"Vancouver Through the Years": Golden Jubilee Celebration Souvenir Post Cards

Vancouver's Golden Jubilee - 1936

In 1936 the City of Vancouver celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Still a youthful city, Vancouver had changed in many ways in the 50 years since its incorporation. It was a maturing city with an impressive skyline. There were many events to celebrate the Jubilee including parades, concerts and sporting events. I recently discovered a series of post cards commemorating the Golden Jubilee in my Grandmother`s photo album . These post cards showed yesterday and today images of Vancouver in 1886 and 1936. Looking at these images from a 2013 perspective is amazing.

The cover post card for the Jubilee series is simple but wonderful. The combination of an illustration of "the Lions", "the "maple leaf" and an excerpt from a poem by E. Pauline Johnson symbolizes a lot about what Vancouver was in 1936 and is today. "The Lions" remind me of the natural beauty of Vancouver's location near the mountains and beside the ocean. When I see "the Lions" I know it's a pretty good day because it's a good indication it's probably not raining! "The maple leaf" reminds me of Vancouver being a great Canadian City. E. Pauline Johnson's poem "A Toast" is a very optimistic poem about Vancouver.

Hastings Street from Cambie Street 1936

The 1936 view along Hastings street was quite impressive. Vancouver was a modern busy city with street cars, automobiles and pedestrians. Many of the buildings in this image including the Cenotaph at Victory Square are still present today. In the distance the Marine Building is visible. It's quite an accomplishment for Vancouver that the Marine Building was once the tallest building in the British Empire especially when compared with other much bigger cities of the Empire like London, Sydney and Toronto. Even today, the Marine Building stands out for style and remains a landmark.

Hastings Street from Cambie Street 1886

The 1886 image along Hastings Street looks completely different except for the street car and the park on the south side of Hastings Street. In 1886 a fire swept through this part of the city destroying many of the buildings. By 1936 most of the buildings in this image were replaced by newer, taller buildings.

Entrance to Stanley Park in 1936

In this picture, Stanley Park looks as popular in 1936 as it is today. The entrance to Stanley Park is incredibly organized and inviting. Judging from the picture things have not changed much regarding automobile traffic in the Stanley Park area. This image was taken before the Lions Gate bridge was completed. On the right hand side of the picture the Vancouver Rowing Club building is present and still exists today.

Entrance to Stanley Park in 1886

In 1886 the entrance to Stanley Park was completely different compared to 1936. I like the wooden arch welcoming people to Stanley Park. I wonder if the original developers of Stanley Park would have imagined how important an attraction it would become for Vancouver.

English Bay Beach 1936

In 1936, the beach at English Bay looks similar to today. Much like today there was a water slide for swimmers to enjoy.

English Bay Beach 1886

In 1886, the water slide looked extremely fast and very dangerous. I can't imagine a slide like that being acceptable in 2013. I wonder how fast the slide actually was especially in the old style bathing suits.

Granville Street 1936

This view gives Vancouver a very modern look with some impressive buildings. Granville Street was certainly a very busy part of the city. The street car in this picture must have been on one of the busiest routes in the city.

Granville Street 1886

In 1886, Granville Street looked very different. The buildings were much smaller. It looks like horse drawn carriages and street cars were the major forms of transportation.

Hastings at Granville Street 1936

This is a great image of the Marine building framed by the buildings on either side of Hastings Street. This part of the city looked quite affluent. This image shows Vancouver as a modern established city.