Murmur Project

I chose to do the treasure hunt on a Saturday afternoon; probably the busiest time to walk through the market. But despite the crowds - I still walked away informed and enlightened. It was a thrill to experience someone else's sense of nostalgia while simultaneously standing in the middle of the crowded market with a phone to my ear. It felt like a very intimate and lively experience - even though it was a recording. Using my sister's cell phone (I don't have one), I called as many of the numbers as I could - then wrote down the rest for later. It was interesting because I had made this walk on numerous occasions during the past three years but had only noticed the green Murmur ears in my peripheral vision. I thought nothing of them, mistaking them for some kind of traffic or emergency signs. For the class blog, I have selected a few of my favorite stories, and I have attempted to provide a brief description and in order to explain their appeal.

The Highlights : (My Personal Favorites)
The Deer at Paradise Bound
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I found the first story told at this point to be the most interesting. A young man describes walking through the intersection of Augusta and College streets at around three in the morning (something I can easily relate to). As he approached the record store “Paradise Bound”, he saw a wild deer across the street near the laundry mat.
He was awestruck not only because he actually saw a deer, but because it was never something he ever imagined he would see in the middle of a huge city like Toronto.

This was far from the type of narrative I was expecting when I dialed the number - but I found the near mythic elements of the story really effective. It truly set the tone for the rest of the Murmur points I visited.

I actually have my own amusing anecdote about that record shop, but I can save that for another time.

Perola Supermarket and The Meat Cleaver Incident
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This one was great! A young man describes visiting this area of the market with his mother back in the late 1960s. According to him, what is now the Perola Supermarket was once a meat market with live chickens in crates and lots of other livestock that produced boyish excitement, such as butchers who apparently were always arguing in Yiddish.
He describes a particularly memorable trip where the two butches argued more fervently than usual, which resulted in one butcher pulling out a meat cleaver and chasing the other around the butcher shop. Sounds like Kensington Market, alright!

Fu-Kien Society or Lobster Island
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Although the building at this site is the Fu-Kien society, both stories I heard on the phone line described this location as being Lobster Island. It must have changed in the last three or four years. However, according to the voice on the other line, in the 80’s the building was a multi-purpose entertainment venue that offered avant-garde theater, punk rock, Frisbee parties, lesbian poets, and sketch comedy. He described watching The Kids in the Hall before they were Kids in the Hall (that was the coolest part by far!). I felt the story was really endearing because it offered an early glimpse at Toronto’s diverse cultural scene. It was really poignant when he added that the market is always changing and yet stays the same, which I think coincides nicely with topics related to this class.

Note: Due to my lack of a digital camera, I had to post an older picture of the market. This is just one of the many fruit stands throughout Kensington - but I feel it gets across the general ambiance of the place. I just wanted some kind of proof I had been there before.
Another Note: That is my hand. Those are not my lemons.