It’s been 15 years, 780 issues, 5 addresses, 4 redesigns, 3 logos, 2 William Burrill mayoral campaigns and 1 Roxette cover, and you’re still reading! When Eye Weekly launched in Oct. 1991, Toronto only had 3 daily papers, 1 weekly and no internet*. But even as the competition for readers’ attention has intensified dramatically, Eye Weekly has survived and thrived. To reward your loyalty we present this year-by-year timeline charting the evolution of Eye Weekly — our greatest hits, misses and musings — and the city that’s grown up along with us.

A RECORD THAT STILL STANDS!!!

Eye Weekly’s very first issue on Oct. 10, 1991 is billed as a “souvenir edition,” staking its claim to punctuation greatness with the following cover copy: “SAVE THIS ISSUE!!! This is it!!! The first one!! Numero uno!!! Sure to be a collector’s item!! Worth big $$$$ in years to come!!!! You’ll be kicking yourself if you let it slip through your fingers!!!! The most exclamation points on a cover, ever!!!!”

LATER, WE DECIDED WE LOVE FREE EXPRESSION, TOO…

Among the vast sway of taunting insults thrown at competitor NOW magazine in the Oct. 10, 1991 premiere issue, writer Geoff Heinricks mocked them as the people who “cried during a brief legal skirmish at Queen’s Park that their exhaustive weekly compilation of slap, tickle and sodomy ads were direly threatened nuggets of free expression.” In our June 29, 2006 issue, with slap, tickle and sodomy ads a mainstay of our own back pages, we were taking a different tack: “While we advocate the full legalization of prostitution, we feel that providing avenues for the normalization of the business through legitimate forms of advertising is a step in the right direction, and we’re proud to do it.”

SOMETHING TO FALL BACK ON WHEN THE RHEOSTATICS BREAK UP

Dave Bidini, guitarist for the Rheostatics, makes his debut as a sports writer with an Oct. 10 interview with former Blue Jays slugger Cliff Johnson. Bidini has since written three best-selling books about hockey and baseball.

WE DID BUILD 1KM OF BIKE LANES IN '05

Then-mayoral candidate Jack Layton lays out a key part of his strategy in the Oct. 17 issue: “The first strategies here involve increasing public transit and bicycle lanes everywhere in the city.” The future federal NDP candidate would lose the election to June Rowlands.

NEXT, THEY’LL COMPLAIN WE STOLE THEIR “ANNIVERSARY ISSUE” IDEA

The Ryerson Eyeopener, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last Friday, complained that Eye Weekly had stolen its name, as detailed in our Oct. 24 issue: “we would agree to settle for $250,000, payable Oct. 30, 1991.”


	It’s been 15 years, 780 issues, 5 addresses, 4 redesigns, 3 logos, 2 William Burrill mayoral campaigns and 1 Roxette cover, and you’re still reading! When Eye Weekly launched in Oct. 1991, Toronto only had 3 daily papers, 1 weekly and no internet. But even as the competition for readers’ attention has intensified dramatically, Eye Weekly* has survived and thrived. To reward your loyalty we present this year-by-year timeline charting the evolution of Eye Weekly — our greatest hits, misses and musings — and the city that’s grown up along with us.



	A RECORD THAT STILL STANDS!!! Eye Weekly’s very first issue on Oct. 10, 1991 is billed as a “souvenir edition,” staking its claim to punctuation greatness with the following cover copy: “SAVE THIS ISSUE!!! This is it!!! The first one!! Numero uno!!! Sure to be a collector’s item!! Worth big $$$$ in years to come!!!! You’ll be kicking yourself if you let it slip through your fingers!!!! The most exclamation points on a cover, ever!!!!” LATER, WE DECIDED WE LOVE FREE EXPRESSION, TOO… Among the vast sway of taunting insults thrown at competitor NOW magazine in the Oct. 10, 1991 premiere issue, writer Geoff Heinricks mocked them as the people who “cried during a brief legal skirmish at Queen’s Park that their exhaustive weekly compilation of slap, tickle and sodomy ads were direly threatened nuggets of free expression.” In our June 29, 2006 issue, with slap, tickle and sodomy ads a mainstay of our own back pages, we were taking a different tack: “While we advocate the full legalization of prostitution, we feel that providing avenues for the normalization of the business through legitimate forms of advertising is a step in the right direction, and we’re proud to do it.”		SOMETHING TO FALL BACK ON WHEN THE RHEOSTATICS BREAK UP Dave Bidini, guitarist for the Rheostatics, makes his debut as a sports writer with an Oct. 10 interview with former Blue Jays slugger Cliff Johnson. Bidini has since written three best-selling books about hockey and baseball. WE DID BUILD 1KM OF BIKE LANES IN '05 Then-mayoral candidate Jack Layton lays out a key part of his strategy in the Oct. 17 issue: “The first strategies here involve increasing public transit and bicycle lanes everywhere in the city.” The future federal NDP candidate would lose the election to June Rowlands. NEXT, THEY’LL COMPLAIN WE STOLE THEIR “ANNIVERSARY ISSUE” IDEA The Ryerson Eyeopener, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last Friday, complained that Eye Weekly had stolen its name, as detailed in our Oct. 24 issue: “we would agree to settle for $250,000, payable Oct. 30, 1991.”