The Neon Glow

At one time Hastings Street was a hubbub of activity. It was used as a major point of departures and arrivals for commuters that rode streetcars, railways and passenger ferries. And, to a business, a high volume of people mean lots of potential customers.

Signs, especially the neon ones at night, would attract the attention of those with money to spend. In fact during the 1940s and 1950s, Vancouver's Golden Age  of neon there were reportedly more neon signs in Vancouver  than in any other city in the world besides Shanghai China.(Once there were 18,000 signs in our fair city.)  Many of the signs are long gone, most notably the one for the Smiling Buddha Cabaret which is now in the Vancouver Museum. But a few are still there.

The Astoria Hotel with a live music venue and a boxing gym.

Ted Harris Paint is no longer in operation and who knows what will happen with the sign. This was a family run business from 1920 until 2009 when it closed.

The Ovaltine Cafe is a place that if you watched X-Files, I Robot with Will Smith  or DaVinci's Inquest you might recognize since it was used in those productions and probably many more.The lettering over the front door, you can just see it under the Afton Hotel sign, was installed in 1943 by Wallace Neon and the top was placed there in 1948. Apparently the interior hasn't changed much since its 1942 opening.

The Afton Hotel was built in 1912 by architect Arthur Julius Bird for owner R.B. Hamilton and was originally designed to be an apartment building. It was altered in 1914 when Burlington Tailors and  Vancouver Postal Station Substation B on the lower floors and other government offices on the upper levels. In 1925 the upper floors were changed to a rooming house and the lower level went through a variety of merchants until the Ovaltine Cafe opened in 1942.

This one I don't think is that old or at least I cannot find any history on it. The Rickshaw is a live theatre venue located near many  historic buildings. Perhaps one day I will find out more.

This sign is not on Hastings Street though it resided at 390 West Hastings Street for many years. When the owner of Dunn's Tailors, Bob Smith, decided to move to 480 Granville Street he couldn't bear to leave behind the sign. Which, by the way, is the only sign in Vancouver with heritage designation.

In 1936 the Millar Clothing Co. of Montreal opened the doors to Dunn's Tailors. Not long after that store managers, Clarence and George Conn purchased the store and began their quest to make this the largest made to measure clothing company in Western Canada. And they succeeded in that. When trends changed and made to measure clothing wasn't as popular the Conn brothers wisely added high quality ready to wear garments while maintaining the exemplary tailored clothing they were known for.

When the Conn brothers retired in 1981 their store manager, Robert Smith, purchased the enterprise. With the aid of his son, Jordan Smith, Smith has made Dunn's into the largest independent menswear retailer in British Columbia.

The Dollar Meat Store on Pender Street near Gore has been there for over thirty years. Inside it is clean and the butchers even wear hats. Their styrofoam containers are embossed with the store's logo.

Someday I will have to go there and buy some meat I guess.

Have you ever heard of the fabled Temple Bar district in Dublin Ireland? Apparently, around thirty years ago, this place was smack dab in the middle of Vancouver's own version of that. There were five Irish bars in within spitting distance of each other. (Okay maybe not that close but they weren't that far apart)

This building went up in 1888 as the Klondike Hotel and had four storeys and the first two elevators in Vancouver. It was converted to Vancouver`s first government liquor in 1942 with the upper floors becoming a rooming house.

In 1968 four Irishmen purchased the building with the idea of turning it into an Irish bar with apartments upstairs. They hired a German fellow to do the construction and remodelling. Unfortunately for the Irishmen they ran out of money and couldn't pay Rudi when the job finished. So Rudi went to court and was awarded what became of Vancouver's most popular bars.

In 1978 Playboy magazine named one of the upstairs apartments as the most eligible bachelor pad in Canada. Those upstairs rooms must be something else.

So there is a little glimpse into the history of some of Vancouver's neon signs. Have a great weekend.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Smiling Buddha, Blarney Stone,Dollar Meat Store,Dunn's Tailors,Playboy,history,

The Rock and The Freighter

This serene lady sits in the Devonian Harbour Park outside Stanley Park.

As you might have gathered I am returning to my file on Stanley Park today. I was unsure of how to proceed with this entry and then,thanks to The History of Vancouver website I found something interesting.

On March 6, 1945 a 10,000 ton freighter, Greenhill Park, became the cause of the most explosive and disastrous event in our port's history when it exploded.

