The CPR’s SS Princess Marguerite passing under the Lions Gate Bridge, another postcard by Edward Goodall. Here’s a handsome colour image of the ship taken June 30, 1973. You can hear the sounds of her final voyage in this video clip as she pulls into Seattle on September 17, 1989: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzHtRgtupss
More from Historylink.org:
The SS Princess Marguerite, built in 1925, and the SS Princess Marguerite II, built in 1948, were the most famous of these small luxury liners. Tragically, in 1942, the Princess Marguerite, serving as a troop ship during World War II, was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by a German U-boat. Her successor, the Princess Marguerite II, was in service for 60 years under four different owners. At the end of her career, efforts to save the historic steamship for posterity proved unsuccessful and in 1996 she was sold for scrap metal. In March 1997, a former B.C. ferry, the M/V Queen of Burnaby, was renamed the Princess Marguerite III and put on the run between Seattle and Victoria, but the service was discontinued after three seasons. Ships carrying the name Princess Marguerite plied the waters between Seattle and Victoria for 74 years, becoming a part of Seattle’s waterfront scene. Her name has a permanent place in Pacific Northwest maritime history, evoking fond memories of favorite summertime cruises and vacations.
The ad where she was sold for scrap can be seen here.
Yet another souvenir plate. This one is made especially for the Hudson’s Bay Company by Johnson Brothers of England, which joined the Wedgwood Group in 1968. I particularly like how this multilayered image succeeds as a collage decades before the Photoshop era. This would also be a fun plate to use for red beets and mashed potatoes. Currently for sale on ebay.
Phantom views of the Lions Gate Bridge foundations, from a brochure published in 1939. The colophon thanks Leonard Frank (photographer), Don Munday, the Sun Publishing Company Limited, and anonymous friends for the publishing of the brochure. Don Munday was the mountaineer who discovered that Mystery Mountain (later named Mount Waddington) was taller than Mount Robson. The brochure failed to thank the illustrator, so I am unable to credit him here; it was commissioned by the First Narrows Bridge Company no doubt, perhaps Don Luxton knows who it may have been. This brochure has been published to archive.org thanks to Langara College Library.
Souvenir scarf of Vancouver, circa 1950s seen on ebay recently. This would have made a nice second prize in my pillowcase throwdown, but alas someone else is the lucky winner.
Vancouver Nightmare, a young adult crime novel by Victoria author Eric Wilson, illustrated by Richard Row. Also shown, cover art from the first novel in his series, Murder on the Canadian, (with artwork of a VIA train heading from Winnipeg to Vancouver), the Emily Carr Mystery (showcasing the Salish Sea around Victoria), and an earlier edition of Vancouver Nightmare (also featuring a VIA passenger train, illustrated by Tom McNeely, a Toronto illustrator with over 50 years of work in his repertoire). From wikipedia:
Originally a public school teacher, Wilson’s teaching experiences pushed him into writing. Frustrated by some of his slow learners rejecting books as being too boring, Wilson decided to try writing stories himself. His first short stories were popular with his students, but publishers rejected his first five manuscripts.
Want to know what the kids are saying? Here’s a review from CBC Kids. You can also purchase ebook PDFs from the author for $3 a piece.
Souvenir of Vancouver, BC; another pennant you may enjoy. I’m sure there’s lots more out there. Featured here: the RCMP at the Courthouse (now Art Gallery), Burrard Inlet, Indian Totem Poles at Stanley Park, and Lions Gate Bridge, again with a mistaken apostrophe. Perhaps this pennant is from the same era as the infamous silk pillowcase!
Lions Gate Bridge, a souvenir tin by Gray and Dunn, Biscuit Manufacturers established 1853 in Scotland. Except it’s Lions Gate, not Lion’s Gate. North Vancouver Museum has a great specimen of this tin as well. Text from the McCord Museum:
Since the Lions Gate Bridge was a powerful source of civic pride, its image was quickly co-opted to sell products. The artist who created the scene on this biscuit tin was almost certainly based in Great Britain, where the tin was manufactured. Interestingly, he saw fit to imbue the relative wilderness of Stanley Park with bucolic touches, exaggerating the low fence and pasture scene to the right of the bridge’s entrance. This employment of artistic licence probably sprang from attitudes in the motherland towards its rough imperial outposts, as Vancouver was still viewed in the 1930s. The name of the Lions Gate Bridge also reflects this colonial heritage. Although there is a double-humped mountain called The Lions on Vancouver’s north shore (not actually visible from the bridge deck), the name also refers to the lion symbolizing the British Empire.
There are lots of other similar vintage cookie tins from Gray and Dunn; they really had the market cornered! However, the factory has been shut down for more than 10 years now. It looks like the Kinning Park site in Glasgow has been listed for sale since September, 2011. Here’s a video of the facility from January, 2012; it’s a bit spooky without any biscuits!
A Souvenir Pillowcase of Vancouver, on glorious printed silk. I’ve covered the souvenir plate meme previously, and this vintage pillowcase is definitely inspired by the tourist art aesthetic. We may never learn who the artists involved were, but looking at the closeup images, the artwork really begins to resemble scenes from a comic book, and I can totally imagine Tintin suddenly blazing onto the scene! I’m having a hard time dating this piece, but I have a hunch or two. For more, plus a DIY contest challenge, check out the cross-post on VancouverIsAwesome.com
Lions Gate Bridge conceptual drawing by Ron Jackson, aka Ronald Threlkeld Jackson, courtesy of the Province. Ron often illustrated for the Vancouver Daily Province, and this illustration appeared in the Golden Jubilee supplement, Thursday, May 31, 1936. It should be noted that this was drawn almost a year before construction began in 1937, and as such, the bridge towers look quite different from the completed reality.
From the VPL Special Collections, VPL 971.133 V22pg.
More Early Vancouver Clipart, this time from the 1942-51 Annual Report published by the Vancouver Tourist Association, from the VPL Special Collections.
Souvenir plates of Vancouver, part 2. Lions Gate Bridge, an idyllic postcard image on a decorated plate from Germany. Marked NC or CN Western Germany, most likely made in the 1950s or 1960s. Thanks Karin!
One Love, Vancouver, a tattoo dedicated to the city of Vancouver by Christina Christie. She writes: “Rob decided that he wanted to commemorate Vancouver by dedicating his whole back to it. So after some brainstorming we decided to create a depiction of the Lions Gate Bridge overlooked by Stanley Park.” This particular tattoo began in summer 2010 and was completed in April 2011 after several sessions. More work in progress photos on her site.
More about Christina: “Christina’s introduction to tattooing professionally stemmed from an unlikely mentor: the heavily inked janitor from her highschool. He’d seen her pieces around school and suggested she work for a local shop drawing for the less naturally gifted tattooists. Here she learned how to tattoo, her first piece being a skull with bunny ears.” Christina Christie continued to hone her skills at a local tattoo shop while attending University, and she graduated from Emily Carr University in 2009.
