Sales and Murder

First I want to tell you about a big free event I am having starting tomorrow, March 21, 2013. It will run through March 24 and all three of my kindle titles will be free.

For the first time EVER, The Bond, A Paranormal Love Story will be free in Kindle.

A woman, Laura Neill, in Vancouver is struck by a Chrysler Intrigue while crossing the street. At the same time in Toronto a car also strikes Julian Rule. Both people have an out of body experience and meet as they are floating. Their ethereal forms bond as one before separating - each taking a part of the other’s soul with them as they return to their bodies.

 When the two people wake up, they remember the experience they shared and have memories of each other. The simultaneous accidents created a psychic bond. They are truly soul mates. Although Laura is haunted by visions of Julian that she cannot understand, she has decided to make dramatic changes in her life. One of them is becoming engaged to a member of England’s nobility that has recently appeared in her life. When he senses that she is in danger – a feeling that is confirmed by a psychic friend – Julian goes to Vancouver to come to her aid. With the help of a detective, Julian is able to prove that Laura’s fiancé is a con artist and a murderer. When Julian confronts the man, he and Laura are placed in imminent danger.

Here's the link.

Mystique Rising:

In a bloody showdown during a Mystique concert, the government ended rock music. The members of Mystique disappeared - as many musicians before them had -without a trace.

This drives fans underground and they form the rebel group,the Let Us Play Organization. Presently Kaya More, who is the daughter of a slain LUPO founder, as well as a descendant of a member of Mystique, leads LUPO.

The gift of second sight aids Kaya as she leads the rebels from New York City to California to the Canadian Rockies. Once LUPO joins forces with other outlaws from around the world, the rebellion explodes and a showdown between the oppressors of music and fans is inevitable.

Link

And last, but certainly not least, Missing Flowers.

When psychic Julie Seer moves to Vancouver, her dreams are filled with visions of women being murdered. She doesn’t know who is being killed, or why, until the day Julie goes to a press conference held by the Vancouver Police Station: a press conference to announce the formation of a special task force that will investigate the case of the prostitutes who have gone missing from Vancouver’s East Side.

Detective Constable Santoro Ricci, an officer with the Vancouver Police Department, wants on the special task force. When he happens upon Julie at the press conference, Ricci finds himself unofficially investigating the case.

Julie also finds herself having visions where she is transported back in time into the body of a Chinese prostitute in the late 1800s. Through these visions, and stories told to her by long time residents of the city, Julie learns more of the history of Vancouver.

With the help of Francine, an east side prostitute, Julie and Santoro work together to solve the mystery of the missing women. When Francine and Julie are taken by the killer, Santoro must find the missing answers fast.

 Link

If you haven't read my books then I hope you will take advantage of this promotion and get yours.

This is a federal coke delivery truck. It belonged to the British Columbia Electric Company. The photographer is unknown but it was taken in 1919 - 1920 and is under the Georgia Viaduct. 

Taken in 1923, this photo of passengers boarding The Cheam is credited to Timms, Philip. The Cheam was owned by the Union Steamship Company.

Another photo of The Cheam. Here it is docked in Howe Sound and Timms, Philip is credited with this photo. The date it was taken is unknown. All three of these photos are from the Vancouver Public Library collection.

The twenties were a glorious time for Vancouver and even more so for the district of Shaughnessy. Old, moneyed families such as the McRaes held lavish masquerade parties in the ballrooms of their opulent mansions.

Prohibition was over and its demise was toasted in style with imported wines and spirits. The wine cellar at the McRae's was reputed to have some 2000 bottles.

Here's a float for a parade. Taken by John Davidson in the 1920s. 

This is the King George Junior Basketball Team. Winners of Wilson Cup in 1920. Stuart Thomson took the photo.

This photo, taken in 1920 by Stuart Thomson, shows employees outside of Duke's Grocery on Commercial Drive.

Another Stuart Thomson photo, taken July of 1920. This is the 10th annual convention of N.W. photo engravers and is outside the Hotel Vancouver. This would have been the second Hotel Vancouver built in 1916. The third is what we see today. These four photos are from the city of Vancouver collection.

While the elder rich held parties and balls, the younger ones raced around the town in their automobiles and played tennis, bridge and golf. It was rumoured that these wild ones would party through the night and skinny dip by the midnight moon while toasting the fun with French champagne.

Taken by the Dominion Photo Company between 1924 and 1928, this picture shows Mayor L.D. Taylor with two ladies, raising money for crippled children.

Stuart Thomson took this 1920 photo of the Central Baseball Club.

A 1920 photo of the Alexandra Orphanage at Crescent Beach. It was taken by Stuart Thomson.

This photo dates back to February 11, 1920 and Stuart Thomson took this image of the Washington State Hotelmen's convention.

These photos are from the City of Vancouver collection.

It was in 1924 that the debauchery of the rich set shocked the city. A Shaughnessy nanny, Janet Smith, was found dead in her employers' home. She had worked for the couple as they had hosted an all night party and her body was discovered in the morning.

It was a shameful time for Vancouver. Violence, drug abuse, corruption and police collusion were all revealed during the extended murder investigation. To this day, no one has ever been convicted of that murder.

June 10, 1920 is when Stuart Thomson took this photo of the Kiwanis Club luncheon at the Hotel Vancouver.

May 24, 1920. Stuart Thomson took this photo of the start of a Coast to Coast road trip.The 'Reo Six' went from Vancouver to New Brunswick. The Reo Motor Car Agency.

Major James Skitt Matthews took this photo in 1927 looking north from Robson Street down Granville. It was reproduced in 1955.

