known soldiers in 19th century Upper Canada, and a familiar face to many in Toronto. Arriving in in the colony as a dashing young officer, he was the protégé of General Sir Isaac Brock and first rose to prominence as a hero in the War of 1812. He further earned the public's esteem for his roles in stemming sectarian violence, helping others during the cholera epidemic of 1832, and defending Toronto from rebels in 1837. In private, he lived a life of adventure, romance, and tragedy more befitting a character from a Jane Austen or Bridgerton novel than someone in real life. Given all that, Dr. Jane McGaughey will ask the pertinent question as to why James Fitzgibbon has become one of the more forgotten characters in Canada's past.”
$17.31 for members; $22.63 for non-members.
THE LETTERS: POSTMARK PREJUDICE IN BLACK AND WHITE
February 20 — 7:30pm — Montgomery’s Inn — Etobicoke Historical Society
“Author Sheila White will present from her book, The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White, a biographical novel about the courtship and marriage of her white mother and black father in 1947. Set in Nova Scotia and Toronto, the novel references characters and events significant in Canadian history, among them The Halifax Explosion; No. 2 Construction Battalion and its chaplain, Rev. Captain Dr. William Andrew White, who was the author's grandfather; internationally acclaimed classical singer Portia White, and civil rights icon Viola Desmond.”
Free for members; annual memberships are $25.
BLACK DIASPORAS TKARONTO-TORONTO
Until February 22 — Wed to Sat, 12–6pm— Musseum of Toronto
“Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto presents films and archives told and created by over 100 Black Canadians. More than 500 personal narratives document the rich histories that have shaped the spaces and places of contemporary Toronto. Visitors are encouraged to take time for intimate listening and viewing in areas throughout the show. They will discover personal stories from across multiple generations, highlighting the depth of Black history in this city and across Canada, and representing over 20 countries that represent this city’s Black diaspora. Visitors are also encouraged to share their origins if they wish, highlight moments of Toronto’s history that aren’t noted here, and identify events, organizations or even food that exists in Toronto because of Black histories.”
Free! (Donation suggested.)
THE LETTERS: POSTMARK PREJUDICE IN BLACK AND WHITE
February 25 — 2pm — Mount Pleasant Library
“Author Sheila White will discuss and read a passage from her newly published biographical novel, The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White which depicts and reflects upon the relationship of her parents --her mother from a traditional Nova Scotia family, her father a member of a prominent Black family-- in the face of racism and pervasive bigotry during the late 1940's.”
Free with registration!