Separating the men from the boys

The Toronto Harbour Commission built the Sunnyside Bathing pavilion in 1922. It was expected to hold lockers for 7,700 people. (Mike Filey. I remember Sunnyside: The Rise and fall of a Magical Era. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1996, 53) I think there’s a lot to be said about the bathing pavilion and the expectations regarding gender and class that went into its construction. But right now I’m looking at one of the interesting details about it. While the women’s change room was shared by women of all ages, the male’s change room was physically divided to separate the men from the boys. As the plans for the building show, the harbour commission relied on a 60 feet long by six feet high fence to do the job. (Series 544, File 52E, PR 006673L-94, Toronto City Archives). The plans also illustrate that the boys had a separate entrance. (Series 544, File 52E, PR 006673L-95, Toronto City Archives)

Is it a big deal that males were separated by age whereas females were not? I’m not sure. It could mean that there were concerns about mixing males youths with men. Was there a fear that the adult men would set a bad example for the boys? Or that the youthful boys would be tainted by seeing adult men in a state of undress? Maybe it means there were more boys than girls going to Sunnyside and their greater numbers warranted more control. I don’t know at this point. But I’m keeping an eye on that wall to see if it has anything else it can tell me.