...that once, just once, you could find out more about the ads that you see in old papers? This ad is an example of just that. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for spotting it, for the offers evidence of what I'd already uncovered: That Elgin and the Golden Triangle (the area bounded by Elgin, Lisgar and the Canal) was a place that in the 70's and 80's had a lot of homos in it living in it , partly due to the number of large and at the time cheap places to live, which a lot of young queers lived in with a bunch of other people, usually other queers.
However, wouldn't it be great to hear the story of this place? How long did it last, how did the place come to be? Did the collective ever have any hassles from the neighbours, or the landlord? What were the living arrangements like? What were the parties like? How did it all end, and what happened to Mike, Dave, or Denis?
Grant, are you still working on this? I just came across this today - I was looking for something from the old GO days....
ReplyDeleteI am the Denis noted in the GO Info ad. The house was at 120 Cartier near Waverley. A relatively low cost rental in those days with a lot of rooming houses in that area - we got the house in September 1974 and it did go on until about 1980 or so. I recall we did all the signs and banners for a national conference in 1975 at the house, on the front lawn and we did hang the big banner on the clothes line in the back. All of us were out and the house was great, considering the GO centre had moved to Elgin Street, just North of Gladstone. More info - contact me,