Vancouver Voyager: The Mix of 46

A mountain of bison skulls ready to be ground into fertilizer in the 1870's.

The old Pony express and the future of mail delivery.

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill in 1885.

LAPD officers going undercover to catch purse snatchers in 1960.

On September 19, 1946, C.D. Howe - the "Minister of Everything" - officiated at a ceremony to honour the arrival of the first plane from Australia. The ceremony was also celebrating the establishment of an air route around the world through the commonwealth. Oh, and Howe was Minister of Transport at this time.

Charles Arthur Banks was sworn in as B.C.'s Lieutenant-Governor on October 1, 1946. He succeeded William Woodward.

Ten days later, the chairman of a special advertising committee of the Vancouver Tourist association, Cecil Alton, was quoted in the Province newspaper: "At least 1,000,000 American tourists will have visited Vancouver this year . . .” That may sound impressive but according to Tourism Vancouver, 675,779 American tourists have not only visited Vancouver in the first five months of this year but also stayed overnight.

Can you guess what this is a photo of? The road leading to Woodstock in 1969.

A 1921 car accident.

Michigan loggers in 1890.

Mark Twain smoking a cigar in 1905.

On October 23, 1946, Umberto Menghi was born in Pontdera, Tuscany. Menghi would come to Vancouver and open the restaurant, Umberto's, in a little yellow house on Hornby Street in 1973. That house has a history too and I wrote on it in this entry.

November 23, 1946 was a special day for boys' band leader, Arthur Delamont since he was named Mr. Good Citizen of 1946. Delamont led seven boys bands when this award was given including the Kitsilano Boys Band, the bands of West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Point Grey, Grandview, Fairview and the University of B.C.

Arthur was born in Hereford and once played with the Salvation Army band in England, then led by composer Edward Elgar.

The year was 1937 and these people are waiting in line after the Lousville Flood.

12th Street in Miami, Florida in 1908.

John F. and Bobby Kennedy in 1960.

This was a co-conspirator, Lewis Powell, in the assassination of President Lincoln. He was hanged in 1865.

On December 10, 1946, West Vancouver voted to discontinue the ferry service.

George Alexander Walkem - a shipbuilder - died in Burnaby at the age of 64. Born in Montreal on July 8, 1872, Walkem attended McGill University. After graduating, he joined the Royal Engineers and served in Egypt and Palestine before moving to Vancouver in 1898. He was president of West Coast Shipbuilders, Vancouver Iron Works, West Coast Salvage and Construction and Gulf of Georgia Towing.

George was also reeve (mayor) of Point Grey in 1923 as well as MLA for Richmond-Point Grey from 1924 to 1928 and for Vancouver from 1933. As befitting a shipbuilder, George Walkem's ashes were spread over English Bay from the tub George A. Walkem.

This is the 1858 Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in Hoboken, New Jersey. This is thought to be the first sports team photo ever taken.

American soldiers hunker down in a trench less than a mile away from the detonation of a 43 kiloton nuclear bomb in 1953.

Children in iron lungs before the advent of the polio vaccine in 1937.

The Rivoli Theatre in 1975

Once again, I would like to thank The History of Metropolitan Vancouver website for the above information. I would also like to thank my mother's friend, Wes, for the photos.

I hope you find the beauty around you.