From Horseless Carriages to Space Age Technology
The Toronto Automobile Dealers' Association (TADA) began in an era where the horse and buggy ruled cobblestone streets and primitive country roads. Today, its 300 member dealers in the Metropolitan Toronto area sell space-age technology. |
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The Early Years
When it all started back in 1908, Toronto was Canada's second largest city, with 240,000 people about the size of Saskatoon today. The first Trans-Atlantic radio sputtered messages, while Canadians made hair raising hops in airplanes. Car registration had climbed from only 178 in 1903 to just over 2,000 by 1908. Within two years that number had tripled although the horse and buggy, as well as wagons, were still the most common forms of transportation.
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Boom and Bust
When it was "all over over there" as a popular wartime song said, 48,000 Canadians had lost their lives. Women were obtaining the vote, while the Bolshevik revolution in Russia spurred on a growing labour movement in North America. |
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Beauties in Their Time
The 1930s was also an era of cars that were true beauties in their time. Elegant Studebakers were advertised at a top price of $1,510. The Hudson Essex was another popular car, made in Tilbury, Ontario. The world's first air-conditioned car was debuted in New York in September 1933. The Canadian Automotive Trade News of October 1933 reported that a highly successful motor show at the CNE indicated sales were finally starting to improve for the first time since the stock market crash in 1929.
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World War II
In 1939, King George and Queen Elizabeth made cross-country tour. It was a beautiful summer and the depression was at an end. However, this bliss was short lived. World War 2 exploded onto the headlines in September when Nazi Germany launched its infamous blitzkrieg attack on Poland. |
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Postwar Prosperity
Following the Allied victory in Europe and the Pacific, prosperity became the order of the day in a country which accepted Newfoundland as its 10th province in 1949. Canada had become an increasingly urbanized nation with 64 per cent of its 14 million people living in cities. The automobile industry, revitalized during this period, reflected increased good fortune by a jump in registered cars and trucks from 1.5 million in 1946 to 2.3 million in 1949. |
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The Modern Era
From the late sixties to the millennium, TADA has adapted to a world that has seen the dawn and maturation of the computer age. Men have walked on the moon. Computers required vast spaces to house huge machines that silicon chips would soon render antiquated. Canada's population exceeded Pygmalion. Metropolitan Toronto has mushroomed into a new entity, where as the century draws to a close, more than five million people now dwell. |
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Supporting Your Community
Each year, the 300 new car dealers across the Toronto region contribute some $2.5-million to local charities, continuing a tradition that started nearly 90 years ago. |
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