It is very pleasant to see our work used as the basis of a story in Spacing Vancouver: The article in question is part of Erick Villagomez's series "Cartographically Speaking" and uses material that was originally presented at one of our meetings about a year or so ago. Erick is a good friend of GHG … Continue reading Business Development on Commercial Drive
I went to my barber this morning and had a cut. He mentioned that Frank's Hairdressing had closed this month and that he, my barber Tino, is now the only barber left on the Drive. That got me thinking. Here is a chronological list of all the barbers I know that operated on the Drive: … Continue reading Barbers On The Drive
In another place, I have written about a marvelous lunch I had this week with JoAnn Bufton, granddaughter of Hubert and Catherine Bufton, founders of the florist shop that flourished on the Drive from 1920 through the mid-1980s. In addition to the wonderful oral history she was able to provide, she also gave me some … Continue reading More On The Buftons
Kudos all round for the completion of the project to restore the unique Shelly's sign on the side of Via Tevere restaurant at Victoria and William. The owners of the restaurant paid the lion's share of the costs; our Neighbourhood Small Grant will cover the balance of the materials costs, and we have money in … Continue reading Shelly’s 4X sign restored!
Mary Lindfield was one of the many women who have made Commercial Drive such a wonderful place to live, and it is through her that we celebrate International Women's Day 2013. Mary Lindfield was born in Mosside, Alberta, where her parents were visiting from South Africa. By the mid-1940s she was travelling supervisor for Harriet … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Mary Lindfield
Those residents of Grandview who have been here for more than, say, seventy years might remember that the north west corner of First & Commercial was the site of the Grandview School of Commerce. Since the mid-1980s,this has been the site of Il Mercarto Mall, which is how most people think of it.However, from the … Continue reading The Bentholme Building
Just the other day I was standing on Commercial Drive looking across at two of my favourite buildings which are in the centre of the east side of the 1600-block. The building on the left is the Odlin Block and the building on the right is the Rodway Block. My interest was piqued because these … Continue reading The Wealthy Barber and The Tin Man
In a previous post about photographs, I mentioned that the Drive had rarely been without a photographer and associated services. Following up, here is a list of all those artists and stores from the founding of Commercial Drive through to 1999: Philip Timms (1912) Merchants Photo Co. (1912) Grandview Studio (1915-1918) Vancouver Photo Finishing (1921-1978) … Continue reading Commercial Drive Photographers
We had a marvelous meeting last night, with lively discussion on a wide range of topics. These included: our Centenary Signs project (the signs will be ready next week); the age of the buildings on the 1200-block Lakewood Drive (1909 and 1910); wallpaper stylings in early heritage homes; the large number of "party hats" (or … Continue reading Meeting Notes
One of our currently vacant storefronts is about to be taken over by, I believe, Pharmasave. Several people have said to me: "Why do we need another drug store on the Drive?" Fair enough question, and it led to me to see how many drug stores we have had on the Drive historically. The following … Continue reading Drug Stores On the Drive
The renovation of the old York Theatre at Commercial and E. Georgia is moving ahead quite quickly. As a result of the stripping of stucco from the south wall we now have another "ghost" sign: this one for the Little Theatre. It is not so easy to see, especially with the scaffolding still in place, … Continue reading York Theatre Renovation
We had a splendid meeting last night, headlined by an excellent presentation from Bruce Macdonald regarding the need for a genuine mapping of Vancouver's neighbourhoods and, most importantly, the use of historically accurate and functionally useful names for these neighbourhoods. He noted, for example, that the bureaucratically-defined area of "Grandview-Woodlands" doesn't meet either criteria. The … Continue reading Mapping, Naming, Retail History and Fun
In honour of International Women's Day, I thought I'd write a short piece on one of the most dynamic women ever to grace Grandview and Commercial Drive. Catherine Bufton (nee Drake) was born in Gloucester, England, in 1881. She emigrated to Manitoba where she met and married Hubert Bufton. After Hubert's service in World War … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Catherine Bufton
On February 12th, 1912, Thomas Shiels opened the Grandview Theatre movie house at 1712 Commercial. It is the white-arched building in the middle of this image. The building permit had been dated 10th October 1910, with J.J. Donellan as architect and Jones & Purvis as builders. In his opening advertizing in the Western Call, Shiels … Continue reading Grandview Theatre — 100 Years Ago Today
Fifty-five years ago this week, in February 1957, Jack Bowman -- who had just taken over Illustra Photography at 1525 Commercial -- installed what was probably the Drive's first telephone answering service. It was a service offered by BC Tel and the local press called it a "gimmick." Source: "Highland Echo" 21 Feb 1957
The Waldorf Hotel on East Hastings has recently been spruced up and thoroughly renovated. The work has been completed in time to celebrate the Hotel's 63rd birthday today. The Waldorf opened to local acclaim on 24th January, 1949. The owners put a full page ad into the previous week's Highland Echo:
I see that Liberty Wines are just about ready to open at 1622 Commercial, in the storefront that used to be Waazubee Cafe. I also see they are only taking the south side of what has now become a two-storefront building for the first time. The original property on this lot was an office with … Continue reading Creating A New Storefront
The old York Theatre at 639 Commercial Drive is undergoing a massive renovation. It was originally constructed in 1913 as the Alcazar moving picture show theatre. It quickly became the home of Vancouver's Little Theatre Company who used the facilities for 54 years under the name York Theatre. Some while ago it became a movie … Continue reading The York Theatre
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