It’s hard to decide whether the richly coloured photos that line the walls of The Sport Gallery are memorabilia or art. Each limited edition print captures a sporting legend or game-changing moment from the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s sport history, when athletes still loomed larger than life. There are images of female ’50s racecar driver Janet Guthrie, Joe DiMaggio, and professional golfer Arnold Palmer teeing off flanked by fans. “We focus specifically on those three decades, because the images are so much more rare and beautiful,” says shop manager Cayleigh Parrish. “You wouldn’t normally find a colour sports photograph from 1949.”
For the discerning sports fan on your gift list, The Sport Gallery takes a high-end approach to sports memorabilia, offering only limited edition collectibles consisting of the finest quality, sports-based photography and art. Some of the more rare items include a game-used Toronto Maple Leaf puck turned into a bottle opener and high-quality prints that capture iconic players and coaches from ages past. Among old brick buildings and cobblestone streets, their Distillery District showroom feels like a sports shrine.
Sure, the Jays have only been around since 1977, but fortunately for us The Sports Gallery operates in a very different, much more nostalgic alternate reality. Their beautifully crafted "vintage-inspired" line of memorabilia imagines a Jays team that was swingin' when the Babe Ruths and Ty Cobbs of the world ruled the roost.