Here’s an easy question for you trivia buffs: name a popular Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player in the 1960s who went on to found a donut shop that bears his name. Take your best guess, then read on for the answer.
What, you were expecting someone else? And what is it with former Leafs and donuts, anyway?
Peering into the window of this shop at Silvercreek Parkway and Woodlawn Road in Guelph, we couldn’t tell whether it was a going concern, preparing for its grand opening, or mopping up after its demise. Actually, it looked a lot like a furniture store was being set up inside, judging by the number of couches inside that were ensconced in shrink wrap.
In his 2001 book Food Nations: Selling Taste in Consumer Societies, Warren Belasco devoted an entire chapter to Tim, Eddie, and their donuts, comparing their playing careers to their doughy successes:
In 1994, former Toronto Maple Leaf Eddie Shack jumped on the donut and hockey player bandwagon, lending his name to a chain of donut shops on the outskirts of Toronto. […] More known for a string of comic commercials than any great contribution to patriotic mythmaking, Shack is a real character, much like the goofy uncle who shows up to family reunions and won’t stop talking. Nor is Shack a particularly admired donut impresario. […] “Tim Horton was an impressive kind of guy: short and stocky, brush cut, played for the Leafs,” sums up John Fitzsimmons of Hamilton, Ontario. “If they’d have had an Eddie Shack Donut back then, I’d have said, ‘I ain’t going in there, the guy’s a goof!’ But now he’s a legend. He was fun to watch, but [Eddie Shack] was no Tim Horton.”
i was once in an eddie shack donut shop in caledon, ontario. is that location still there. since i moved to brantford in 2003 i haven’t been to caledon in all that time. so i’m guessing that the eddie shack donut shop is in caledon, ontario.
my guess is caledon, ontario. back in the 80’s and 90’s when i lived in brampton, ont i often visited the eddie shack donut shop there. i once asked an employee there if any other eddie shack donuts existed. he told me that there was one in guelph. but i’ll guess caledon here. as for being closed they were not a 24/7 shop so they closed up around midnight or so. that accounts for the closed sign.
The address, 18372 Hurontario Street in Caledon, looks like the address of a Tim Hortons (on Google Maps anyway). Alas, it looks like there are no more Eddie Shack Donut shops. I tried to visit the one in Guelph and discovered that it’s now a Crabby Joe’s.
Tim Hortons as of 2014
In 1992 there was a Eddy Shack Donuts on King Street East, Oshawa, Ontario. It clised in 1997. I sure miss the place as it was open 24 / 7, 364 days a year. Donuts were freshly made daily. Coffee was goos as well. Staff were friendly. At night that place would be full. Eddy would drop in once in a while. Those wrre the days. I still have one of the plastic mugs.