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Friday, April 24, 2015

Vintage Vancouver

Seymour @ Smithe - 1936 
Granville @ Georgia - 1921 
400 Block West Hastings - 1910
Cambie @ Georgia - 1929 
Victory Square - Cambie @ Hastings - 1925
Carrall Street - 1930
Granville @ Cordova - Date Unknown
Granville @ Nelson - 1948
Granville @ Robson - 1927
Hastings @ Granville - 1905
Hornby @ Dunsmuir - 1920
100 Block Water Street - 1909
500 Block Granville Street - 1934
600 Block Seymour Street - 1891
BCER Terminal @ Carall Street - 1936 
BCER Terminal @ Hastings Street - 1937
Beach Ave from Kitsilano - 1928 
Kits Beach - 1937
Stanley Park Drive - 1940
Stanley Park - 1936
English Bay - 1916
Prospect Point @ Stanley Park - 1891
Beatty Street Union Oil - 1945
Burrard @ Pender - 1924
872 Granville Street - 1936 
Auto Show - 1932
Howe @ Davie - 1942
Cambie @ Pender - 1914
CPR Depot & Harbour Entrance - 1890
100 Block West Hastings - 1909
Burrard Inlet from Hotel Vancouver - 1889 
CN Steamship Terminal - 1948
CPR Pier D - 1922
CPR Station & Dock - 1890
Empress of India @ Vancouver - 1899
Boeing 247 Vancouver Airport - 1934
Cordova @ Cambie - 1888
Cordova Street looking West - 1890
Dunsmuir @ Granville - 1955
False Creek - 1928

Georgia Viaduct - 1929 
Broadway @ Commercial - 1940
Buffalo Grocery Shop, 14th @ Commercial - 1908
20th @ Commercial Drive - 1913
Granville @ Cordova - 1929
Granville @ Dunsmuir - 1912
Granville @ Hastings - 1911
Granville @ Smithe - 1946
Granville Street - 1935 
Hastings @ Carrall - 1910
Hastings @ Carrall - 1925
Marine Building @ The Harbour - 1945
North Vancouver Ferry Terminal - 1909
Vancouver Jitneys Dealership - 1918
Seymour @ Nelson - 1920
Seymour @ Robson - 1928
Steamroller, West Pender Street - 1912 
SW Corner of Cambie @ Cordova - 1888
The Railway Club - 1927
Bowen Island - 1946

















































90 comments:

  1. Totally amazing photos ! love love seeing these , thanks for the share !

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    1. I felt the same way & had to share! thanks for visting

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    2. Me too. My father who is soon to turn 100 would absolutely love these photos, unfortunately he no longer can see well enough view them. He was born in Victoria in 1917 and moved to Vancouver at age 3. His parents both died within 24 hrs. of each other in the flu pandemic and left 3 little boys alone. They were 'shared' between family members and my Dad grew up near Burnaby Mountain. Awesome photos!!

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    3. Ah! Nostalgia. Some I see remember, lots had changed around them but a few of the buildings were still around in the 60's. I am not sure any are there now. I would be neat to see photos of the exact spots in photos today, side by side. I love the old look. Vancouver is not all green glass and no character. All the old is lost now.

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  2. Replies
    1. so interesting, thanks for the page visit!

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  3. Thank you so much, so appreciated! So nice of you to post these, wonderful perusing through the history. Kudos to you.

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    1. glad i was able to find them, thanks for the page visit!

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  4. Amazing pics....really struck by the # of pics with snow in them.
    Dave L

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    1. thanks! ya I always wonder who took the photos & with what camera? thanks for the page visit

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  5. This is a magnificent panoply of one of the world's great vitie, the one in which I was born in Grace Hospital now sadly no more on December 31, 1931. It's remained green, clean, friendlt and cosmopolitan - we must all pledge to keep it this way!

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    1. thanks for the page visit, glad these pics spawned some memories!

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  6. Awesome photos of my adopted home (formerly a "stubble-jumper"). I love seeing how it looked back in the beginning of its growth.

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    1. thanks for the page visit, glad you could take something from the photos

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  7. I just love these old pics of a time gone by. Thank you so much for sharing

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    1. i feel the same way, they're great too see how our town used to look. thanks for visiting

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  8. I was born in Vancouver in 1933 and these photos bring back a lot of memories. Thanks for sharing them

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    1. thank-you for the page visit, glad to hear they brought some memories back. cheers!

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  9. That 1945 shot of the Marine Building is great, even with the airplane wing. Who would have even thought the Marine Building would one day be four blocks back with no view of the water!

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    1. yes it's bizarre to see what's in place now of what used to be, especially granville street. thanks for visiting

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  10. Thanks for a magnificant trip! A treasure to keep.
    L.

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  11. Very interesting to take a virtual trip back to the beginning of the 20th century. One needs to realize, that hardships were plentiful and life was tough.
    Yet, the human spirit prevailed and created many wonderful things along the way.
    THANKS for the memories!

