Toronto: A Sketchy History

By Brian Gable

Sutherland House/March 2025

Reviewed by Terry Mosher

June 15, 2025

Cartoonaholics here in Canada miss their daily dose of Brian Gable on the editorial pages of the Globe and Mail. Brian retired gracefully from the trade almost two years ago, claiming that there were other things he wanted to do. New horizons beckoned, and he has delivered.

An Aislin sketch for The Globe and Mail when Brian Gable retired

Norman Webster, a legendary editor at the Globe, hired Brian away from The Regina Leader Post way back in 1987 – and that certainly worked out well. For the next 35 years, Gable delivered excellent work for the Globe, winning a record-setting seven National Newspaper Awards.

With the Globe being Canada’s national newspaper, Gable was seen and beloved by readers from Gander to the Yukon, making him the most widely read and the most popular Canadian cartoonist of his day.

A typical national cartoon by Gable for The Globe and Mail

Mind you, the situation created one difficulty for Gable in that he was expected to deliver sketches that would be readily understood across the country, minimizing Toronto issues.

This reviewer’s all-time favourite Brian Gable cartoon

Now retired, Brian has resolved that situation by delivering a delightful sketchbook on Toronto filled with historical insights.

Toronto 65 million years ago, before continental drift/Brian gable

Themes run from the beginning of time (with Toronto, even then, thinking of itself as being the centre of the universe), to the Mesozoic precursors to the city’s contemporary basketball stars (above), to today’s downtown construction madness.

Toronto’s Victorian architecture, complete wth Victoria/Brian Gable

Among the slices of Toronto life; in 1904, a fire destroyed three-quarters of downtown Toronto. Replacement residential buildings were rapidly constructed in a Victorian architectural style that defines many downtown areas even today.

Toronto in all its ‘fab’ 1970s glory/Brian Gable

My favourite drawing in the book is of Yonge Street in the 1970s (a time when I knew Toronto well) in all of its colourful cacophony, including Sam’s (the record man) and a couple of enchanted hippies.

The opening of the Skydome, 1989 by Brian Gable

Toronto’s identity as a sports town that once belonged to the Maple Leafs and the Argonauts has expanded over Brian’s career to include the Blue Jays and the Raptors, with his repertoire reflecting all the drama of their stories.

Toronto has gained attention for its growing international food scene/Brian Gable

These sketches were inspired by Brian’s wanderings throughout his adopted city since his retirement. What he has produced is a picture-by-picture valentine to a place once known as Montreal’s bigger, more boring sister city.

Decades of change brought by layers of new life, new people, new spaces — including a constellation of distinctive neighbourhoods that rival London’s and New York’s as food, music and art destinations in their own right — have changed that. Brian Gable has been part of that evolution by capturing its key moments.

If you already love Toronto, you’ll enjoy this book. If you don’t, you may find yourself falling for it through Gable’s eyes.

Policy contributor Terry Mosher, a.k.a. Aislin, has been The Montreal Gazette’s political cartoonist since 1972.