1929 Yet Again

I have only gotten half way through 1929 in two posts. The months before the stock market crash were busy in Vancouver. Today I going to show you photos of some of the artwork I see around town while giving you facts.

Four years earlier a Vancouver Day had been arranged on June 13. This was to mark the anniversary of the Great Fire of 1886 that ravaged the newly formed city. It appears that 1929 was the last time it was truly celebrated the day. Except for in 1998 when a city archives worker revived the occasion for one special day.

June 13 was also the day that Jones Tent and Awning of Vancouver began to manufacture venetian blinds. The first time any company in Canada had done that.

June 13 was the day that  Vancouver's Chief Constable W. J. Bingham was given a three year contract and an increase in pay to $6,000 a year.

June 28 - bids were called for a bridge over the Capilano River in West Vancouver.

On July 27 Charles Lindberg - who was on a tour following his solo flight across the Atlantic - refused an invitation from then Vancouver mayor L.D. Taylor to fly into Vancouver because Lindberg stated that our airport wasn't fit to land on. This embarrassed Taylor and Vancouverites and started the push to build a quality airport that opened in 1931.

In July the provincial exhibition buildings in New Westminster burned down. The fair was due to open in September and it still did. Tents instead of buildings were used.

On August 7 the first annual BC High Schools Olympiad opened at Hastings Park.

A day later, Samuel Maclure, a well known architect, passed away at the age of 69. Maclure designed around 150 homes and many Shaugnessy Heights houses prior to WWI. He was the brother of Canada's first female newspaper editor, Sara Anne McLagan, also a Vancouver resident.

Boeing of Canada opened a plant on Coal Harbour after purchasing the Hoffar-Beeching Shipyard at 1927 West Georgia.A year later they began to build planes.

It has been reported by some that on August 27, 1929 the Graf Zeppelin, the most famous airship of the 1920s, visited Vancouver - namely Coal Harbour. Alas that isn't true. Due to difficulties such as dense fog and ptomaine poisoning, the Zeppelin was forced to miss its scheduled visits to both Vancouver and Seattle.

September 2. Winston Churchill visited! First he opened the fair in New Westminster where approximately 40,000 came to see him. The next day he went to Haney  where his host was the Hon. Nels Lougheed, provincial MLA and an executive of the Abernethy Lougheed Logging company. Lougheed gave Churchill a demonstration of B.C.'s logging methods. While here Churchill gave a speech at the Vancouver Theatre on Granville and dined at the chalet on Grouse Mountain.

On October 24 there was panic on Wall Street. And the next day the New York Stock Exchange collapsed and we all know the havoc and economic difficulty that caused through the thirties.

Also on October 25 there was a report in the Province that Town Planning Commission was once again advocating a limit on the height of buildings in Vancouver. There were to be no skyscrapers, no building was to stretch above 10 storeys or 120 feet. I wonder what they would think if they could see the city skyline now.

December 3 saw the opening of the Commodore Cabaret on Granville Street. Owners Nick Kogas and John Dillias started a tradition of showcasing local bands and international touring artists. The Commodore Ballroom, as it is known today, is still a place to go to be exposed to great music.

December 17 was the day that unemployed men raided the city relief office in Vancouver. The Great Depression was making its presence felt.

1929 was the year that the Vancouver Unemployed Worker's Association was formed.


The Randall Building, at 535-565 West Georgia, was built. So was the Dick Building at 1482-1490 West Broadway (the ornate structure at the southeast corner of Granville), and the Bank of Commerce at 817-819 Granville.

Construction began on the third Hotel Vancouver, the present one. It wouldn't open until 1939, ten years later.


The Tyee Ski Club was formed - currently one of the oldest ski clubs in Canada - and the mountain had its first rope tow in mid-1930s . Since then Grouse Mountain has flourished with organized skiing and ski race events.

(Okay I'm throwing in a few nature photos as well.)

The Holden Building on East Hastings became Vancouver's city hall and would remain so until 1936 until the current hall opened.  From 1897 to 1929 a building immediately adjacent to the Carnegie Library served as city hall. That building was demolished years ago.

Frances Street was named in 1929. It was named after Sister Frances who was a pioneer nurse at St. Luke's Home and St. James Church on Cordova Street. (I have written on Sister Frances as well as St. Lukes and St. James. I also used to live on Frances Street.)

Construction began on the East Lawn Building at Essondale Hospital, now Riverview Hospital.

