Editing Ed Mirvish (section)

==Biography==
Born in [[Colonial Beach, Virginia]], the son of [[Jewish]] immigrants from [[Lithuania]] (his father, David) and [[Austria]] (his mother, Anna). His parents gave him the Hebrew name, Yehuda, but at the urging of a cousin, they added a more American name, Edwin.<ref>{{cite news | author=Richard Ouzounian | title=Ed Mirvish, 92: 'Honest Ed' | url=https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/234719 | work=Toronto Star | date=July 11, 2007 | access-date=11 July 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911115542/http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/234719 | archive-date=11 September 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Mirvish often told the tale of his [[Brit milah|bris]]; there was no [[mohel]] in Colonial Beach, so the family hired one in nearby Washington, D.C., to come down to perform the ceremony. The mohel chosen was Rabbi Moshe Reuben Yoelson, the father of [[Al Jolson]]. Mirvish credited this as his introduction to show business.<ref name=canwest>{{cite news | author=CanWest News Service | title=Entrepreneur and theatre impresario Mirvish dead at 92 | url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=542d9381-3305-49c2-bea3-b4cc8db6aabd | work=Canada.com | date=July 11, 2007 | access-date=16 February 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105122126/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=542d9381-3305-49c2-bea3-b4cc8db6aabd | archive-date=November 5, 2012 }}</ref>

The family later moved to Washington, D.C., where Mirvish's father opened a grocery store. The grocery store went bankrupt in 1923, and David Mirvish moved his family to Toronto where he worked as a door-to-door salesman&nbsp;– peddling, among other things, [[Fuller Brush]]es and the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry&nbsp;– until he opened a grocery in the Toronto Jewish community, on [[Dundas Street, Toronto|Dundas Street]]. The family lived above the store, sharing their tiny apartment with a Hebrew school. Mirvish would often joke that it was his dream in those days to someday have a bathroom he did not have to share with 50 others.

Mirvish lost his father at the age of 15. He dropped out of school to manage the store, becoming the sole support of his mother, his younger brother, Robert (who became a successful novelist and short-story writer) and sister, Lorraine. The grocery business did not do well, and Mirvish closed shop to reopen as a dry-cleaner, in partnership with his childhood friend, Yale Simpson. The shop was known as Simpson's. When the well-known downtown Toronto department store [[Simpson's]] attempted to force him to change the name of his business, Mirvish pointed to Simpson and said, "Here's my Mr. Simpson. Where's yours?" The dry-cleaning business did no better than the grocery, however, and Mirvish soon abandoned it to take a regular job working as a produce manager and buyer for Toronto grocery store entrepreneur Leon Weinstein. Now financially stable, Mirvish bought a [[Ford Model T]] and began to court a radio singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Anne Macklin, whom he married in 1941. In 1945, their son, [[David Mirvish|David]], was born.

[[File:HonestEdsTorontoBathurstandBloor.jpg|thumb|280px|[[Honest Ed's]] discount store]]

In 1943, during World War II, Ed and Anne Mirvish opened a dress shop known as The Sport Bar on Bloor Street near Bathurst.<ref name=canwest/> In 1946, the business expanded and was renamed Anne & Eddie's. In 1948, Mirvish cashed in his wife's insurance policy to open a new business, a bargain basement known as "[[Honest Ed's]]", stocked with all kinds of odd merchandise purchased at bankruptcy and fire sales, and displayed on orange crates. This unique no-credit, no-service, no-frills business model was an immediate success. Mirvish claimed to have invented the "[[loss-leader]]", below-cost discounts on selected items designed to lure buyers into the store. "Honest Ed's" gradually expanded to fill an entire city block. Billing itself as "the world's biggest discount department store", it was soon bringing in millions of dollars a year. The store expanded and, in the late 1950s, Mirvish started buying up houses on Markham Street running south from Bloor. When his application to tear down the Victorian structures to build a parking lot was rejected by the city Mirvish, at the urging of his wife, rented them out at low rates to local artists and the street soon became a community of artists studios, galleries, boutiques and niche shops known today as [[Mirvish Village]].<ref name=thestar>{{cite news | author=Richard Ouzounian  | title=Ed Mirvish, 92: Toronto's Greatest Bargain | url=https://www.thestar.com/News/Obituary/article/235040 | work=Toronto Star| date=July 12, 2007 | access-date=16 February 2009}}</ref>

In June 2006, Ed and Anne Mirvish<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/anne-mirvish-wife-of-honest-ed-mirvish-dies-at-94-1.1862450?cmp=rss |title=Anne Mirvish, wife of 'Honest' Ed Mirvish, dies at 94 |agency=The Canadian Press |date=September 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921063522/http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/anne-mirvish-wife-of-honest-ed-mirvish-dies-at-94-1.1862450?cmp=rss |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |work=CBS News}}</ref> marked their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The mayor of Toronto, the chief of police and other public figures delivered congratulatory speeches, followed by a program of vocal music by some of Toronto's opera and theater stars.<ref>{{cite news |title='Honest Ed' Mirvish celebrating 92nd birthday |url=http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20060723/honest_eds_060723/20060723?hub=TorontoHome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813180353/http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20060723/honest_eds_060723/20060723?hub=TorontoHome |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |publisher=[[CTV Television Network|CTV]] |date=July 23, 2006 |access-date=11 July 2007 }}</ref> In July 2006, Mirvish celebrated his 92nd birthday with a lavish party at Honest Ed's. In honor of this occasion, many items in the store were on sale for 92 cents.<ref>{{cite news |title=Honest Ed Mirvish Celebrates His 92nd Birthday |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2006/07/23/honest-ed-mirvish-celebrates-his-92nd-birthday/ |work=CityNews |date=July 23, 2006 |access-date=11 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929094542/http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_2143.aspx |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref>

On July 11, 2007, the Mirvish family released a statement to announce the death of Ed Mirvish after midnight at [[St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)|St. Michael's Hospital]], Toronto, at age 92. The funeral service was held at the [[Beth Tzedec Congregation|Beth Tzedek Synagogue]] in Toronto.<ref name=citynews/> Mirvish was buried at [[Maple, Ontario#History|Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Maple, Ontario]]. His store was closed and its lights were dimmed, as staff bid farewell to the former owner. A similar gesture was made by theatres on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], which dimmed their lights for one minute at 8&nbsp;pm on July 13. [[Toronto Police]] provided ceremonial and mounted units (including the horse Honest Ed) for his funeral. Flags at Toronto's [[civic centre]]s were lowered to half mast.<ref name=citynews/>

On August 12, 2007, the City of Toronto had granted a closure of Bloor Street between Bathurst and Markham Streets to accommodate a celebration in honour of Ed Mirvish.  Ceremonies began with Mayor David Miller, who proclaimed August 12 "Ed Mirvish Day" in the City of Toronto.

In response to his death, [[Jones Soda|Jones Cane Sugar Soda]] issued bottles of their soda with a picture of Honest Ed on them, with "Honest Ed Mirvish 1914–2007" placed where normally a photo credit lies.