Empire Field, from the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games, illustrated on a Macfarlane Lang & Co’s biscuit tin, from Glasgow, Scotland. Seen previously, this biscuit tin from competitors Gray and Dunn.
The Harland Bartholomew & Associates development plan for Exhibition Park (aka the PNE) drawn December, 1948. This file was recently added to the City of Vancouver Archives at Archive.org (image tweaked for a cleaner black and white image.)
Here’s one thing which didn’t come true that we can be thankful for; the envisioned front entrance would have allowed 2762 cars to drive right into the park and create a giant parking lot in the bottom corner of the site. Of course, lots of the parking inevitably still surfaces throughout the surrounding neighbourhood. But looking at the top of the map leads me to believe there were plans for the CPR to make a direct stop at the park, perhaps providing a form of early rapid transit?
And what about the aesthetic design of the park? The bottom left corner of the park bears a certain resemblance to the present day PNE. To the right there are orderly plans for a Future Exhibit of unknown variety, right where the midway is today.
Up in the top left, they decided to install the Gayway (a term synonymous with midway today). Gayway was also the term that was used at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939-40. I don’t want to get too far off topic, but the Golden Gate Expo is another favourite topic of mine. Who here knew the GGIE also featured Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch? About a month ago, I spotted this on ebay; the 3 page proposal for the attraction by the Bert Levey Circuit of Vaudeville Theatres.
I don’t see any clothing optional sections planned for the PNE in Harland Bartholomew’s development plan, but it does look like the designers did try to add a hint of romance to their plan, putting a dance hall at the end of the meandering Gayway. And if you weren’t up for some romance, they put the roller coaster right next door, so those who chose not to dance could still have the ride of their life! Oh, designing is such fun and games, isn’t it?
Update! I just learned that the midway WAS at the back corner of the PNE back in the day. While the park didn’t evolve exactly as envisioned above, at least we did get a new wooden roller coaster in 1958 designed by the legendary roller coaster designer Carl Phare. Incidentally, it’s the last remaining Carl Phare designed roller coaster in operation in the world.
There were at least 3 other coasters that pre-date the Carl Phare design at the PNE, according to rollercoastersofthepacificnw.com. First there was Coaster (Dip The Dips) - 1915-1924. Heritage Vancouver has posted a photo from 1914 of the first rollercoaster under construction here, and there’s an aerial view of the finished coaster from 1919 here. Happyland got a pair of coasters known as Giant Dipper - 1925-1947 and Baby Dipper - 1928-1944. Then along came a string of smaller roller coaster rides for Playland; Little Dipper - 1958-197?; Mad Mouse - 1958-1964?; Monster Mouse - 1965-1971?; Super Big Gulp - 1972-1994; Wild Mouse - 1979-2008. And finally, there was another roller coaster in Stanley Park called Dips circa 1913-1923. I’m hoping I come across some artwork of this one day.
Hastings Wharf, Vancouver, a watercolour by Thomas Mower Martin, RCA. From the book Canada, described by Wilfred Campbell LL.D. and published by A&C Black Ltd. London. 1907, still publishing today! Print (page from the book) offered for sale on ebay. T. Mower Martin lived from 1838-1934; a listing of 134 of his paintings that sold at auction Saturday, October 27, 1883 is available at archive.org. The portrait of him at his desk is from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, AB, where they have a complete fonds dedicated to him. It looks like this fonds was acquired as a gift of John Harbert in 2003, with thanks to the Michael H. Dunn Trust, 2011. Here’s an excerpt from the biography they have posted:
Thomas Mower Martin, 1838-1934, was born in London, England and received art training at a number of institutions. He and his wife, Emma Nichols, 1842-1911 moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1862. He painted mostly landscapes, animals in action, still lifes and some portraits and traveled widely throughout North America. In 1887 he made his first trip to Western Canada under the sponsorship of the Canadian Pacific Railway and returned approximately ten times. A collection of articles entitled “Canada from an Artist’s Point of View” (1895) details some of his activities in the west. Martin was a founding member of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1872 and was director of the Ontario Government Art school from 1877 to 1879. He was also a founder of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880…
An early watercolour rendering of the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood by Maud Rees Sherman. This scene is a very early view of the PNE grounds, which took a great deal of fine visual sleuthing to pinpoint. Gary Sim writes:
The view in the watercolour is, to the best of my knowledge, taken from 3642 Dundas Street, where the Sherman family lived from 1913 - 1988. I date the painting c1920, as it fits into the Places to Sketch series that has some paintings dated 1920 - 1922.
