(84) 1929

Wow! This is a little of the detail surrounding the north entrance of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at King & Bay. Built in 1929 this handsome building is a treasure equal to Union Station or Old City Hall. Toryonto was built on banking & investment, insurance, mining finance and government and that explains its conservative soul. With buildings like this it may almost be worth suffering what else goes with that. This relief work uses images associated with saving, prosperity, fertility, conservation: bee hives, ears of corn, beavers, squirrels, acorns. Sensible, mature, hard-to-argue with stuff. The stuff of healthy, grown-up maturity and prudent nation-building and maybe even a tribute to the goddess. That stone carving is fantastic, almost Hindu-templesque in its density. Next Doors Open Toronto check this skyscraper out.

Oh how banking has changed since the days of pinstriped suits, Art Deco and the Great Depression. Now, you don't give the banks your money, they give you the money. Wailing, monstrous, oversized amounts of it that you will never be able to repay in a thousand years. Student loans, car loans, mortgages, lines of credit and credit cards. No problem, sign right here suckers.