Nurses at Essondale

August 19, 1930, taken by Dominion Photo Co. The kitchen block under construction.

Dominion Photo Co. took this photo of an unidentified group at Essondale Hospital in 1931.

Stride Studio is responsible for this February 13, 1929 photo taken at Essondale.

January 20, 1930 photo of the Farm Cottage taken by Stride Studios.

This collection photos from the City of Vancouver Archives

The training of nurses at Essondale hit its peak in the 1950s. In 1953, the Nursing School had its largest graduating class of 200 nurses. The training was rigorous, combining experience on the wards with classroom studies. Female students stayed in the residences, under the watchful eye of House Mothers. The male students were on an honour system and allowed more freedom. They were also paid more than female students were.

The Nursing Program in the 1950s was a three-year course with 300 lecture hours that included teachings ranging from first aid and fire precautions to pharmacology and psychology. The students gained practical experience by rotations in the wards at Essondale and Woodlands schools.

In 1957, the Nurses' Home and School of Psychiatric Nursing Building was completed. Female students now had single rooms, for the first time. Male students were housed at West Lawn on the top floor.

If male students wanted to visit the female students, they would wait at the front door of the Nurses' home when they came calling. Sometimes, the men would be invited to a sock dance in the reception area. Some of the better experienced dancers managed to stay upright while dancing in their socks on the slippery, hardwood floors.

The staff at Essondale also experimented with different therapies for their patients since they didn't always have the guidance of established methods. Some of those experiments had dramatic results - like the lead up to a Music Therapy program.

“One day I was invited to the ward at West Lawn where there were a number of patients in a catatonic state—they were frozen in one position. They would eat three times a day, but they were terribly inactive. They weren’t walking in the airing courts; their cardiovascular condition was terrible. I was asked if I could get these men moving. I thought of the Pennington Hall dances and how patients would react to music. They would tap their toes, move their hands or even get up and dance. So I brought a turntable into this ward and put on marching music. A complete metamorphosis took place before my eyes. The patients started moving and jogging around the room. I thought all this activity was going to put a few of them into cardiac arrest! As soon as the music stopped, they froze again. But we could see it had an impact. This experiment led to a music therapist being hired.” 

Don Cunnings Recreation Therapist, 1953-57

There were also sports days held at Essondale. The annual event was an important day. Patients, staff and family members would participate in the usual such as the three-legged race, the sack race and the softball toss. There were also unique events such as the doctor’s bandaging race. The patients and doctors would usually compete in a softball game, bands would play, a picnic would be held on the lawn. A big outdoor dance would complete the day.

Thanks to the PDF, Riverview, A Legacy of Care and Compassion for the information above.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Eighties Entertainment

During the 1980s, school enrolment dropped quite a bit. However, the density of residential areas increased in population by 9% to 451,000 in 1989. The increase in density was helped by the construction of the Sktrain. Before the train, it was difficult for people living in communities such as New Westminster or Surrey or Coquitlam to come to Vancouver. It could be done but there is no freeway system in the city.

Port Vancouver saw real growth in the 1980s, becoming the largest in North America in terms of tonnage of imports and exports by the end of the decade. For the first time, the Port of Vancouver shipped almost as many goods to Asia as to the United States. About 30% of all exports went to Japan. The port handled more lumber, grain and coal than any other port in Canada. Over 3,000 foreign vessels docked here in 1989.

The 80s was the decade when the entertainment industry discovered Vancouver. The television industry filmed such classics as 21 Jump Street, the last season of Airwolf, Good Rockin' Tonite (one of my favourite shows, featuring music videos) and MacGyver here in Vancouver. And that is just to name a few. The Wikipedia page I consulted had over 200 pages for shows filmed in Vancouver.

And the movie industry found Vancouver as well.  Wikipedia has 386 pages for movies filmed in Vancouver. Of course, not all listed were filmed in the 80s but some from that decade include Cousins with Ted Danson, Rocky IV with Sylvestor Stallone and Shoot to Kill with Tom Beringer and Sidney Poitier.

Vancouver's pop/rock music scene also exploded. Artists such as Headpins, Bryan Adams, Loverboy, The Payolas, Sweeney Todd gained international success and showed the world talent does exist here. (A funny thing. I did an interview with the online radio show, Debra's Roundtable and was talking about Vancouver's 80s music scene)

Tourism in Vancouver got quite a boost, thanks to the success of Expo 86 and the West Coast became the fourth most popular destination in the world for cruise ships.

The suburbs otherwise known as part of Greater Vancouver, also benefited in the 80s. The Westminster Quay redevelopment along the New Westminster waterfront was a $330 million mega-project. This was a huge mega project. It turned out quite nice too.

By the time the new decade started, the Lower Mainland had boomed. The following number of businesses called this area home:

2,200 restaurants;1,200 real estate firms; 1,000 auto-repair shops;800 beauty shops; 800 insurance businesses; 700 travel agencies; 600 construction firms; 600 women's clothing and speciality stores; 600 computer and data processing businesses; 600 furniture stores and 500 drug stores. Wow!

Thanks to the book, Vancouver, A Visual History by Bruce Macdonald for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Gary Taylor ReVamped

While going home from my meeting with Gary Taylor, I heard some sweet music coming from a neighbourhood park. I wandered over and enjoyed the sounds of the Carlo Rossi Gang.

In March of this year, I wrote a blog entry on Gary Taylor's Show Lounge. When I sent the link to Mr. Taylor, he informed me that the information contained in the entry was false and was kind enough to send me his bio. Therefore, I am writing a new entry to correct the first one.

Gary Taylor is 73 years old but you wouldn't know it to look at him. I met him at his club Falconetti's on the Drive and he possesses an energy and vibrancy of someone much younger. Hey, I know men who are half his age and act a lot older. Must be something to the music that keeps him young.

At the age of 15, Taylor began learning how to play the drums with the legendary and much sought drum teacher, Jim Blackley. (Mr. Blackley's students have gone on to play with the likes of Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Paul McCartney, Sting and Annie Lennox and many others.) 

Gary was a dedicated student and he rose in the professional ranks. At the age of 17, Taylor was playing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. But that wasn't where he stopped. The young Taylor continued to study with Blackley, becoming the man's protege and at the age of 18, became an associate teacher and Blackley's right hand man. This was the start of a colourful and successful career in the entertainment industry.

In 1973, there was a Vancouver bar named 'Gary Taylor's Show Lounge' that employed showgirls and strippers as waitresses. These ladies would offer a free dance with every drink. Of course, this got the attention of the police who raided the club under the obscenity regulations.

In 1974, Judge Jack McGivern ruled the nudity of the dancers was not obscene - this naturally started the practice of nude dancing girls in bars - but touching was not allowed. Gary Taylor's had a boxing ring where the women performed revealing acrobatic acts after stripping then earned tips. This attracted men from Washington State to visit since their laws in this matter were much more strict.

Friday I will tell you about some highlights of Gary Taylor's career. He has done a lot.

Thank you Mr. Taylor for supplying the bio and allowing me a chance to correct the earlier version.

I hope you find the beauty around you.