The layout of the Vancouver Exhibition Grounds as shown on page 16 of The Pacific National Exhibition - An Illustrated History by Breen & Coates matches the buildings in the watercolour pretty closely … the athletic field is the flat white area just below center, surround by grandstand buildings and other structures. Additional buildings (stock judging pavilion) go up the hill on the right, to Renfrew street, which has some structures along it top left.
This view also matches aerial photos taken by Stuart Thomson in 1919 (Vancouver City Archives), which showed to my surprise that there wasn’t a tree left standing in the whole area.
This painting took me quite a while to identify the location thereof, I thought the white centre was a frozen lake surrounded by cabins. With the info above, plus having been to the house on Dundas, I’m now pretty sure that I have the correct location.
The Waldorf Hotel, a work in gauche, ink, and arcylic on paper submitted by Natasha Shubaly. Thanks Natasha!
A busy afternoon at Granville and Hastings, from The Vancouver Sunday Sun, July 18, 1920. I believe the drawing is by Ernest LeMessurier who was a UBC grad in 1916, working as a cartoonist in Vancouver in 1920, later to become a cartoonist for the Montreal Star, an English-language Canadian newspaper (which eventually folded in 1979 following an eight-month pressmen’s strike; the Star’s building, presses, and archives were acquired by The Gazette).
I like the fact that a sandwich board is employed to sell cheap land here, a man advertises a baseball game from a horse or donkey, and a tourist is lost in the centre of the street, looking for the Lions! Also, if you pay close attention, we are still driving on the wrong side of the road, (we switched Jan 1st, 1922) and a policeman directs traffic as there are no traffic lights; the first one was installed in 1928! Aside from a few small changes (like the changing of the flags atop the Sinclair Centre), the scene still looks pretty much the same as it does today!
Vancouver Heights, illustrating the new city reservoir supplied from Seymour Creek, overlooking Hastings Race Track and the Burrard Inlet, a project that was completed in 1908. Drawn by S. P. (Spencer Perceval/Percival) Judge, one of Vancouver’s early illustrating giants. In addition to designing the school crest for Kitsilano Secondary School (he was the first art teacher at Kitsilano), his illustrations appeared regularly in Vancouver Tourism brochures (seen here previously) and in School Days magazine. As I mentioned before, he also painted a series of watercolours of the early Union Steamship fleet in 1905, which I would like to try and track down. They hung on the walls of the company’s boardroom and were acquired by Gerald Rushton, who wrote the book on Union Steamship twice. If anyone knows where they may have ended up, please let me know!
Through the Eye of the Raven, 2010, preliminary renderings by Richard Tetrault, with contributing artists, seen on the @Vancouver125 bicycle tour held October 1 and 2, 2011. The mural is located on the west-facing wall of the renovated Orwell Hotel on Hastings Street, covers close to 8000 square feet, and is perhaps the largest mural in Western Canada. The team of artists who worked on the project include: Jerry Whitehead, Richard Shorty, Haisla Collins, Sharifa Marsden and Richard Tetrault, with image of ‘Looking Forward Looking back’ (circle image) by Eric Parnell, poetry by Nicola Campbell. The third photo in the series above was taken by RC Helicopter and stitched together.
Further info on the murals from the new website initiative featuring in depth information on the city’s street murals program, vancouvermurals.ca.
The Raven Dancer, dressed in a traditional button robe, holds the ‘Looking Forward, Looking Back’ symbol, signifying the importance of the past when viewing the present, and looking to the future. In ‘Through the Eye of the Raven,’ the light of day is cast upon what, for many on Vancouver’s Eastside, is a dark and forbidding place. Yet the Raven sees past the troubles of this time, alighting upon the sacred canoe of the Coast Salish and reminding us of the rich and powerful heritage that is the birthright of Aboriginal people. Salish serpents and patterned braids frame the mural, while animals walk along the hem of Raven’s blanket. This button blanket enfolds both the terror of the residential school system, as well as the strength and courage of those who stand up and speak for justice. Finally, the hummingbird, a Tutchone symbol of hope, flies above the Vancouver cityscape towards the light.
The Marine Building on Hastings, 1945, painted by Brian Croft. Note there is a public speaking engagement with artist Brian Croft at the Vancouver Public Library on Wednesday, September 28th, 2011. This event is open to the public at no charge.