This is a 1927 photo of the Confederation Arch at the Hotel Vancouver - Georgia and Granville Streets. It was taken by E. Walter Frost.

Once again these four photos are from the archives at the City of Vancouver.

Thanks goes to Aynsley Vogel and Dana Wyse and their book Vancouver, A History in Photographs for the information on Shaugnessy in the 1920s.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

November 1929. Stuart Thomson took this photo of the S.S. Selma

Compliments of the City of Vancouver archives.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, 1920, history, Vancouver, A History in Photographs, Aynsley Vogel British Columbia, Canada, Dana Wyse,Shaughnessy, eBooks

Athletes and Updates

The Templeton Market is located on Templeton Drive North. Built in 1912, this was formerly the home of Bayly Bros. Grocery as well as an I.O.O.F. Hall.

Today I am going to continue my look at the 1920s in Vancouver and give you an update on an earlier story.

Local restaurant owner, Peter Pantages, was organizing the Polar Bear Swim Club. Pangtages, nephew of the Pantages of the Pantages Theatre fame, took a morning dip in the frigid waters of English Bay. After the swim, Peter and his friends would meet at Pantages Peter Pan Cafe on Granville.

The Polar Swim Club organized an annual winter swim for those who decided that once a year in the freezing water was enough. That event still happens every New Years Day. Not that I have ever participated or, at the moment, intend to get into that freezing water.

It was in 1928 that Vancouver's own Percy Williams became a national hero. It was at the Amsterdam Olympics that Williams took the world of track and field by storm, winning gold in both the 100 and 200 metre sprints.

In an earlier blog entry, I posted a photo of the home that Percy once lived in. When I wrote on the new BC Place, I showed photos of a statue of Williams outside the venue. It is obvious that Vancouver appreciates our hero.

Here is a photo of Percy Williams, thanks to the Vancouver Public Library. The Dominion Photo Co is credited with this May 8, 1928 picture.

I posted a link to an online petition a while ago to stop the destruction of a legendary live venue in town, the Waldorf. The developers have said that they are going to incorporate the building into the condominiums being built on that site.

Waldorf Productions though is not dead. The people involved in that have teamed with the Rickshaw owner David Duprey and his partner Rachel Zottenburg to run the Fox Cinema on Granville Street. A five-year lease has been signed with a five-year option to renew. However, it may be a while before the new venue opens since the Fox, a former porno theatre, is a disaster inside and needs a lot of work to clean it up.

To honor this event and in memory of what the Waldorf once was, I found some old photos of the interior from the Vancouver City archives. Enjoy.

Thanks goes to Aynsley Vogel and Dana Wyse for their book Vancouver, A History in Photographs where I got the information on the 1920s in Vancouver. 

I hope you find the beauty around you.

I have written on The Waldorf and its history before. If you want to read what I said, go here.


Karen Magill, Vancouver, 1920, history, Vancouver, A History in Photographs, Aynsley Vogel British Columbia, Canada, Dana Wyse,Percy Williams, Waldorf

Freedom and Talkies

This home at 2427 Franklin Street, has stood here since 1909.

World War I was over and there was a new attitude in the air. There was freedom, money being made and happy days. Women had shorter hair, and shorter skirts, and they had found a new sense of independence. During the war, they had gone to work in jobs held previously only by men. And these ladies had proven they could do it.

Vancouver saw a new age of expansion and progress. The stock market was helping the rich get richer while the newly opened Panama Canal - in addition to a dramatic increase in wheat exports - boosted shipping activities in Vancouver's port. During the years between 1921 and 1929, the total exports for the city quadrupled.

This green house, built in 1912, is at 2435 Franklin Street.

During this decade, Vancouver also started becoming more industrialized. Hundreds of small factories were started and helped to put to work those who were unemployed after the war.

The city started expanding, absorbing the suburbs of South Vancouver and Point Grey.  The population rose to almost 250,000 by the end of the decade.

This was also a decade of technological advances. By the end of the twenties, seventy percent of the homes in Canada had electricity. Electric irons and vacuum cleaners created more free time and something had to fill in the gap. The radio stepped in to accomplish this task as thousands of families across the city tuned in to American radio shows.

The latest house can be seen at 1847 Venables and dates back to 1910.

The biggest freedom though came from the automobile. In 1920, Vancouver recorded 650 cars. It only took ten years for the number to balloon to 36,500. Our first drive-in restaurant, The White Spot, catered to this craze. (I wrote on The White Spot and how it got started when I wrote on Nat Bailey, the company's founder.) In 1928, the first traffic light was installed downtown.

With the added free time, it was also time to go out on the town. The Pantages Theatre on Hastings brought in Duke Ellington and vaudeville acts. However, it was the 'talkies' that had everyone, well, talking. The first talking picture Mother Knows Best, was screened at the Capital on Granville in 1928. This area would become known a\s Vancouver's Theatre Row. In 1927, the Orpheum opened and it brought in stars like Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. There were also ritzy places to eat like the Chanticleer Cafe or the Love's Grill.

(Guess what? I have written on the Orpheum Theatre as well.)

This photo I found at the Vancouver Public Library Online collection. The studio credited with taking it is the Dominion Photo Co. If you look to the one side, just behind the car there, it looks like that could be the Chanticleer Cafe. 

Thanks goes to Bob_2006 for the information on the houses and to Aynsley Vogel and Dana Wyse and Vancouver, A History in Photographs for the information on the 1920s.

Monday, I will look more at this precious decade in this history and until then I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, 1920, history, Vancouver, A History in Photographs, Aynsley Vogel British Columbia, Canada, Dana Wyse,flickr.com