My husband and I spent Valentine’s weekend in Toronto. During our stay at the Royal York we were given the option of receiving complimentary editions of either the local paper, The Toronto Star, or the national paper, The Globe and Mail, delivered to our room each morning. We opted for The Star and this turned out to be a very good choice as Friday morning I was happily surprised by this article:

Wartime Valentine: Three “Happily Ever After” stories from a 1940s wedding photographer’s album

It featured Toronto wedding photographer J. Taylor Maclagan’s recently discovered studio portfolio album from the 1940s. As the article notes, beginning in the 1930s,  Maclagan was one of the first Toronto photographers to offer more than just posed wedding portraits but the whole “camera story of the day” (And of course I love a photo journalistic approach to weddings!). Maclagan received many of his referrals from Eaton’s Bridal Salon, which was the largest department store in Toronto at that time (now defunct, downtown Toronto’s Eaton Centre shopping mall still bears its name).

In a story all too familiar to TheySaidIDo.com, the photos in the album are largely unidentified. The Toronto Star was able to identify several couples as their photos were also printed in the paper’s society pages at the time. Stories of three couples pictured in the album were featured. Only one bride was still alive at the age of 91. Family members of others helped fill in the details of the couples lives together after they said “I do.”

J. Taylor Maclagan Album (photo credit: RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR)

J. Taylor Maclagan Album (photo credit: RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR)

J. Taylor Maclagan Album (photo credit: RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR)

More photos are available in a slideshow on the Toronto Star site. If you think you may be able to help identify them, contact the reporter Katie Daubs.