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    1. agreed, glad u were able to take something from it. thanks for the page visit

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  12. I love looking at photos like this from the past. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. To be able to visit the past and see how the years have progressed and some of the old buildings still standing today, is delightful. A trip into history. Thanks for sharing these and being able to see the past is so rewarding.

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    1. agreed, strolling thru downtown now i have a new appreciation for the buildings that have survived. thx for the page visit

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  14. Great to see these pictures. I grew up in Point Grey and went to Lord Byng High School. Our family moved to Vancouver in the early forties from Saskatchewan.

    Bruce Hygh
    Ottawa, Ontario

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  15. I especially enjoyed the Marine Building picture and the ones showing all the movie theatres on Granville Street. We used to walk up one side and down the other, checking out which movie we wanted to watch and then run back to catch our favourite one on time! Thanks for the memories. (born in St. Paul's Hospital, 1940)

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    1. thx for sharing, i wish granville st still embodied even an inkling of that time. thx for the page visit

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  16. Hi, I arrived here in the late 70's and love to see the changes that have taken place before my arrival and the astounding differences between 'Now" and the delightful 'Then' that you have shared with us.
    They are a wonderful trip down a long lost Memory Lane, thanks to you (And some others) not forgotten. Thank you. Sir John Taylor
    ( How did that 'ONE' photo of Vancouver in the rain get in there?)

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    1. Glad to hear it, thanks for the page visit!

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  17. Thank you so much for posting the photos. I especially appreciated the pre-WW1 photos. My grandfather emigrated from Austria-Hungary in 1905, and it was wonderful to see how Canada would have looked to him in those days. Best wishes, Eva

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    1. wow, 1905! amazing -the things he must've seen. thx for sharing & thx for the page visit

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  18. Sobering to see the change that has taken place in such a relatively short time...and the rate of change is increasing exponentially! Can't imagine what the 'seniors' of the early 1900's would say if they could see the effects of progress.

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  19. These are some of the most incredible photos of the beginning of old Vancouver. my parents and I settled here in 1956 from Two Hills Alberta and I remember visiting Woodwards Dept.store in about 1962 and seeing all the streetcars. Coming from a very small town and seeing downtown Vancouver at that time I was amazed at the size of all the tall buildings and the number of people in the city. It was totally amazing to me at the time I would have been around 13 years old. it is now a totally different looking city. I think I prefer the old look it just felt different.

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    1. great to hear, thx for sharing. thx for the page visit

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  20. Hey ar there any photos of Sweeny Cooperage or old brinery photos where you could buy pickles?

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    1. the photos posted are the only one's i was able to find. thx for the page visit

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  21. Amazing photo's...Love them! Thank you very much for posting.

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  22. Timing is everything. I was visiting Bowen Island today and HERE I came across someone's old snap shot.Interesting to see how Snug Cove has changed, not to mention the ferry. I'm a home-grown gal, and absolutely loved comparing the old photos with today's changes. Thank you!

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    1. Glad to hear it, that old shot of Bowen is great. thx for the page visit

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  23. So many things I recognize and too much to make comments. Except the Carrall and Hastings tram and rail centre. The latest building in one of the pictures eventually became the Bank of Montreal with the engineering firm H.A. Simons above. Can't recall how many floors but the building is still there. I was a bank trainee posted there from June 1972 to June 1973 - it was a large and busy branch. Born in Vancouver in Nov 1946. The Marine building is still a magnificent example of deco art and had a Bank of Montreal branch on the ground floor at that time.

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  24. great to hear, thanks for the page visit.

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  25. Wonderful walk bak into the past. There is great peace in these images; a sense we have lost over the years, but which still remains in my generation. I hope younger generations can still see and feel it.








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    1. couldn't agree more, thx for the page visit

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  26. I have always loved old photo's. When visiting older friends (I am there myself) I always ask if they have photo's they would love to share with me.Thank you for sharing so wonderful to see and think of which one or several of these streets I have been down when my husband & I moved to Vancouver in the mid 80's from Vernon, B.C. Post more please if you come across more precious photo's. ~ Rita

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  27. Such memories, wonderful to see how it all began. Thanks for sharing.

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  28. What a treasure trove. I've lingered over these photos and pushed my mind to envision the spot today. I especially loved the photo where you can see the two 'lions'. They never change.

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    1. glad to hear it, i felt the same. thx for visiting!

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  29. I can still remember arriving at the Tram Station at Carroll and Hastings with my little sister and Mom. Then going to the Army & Navy Dept.store then the White Lunch restaurant. We came all the way from New west Minster. Thanks for the memories!

