‘Corner of the city’ ad – Mono Lino Typesetting, Herb Graab, 1963

A full-page ad announcing Mono Lino’s new home at 420 Dupont Street. The company had moved there in October 1963. Up to the end of the 1950s, many printers and typesetters in Toronto were located downtown in what was then known as the ‘graphic arts district’, roughly bounded by College Street to the North, University Avenue to the East, Spadina Avenue to the West and Lakeshore Boulevard to the South. Within those boundaries many of the city’s printers, typesetters, engravers, and art studios were all within walking distance of each other. After the Second World War, many of those companies began to expand, especially the printers, and the need for larger and cheaper space gradually forced them out of the district.

In this ad Mono Lino was trying to assure its clients that they had not left the city. This was a major move for the company, costing $130,000 in 1963, just over one million dollars today. We don’t know if that cost included the purchase of the three old houses on Howland Street that they also bought and then demolished to expand the employee parking lot.

Mono Lino went into volunteer receivership on April 25, 1985, although the large metal sign across the front of the building remained in place for over thirty years and would itself become a minor Toronto landmark. Ironically, long after it closed its doors, Mono Lino was probably better known to more Torontonians than it ever was in its heyday.

Artifact Text

Typographically the most exciting corner of the city
We are eager to show you the other three corners of Mono Lino’s new home from the inside. You will find them no less exciting and even more interesting. Dial our new number, 537–2401, and experience (due to expanded facilities) rapid service which makes you feel that Mono Lino is just around your corner.
Mono Lino Typesetting Company Limited
420 Dupont Street (at Howland Avenue), Toronto 4, Telephone 537–2401