A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto

Witness to Yesterday (The Champlain Society Podcast on Canadian History)

In this podcast episode, Simon Nantais talks to Russell Field about his book, A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto, published by University of Toronto Press in 2023. In A Night at the Gardens, Russell Field delves into the history of Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens and the social mores and norms that influenced both its architecture and operation. Drawing on archival records, the book explores the neighbourhood in which Maple Leaf Gardens was situated, the design of the arena’s interior spaces, and the ways in which the venue was operated in order to appeal to respectable spectators at a particular intersection of class and gender. Oral history interviews with former spectators at Maple Leaf Gardens detail the experience of watching the spectacle that unfolded on the ice during each hockey game. Russell Field is an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba, where his focus the socio-cultural study of sport and physical activity. His work includes examinations of global sporting events as sites of resistance and protest, and serves to broaden our understanding of the lived experience of sport within societal contexts. Image Credit: Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration. Library and Archives Canada, e010996348 / If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.