This episode is largely about an annual event in Toronto that was a direct challenge to gender norms – the Halloween Drag Ball at Letros Tavern on King street. We don’t know exactly how old a tradition the Halloween drag ball was in Toronto. The first mention we’ve found was in 1949, in a tabloid called Flash. In that story though, the writer alluded to the fact that it definitely wasn’t Toronto’s first Halloween drag ball. In the 1950s, it was held at a bar called Letros, where it became a cherished institution.
The Toronto Arquives were an invaluable source for this episode, since it has a vast collection of all of the tabloids of this era. In addition, though, the role the 519 played in the creation of this should be recognized, since it only because that space exists that we were able to meet and interview Paul MacDonald, Don Middleton, Bob Pearse and Neil Gilson, who brought this era to life.
This episode is dedicated to them.
This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.