As I previously stated the Randall Building was constructed on West Georgia. It is now known as the Cavelti building after jeweller Tony Cavelti. The name was changed when the building, at 555 West Georgia, was rehabilitated in 1991.

The provincial Public Library Commission was awarded a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to test an idea that to provide library services to a rural population and that test was successful. It is still operating today as the Fraser Valley Public Library.

The Pacific National Exhibition opened its first permanent amusement park with rides and games. It was called Happyland and would last until the end of the 1957 season. In 1958 it was replaced by the bigger Playland.

That ends my tales of 1929 in Vancouver. At least for now.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Winston Churchill, St. James Church,Commodore,Riverview Hospital,History,Carnegie,1929

More 1929

Lots more to tell you about 1929 in Vancouver so please enjoy these random photos that show how beautiful this city is.

On May 17 Vancouver voters approved 14 out of 20 money bylaws but rejected the Burrard Bridge and a new city hall. (Construction started on the bridge a year later and in 1936 the new city hall)

The new hospital on the North Shore opened on May 30. On that day the City of Vancouver bought Little Mountain - now Queen Elizabeth Park - for $115,270.

According to an ad in the Province, Piggly Wiggly stores had 28 locations in Vancouver. The chain would be purchased in 1936 by Safeway. Safeway arrived in Canada in 1929.

On June 1 a club for children of parents who read the Sun was started. It was called Uncle Ben's Sun Ray Club.

Also dealing with the Sun on June 1. An artist's depiction of what the new, second Vancouver Stock Exchange building would look like when it was constructed at the northwest corner of Pender and Howe Streets. Unfortunately, as you may remember, the stock market crashed about five months later.

On  June 3 the first edition of the comic strip Tarzan appeared in the Sun.

June 3 also saw the opening of the Peter Pan Restaurant at 1128 Granville Street. The restaurant was owned by Peter Pantages who was the nephew of Alexander Pantages. Peter is known as the founder of the Polar Bear Swim started in 1920. Alexander was responsible for the Pantages Theatre on Hastings Street - presently the oldest vaudeville house in Canada. Sadly the theatre is scheduled to be demolished which I can understand. It is in disrepair and there isn't much that can be done with it due to its location in the middle of skid row.

On June 7 the Railway Board instructed the CPR to eliminate level crossings in the city by October 1. Although CPR argued that the crossings were not a nuisance, pedestrians and motorists disagreed. So the CPR built a tunnel which is now used by the Skytrain.

The Sun reported on June 10 that the proposed Canadian National Hotel would be expanded. One hundred extra rooms would be added and it would be 16 stories high. (Several stories did appear during construction and it kept getting bigger and bigger. That is until the Depression hit and monies dried up.) Oh, and the Canadian National Hotel is now known as the Hotel Vancouver.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Little Mountain, Queeen Elizabeth Park,Piggly Wiggly,Safeway,History,Ben's Sun Ray Club,Hotel Vancouver

Looking at 1929

Let's take a look at Vancouver in 1929.

On January 1 Point Grey and South Vancouver amalgamated with the City of Vancouver. This increased our city`s population to 240,000 and made Vancouver Canada`s third largest city.

On this day Alfred Wallace died. Wallace had been born in England and came to Vancouver in 1889. He started Wallace Shipyards in 1905 and that company went on to become Canada`s biggest shipbuilding firm by the end of WWII.

On January 2 the first city council meeting of the amalgamated city was held. The mayor was a former grocer, W.H. Malkin and he paid tribute to his predecessor L.D. Taylor for helping to bring about the amalgamation. Malkin`s term in office was unexciting but efficient.

Also on January 2, the Ballantyne Pier opened.

Sadly another important death occurred on February 6. John Hess Elliot was a pioneer who came from Pennsylvania to Vancouver in 1898. He was responsible for many homes being built and is recognized for heling in establishing Savary Island as a vacation resort.

During the first World War he enlisted with the 242nd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was 53 years old and insisted on fighting in the trenches alongside men half his age. He was wounded in battle and unable to remember who he was. Fortunately, after he was evacuated to a hospital in England, a fellow soldier recognized him. He returned home to Vancouver on a stretcher and a decorated veteran.

February 7 was a big day. It was the day that coloured motion pictures - without artificial tinting - were shown for the first time in Vancouver. People were able to view at the Kodak store on Granville.

Vancouver`s first port doctor, Daniel Loftus Beckingsale, died on February 14. He was 82 years old and passed away in London England.

Beckingsale came to Vancouver in June 1886 to become our first port doctor and an early health doctor. He was responsible for starting the Vancouver Reading Room which was the predecessor for the Vancouver Public Library.

