I cannot remember how I acquired this postcard. I believe my mother gave it to me; perhaps she picked it up at any of the antique shows she would attend with my brother. I like this card because it shows the original TTC subways, which were red (with light green interiors). Some of the original trains were light silver. I am old enough to remember riding on them. They only ran on the Yonge (-University-Spadina) line. These train cars had windows you could open (!) and often the lights inside would go off. I believe these brief blackouts were part of the normal operations.

The station featured is King. It doesn’t look anything how I remember it, and I can remember how all the Yonge stations looked before they were redesigned in the early eighties. Only Eglinton remains in its original form. By the way, the original designs for Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the University line have been returned to their original forms, after decades of metal panelwork lining the station walls.

I wonder what became of Glenna, the young girl in the postcard’s message who preferred a red garden trowel over a new tricycle.