“crime was not swimming but disrupting the heterosocial space on the Humber.”
As The Globe phrased it in 1896 when five young men were pulled before a magistrate, “Many complains have been made of the conduct of young men, who go bathing in the Humber.” At least three of the men, who were from The Toronto Junction earned a $1 fine for their splash in the Humber.
Similar language was repeated in a 1899 story where it was related that, “To bathe in the pellucid depths of the Humberand swim about therein in nature’s garb is a great temptation to the youth of the western city limits.
Warnings have been repeatedly voiced, but seemingly, without in the least intimidating the unadorned marauders of the river’s bank.” The fact eleven names were collected during the raid—albeit seven of them false—suggests an effort to push bathers out of the river. But the term marauding suggests the true crime was not swimming but disrupting the heterosocial space on the Humber.
Photo details, O.L. Hicks and Ned Hanlan on Humber River 1904