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  30. Gerry & Jo-Anne SheanhFebruary 27, 2017 at 8:54 AM

    These are absolutely fabulous photo's and are especially meaningful to those of us who were born and raised in Vancouver in 1931-32. Granville street was 'Theatre Row' and at night, the marquee's lit up the night. Generations of people 'met under the clock' at Birk's. It was a gentler, simpler, kinder way of life then.

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    1. thanks for sharing, wish i could've seen it. thanks for the page visit!

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  31. Pahntastic..
    does anyone have any newer ones?
    would be great !

    thank you, great effort

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  32. Beautiful set of photo's, old photo's really stir something in me.
    HHB asked if anyone has newer ones, try looking on Google Earth on "street view" for a fantastic comparison with today's buildings.

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  33. I was born in 1941 and I remember going to Granville street and getting into a movie for 15 cents and then going to the White Lunch after. The fare home was a nickel. Somebody already said this, but wouldn't it be great to have a time machine. My thanks for this visit to the past.

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  34. Came to Vancouver age 10 summer of 1943.
    Does anyone remember the B.C. Hydro open streetcar that ended on Robson Stree> Have a picture of it with my myself, sister and mother dated Augsit 06th 1943.
    K
    Yes I remember the White Lunch with the rotating neon sign.
    Did anyone ever go to the Beacon Theatre nearby, had Vaudeville every Satafternoon. Saw the MGN lion, Gypsey Rose Lee and Victor Mature.

    Boy, am really dating myself, but fun to remember my happy youth days...

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  35. I have seen a few photo's of the Van. area over time, the pictures were sometimes blurry, but these are just great! Are they all from the same person? or a variety? And where did you happen to come across these ones? Thank you so much for sharing them with with us!

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  36. Thank you for the absolutely fabulous collection of historic Vancouver photos! Just one small correction... What you have as 20th and Commercial Drive should be 20th and Commercial Street. There was a Commercial Street in Cedar Cottage before Park Drive was renamed Commercial Drive.

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  37. Does anyone remember the B.C. Electric open air site seeing street car.
    When we arrived in Vancouver from the Prairies August 1943, we took the tour believe it started way up Granville followed the tracks through to Robson Street where we had our picture taken. Still have this picture, one of my fond memories...

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  38. In one of the pictures was BCER 1311, Fraser Valley interurban. One of only two valley cars saved but the new owner moved it to Squamish. It survived for awhile but vandals got into it and thrashed to the point that it was scrapped. Sad! The other car BCER 1236 was on the Burnaby Lake Line. Along with many others it was scrapped at the end of service.

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  39. Vancouver was always a great place to walk, lots of interesting buildings. From houses to commercial buildings, everything had a "personality". One thing that has improved is the access to the water, it was very industrial until the 1970's, and access was very limited in the city area. Definitely one of the best-looking cities of the world!

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  40. Great Pics. The autos brought back memories of my first car (29 Chev -not new- $75.00) My second was a '33 chev. coupe. When I got it it was as old as I was (180 for a cost of $300.00), very interesting pics.

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  41. This is a great trip down memory lane for a guy who moved to Vancouver at age 5 in 1950. Lived on Main and 15th for a year then 1804 Semlin Drive and 2 other homes until I was married in 1965. A proud "East End Rat" who never lived west of Main and left Burnaby in 1996 moving to Portland Oregon. Where I still reside but never forgetting from whence I cometh!!

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  42. As Edith and Archie would sing together" Those were the days" Paul 80 Lacny West Bank now BC

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  43. Absolutely wonderful. The photos speak of so many memories. Please accept our thanks for preserving our past.

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  44. How great to see these snap shots in this day and wonder what happened as they were the good old days.Much slower pace .

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  45. It was fun picking out landmarks from the past. So many people at Kits beach! No social distancing! ; )

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  46. I love photos like this. It reminds me of better days - even though the days were maybe not really better.

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  47. Thank you for the memories - I was born in Vancouver : My grandchildren are 4th
    generation born in Vancouver . These photos are priceless

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  48. Thanks for collecting these together.Live in Vancouver over 52 years and remember big changes!

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  49. Wow what a beautiful sight looking back in history I Came to Vancouver in 1965 Things sure have changed

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  50. GREAT PICTURE, AMAZING HISTORICAL RECORD, THANK YOU FOR SHARING

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  51. My grandparents built a home at 2nd and Trimble. He put a rowboat in at Locarno Beach, rowed to English Bay and 'walked through the forest' to his tailor shop at Burrard and Robson . Thanks for showing the city as it was then.

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  52. Loved all the pix, hard to imagine how far we have come.. Thank you for posting this site.

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  53. Thank you for a lot of happy memories... My family and I moved to Vancouver in 1948...

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  54. Raised in Vancouver from 1943 onward. This photos show a lot of the City's character that is now, sadly, gone forever. One photo had a caption unable to set a date. I would say, check the hemlines. I say they indicate the early 1940's. That length is indicated on other shots that contain a date in the '40's. Thanks for putting this together.

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