OBJECT GALLERY
In 2015 Infrastructure Ontario commissioned the archeological firm Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants to lead its Armoury Street dig at the site of the new Courthouse at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. The dig unearthed tens of thousands of artifacts and remnants of objects from the neighbourhood that once stood at the center of Canada's most populous city. Fish bones and coconut and oyster shells were some of the recognizable food remains that shed light on residents’ eating habits. Ceramic dishes, milk and seltzer bottles, children’s toys and shoes were some of the household items that reveal telling details about everyday life in the area. Holly Martelle led that dig as its chief archeologist. See some of her favourite objects in our Gallery. Below are a few of the objects included in the Into The Ward Augmented Reality exhibit.
Details about these objects were kindly provided by the TMHC archeologists, and by their book 2018 The Ward Uncovered: The Archaeology of Everyday Life (Coach House Books).
Black Doll Head
19th century Black dolls generally took two forms: racist caricatures marketed to White families; or Black-painted dolls made from the molds for White dolls. This rare doll, which may have been manufactured in Germany, was made from a mold designed to depict a Black person.
Hat Mould
Hat form from the Fashion Hat & Cap Company, which occupied the former Eaton's factory on chestnut Street from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Commemorative Plate
This commemorative plate was made in honour of Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) which documented the experience of Josiah Henson's enslavement in the United States and escape.
Black Porcelain Doll
This porcelain doll is...
Glass Bottle
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Porcelain Dentures
Vulcanite dentures covered in porcelain teeth.
Miller's Glycerine
An ointment "for chapped hands, sore lips, sun burns etc."
Projectile Point
A 2,000-year-old projectile point or spearhead which was made from Onondaga chert along Lake Erie and which has somehow found its way to the Dig. Archaeologists speculate that it may have been found near the former residence at 76 Chestnut Street, before being accidentally dropped, or purposefully disposed of, in the privy behind the house.
Brass Key
Brass residential key, excavated in November 2015
Enemmelled Metal Pitcher
Well preserved tin enammelled pitcher, likely used for milk. Popular among working-class families and in transit worker settlements like railway and lumber camps. Early 20th century.
Gate Post
Iron gate post finial from fence line between two residential properties on Centre Avenue.
Whale Oil Lamp
Luxurious press-glass whale oil lamp. A rare find on an Ontario archeological site, especially in a working-class neighborhood as whale oil was an unreliable and often expensive source of light. In the 1960s, most switched to Kerosyn.
Seltzer Bottle
Some of the seltzer bottles have been linked to various local Jewish-owned seltzer companies that operated after 1900, including Fauman Brothers, Halpern Brothers, Paris Soda Water Manufacturing Company, Union Soda Water, Toronto Soda Water and Ontario Soda Water.