Publishing the first issue of the Toronto Sun 39 years ago today must have been a goulish job for the 62 Day Oners who worked late into Halloween night to get the job done.
Today's anniversary coincides with Nov. 1, 1971, a Monday. From many stories told, the determined crew, some slightly hung over from Tely wakes, worked in overdrive.
But the Miracle on King Street (322 King Street West to be exact) saw the light of day and Toronto's first tabloid, all 48 pages, was an instant hit with the city's newspaper readers.
The rest is history, a tale of the rise and fall of The Little Paper That Grew in leaps and bounds until the Sun empire was sold to Quebecor in 1999.
The creaky old Eclipse Whitewear Building where it all started still stands and could probably accommodate all that remains of the Toronto Sun staff today.
Farb's Car Wash across the street from the Eclipse is long gone and the flashy new TIFF Bell Lightbox stands in its place.
Only four of the 62 Sun Day Oners are still on the job - Peter Worthington, Andy Donato, Christina Blizzard and Jim Thomson. We celebrate their 39th with them and all other Day Oners.
Their accomplishments should never be forgotten. They paved the way for thousands of other newspaper workers in all departments.
It was a North American print media success story worthy of a Hollywood movie or a television documentary. Perhaps in time for the Toronto Sun's 40th next year.
As faithful TSF readers must know by now, a lot of Sun vets miss the Sun of old, when newspaper people were at the helm, the job and respect went hand in hand, and it was full steam ahead.
Now it's time for Doug's Vets to start thinking about gathering next year for the 40th anniversary, when Day Oners and the troops that followed can mark a milestone with the same flare Doug, Peter and Don marked special occasions in the glory years.
It's the least we can do to honour the spirit of the 62 Day Oners and all who followed.
From the TSF archives, Day One memories from Joan Sutton - Christina Blizzard - George Gross - John Downing - John Iaboni - Kaye Corbett - Ken Robertson.
Wouldn't it be nice if the Sun remained long enough to celebrate it's 40th anniversary.
ReplyDeleteAre there any plans we know of to officially mark this momentous occasion next year?
Bill Sandford