Eight longshoremen died in this explosion, nineteen others were injured and seven firemen ended up in hospital. As far west as Thurlow and north as Dunsmuir windows were blown out from the force; entire office blocks had barely a pane of glass left. Considering it was near the end of World War II some thought that the Japanese were bombing the city. But that's not what was happening.

According to the article I read Greenhill Park had as its main cargo, sodium chlorate as well as other merchandise. Including barrels of alcohol. Other stuff was packed in front of the booze to hide it but it didn't take long for the longshoremen to figure out it was there and then to clear a narrow passageway to the liquor. One by one the men came down to have a drink or fill a bottle to take home.

The problem arose when the last man, who had already consumed a bit of the ill gotten spirits, came down and couldn't see the passageway clearly. He lit a match. Liquor had spilled out from the barrels and the passeway was filled with fumes. The explosion was immediate and that man was killed instantly.

Four explosions tore through the Greehill Park, leaving a gaping hole in her side and killing eight men working aboard her at the time.

A two month report was conductecd at the time of the explosion in which it was concluded that "improper stowage of combustible, dangerous and explosive material ... and the ignition thereof by a lighted match." Since the true events of what happened were not known it was an educated guess.

But in 1980 a reporter at The Province newspaper received a letter from a man who had been in hospital in 1957 with a man who was on the Greenhill Park that day. In fact he was the only other person in the hold and saw what happened. For twelve years he didn't say a word but passed his story on that day and the recepient of the tale waited twenty three years to pass it on.

A tug hauled the Greenhill Park to Siwash Rock and beached it there. In June of 1946 Greenhill Park had been repaired and renamed S.S. Phaex II and sailed out of Vancouver. In 1967 it was the Lagos Michigan and sold for scrap. Imagine keeping track of the history of a freighter. Interesting.

This is Siwash Rock. According to Indian legend this fifty to sixty foot rock is a tribute to Skalsh the Unselfish. Skalsh was turned to stone by Q'UAS the Transformer as a reward for his unselfishness.

According to Wikepedia about 32 million years ago a volcanic dike formed in the sedimentary rock that forms the sandstone and mudstone foundation of the park. Through a fissure in the Earth's crust magma was forced to the surface and formed the basalt stack. This stack is more resistant to erosion than the softer sandstone that makes up a lot of the park. This is also the only such stack in Vancouver.

(Just a note. Mariners originally called it Nine Pin Rock due to its resemblence, vague though it is, to a bowling pin.)

 Not too far from Siwash Rock is a place that you can look out and see the fabulous view. That is as long as you aren't the nervous type.

This is secure. It isn't a suspension bridge - I am terrified of those - and when you make it across you will be rewarded with views like this.

Well worth the short trip I would say.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Greenhill Park, the Province,explosion,Siwash Rock,Stanley Park,history,

Natural Facts

Remember when I said that it had snowed last week? Well today I am going to show you some photos of my city on that day. I'm also going to fill you in on some historical facts.

Right now I am going to review the year 1900.

Dantai, the recently incorporated  Japanese Fisherman's Benevolent Society had their first meeting at the Phoenix Cannery in Steveston on May 10.

On the issue of the Japanese on October 26 a Collector of Votes in Vancouver, Thomas Cunningham, refused to register any Japanese on the voters list even if they were naturalized citizens. Yet on November 1, less than a week later, Mrs. Shimizu hosted a ball at the Hotel Vancouver in honor of Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress of Japan.

On July 1 there was strike on the lower Fraser. Due partially to overfishing by the Americans (until 1934 fish traps were legal in Washington State) the salmon stock was greatly depleted. Hostilities arose between the White Fishermans Union and the Japanese fisherman who not only lived in cannery houses but depended on the canneries for food. The friction rose to a point where four hundred soldiers were brought in to protect the Japanese.

On June 9 John Oliver, a future premier, began his political career as an MLA for Delta.

On August 5 there was a letter to the editor posted in the Province newspaper. It read:

“There are few residents in the city and particularly in the West End who are not disturbed in their slumbers from 5 a.m. by the fearful and nerve-killing noises made by the crows. A vote should be taken as to whether the people want crows or not.” (I wonder what they intended to do about the crows?)

On May12 a ferry began regular trips between the south shore of Burrard Inlet and North Vancouver. After many successful trips North Vancouver No. 1 was retired and became a private residence, beached on a small island near Tofino.

September 5, 1900. A teacher's salary in Surrey was $60 to $100 a month. Lots by the river - between 10 and 13 acres - were being advertised for $105 a lot regardless of size. There was a partially cleared, 80-acre farm with an orchard and farmhouse advertised for $40 an acre.

