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That’s Entertainment!
All signs point to progress – 347 Yonge Street – forever changed
By Susan Pointing
It took a team of experts and careful attention to detail to dismantle one of Toronto’s most beloved signs, Sam The Record Man.
The sign once stood proudly on Yonge Street north of Dundas, its two vinyl records flashing in the night sky. Deemed a historical artifact under the Ontario Heritage Act, the sign, for now, waits to be re-erected.
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From the ‘60s to the ‘80s, Sam the Record Man was a hip hangout for the legions of music lovers who fingerpicked through the latest punk and rock records they could not find anywhere else. Kids scanned rows upon rows of vinyl 33s and 45s of every music genre from around the world. Bright fluorescent lights lit up the entire store and the music blared out onto the street. Considered one of the coolest places to work, employees were also a part of the store’s allure. Outside, chess players banged their sand timers to the music in between moves.
It was a different Toronto. The music sensations of the time were a handful of talented performers like Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and The Guess Who. Sam Sniderman was awarded the Order of Canada for helping those acts. He and his brother Sid also gave breaks to local punk and rock musicians, giving them exposure in the store when others would not.
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To spice up the stretch along Yonge Street, Sam Sniderman contacted two of the sign industry’s heavyweights, the Brothers Markle, to construct the SAM sign, about 38 years ago.
“Sam contacted us to supply a couple of small signs on the face of the building and to change the message on two of the existing signs,” recalls Jack Markle. “Our Jack Derraugh created the record concept. We then made a scale mock-up to show them how the neon would flash to simulate the turning record.”
The sign is made of metal, steel and neon, not different from what is used today except that modern electronic flashers are newer than the older mechanical ones.
Sam and Sid were “deliriously happy with the finished product,” says Markle.
It didn’t take long for it to become an icon on Yonge Street and for Toronto.
“It took about two months including permit approval to complete. It was a very big deal at the time, and the most innovative sign in Canada,” says Markle.
Alas, it was an undeserved ending for these amazing proprietors of music, but in step with the fickle and unpredictable nature of showbiz. The Sniderman brothers began selling records in 1937 and opened the first Sam store in 1959. The business soon grew to 130 stores, but as a victim of the Internet age, went bankrupt in 2001.
Not surprisingly, the Brothers Markle say they are proud of their sign and fondly remember it as one of the city’s most recognizable.
The building in which Sam the Record man was housed, meantime, was bought by Ryerson University. Stay tuned: Those big red and black record discs may soon flash again.
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