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A black and white photograph of approximately 16 men seated and standing in front of an open warehouse door. The front row of men are seated on beer barrels. Behind them stand a row of men, most with their arms crossed. The two men on the far left and far right of the group are carrying beer barrels over their shoulders. Most of the men are wearing hats and are dressed in work clothes.

Good Eats: Silver Rail & O’Keefe Brewery

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The O’Keefe Brewery

A black and white photograph of approximately 16 men seated and standing in front of an open warehouse door. The front row of men are seated on beer barrels. Behind them stand a row of men, most with their arms crossed. The two men on the far left and far right of the group are carrying beer barrels over their shoulders. Most of the men are wearing hats and are dressed in work clothes.

Employees of the O’Keefe Brewery Co., Gould Street, ca. 1890s, Toronto Public Library.

A browning postcard that features the image of a large brewery building, in front of which can be seen people walking and horses.. Text at the top left reads "The O'Keefe Brewery Co. of Toronto.Limited. At the bottom left, text reads "This is where O'Keefe's Star Beer (a non-intoxicant) in manufactured."

O’Keefe Brewery, Toronto. Postcard. ca. 1900. Larry Sherk Collection.

A black and white photograph of a bustling street scene, focused on a tavern at the corner of a multi-storey building. On the exterior of the building are several signs labelled "The Silver Rail." One sign is in silver letters and is situated over the door and window of the building. On the corner another sign reads "Tavern." The building is decorated in chrome and painted material. Several pedestrians in coats are walking in front of the building.

The Silver Rail Tavern, Yonge and Shuter Streets, c. 1950s. Courtesy of the Archives of Ontario.

A colour photograph of a busy street scene, with pedestrians and 1980s-era cars. In the right of the picture is a large five-storey red-brick building, with numerous large rounded windows on every floor. On the bottom floor, a large black and white sign reads "Silver Rail."

The Silver Rail bar on Yonge and Shuter Streets, ca. 1980. Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives

Toronto’s brewing heritage

Near to this location is O’Keefe Lane, named for one of Toronto’s most successful brewers. Brewing beer was one of the first industries to establish itself in Toronto, with several local brewers such as Joseph Bloor and Enoch Turner finding success in the business. By the mid-nineteenth century, Toronto was home to several prominent breweries, including the Davies Brewery (located on Queen and River Streets) and the Severn Brewery (located in Rosedale Ravine).

A native of Ireland, Eugene O’Keefe and his family settled in Toronto in 1834. In 1861, O’Keefe and his business partners purchased the Victoria Brewery, located on the southwest corner of Gould and Victoria Streets. In the early 1870s, O’Keefe suggested a radical change for his brewery: the introduction of a new style of beer known as lager. A form of beer already popular in Germany, it soon became among the most popular beer styles in Toronto. The success of the lager beer fueled the brewery’s expansion as well as a new name. By 1878, the brewery appeared in city directories as “O’Keefe & Co, brewers and maltsters.”

 

The O’Keefe Brewery

Following O’Keefe’s introduction of lager beer, the brewery continued to thrive in the late nineteenth century. A new factory and state-of-the-art machinery, including one of the first industrial uses of machine refrigeration, a necessary element in the brewing of lager beer, made O’Keefe’s one of the most modern breweries in the city. The brewery also expanded its offerings. In response to the growing temperance movement, the O’Keefe Brewery introduced one of the first non-alcoholic beers, known as O’Keefe’s Star Beer. The O’Keefe Brewery survived Ontario’s Prohibition (1916–1927) and, in 1934, was acquired by Canadian Breweries Limited. The brewery building survived until 1996, when it was sold to Ryerson University and demolished to make way for university facilities.

The Silver Rail

The Silver Rail, one of Toronto’s first cocktail bars, was once located nearby on the corner of Yonge and Shuter Streets. Following the repeal of Prohibition in Ontario in 1927, restaurants and bars in Toronto could apply for a license to serve alcohol; however, they were limited to beer and wine. Only in 1947 did Toronto grant the first licenses to sell distilled spirits, such as gin or whiskey, by the glass. The Silver Rail was among the first bars to acquire one of these coveted licenses.

Owners Louis David Arnold and Michael P. Georgas opened the Silver Rail on April 2, 1947. Taking over the location of what was Muirhead’s Grill and Cafeteria, the site featured a ground floor and a basement level. The two levels were connected by a staircase featuring a gleaming silver railing, which gave the new cocktail bar its name.

The city’s first cocktail bar

Thanks to its prominent Yonge Street location, the Silver Rail became a favourite destination for many Torontonians working downtown. Nearby Eaton’s Department Store employees would often stop by for a social drink after work. In the 1950s, Fred Gardiner, Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, was also a common sight at the 100-foot chrome bar on the main floor. The Silver Rail’s proximity to nearby Massey Hall also encouraged music lovers and musicians to drop by before or after a show. In May 1953, just before a Massey Hall festival concert, American jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker steadied his nerves with a triple whiskey before appearing on stage with Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. Due to changing retail demands and after more than 50 years in business, the Silver Rail closed its doors for the last time in 1998.

 

Sources

Chris Bateman, “The history of Toronto’s first bar and cocktail lounge” BlogTO, April 2013.

Jordan St. John, Lost Breweries of Toronto. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2014.

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