Wednesday September 28
7:00 pm-8:15 pm
Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street
Another great drawing from inside The City and the Store, a brochure from the Woodwards Department Store, circa 1958. I urge you to check this brochure out in person! The text in the brochure was attributed to Douglas E Harker (who incidentally was born 100 years ago), but it failed to credit the artist, who used coloured pencils or crayons to render period photographs in a precise and consistent way throughout the brochure. From the VPL Special Collections NW Hist Call #:658.871 W91ha.
Woodwards; open all day Wednesday at Park Royal, West Vancouver. Illustration details from a souvenir guide book, circa 1952. Artist unknown. VPL Special Collections, NW Hist 971.133 V22G7863a1.
Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret by Bruce Walther, a mosaic featuring that famous neon sign, seen at the show Barscapes currently on display at the Havana Restaurant. The show runs from August 21 through September 3, 2011.
Bruce was one of many local artists interviewed for the book Public Art in Vancouver: Angels Among Lions by John Steil, as he was a lead artist (along with Liz Calvin) for the Mosaic Art Tile Project in Vancouver. Be sure to check out his other mosaics at the Havana Gallery and on select sidewalks throughout the city.
109 East Hastings Street, The Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret, a coloured drawing dated June 1986 by Keith McKellar, also seen published in the book Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Cafe and Street. The Smilin’ Buddha was the place to be seen in the city from the 1950s onward. An alternate work featuring the Buddha is viewable here on Keith’s website. From the Museum of Vancouver website:
The Smilin’ Buddha is one of the most iconic pieces of neon from Vancouver’s colourful history of neon signs. The Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret at 109 East Hastings Street was at the centre of Vancouver’s changing entertainment scene for decades. In the 1950s, the nightclub was a symbol of Vancouver’s post-war prosperity and bustle as captured in the photographic work of Fred Herzog. In the 1960s psychedelic era, it hosted acts such as Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix. In the late 1970s, as punk and alternative music took hold in North America, the Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret was ground zero for Vancouver’s new independent music scene. In 1992, after the club had closed, the rock band 54-40 acquired the sign, restored it, and the Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret became the name of their 1994 release. The eight hundred-pound sign features neon on both faces. The Buddha’s chin and belly appear to jiggle, as bands of neon light flicker.
Big thanks to 54-40 band members Brad Merrit, Neil Osborne and Matt Johnson for saving this piece of Vancouver’s history, which can now be seen in the You Say You Want a Revolution gallery at the MoV.
Today, a community garden has taken root beside the former cabaret. Next time you walk past 109 East Hastings Street, pay your respects to the Buddha and Vancouver’s entertainment past.
The war memorial Cenotaph at Victory Square, a watercolour sketch by Don McNulty. The lamp standards in the area are in the shape of WW1 Canadian soldiers steel helmets.
Hy’s Prime Rib, magazine advertisement circa 1975. When prime rib dinners were only $4.95. Overlooking the harbour at Hastings & Bute, Board of Trade Tower, Columbia Centre. From the VPL picture file, Vancouver, BC, Restaurants. (possibly signed by artist “M Homsy”) Hy’s Steakhouse is named after Hy Aisenstat, Calgary restauranteur.
More about Hy’s from vancouverhistory.ca:
Aisenstat, writes Constance Brissenden, “was the son of a Russian emigre wholesale grocer in Calgary. Hy worked in sales, then owned a small oil company. In 1955, with his wife Barbara (born March 20, 1934 in Kirkland Lake, Ont.), he opened Hy’s Steak House in Calgary with a $3,000 loan. They moved to Vancouver (1960) and he opened Hy’s at The Sands, The Mansion (1979) and Hy’s Encore. By 1968, Hy’s of Canada united 12 companies, with restaurants across Canada, and in Chicago, Honolulu, Palm Springs and Beverly Hills. He called his restaurants ‘saloons’ and was noted for smoking 10 Havana cigars daily.”
Hy’s son David Aisenstat now acts as President & CEO of the Keg Restaurants. Ltd, and he among the many restaurants he owns now owns (Hy’s steakhouse chain, Ki Modern Japanese, The Shore Club, and Gotham Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar) word is he has also purchased the Rogers sugar magnate’s mansion Gabriola, and perhaps one day we will see the now empty home transform into a Keg, or maybe even return to a Hy’s restaurant.
