Rediscovered family movies show Toronto before the boom

Toronto's skyline has changed dramatically overthe last 50 years, but thanks to one man's discovery we can get a glimpse of the city's past.

MarkHoltze was looking for footage for his grandmother's memorial service a few weeks ago whenhe stumbled upon a box full of eight-millimetre film reels and aprojector in his parents'basement. He loaded them up (luckily, he works asa video editor)and was amazed by what he saw.

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Canada in the 1960s Toronto,Vancouver,Niagara Falls and P.E.I.

"It wasn't just family videos, I was pumped seeing what these places looked like," Holtze told CBC Toronto.

"It's a glimpse of how life was."

The tapes were shot by his great-grandfather, Marcel Holtze, who lived in Toronto's Danforth neighbourhood. Going through the home videos, Holtze found scenesof Toronto's Centre Island and the Canadian National Exhibition in 1963.

"Toronto has grown so much in the last 30 years, so seeing it 50 years ago? Wow.Itwas completely different," he said.

'It's kind of a time warp'

There's footage of the city's skyline without the CN Tower and a few shots of what would become Liberty Village, back when King Street West was the land of factories and meat plants.

"It's how Toronto got the name 'Hogtown,'" laughed Holtze. "Thankfully the slaughterhouses are all gone."

A glimpse into Toronto's past

8 years ago

Duration 1:09

Rediscovered family videos show Toronto before the boom

There arealso some historic moments caught on tape. Holtzealso found a reel with footage of the Royal Family's visit to the Royal York Hotel.

"I walked by Union Station and the Royal York after I found the reel and I realized that my great grandfatherwas filming the Queen's arrival from one of the top-storeywindows in Union Station. It's kind of a time warp to look up at that window."

Holtzesays his family has always been into photography and film, but the new discovery has inspired him to work on his own projects again.For now, he's editing the most interesting footage together and posting it on his YouTube page.

A cross-Canada tour

Holtzesaid because it's Canada's 150th anniversary, there's been some national interest in his find.

"It does connect me to my great-grandparents, but it also connects everyone to the location," he said.

"It's just blips of life, there's no art direction, there's no action. It's just the location the way it was and there's a Canadian connection to that."

When Marcel Holtzeretiredfrom his job at CN Rail, he used the travel passes the company gave him to ride the railsacross Canada. The elder Holtze documented all of his adventures, including sightings of a derailed train, a black bear and the prairies.

On YouTube, thousands have watched through the footage with videos from Alberta and B.C. becoming the most popular.

"I've gone out to Banff and Vancouver, some of those glaciers have receded, so seeing them at a time when there's a lot more ice is surprising and really makes you think,"Holtze said.

Holtzesaid he's still got plenty more tape to go through.

"I'm just happy people are excited and interested in what they're seeing," he said.