Vancouver in a bell jar - a souvenir kitsch sculpture of five landmark buildings; the Marine Building (1930), Harbour Centre (minus the Lookout, which appears to have vanished) (1977), BC Place (1983), Canada Place (1986), Science World (1986), and Library Square (1995). There’s not much in the way of an artists’ credit, except that it was made by Twinkle Globe, Canada. This is currently for sale on ebay, and though it looks tempting, I’m sure we’ll all be able to print this kind of thing at home on a 3D printer in a year or two. The current model on their website, if you search for Vancouver, features the same buildings plus it has a SkyTrain and appears to rotate and plays the tune Unforgettable. Tacky? Perhaps. But I still love it!

Printed souvenir Vancouver tea towel, made in Poland apparently, via ebay.

This is what I’m talking about; Danika keeps it local! Toile de Jouy for Vancouver, by Vancouver designer Danika McDowell of Locamode. Just what is Toile you ask? Wikipedia says:

Toile is the name of a fabric that entered the English language around the 16th century^[1] from a French word meaning “linen cloth” or “canvas” — particularly cloth or canvas for painting on.

Seen on Poppytalk via Spoonflower. More here. Suddenly, I have an urgent need for some Skytrain technical drawing Toile!

A comic by Stuart Morris from the cover of New Directions magazine, Vol 1 No 5 from April-May of 1986. I thought this comic would be suitably fun for Friday the 13th! I was tipped off about New Directions magazine by Bonnie Beckwoman, one of the original contributors of the Georgia Straight who later also contributed comics to New Directions. The lead story of this issue from 1986 was titled The Bad BCers’ Guide to Expo, and it was written by Larry Kuehn. While most of my Expo86 posts have been rosy nostalgic, not everyone was as enthusiastic about the event. You can read the article at the VPL’s periodicals reference desk. Or tweet me!

Selected panels of Vancouver from the 13 page comic book, Archie at Expo 86 in “the Archies in Motion” penciled by Daniel S. DeCarlo, inked by Dan’s son Jim DeCarlo, lettering by Bill Yoshida, and coloring/production by Barry Grossman. There is a forthcoming documentary in the works on Dan DeCarlo, so watch for that! Dan also has a great Wikipedia page to help you get acquainted with his life story. More about the comic, from bobbea’s Expo 86 site:

In this rare “The World of Archie” comic book, Archie and his friends leave the confines Riverdale to visit Expo 86. In another issue around the same time, the gang visited Victoria’s famed Empress Hotel for high tea. It has been said that throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Vancouver and Victoria had the largest Archie comic book readerships (per capita) than any other city in North America.

Archie’s biggest fans in Vancouver and Victoria? Who knew!?

Thanks, Darren!

Hand screened, hand drawn Show Poster for Wolf Parade in Seattle by John Vogl at theBungaloo.com. The illustration is of Science World, from Expo 86, which is also the name of Wolf Parade’s new album. Seen via etsy.

“the flood after the storm” 2009 from later, post-apocalyptic comics by Darcie Frederick

Girl in Motion, (a play on the theme of Expo 86 “Man in Motion”) a 24 x 30 acrylic on canvas by Robert Genn (the young girl depicting his daughter). Sold on the Expo 86 grounds among other places, it was made into two posters and a limited edition print, apparently one of the largest selling reproductions of its day. This poster followed a series of centennial posters printed for Vancouver’s 100th birthday. Happy birthday, Expo 86!