Alfred St. George Hamersley was Vancouver's first solicitor. In 1888 he arrived in Vancouver after practicing law in New Zealand and being called to the bar fifteen years previous. Hamersley became legal advisor to Vancouver City Corporation and the CPR. Hamersley once sold a piece of property at the southeast corner of Fraser Street and East 11th Avenue to fellow Freemason and writer Rudyard Kipling.

On February 25 Hamersley died in England where he had returned in 1906.

In mid-March construction began on the spectacular Marine Building.

On March 31, actor Lee Patterson was born in Vancouver. I looked up his filmography at IMDB.com and he had quite the catalogue of work before dying in Texas at the age of 77.

On April 6 the city of Hope was incorporated.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Alfred Wallace, John Hess Elliot,Ballantyne Pier,Lee Patterson,History,Alfred St. George Hamersley,Savary Island

The Marine and the Dominion

This imposing structure is at the corner of Burrard and West Hastings downtown. The Marine Building is a top-notch  example of the art deco style. It's 21 floors, 321 feet (97.8 metres) is topped by a unique design that makes the building look like it is rimmed in icing from a wedding cake.

In the spring of 1929 Mayor W.H. Malkin, keeping with the theme of the building, blew a blast from a golden whistle and the construction began. Sixteen months later, on October 7, 1930, the new Burrard Street Marine Skyscraper opened. Uniformed doormen waited by the extravagent entry way to open doors and help visitors. It was something from a fantasy, or a movie.

The plaster work was apparently done by melting down something called horse glue, pouring that over the forms then pulling it off easily when the time was right. (I got that information from vancouverhistory.ca. I don't really know what it means. So if someone would like to explain it to me I would be grateful)

The building is extravagent, luxurious and opulent. It reeks of wealth and prestige. Unfortunately the stock market crash a year earlier had made people wary about spending money. And although they probably liked to look at the Marine Building many were afraid to commit to the rents although those prices were comparable to other buildings in the downtown core.

The company that had put the building up, G.A. Stimson Co., was hurt financially by the crash and having such a lavish office building nearly empty was not helping. In 1931 the company tried to get the City of Vancouver to take the building at a little less than what it had cost G.A. Stimson Co. to build it but that deal fell through. Finally in 1933 the building was sold to the British Pacific Building Co. which was owned by the Guinness brewing people (fitting then that the Elephant and Castle pub and restaurant is currently a tenant on the main floor!)

One of the tenants that moved into the building was the architectural firm of McCarter and Nairne who had designed the building. They moved in approximately July of 1930 and moved out in February of 1980 - five months short of the fiftieth anniversary. They were the longest lasting tenants. The firm moved to the Credit Foncier Building at 850 West Hastings.

The firm moved to the Credit Foncier Building at 850 West Hastings and all they have to do is look out the window to see their masterpiece. The attention to detail is awe inspiring and it has lasted for eighty years.

This is the building the firm moved to.

Remember when I wrote on the Sun Tower and the style of the dome at the top? This looks pretty familiar, I wonder if it was done the same way.

The Credit Foncier Building is a heritage building. It was built in 1913 and designed by the firm Barrot, Blackader and Webster. It is forty one (41) metres high and has ten floors.  The construction materials you see at the front belong to the people working the new Jameson Building being built next door. The Credit Foncier Building  will be dwarfed, I couldn't even look up and see the top of the new structure without getting dizzy.
 

Also on West Hastings is the home of the Dominion [Bank] Building. This second empire style structure is located at the edge of Gastown and was designed by architect John S. Helyer. An urban legend has it that Helyer died after falling off the front staircase of the building. Urban legends are part of what makes life interesting. And since the Dominion Building was built in 1910 it probably has a few tales associated with it.
 

.

I walked on the opposite side of the street so that I could get a few good photos of this building. As I was positioning myself and waiting for the traffic to ease I noticed something else at the corner of West Hastings and Hamilton

In case you can't read it here is what it says:

"Here stood Hamilton, First Land Commissioner Canadian Pacific Railway 1885. In the silent solitude of the primeval forest he drove a wooden stake in the earth and commenced to measure an empty land into the streets of VANCOUVER."

Gives me a bit of a lump in my throat I must say.

I also saw something interesting across from the Marine Building.

People were repelling down the side of the bulding. I watched for a few moments but then I left. One man walking by said it was a fast way to wash the windows!

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Marine Building, Dominion Building,Urban Legend,stock market crash,walk,history,