Jamie Bradburn
@jbcurio.bsky.social
Writer/researcher/historian for hire, specializing in Toronto/Ontario history (frequently for Toronto Today and TVO). Former Sunday Star quizmaster. Crafts award-winning stories. Walks and cooks a bit. Has adventures with stuffed porcupines.
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
"Toronto’s elected officials did a good thing this week. Whether they can preserve that victory is another question altogether." — @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social
ANALYSIS: Will Toronto actually get neighbourhood retail? | TVO Today
The city is set to allow small shops in residential areas. But local — and perhaps provincial — pushback isn’t going away.
amp.tvo.org
November 14, 2025 at 9:41 PM
"Toronto’s elected officials did a good thing this week. Whether they can preserve that victory is another question altogether." — @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
My latest newsletter is out, including a Christmas story from a century ago that sounds as if the writer secretly wanted to be a horror novelist.
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
43: A Mid-November Week's Roundup
Including one Santa's unhappy Christmas a century ago.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:20 AM
My latest newsletter is out, including a Christmas story from a century ago that sounds as if the writer secretly wanted to be a horror novelist.
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
A general question related to constantly uttering statements like this: does this particular councillor say this just to be contrarian and appeal to a certain base that doesn’t like anything in life, or are they a legitimately miserable human being who must ensure everyone is as no fun as they are?
Councillor Holyday worries about retail stores that "sell some zany thing that has very little value." He wants to know if council could define a list of what stores can sell.
Staff say they can regulate things like size, noise and property standards, but generally not what stores sell.
Staff say they can regulate things like size, noise and property standards, but generally not what stores sell.
November 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
A general question related to constantly uttering statements like this: does this particular councillor say this just to be contrarian and appeal to a certain base that doesn’t like anything in life, or are they a legitimately miserable human being who must ensure everyone is as no fun as they are?
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
1) WARNING: Professional ad alert!
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
November 12, 2025 at 8:37 PM
1) WARNING: Professional ad alert!
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
My latest newsletter is out, including a Christmas story from a century ago that sounds as if the writer secretly wanted to be a horror novelist.
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
43: A Mid-November Week's Roundup
Including one Santa's unhappy Christmas a century ago.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:20 AM
My latest newsletter is out, including a Christmas story from a century ago that sounds as if the writer secretly wanted to be a horror novelist.
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
open.substack.com/pub/jamiebra...
Come hear me talk next week in the Beaches! #TOHistory
November 13, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Come hear me talk next week in the Beaches! #TOHistory
1) WARNING: Professional ad alert!
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
November 12, 2025 at 8:37 PM
1) WARNING: Professional ad alert!
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
Sometimes you need a handyman to fix your home's needs, whether it's as simple as installing a shelf or as complex as assembling the world's largest piece of IKEA furniture (which comes with hundreds of diagrams and pegs).
From the vaults: for Remembrance Day, a piece I wrote about a letter my great-uncle wrote home while serving in the Second World War.
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/a...
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/a...
A Wartime Letter
Originally published on Torontoist on November 11, 2008. One activity that today’s remembrances of those fallen in war might prompt is a look through boxes in attics and archives for letters sent h…
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
From the vaults: for Remembrance Day, a piece I wrote about a letter my great-uncle wrote home while serving in the Second World War.
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/a...
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/a...
Trying experiment of starting a draft by just writing what comes off the top of my head.
It is working extremely well.
I think sometimes by periodic bouts of lack of confidence hold me back, where I spend way more time with my research notes than I should, dragging out the writing process.
It is working extremely well.
I think sometimes by periodic bouts of lack of confidence hold me back, where I spend way more time with my research notes than I should, dragging out the writing process.
kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter .
ALT: kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter .
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Trying experiment of starting a draft by just writing what comes off the top of my head.
It is working extremely well.
I think sometimes by periodic bouts of lack of confidence hold me back, where I spend way more time with my research notes than I should, dragging out the writing process.
It is working extremely well.
I think sometimes by periodic bouts of lack of confidence hold me back, where I spend way more time with my research notes than I should, dragging out the writing process.
From the vaults for Remembrance Day: for TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social I wrote about how communities across Ontario built First World War memorials during the 1920s and 1930s #cdnhistory #remembranceday
www.tvo.org/article/lest...
www.tvo.org/article/lest...
November 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
From the vaults for Remembrance Day: for TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social I wrote about how communities across Ontario built First World War memorials during the 1920s and 1930s #cdnhistory #remembranceday
www.tvo.org/article/lest...
www.tvo.org/article/lest...
Things like this are among the reasons I avoid AI like the plague...and why, despite my occasional bouts of existential angst about what I do, people frequently remind me how important my work as a legitimate, human historian is.
I'm cited in this piece in the Toronto Star today about the spread of generative AI, the challenges it poses for historians & history education, and the need for digital literacy.
www.thestar.com/news/how-fak...
www.thestar.com/news/how-fak...
How fake AI history is threatening Remembrance Day — with endless YouTube videos glamorizing Nazis
A search for any historical topic is sure to be met with a torrent of fake AI-generated garbage — at real cost to our history.
www.thestar.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Things like this are among the reasons I avoid AI like the plague...and why, despite my occasional bouts of existential angst about what I do, people frequently remind me how important my work as a legitimate, human historian is.
From the vaults: 45 years ago today, voters cast their ballots in one of the ugliest municipal elections in Toronto history, which involved a lot (and I mean a lot) of homophobia.
Here's my TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social story about the 1980 campaign.
#TOHistory #TOpoli
www.tvo.org/article/how-...
Here's my TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social story about the 1980 campaign.
#TOHistory #TOpoli
www.tvo.org/article/how-...
