Royal York Toronto Canada Poster – 1929

Railway Poster: Royal York Toronto Canada Poster – 1929

The poster reads: The Royal York, Toronton, Canada. A Canadian Pacific Hotel. The Largest Hotel in the British Empire.

This vintage Canadian Railway poster was created in 1929 to announce the opening of The Royal York hotel in Downtown Toronto, Canada. The hotels was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway company and is located on Front West street, a historically important part of Toronto. In 1843, four houses that became the Knox Theological College stood on the site of the current building. The building was named the Revere Hotel in 1860. Under new management the hotel later received a renovation and was renamed the Queen’s Hotel. The hotel became an iconic part of the city.

In 1925, the hotel was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway and demolished. In it’s place the railway company constructed the Royal York. The magnificent art deco style hot­el was huge. It contained 1048 rooms spread over its 28 floors. At the time of its opening the hotel was the largest, most prestigious and grandiose hotel in the British Empire. A staement the company were keen to relay on its promotional posters.

According to an onine article on the MelbourneBlogger website, The hotel offered 1.5 acres of public rooms included a 12-bed hospital, 12,000-book library and ornate passenger elevators. The Concert Hall featured a full stage and mammoth pipe organ. There was a glass-enclosed roof garden, the largest hotel kitchen in Can­ada with a huge bakery, a 66’ long switchboard and 35 teleph­one oper­at­ors, its own bank and St George Golf Course.

The article continues, “On opening night, the Royal York hosted four grand balls where guests dined and danced all night. The Imperial Room was the city’s newest and most elegant din­ing and dancing establishment. It defined the Tor­onto social scene as the site for high society funct­ions and big band shows.

The Hotel’s famous Imperial Room was a major events venue with a 500-seat cap­ac­ity. The venue became one o the mostmost prestigious concert venues and nightclubs in Canada. Its headlining acts have included; Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Hope, Eartha Kitt, Louis Armstrong and Tina Turner. Toronto’s iconic hotel has also palyed host to royalty, heads of state, world famous celebrities, diplomats and foreign dignitaries. 

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.