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Coloured and illustrated invitation to an annual ball. Two women dressed in ball gowns are on the left-hand side of the card and a man in a suit is on the right-hand side of the card with an extended hand outwards toward the women as if asking them to dance. The women and the man are illustrated in black and yellow, and in the centre of the card is a hook and a ladder, as well as the words UNION, the number 1, and an H. and L., all of which are presumably the company's logo. Over the Hook and Ladder's logo are the words: "CARD OF ADMISSION TO THE ANNUAL BALL OF Union Hook and Ladder Co. In the St, Lawrence Hall, Friday, January 21st, 1859. TICKETS -- $2,50 -- EACH." The card has floral designs around the outside.

St. Lawrence Hall Clown Riots

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Clown Riots

Coloured and illustrated invitation to an annual ball. Two women dressed in ball gowns are on the left-hand side of the card and a man in a suit is on the right-hand side of the card with an extended hand outwards toward the women as if asking them to dance. The women and the man are illustrated in black and yellow, and in the centre of the card is a hook and a ladder, as well as the words UNION, the number 1, and an H. and L., all of which are presumably the company's logo. Over the Hook and Ladder's logo are the words: "CARD OF ADMISSION TO THE ANNUAL BALL OF Union Hook and Ladder Co. In the St, Lawrence Hall, Friday, January 21st, 1859. TICKETS -- $2,50 -- EACH." The card has floral designs around the outside.

Card of admission to the annual ball of Union Hook and Ladder Company, 1859. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library Archives.

An archival photo shows St. Lawrence hall, a three-storey-high large building with many windows and intricate stone detailing. A horse and buggy can be seen in front of the building along with the store front names "Lyman Brothers & Co, Druggists" as well as "Wholesale Druggists, Manufacturers, Linseed Oil, Paints, Dye-Stuffs".

St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto, 1885. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library Archives

Black and white portrait photograph of a woman in 19th-century dress

Portrait of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, date unknown. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.

Clown Riots

A rather unusual occurrence happened near this spot in 1855, in a brothel on King Street near Jarvis. A troop of American clowns from a travelling circus ended up at the brothel, which was frequented by the Union Hook and Ladder Co., a volunteer firefighting group in the city. A brawl broke out between the two groups, and the clowns emerged triumphant.

In retaliation, the firefighters later started a riot at the circus that the clowns were involved in, but the police did nothing to stop the chaos. Both the  police and firefighters were members of the Protestant group the Orange Order, which had almost complete political influence in Toronto. The public soured on the corruption of the police, and serious revisions to the force were implemented over time.

St. Lawrence Hall

Not far from where the brawl took place is St. Lawrence Hall, built in 1850. This elaborately decorated building fell victim to the Great Fire of 1849, but emerged as a popular event space upon its reconstruction in 1853. It hosted the first North American Convention of Coloured Freeman, drawing hundreds of Black people from North America and England, including Frederick Douglas and Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

Mary Ann Shadd

Born to free parents in Delaware, Mary’s family moved to Canada in the 1850s due to the Fugitive Slave Act, which put all Black people in greater danger. Mary became the first Black woman in North America to print her own newspaper, The Provincial Freeman, where she advocated for abolition.

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