November 10, 2025 at 4:52 PM
From the vaults: 45 years ago today, voters cast their ballots in one of the ugliest municipal elections in Toronto history, which involved a lot (and I mean a lot) of homophobia.
Here's my TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social story about the 1980 campaign.
#TOHistory #TOpoli
www.tvo.org/article/how-...
Here's my TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social story about the 1980 campaign.
#TOHistory #TOpoli
www.tvo.org/article/how-...
From the vaults: a piece I wrote for Cottage Life @cottagelifemag.bsky.social on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
#cdnhistory #ontariohistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
#cdnhistory #ontariohistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
What really happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?
“We are holding our own.” Unfortunately, the final words transmitted from the Edmund Fitzgerald during the early evening of November 10, 1975 inaccurately
web.archive.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
From the vaults: a piece I wrote for Cottage Life @cottagelifemag.bsky.social on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
#cdnhistory #ontariohistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
#cdnhistory #ontariohistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. From the vaults, here's a piece I wrote for Cottage Life @cottagelifemag.bsky.social about the incident...
#ontariohistory #cdnhistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
#ontariohistory #cdnhistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
What really happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?
“We are holding our own.” Unfortunately, the final words transmitted from the Edmund Fitzgerald during the early evening of November 10, 1975 inaccurately
web.archive.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. From the vaults, here's a piece I wrote for Cottage Life @cottagelifemag.bsky.social about the incident...
#ontariohistory #cdnhistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
#ontariohistory #cdnhistory
web.archive.org/web/20230605...
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
Winter wonderland at East Lynn Park
November 9, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Winter wonderland at East Lynn Park
Qwillamina would like to remind you that some bags are not toys!!!
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Qwillamina would like to remind you that some bags are not toys!!!
The perfect song for today in Toronto (and one that is making my wife happy as she works cozily in our living room).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnil...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnil...
Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (Official Video)
YouTube video by DeanMartinVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The perfect song for today in Toronto (and one that is making my wife happy as she works cozily in our living room).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnil...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnil...
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
NEW! For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I switch from baseball to hockey history to look at the defection of Vaclav Nedomansky from Czechoslavakia, who chose the Toronto Toros of the WHA to start his North American career.
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
How a Soviet bloc hockey player defected to Toronto during the Cold War
In 1974, Vaclav Nedomansky, captain of Czechoslovakia’s national hockey team, made his escape to the WHL’s Toronto Toros
www.torontotoday.ca
November 8, 2025 at 9:44 PM
NEW! For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I switch from baseball to hockey history to look at the defection of Vaclav Nedomansky from Czechoslavakia, who chose the Toronto Toros of the WHA to start his North American career.
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
Old ads I've been searching for for years department: this one ran on Detroit TV in the 1980s. Finally confirms I was not imagining "nobody's home..." to the tune of Beethoven's 5th.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Mw...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Mw...
Crazy Calls Answering Machine Cassette Tape Ad (1980s)
YouTube video by Our Nostalgic Memories
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Old ads I've been searching for for years department: this one ran on Detroit TV in the 1980s. Finally confirms I was not imagining "nobody's home..." to the tune of Beethoven's 5th.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Mw...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Mw...
NEW! For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I switch from baseball to hockey history to look at the defection of Vaclav Nedomansky from Czechoslavakia, who chose the Toronto Toros of the WHA to start his North American career.
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
How a Soviet bloc hockey player defected to Toronto during the Cold War
In 1974, Vaclav Nedomansky, captain of Czechoslovakia’s national hockey team, made his escape to the WHL’s Toronto Toros
www.torontotoday.ca
November 8, 2025 at 9:44 PM
NEW! For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I switch from baseball to hockey history to look at the defection of Vaclav Nedomansky from Czechoslavakia, who chose the Toronto Toros of the WHA to start his North American career.
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
#TOHistory #hockey
www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
Side research find: here's an encyclopedia ad where the main question would stir up plenty of debate as to some of the answers provided.
(I mean, c'mon...Henry Hudson as the birth of Canada?)
Source: Chatelaine, November 1965 #vintagead #canadianhistory
(I mean, c'mon...Henry Hudson as the birth of Canada?)
Source: Chatelaine, November 1965 #vintagead #canadianhistory
November 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Side research find: here's an encyclopedia ad where the main question would stir up plenty of debate as to some of the answers provided.
(I mean, c'mon...Henry Hudson as the birth of Canada?)
Source: Chatelaine, November 1965 #vintagead #canadianhistory
(I mean, c'mon...Henry Hudson as the birth of Canada?)
Source: Chatelaine, November 1965 #vintagead #canadianhistory
There are many reasons I love Los Angeles (and will visit again once the current cr*p down south fades) - this story adds to that.
www.thestar.com/sports/blue-...
www.thestar.com/sports/blue-...
‘I hope this becomes a lasting tradition.’ Dodgers fans ease Blue Jays’ World Series loss with $30,000 in donations to SickKids
Many fans donated $51 as a tribute to the Blue Jays relievers who put the number 51 on their caps to pay respects to L.A. pitcher Alex Vesia.
www.thestar.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:23 PM
There are many reasons I love Los Angeles (and will visit again once the current cr*p down south fades) - this story adds to that.
www.thestar.com/sports/blue-...
www.thestar.com/sports/blue-...
Reposted by Jamie Bradburn
🧵 Hello! I've gotten an influx of new followers on this forum so I wanted to introduce myself properly! I'm an author, creative collaborator, and urbanist. I'm Toronto born and raised, the son of immigrants.
November 6, 2025 at 6:36 PM
🧵 Hello! I've gotten an influx of new followers on this forum so I wanted to introduce myself properly! I'm an author, creative collaborator, and urbanist. I'm Toronto born and raised, the son of immigrants.