The Year...1948

On January 3, 1948, two Vancouver Sun photographers, Art Jones and Ray Munro, formed the freelance photography business, artray. For some unremembered reason, the two were angry with Hal Straight of the Sun. Many of their photographs have been donated to the Vancouver Public Library website and I have used a few in blog entries.

January 12, Gordon Campbell - future mayor of Vancouver and premier of BC - was born in Vancouver.

On February 9, the go ahead was given for motel construction along Kingsway.

(these photos were taken on Tuesday. You can see the apple blossoms starting. Here comes spring!)

On March 6, 1948, the Province newspaper featured a photo of a sad looking young man sitting on the rubble of the partially demolished Giant Dipper roller coaster. The story below read: 

“THEY'RE TEARING DOWN the Giant Dipper at Vancouver's Hastings Park today to make room for the extension of the racetrack. This may be good news to adult followers of the galloping bangtails, but it's something close to a major tragedy for thousands of youngsters. Shown viewing the crumbling skeleton with nostalgia and sorrow is 14-year-old Bob. Said Bob, ‘If they want to rip things apart in this town, why don't they start in on a few schools?’ The Giant Dipper has been a top attraction at the midway since 1925. It cost $65,000. It was almost a mile long, and the cars reached 40 miles an hour. The longest sheer drop was 60 feet—a thrill credited with having hastened the ripening of many a beautiful friendship. In 1927 the Duke of Windsor, then the Prince of Wales, tried out the Dipper one afternoon and liked it so well he returned in the evening.”

Remember the band, the Ink Spots? Okay, that is going back a ways for some of you. On April 18, 1948, the group - starring Vancouver's own Bill Kenney - started a two-week engagement at the Palomar.

April 26, 1948 was Vancouver's first boat show.

May 9, 1948, the Women's Auxiliary to the Air Service dedicates a Remembrance garden in Stanley Park “as a living memorial in honoured tribute to the service, sacrifice and achievement of our gallant airmen.” A poem on a plaque in the garden reads:

Not here they fell who died a world to save Not here they lie but in a thousand fields afar 

Here is their living spirit that knows no grave 

Not here they were — but are

I am not ashamed to admit that poem brought tears to my eyes. So beautiful.

Thanks goes to The History of Metropolitan Vancouver website for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

VPL and others

I wandered down to the Vancouver Public Library today to do some research. And wait until you see this building.

From a distance it is an impressive building. And close up it is even more awe inspiring.

This building was designed by Moshe Safdie. It was the most unique design yet the most beloved by the public. Standing at 350 West Georgia the library is nine floors and contains over 2.25 million items. You should be able to find what you want in here.

I suppose that this isn't really history since it was built in 1995 but it contains a lot of historical facts. And is a good place to go. Just for those who are curious it also cost about 107 million dollars to build.



Across the street is the Canada Post building.

At one time this was the largest welded steel structure in the world. And this is interesting. In 1954 the federal minister of public works got the city to build a tunnel from the CPR station to the new post office for mail transfer. Mail began being transferred by air not long after that so the tunnel was never used. But the tunnel was built - it cost 1.6 million dollars and is two kilometres long. I wonder if it is still there. I see the makings of a great novel here. This building was completed on March 14, 1958.

This is the Seymour building located on Seymour Street. Named I guess because of Sir Edward Hobart Seymour. However I haven't been able to find that much information yet.

These houses are in the Strathcona area and I took the picture on Saturday. They represent the colors of the time, as well as the style.There is a grant program where someone will some out and scrape down through the layers of paint  to find the color the house was originally. If the present owner does not find those appealing they can have house painted in colors that represent the era the house was built.

These row houses, once again in the Strathcona area, were built probably around 1906. They have been rebuilt and stayed as true to the original style as possible.

To be honest I had a few photos of another segment that I was anxious to share but they didn't transfer for some reason. So I will have to go back and take them again.

I hope you see the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Vancouver Public Library, Georgia,Canada PostStrathcona,Walk,history,