Caption: Evening rush hour finds TTC PCC 4675 (an ex-Cleveland A-12 class car built in 1946) stopped to load passengers westbound on Queen Street at Bay Street, operating on the busy Queen route bound for Humber Loop. In the background, the T. Eaton Company's historic Queen Street store slowly meets the wrecking ball, having been replaced by the new million square foot Eaton Centre store that opened at Dundas Street three months earlier. The old store was a collection of smaller buildings bought up by the retailing giant as it expanded over the years and combined into one (with nearby factories and budget stores located on adjacent blocks) and was being torn down by Teperman Wrecking in anticipation of expanding the new shopping centre south to Queen St. to meet up with Simpsons on the south side.

The Eatons Queen Street store was always linked with transit in the area: Queen and Yonge were two busy streetcar routes that brought patrons to and from Eaton's doorstep for decades, and when Toronto's Yonge subway line opened in the mid-1950's, Eatons advertised a quick and easy connection between its Queen and College St. stores via their respective subway stations. In addition, "City Hall Loop" (an on-street loop for Dundas cars) looped around a number of Eaton's factories and storefronts to the north-west, removed when the area and local streets were re-configured when the Eaton Centre went in.

Robert D. McMann photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.