Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Larry Becker fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
[ca. 1800]-1998 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
ca. 23 m of textual records ca. 1,300 photographs : b&w and col. ca. 6,500 postcards : b&w and col. ca. 4,000 tickets ca. 170 prints ca. 300 philatelic records ca. 515 advertisements ca. 50 cartographic items ca. 50 artifacts 2 paintings
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of a wide range of records documenting the history of Toronto, Ontario, Canada between about 1800 and 1998, as well as the nature of collecting and collectors. Among the records included are about 23 m (or about 90 boxes) of diverse textual records that range from parchment property records and rare books to early Toronto newspapers and diverse Toronto business catalogues; about 1,300 photographs that range from 1870s albumen prints of life at Fort York and late nineteenth century cartes-de-visit to amateur snapshots of twentieth century life; about 6,500, mostly Edwardian, postcards; about 4,000 transit tickets and transfers documenting public transit from horse-drawn streetcars to late-twentieth century subways; about 170 prints and posters, mostly from diverse publications such as Canadian Illustrated News in the 1870s and Picturesque Canada in 1882; about 300 philatelic records postmarked from 1832 York to 1990s Toronto; about 300 Victorian chromolithographic advertising cards; about 115, mostly Edwardian, advertising blotters; about 200 mid-twentieth advertising matchbooks; and extensive, diverse ephemera. Following Mr. Becker's collecting habits, the materials are arranged into 16 series according to format (e.g., photographs, postcards, stamps, prints & drawings, newspapers) and/or according to subject matter (e.g., sports, militaria, education, property records, advertising). Material is still being acquired and processed, so this description will change over time. Fonds is comprised of the following series: Series 306, Larry Becker sports collection. -- 1869-1997 Series 327, Larry Becker photographs. -- [ca. 1850-1990] Series 329, Larry Becker property records. -- 1824-1991, predominant 1824-1910 Series 330, Larry Becker postcards. -- [189-]-[199-], predominant 1905-1930 Series 340, Larry Becker militaria. -- 1857-1996 Series 470, Larry Becker advertising collections. -- [188-]-[199-], predominant 1885-1925 Series 496, Larry Becker prints, drawings, and documentary art. -- 1870-1997 Series 546, Larry Becker philately. -- 1832-1990 Series 547, Larry Becker public transportation collection. -- 1880-1995 Series 600, Larry Becker education collection. -- 1826-1996 Series 636, Larry Becker atlases, plans and maps. -- 1800-1990 Series 640, Larry Becker broadsides, posters and handbills. -- 1892-1994 Series 654, Larry Becker library and rare books. -- 1833-1997 Series 655, Larry Becker newspapers. -- 1838-1996 Series 682, Larry Becker business records. -- 1882-1997 Series 756, Larry Becker Canadian National Exhibition collection. -- 1864-1997
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Fonds has been acquired from Larry Becker's widow, beginning shortly after his death.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Open
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Reproduction of any of these records for a purpose other than research or private study may require the authorization of the copyright owner of the work in question. For those materials in the public domain or in which the City of Toronto Archives owns copyright you must request authorization by calling the Research Hall at (416) 397-0778 or writing to City of Toronto Archives, Permissions, 255 Spadina Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2V3. For materials whose copyright is owned by others, it is your responsibility to locate the copyright owner and obtain any necessary authorizations. Please refer to our handout “City of Toronto Archives Copyright Guidelines for Researchers.”
Finding aids
Series, subseries, and file level descriptions are available at the City of Toronto Archives.
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
General note
The virtual exhibition is based on an exhibit that was mounted in 2002 at the Market Gallery in Toronto of 500 items from Larry Becker's collections of documentary material and artifacts entitled, Collecting Toronto: Through the Eyes of Larry Becker.www.toronto.ca/archives/becker_collections/index.htm