On this day in 1934, Malkin Bowl hosted its first performance of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra making it my choice for today’s Vancouver Icons photo feature: 1940s – Photographer: Jack Lindsay, Item #: CVA 1184-1963. The Marion Malkin Memorial Bowl was a named in honor of Mayor W.H. Malkin‘s wife (who passed away in 1933), […]

On my daily search of the Vancouver Public Library and City of Vancouver Archives I come across the work of local photographers from the last century (and beyond). While a photo from the archives makes us reflect, compare, and contemplate “early Vancouver”, it’s always important to note who took that photo, which is my aim […]

John and I enjoyed a few days exploring “The Other Vancouver”, which is Vancouver, Washington. Located about two hours south of Seattle along the I-5, this Vancouver sits along the Columbia River and was incorporated in 1857, 29 years before Vancouver, BC. Captain George Vancouver Monument in Vancouver, Washington I’ve always loved looking up the […]

Last year there was a symposium at SFU about the cultural impact of Curt Lang’s work and his name is one I come across often when perusing the Vancouver Public Library and City of Vancouver Archives. Lang was much more than a photographer and the symposium focused on a book by Claudia Cornwall titled: At […]

Today I’ll be at the BC Children’s Hospital (“BCCHF”) Miracle Weekend broadcast as this annual two-day celebration showcases patients, their families, caregivers and supporters who come from every corner of BC. The Miracle Weekend has been raising funds to support the urgent needs of the BCCHF since 1988 but I thought I would share a […]

Heading down to the Piggly Wiggly for a quart of milk is something you would hear in Memphis, Tennessee where the revolutionary grocery store chain was founded in 1916. However, you could also go to the Piggly Wiggly over on Granville Street in Vancouver about 80 years ago. The Vancouver Sun, March 27, 1931 In […]

There will soon a be new sculpture in Stanley Park as the Park Board has accepted a statue donated by the Portuguese Joe Memorial Society. The piece, featuring pioneer Joe Silvey (“Portuguese Joe”), will celebrate the ancestral connection of Coast Salish and Portuguese communities in Vancouver. Source: Park Board Proposal From the proposal to the […]

Browsing the Vancouver Public Library Archives I came across another photographer with an extensive collection of local, historical photos. Stanley Triggs produced portraits, street photography, and captured some downtown Vancouver scenes that I had never come across before. He’s the former curator of the Notman Photographic Archives and was born in Nelson, BC in 1928. […]

Vancouver’s English Bay Pier was built in 1905 and was demolished in 1938.

On June 13th 1933, Major J.S. Matthews declared the Vancouver City Archives officially open and on April 7th, 1993 (20 years ago yesterday) a group was formed to support Vancouver’s archives. The Friends of the City Archives hold regular meeting, sponsor talks, promote awareness about the archives, encourage appreciation of the city’s history, and much […]