The bells at Holy Rosary Church (it wasn't a cathedral yet) were blessed by a visiting papal delegate on October 21.

The Hudson's Bay Company opened a four storey emporium at the corner of Granville and Georgia on December 15, 1900. They have been there ever since.

December 30 Vancouver honored returning soldiers from the Boer War by holding a big civic parade.

Also in 1900:

The Canadian Pacific Railway financed a film to be made in Vancouver. They wanted it to be documentary to promote Canadian immigration to the west. But CPR didn't want any snow to be shown so it took two years to film.

Cannery owners united this year. They formed the Fraser River Salmon Canners Association in order to protect their interests against dissatisfied fishermen.

And this one is interesting. We all know that many Chinese were brought over to build the railroad. But in the early twentieth century Chinese men were often brought to Canada as 'indentured  laborers' by a 'Chinese boss'. These men would butcher and can the fish. Native and Japanese women would clean the fish and fill the cans while Japanese and European men would catch them. And there was a lot fish going through the canneries. About 57,600 pounds or 26,000 kilos a day. More than 200 cannery and fishery workers were need to process the 1,200 cases daily.

The Dewdney Trunk Road was built on the north shore of the Fraser.

In 1901 Vancouver reported a jump in populaton. In 1801 it was recorded as 13,709 and now the number was 29,000.

In January of that year CPR bought out Canadian Pacific Navigation Co.

I've mentioned this before when I covered the Carnegie Centre at Main and Hastings. On March 25, 1901 US steel magnate Andrew Carnegie granted Vancouver $50,000 to build a library. But only if Vancouver agreed to put in $5,000 a year and furnish a site. Since it is still standing there today you can guess that Vancouver agreed to the conditions and the library opened in October of 1903.

Someone had a bit of fun with the newspapers on November 19, 1901. First the San Francisco Call devoted its entire front page to announcing that they had uncovered a conspiracy. It was called the Klondike Revolution and apparently there was supposed to a plot to overthrow the Yukon government and establish a republic with Dawson City as its capital. The conspirators, backed by 5,000 miner waiting for a signal to overthrow the mounted police, were at Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, Dawson and Skagway. The Province picked up the story and went to report that other San Francisco newspapers declared the story a hoax. I bet there was at least one reporter in trouble that day.

I didn't quite get the effect I was looking for here. The light just below the branches was making the leaves glow.

Have a great weekend where ever you are and I will talk with you on Monday.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Andrew Carnegie, Mrs. Shimizu,Klondike Revolution,San Francisco Call,Province,history,

Still Crawling

Like I said I only spent a day - five hours - at the Eastside Culture Crawl and I didn't get to everyone. But I have a few more artists to show you today.

This is  painter Jorg Langheimer whose studio is in the Hamilton Bank Building.

In 2008 Canada's art world was fortunate enough to have Langheimer move from Germany. At the present time he is working with watercolors, oils and acrylic. Personally I like the lower painting. I like the vibrant pink and the way it makes me think.

Welcome to the Rusty Wheel Studio. Shown here are creators Kate Beckett(seated) and Myriam Duchesne(standing).

Art that is not only beautiful but functional as well. If you click the link at the studio name it will take you to even more examples of their creations.

This was standing there, not a part of the art but something I wanted a photo of.

I like the old stuff.

Dave Denson uses watercolors to create images of  everyday life here in Vancouver. His work is dynamic and captivating blending bold colors with pastels.

Another artist who uses bold colors is John Ferrie.

Ferrie is also another artist who uses Vancouver adn the west coast in his artwork. Born in Vancouver he graduated from  Emily Carr College of Art and Design his medium is acrylic paint on canvas.

As you can see Ferrie uses rich jewel tones and creates entertaining art that will become a conversational piece in any room.

Now we come to the works of Darcy Davis.

We have looked at sculpting, oil paintings, ceramic and such, metal work, watercolors and so one. So now we will look at something totally different.


Ruth Scheuing works with fabric.

Scheuing uses a computerized sewing machine to create many of her works but they look as if she spent hours doing it by hand.

Her website and the images of the jacquard woven fabric is enthralling. I really enjoyed it.

Siobhan Humston shows a simplicity and a use of light that is compelling. I liked the fact that I could take a look then had to look again. Something always drew me back to them.

That is all for the artists I saw this year. Hopefully next year I will get to see many more.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Eastside Culture Crawl, Rusty Wheel Studios,Dave Denson,artists,Visual Artist,history,