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Honest Ed's
ADDRESS: 581 Bloor Street West

Edwin Mirvish and his wife Anne consolidated the retail properties they bought along Bloor Street and Bathurst, and rebranded them as Honest Ed's in 1948. While the signage changed over the years, the 1984 signage is probably what most people associate with that corner. The Honest Ed's sign was essentially the façade of the entire department store complex and there was hardly a bare metre left on the exterior that wasn't covered by loud signage.

Built by Pattinson Sign Group and said to have been designed by Ed himself, there were three mounted, light-up “Honest Eds” [sic] signs which included 23,000 blinking lightbulbs in a big-top style marquee painted in red, black, and gold. Below the signs was a kind of static chyron which declared, in backlit red-on-white, boisterous claims like “THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE, ANYPLACE!” and “A BARGAIN CENTRE LIKE THIS HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!!” There were also light-rimmed plaques with frankly bizarre pronouncements like “HONEST ED'S A CREEP!, HIS BARGAINS CREEP INTO YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL, AND YOUR BRAIN!!”” The large display windows were filled with hand-painted placards by artist Wayne Reuben in blue, red, and gold, advertising Ed's famously low prices. These placards were also scattered throughout the inside of the store and were later bought-up by nostalgic former patrons when Ed's closed — it's not unusual to spot a sign in someone's living room, in the famous script, advertising deals on shoes, kitchenware, or undergarments.

The legacy of the Honest Ed's sign is like the legacy of the larger-than-life entrepreneur whose name it bears: impossible to sum up both comprehensively and succinctly. Ed Mirvish was a retailer, a restaurateur, philanthropist, and a theatre magnate. He was ambitious, ubiquitous, and inimitably goofy, and made a lasting mark on Toronto's history. Much like his massive, garish, chaotic sign left an indelible mark on the Annex neighbourhood streetscape, and the memories of Torontonians and visitors alike.

In 2013, the blockbusting properties that made up “Mirvish Village” were sold to developer Westbank. The store closed on New Years Eve, 2016. In 2017, plans were announced to refurbish and reinstall one of the large marquees on the Victoria Street side of the Ed Mirvish Theatre, just down the street from the new home of the Sam The Record Man sign, but that has yet to happen.

Text by Glyn, Edited by Kurt

In 1948, Edwin Mirvish and his wife Anne consolidated the retail properties they bought along Bloor and Bathurst streets, and rebranded them as Honest Ed’s. While the signage changed over the years, the 1984 edition of the sign is probably what most people today associate with that corner. The Honest Ed’s sign was essentially the façade of the entire complex and there was hardly a bare space left on the exterior that wasn’t covered by loud signage.
Built by Pattinson Sign Group and said to have been designed by Ed himself, there were three mounted, light-up Honest Ed’s signs which included 23,000 blinking lightbulbs in a big-top style marquee painted in red, black, and gold. Below the signs was a kind of static chyron which declared, in backlit red-on-white, boisterous claims like “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE, ANYPLACE!” and “A BARGAIN CENTRE LIKE THIS HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!!” There were also light-rimmed plaques with frankly bizarre pronouncements like “HONEST ED’S A CREEP!, HIS BARGAINS CREEP INTO YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL, AND YOUR BRAIN!!” The large display windows were filled with hand-painted placards by artist Wayne Reuben in blue, red, and gold. In the final week’s of the store closing, the thousands of placards used throughout the inside of the store were sold to nostalgic former customers.
The legacy of the Honest Ed’s sign is like the legacy of the larger-than-life entrepreneur whose name it bears: impossible to sum up both comprehensively and succinctly. Ed Mirvish was a retailer, restaurateur, philanthropist, and theatre magnate. Both his ambitiousness and goofiness made a lasting mark on Toronto’s retail history much like his massive, garish, chaotic sign left an indelible mark on the Annex neighbourhood.
In 2013, the store and the collection of former houses converted to retail on Markham Street that made up “Mirvish Village” were sold to the Vancouver-based housing developer Westbank. The store closed on New Years Eve, 2016 and demolished in 2017. Later that year, plans were announced to refurbish and reinstall one of the large marquees on the Victoria Street side of the Ed Mirvish Theatre but, as of printing of this book, no work on this project has yet to be initiated.
— glyn bowerman

edited by Matt for length

layout

Revised with input from Zak Fish and Alexis Cohen.

ADDRESS: 581 Bloor Street West

Husband and wife duo Ed and Anne Mirvish, consolidated the retail properties they bought along Bloor Street and Bathurst and rebranded them as Honest Ed's in 1948. While the signage changed over the years, the 1984 signage is probably what most people associate with that corner. The Honest Ed's sign was essentially the façade of the entire department store complex and there was hardly a bare metre left on the exterior that wasn't covered by loud signage.

Built by Pattinson Sign Group and said to have been designed by Ed himself, there were three mounted, light-up “Honest Eds” [sic] signs which included 23,000 blinking lightbulbs in a big-top style marquee painted in red, black, and gold. This style of sign is usually associated with theatre marquees and was likely influenced by Ed and Anne’s interest in the arts and theatre. The Mirvish family bought and managed several theatres over the years, starting with the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1963, which itself had a classic lightbulb illuminated canopy.

Below the large marquee signs was a kind of static chyron which declared, in backlit red-on-white, boisterous claims like “THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE, ANYPLACE!” and “A BARGAIN CENTRE LIKE THIS HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!!” Ed also frequently used self-deprecating humor; for instance there were light-rimmed plaques with bizarre pronouncements like “HONEST ED'S A CREEP!, HIS BARGAINS CREEP INTO YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL, AND YOUR BRAIN!!”” The large display windows were filled with hand-painted placards by artist Wayne Reuben in blue, red, and gold, advertising Ed's famously low prices. These placards were also scattered throughout the inside of the store and were later bought-up by nostalgic former patrons when Ed's closed — it's not unusual to spot a sign in someone's living room, in the famous script, advertising deals on shoes, kitchenware, or undergarments.

The legacy of the Honest Ed's sign is like the legacy of the larger-than-life entrepreneur whose name it bears: impossible to sum up both comprehensively and succinctly. Ed Mirvish was a retailer, a restaurateur, philanthropist, and a theatre magnate. He was ambitious, ubiquitous, and inimitably goofy, and made a lasting mark on Toronto's history. Much like his massive, garish, chaotic sign left an indelible mark on the Annex neighbourhood streetscape, and the memories of Torontonians and visitors alike.

In 2013, the properties that made up “Mirvish Village” were sold to developer Westbank and the store closed on New Years Eve 2016.