A Dry B.C.

During the 1910s and the 1920s, there was an economic boom in Vancouver. Buildings were springing up all over town - including some of our more iconic structures such as the Dominion Building and the Sun Tower. Then World War I started and everything ground to a halt.

That war cost British Columbia  more young men per capita than any other province in Canada. And what were the good folks at home doing while these men were off at war? Outlawing alcohol.

That's right. Prohibition arrived in B.C. before it was enacted in the U.S. From 1917 to 1921, the Temperance Movement convinced politicians, media and the public that if allies wanted to win the war, then alcohol had to be banned.

Alcoholism was widespread and causing damage to the Canadian family and the supporters of prohibition probably thought that banning booze would help to restore the moral fabric of Canadian society. The Temperance movement was funded by the Church and had huge political influence. These well-meaning folks were going to have all the saloons closed and this demon drink banned.

However, we all know what happens when the government steps in and tries to take away something like alcohol. The people find illegal ways to obtain it. Illegal producers and distributors of alcohol appeared, supplying product to speakeasies and illegal drinking dens.

Prohibition was short lived in B.C. and officially ended in 1921 but post-prohibition licensing laws in Vancouver meant that bootlegging operations and speakeasies carried for another thirty years! And drinking establishments varied from the classy Commodore Ballroom to the run-down drinking dens of Hogan's Alley.

The rewards from running bootleg booze were just too great to be ignored. Prohibition enabled crime bosses such as Joe Celona and Wally 'Blondie' Wallace to exert control over the city.

Officials and police officers turned a blind eye to bootlegging or else they profited from it through bribes and pay offs. A number of police chiefs lost their jobs due to allegations of corruption in the Vancouver Police.

It was in the 1950s though that events reached a climax. Police Chief Walter Mulligan was halfway through an inquiry on corruption in the VPD when he fled to Los Angeles.

 The Forbidden Vancouver website provided the information for this entry. (If you are going to be in Vancouver or live here, check out one of their tours.) The photos are of an art project on Granville Street. Students from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design supply the artwork, which is then put on these power boxes for all to see.

Friday, I will tell you more about prohibition in Vancouver.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

2012!

Can you believe it is the year 2012 already? It doesn't seem that long ago that people were talking about Y2K and how the world was going to come to an end at the start of the new century. And now there are those who say that the world will end this year.

Before I get into my first blog entry of the year I want to show you something. As you may know my book The Bond, A Paranormal Love Story is being published in Turkey. I received the cover over the Christmas break and I want to share it with all of you.

Isn't that gorgeous? I put it on my desktop and admire it every time I look at my computer.

Now I'll take you back to Shaugnessy and look at a few homes there.

This home is on Matthews Avenue and shows how firm a grip the Tudor Revival's  style had on the imagination of the first generation of Shaugnessy home owners.

The house was designed by architects Sharp and Thompson in 1912.

This Craftsman house on Granville Street was also built in 1912. It was designed by architect H. Murray.

As you can see it has a hipped roof with deep overhanging eaves and brackets as well as a shingled upper storey and an irregularly coursed stone base cladding.

The curved glass in the corner turret was imported and quite expensive.

Members of the John Westaway Society, a philosophical association, lived in the house 1960s and 1970s. Now it is a private residence.

It was difficult getting photos of this house due to the large hedge. This is why most of the pictures were taken from across the street.

It is good to be back and I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Sharp and Thompson, Vancouver, H Murray, John Westway Society, Granville Street, Turkey, British Columbia

Sojourn at The Shannon

When I left on Friday it was June 1918 and B.T. Rogers had died in his bed at the Gabriola estate - never having lived in The Shannon or seen the completion of his dream estate.

The Great War, The War to End All Wars, World War I was still on and would be for another few months. Mary Rogers was left to raise seven children alone and had to  consider what to  do with her husband's dream.

Mary must have been made of strong stuff because not only did she manage to raise the children but she also completed her husband's dream estate.

Work continued on The Shannon estate and in 1925 Mary Rogers and her brood left their home at the Gabriola and moved into the luxurious surroundings.

Life at The Shannon was grand. The time period was the Roaring Twenties - the war was over and people were back to enjoying life. The prestigious Parisian firm, L. Alavoine & Company, had been hired to do the interior design. The house itself employed a gardener, cooks, maids, a butler, a nurse, and a chauffeur - twelve in all. Music played from the pipe organ ordered from New York, filling the grounds with sweet sounds. (When I visited last week a pianist was playing and the classical music lent an air of the past to the grounds.)

It is fitting that music still be played today since Mary Isabella Rogers had an appreciation for music and an interest in the arts. She was also a charitable woman. Every year she would hold a Christmas party for local children and was certain to make sure that each received a magnificent gift.

The Rogers family also owned cinema cameras and what was likely the first home movie filmed in Vancouver was filmed on The Shannon grounds. It was entitled Bastard Love and, if you are a film buff, there are still copies available today.

Life was splendid but times do change. In 1936 all the children were grown and Mary decided that The Shannon was just too big for her now. She sold the property and moved to a more modest dwelling on Angus Drive.

1936 was the middle of the Great Depression and mining promoter Austin Taylor bought the property for $105, 600 - less than ten times the total taxes. The assessment of the property at the time was $270, 400. So Taylor got a great deal.

So the estate that Benjamin Tingley Rogers had imagined and built had been completed. Although B.T. Rogers never lived there his ashes were strewn in the ornamental gardens and his widow made sure that the residence was completed. Her and her children lived there for many years before moving on. And guess what? I have more photos and more to tell you but  that is for the next entry.

Until the next time, I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill,Somervell and Putnam, Vancouver,B.T. Rogers,The Shannon,Austin Taylor,History,L. Alavoine and Company