A photographic journey through time

We combed through the archives to capture the moments that shaped TMU’s history

By Irina Vukosavic | July 5, 2023

Men in suits and headsets looking at broadcast screens.

In 1949, electronics students broadcast “This is Fashion,” the first live television show in Canada for a general audience. Courtesy TMU Archives

What kinds of bathing suit designs were students creating in the 50s? What did student theatre look like in the 60s? How did the infamous bug push get started in the 70s?

We combed through the university’s archives to find photos of all these moments and more! Check out this special edition of Remember When in honour of the university’s 75th anniversary.

1950s

Three students operating large turntables and looking at papers.

Student staff operate large turntables during a radio broadcast at CJRT on April 18, 1951. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

Crowd of students around the bar with a woman scooping ice cream.

In 1950, Aurelie (at left) and Raymond Wycik began a 25-year stint running the tuck shop known as the Ram’s Corral. They quickly became popular in the community as Mama and Papa Wycik. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

Ryerson Opera Workshop’s 1956 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. Ryersonian Yearbook 1956

The Ryerson Opera Workshop, started in 1951, was an extracurricular group where students from all programs could live out their musical theatre fantasies. Here’s a yearbook photo of the workshop’s 1956 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. Photograph courtesy TMU Archives

Alumna Lynn Grant, Fashion ’57, with a bathing suit block in 1957.

Fashion alumna Lynn Grant designing a one-piece bathing suit with a detachable bow and black polka dots in 1957. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

1960s

Actors on stage in gladiator sandals and robes.

The Ryerson Opera Workshop, an early version of student theatre on campus, pictured before the theatre school existed. Ryersonia Yearbook (1969). Photography courtesy TMU Archives

Women wearing headphones sitting at desks with typewriters.

A classroom in the secretarial science program, 1962. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

1970s

Students on the roof of a school building suspend a banged-up graffiti-covered Volkswagen bug at the side of the building.

At one time the Volkswagen Beetle was used in campus pranks, with the most famous caper taking place on March 29, 1982, when engineering students put a bug on top of the old school façade in the quad. But since 1977, the beetle has also been a force for charity, as each year engineering students raise funds for SickKids hospital by pushing the bug around the quad for 24 hours. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

Yellow tulips line the sidewalk in the foreground of the quad, with the Normal School facade and other school buildings in the background.

A view of the quad and the Normal School facade circa 1977. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives

1980s

Young man riding his bicycle through Lake Devo in 1982.

Avard Woolaver (Image Arts ’84) started taking photos of Toronto’s cityscape when he attended TMU. He took this photo of a young man riding a bicycle through Lake Devo in 1982. Photo: Avard Woolaver

Ernie serving hot dogs to students on Victoria street in 1982.

Ronald “Ernie” Alexander, the hot dog hero, was a friendly fixture at Victoria and Gould streets for 25 years (from 1981 to 2006) and was known to the community by the nickname given to him based on his resemblance to a Sesame Street character. Photograph courtesy of TMU Archives