1932 and Beyond

One of the things I like about summer is that there are so many nice things out and about. Like cars. I don't know much about them but some of them look really great.

Today I am going to tell you about more events in 1932.

On August 1, 1932 the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), forerunner of the NDP, as founded in Calgary. Its first leader was James Woodsworth.

Also in August, the 20th to be precise, Vancouver beer parlours were allowed to be open from 9:30am to 11:30pm.

On September 17 Vancouver's new coroner's court and city morgue opened at 238-240 East Cordova. Now it is the Vancouver Police Museum which I have written on.

On October 18 Iona Campagnolo was born on Galiano Island. She was the first woman to be appointed to the position of B.C.'s lieutenant governor.

October 1932 was also when construction began on homes in the British Properties in West Vancouver. This gave 150 men jobs during the depression.

In October the province established relief camps for single, unemployed men. By 1934 there were more than 6,000 of them.

Some former employees from the newspaper the Star started their own paper. Among the employees of  the new paper the News at 614 West Pender were Gus Sivertz and J. Edward Norcross. The paper folded after five months.

On December 8 H.H. Stevens walked around Stanley Park on his 54th birthday. He continued this annual walk for forty years until 1972. He died at the age of 94 on June 14, 1973.

On December 20 Burnaby defaulted on a loan and the city went into receivership where it stayed until 1942. North Vancouver also went bankrupt.

In the 1932-33 season Vancouver will ship out 96,869,841 bushels of wheat, making it the world’s largest grain port.

Vancouver racer Percy Williams ran in the 1932 Olympic Games, but pulled up short with a severe muscle injury. He would never race again.

The Richmond Review newspaper began publication in 1932.

Oreste and Agnes Notte opened a bakeshop at 14th and Granville. Originally from Italy the Nottes came here from Victoria. In 1935 they would move their bakery - Notte's Bon Ton - downtown. It is still in business today.

The only floating post office in the British Empire, the M.V. Scenic, began service. She served until 1968 and was known as the Burrard Inlet T.P.O (travelling post office.)

The Burrard Inlet Tunnel & Bridge Company went bankrupt. The ownership of the first Second Narrows Bridge  eventually passed to the Crown and would be closed for four years. Despite all the accidents the bridge had undergone, there were no injuries.

In 1919 Cooper and Smith Towing started operations on the Fraser River. In 1932 they became Westminster Tug Boats Inc. and began to specialize in boat handling in the Burrard Inlet.

Lena Cotsworth Clarke began the York House School, a private girls' school in Vancouver.

St. Mary The Virgin Anglican Church in New Westminster was damaged by fire but was successfully repaired.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill,Great Depression, Vancouver,Iona Campagnolo,H.H. Stevens,Notte's Bon Ton,History,M.V. Scenic

1932

Today I am going through my files of photos and showing you some of the things I see around the city. I take photos of anything that interests me and I hope you enjoy them as well.

As well I am going to talk about some of the events that were to important to Vancouver in 1932.

By 1932 the Great Depression had settled over the country like a wet blanket. It is estimated that thousands were on relief and hundreds more were arriving by freight train daily. One reporter counted 1,250 men in the bread line at the First United Church and the city's cost for relief between 1931 and 1932 was over $1.3 million.

In January of 1932 the Hastings Mill Store opened as a museum. It had been moved from it original location on Dunlevy Street to where it now sits in Hastings Mill Park (aka Pioneer Park).

On February 28, 1932 actor, activist and musician Don Francks, (native name Iron Buffalo) was born in Vancouver.

February of 1932 was also the year that the morning newspaper, The Star, was shut down by Victor Odlum when the printers refused to take a wage cut.

The Strand Theatre, on the south side of Georgia Street at Seymour, was closed as a result of the Depression in February. It reopened in 1933.


March 31 proved that the silent film era was totally dead. On this the Beacon Theatre (the old Pantages) on Hastings Street was showing the 1915 classic Birth of a Nation.

On May 27 the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra gave its first performance.

Famed pianist Ignace Paderewski performed at the Vancouver Arena on April 13. By 1940, eight years later,  he was at the head of the Polish government in exile during the Second World War.


The Florence Nightingale of the City died at the age of 80 on April 13.  Sister Frances (Mrs. Fanny Dalrymple Redmond) was our first public health nurse and was a nurse at the St. James' Church. She earned the above mentioned nickname for her devotion and commitment to the sick during the smallpox epidemic of the 1890s.


On April 25 the Vancouver General Hospital broke all previous records in their maternity ward. Eleven babies were born that day - one Japanese child and ten white babies. Six of the children were boys and five were girls.

these tiles are placed in the sidewalk on Hastings street in the Hastings/Sunrise District.

The Vancouver Police Department inaugurated a full radio system in April of 1932.

On May 4 a large demonstration of the unemployed was held at Vancouver City Hall.

In 1912 Robert Dollar established the Canadian Robert Dollar Co. in Vancouver to run the fleet of Dollar Steamship Line of California. Timber stands bought from the BC Government supplied his sawmills and the company's flag was a white dollar sign on a red background and it was known worldwide. Known as the Pacific's Grand Old Man, Dollar died on May 16, 1932 in San Rafael, California at the age of about 88.

Spring of 1932 saw the first Bradner Flower Show that was attended huge crowds. There was a concert and dance in the evening.

The Capilano Timber Company mills were destroyed by fire in June of 1932. Started in 1917 the company was ran a logging railway up the Capilano Valley to bring out the red cedar.

On Canada Day of that year, July 1, the Burrard Street Bridge opened. I have written on it before and the bridge's history so I won't do so now.

On July 17 the CPR began running trains through a tunnel downtown. The tunnel was built to get the trains off of the city streets. With a few modifications it has been transformed to be used by the Skytrain.

I hpoe you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill,CPR, Vancouver,tunnel,Capilano Timber Company,Robert Dollar,History,Ignace Paderewski

Farmer's Market

During the summer Trout Lake hosts a Farmer's Market on the weekend. It runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 2pm starting May 14 and ending October 22. I stopped by one day and was impressed by the vegies and such I saw there.

These markets are a great way for city dwellers to get fresh produce straight from the farm.

But Farmers' Markets aren't a new idea - they are an old idea that has re-emerged. Before the Industrial age it was quite common for these markets to be held and in some countries the markets are not only quite common but larger.

In these modern times the local markets have been replaced by supermarkets that ship in produce that has been packaged and produced and the natural ripening cycle disrupted by chemicals and such. Many people are now looking at what is in their food and researching how that affects their health.

If you don't want vegies there are other foods available. I'm not vegan but that chocolate cake could change my mind!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been in a lifelong battle with my weight. And I know that the problem stems from me and my actions. Too many years eating improperly and not exercising enough. However I have been trying to learn more about the connection between good, clean food, exercise and good health. And these places offer foods to consider.

I don't know for sure how everything is produced then sold at these markets - a person has to have faith I guess that everything is done in a healthful way.

And there even places for the carnivore to satisfy their hunger. These animals are raised as naturally as possible without the chemicals and fattening additives that some meat producers use.

All the glorious food! I got there close to closing time so I missed a lot of the displays.

There is more than gastronomically delights at a farmer's market.

Isn't  the work gorgeous?

And what festival would be complete without music?

If you are in Vancouver and are interested in going to a Farmers' Market then visit this page. It has a list of all the markets with times and dates.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill,Trout Lake, Vancouver,Farmers' Market,organic,health,History,vegan