# @toronto_archives on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXChlyPs-H
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33999809-toronto-archives-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/46c28e975a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-07T17:02:11.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** City of Toronto Archives (@toronto_archives) — https://gondola.cc/toronto_archives

## Caption

Scenes from May 7 and 8, 1945, when word of the victory in Europe reached Toronto. 

As the news of Germany's surrender spread, offices and stores closed down, and people streamed into the streets, singing and shouting. Airplanes overhead dropped scraps of paper and ticker tape, some of which people piled up to light bonfires. 

Singing and spontaneous parades filled the downtown core. At City Hall, Mayor R.H. Saunders twice came outside to give speeches to cheering crowds of thousands. Meanwhile, in the city's factories, the mood was more subdued, as some of the women workers wept.

The Globe and Mail reported that celebrations were mostly orderly. Every Toronto police officer had previously been given a post in the city's streets in preparation for this moment. Nevertheless, the Globe reported, "Three women and their bottle assailed a policeman. He wiped the lipstick from his cheek and told them to beat it. They laughed."

1. Celebrations on Bay Street. Photo by John H. Boyd, Globe and Mail Fonds 1266, Item 96241.

2. Looking north on Bay Street at Richmond Street West. City Hall is decorated with a banner advertising the Victory Loan Campaign. Series 377, Item 4634.

3. Celebrations at King and Bay Streets the following day, May 8. Series 377, Item 4636.

4. "Several soldiers delegated themselves as semi-official kissers of passing girls, but in most cases their advances did not seem unwelcome," reported the Globe and Mail. Series 1056, Item 195. 

5. It's a party! Fonds 1257, Series 1056, Item 197

6. Children bang on pans in front of the boarded up window of Muirheads Cafeteria. The Globe and Mail reported that "little, if any," glass was broken in the celebrations. Photo by John Boyd, Globe and Mail Fonds 1266, Item 96242.

You can see more photos from V-E Day in Toronto in our web exhibit, V-E Day and V-J Day: The End of  World War II in Toronto, 1945. Go to our web page (linked in our bio), click on What's Online, then on Web Exhibits, then on V-E Day and V-J Day.

#OnThisDay #OTD #VE80 #VEDay80 #TOHistory #TorontoArchives

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 170
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 1

## Tags

torontoarchives, onthisday, ve80, veday80, tohistory, otd

---
Copyright (c) Gondola