"Vancouver Through the Years"

Sunday, 27 January 2019

My Dad, a Seaforth Highlander

My father served in the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment during the early 1950s. The battle history of the Highlanders is very remarkable from the First World War to the war in Afghanistan and they have a proud place in Vancouver military history. The Seaforth Armoury is a Vancouver landmark located on Burrard street just south of the bridge. My dad always says that he had a great time serving with the Highlanders. The Seaforth Highlanders are well represented in every Remembrance Day parade.

My dad in the early 1950s in full kit

The insignia of the Seaforth Highlanders
"Cuidich'n Righ"

The motto of the regiment is in Scottish Gaelic meaning "Help the King".

Dad standing at attention

Dad and his mates on training

Highlander's Cap

Saturday, 10 November 2018

Remembrance Day Parade 1972

November 11, 2018 marks the centenary of the armistice to end the "war of all wars". World War One was supposed to be a quick war but turned out to be a long brutal war of attrition. Sadly the armistice of 1918 was just the intermezzo before the next brutal war. The following photos are from the Vancouver Remembrance Day Parade in 1972.

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

Cherrry Blossoms in full bloom - Stanely Park 1988

The Stanley Park Rose Garden is a wonderful place to visit especially when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. I took the following pictures in April or 1988.

Mounted Vancouver Police Officer

A view of downtown Vancouver from the rose garden

Tulips and Cherry Blossoms

Monday, 26 February 2018

Victoria Drive Merchant's Baseball Team - 1950

As spring hopefully comes soon especially after the recent snow, this is the perfect time to post about baseball. Over the years my dad told me many stories about his sports playing days. Some involved baseball and one in particular was his home run out of the park against Kerrisdale in Kerrisdale!

The following photos are from the 1950 season with the Victoria Drive Merchant's team.

Victoria Drive Merchant's Baseball 1950

George the batter

George the fielder

George the pitcher

Monday, 15 January 2018

The Marine Building

The Marine Building is a Vancouver landmark that is still one of the most impressive buildings in the city. It took just under 2 years to build this unique skyscraper. What makes it so impressive is the decorative "icing" topping on the building and the unique art deco designs at the grand entrance. Up to the 1970s, the Marine Building was a visible landmark in downtown. With all the construction over the past 30 years, the Marine Building has become less and less visible as it once was. The 1930s saw the building of a number of Vancouver landmarks including the Lions Gate Bridge and the Vancouver City Hall.

Marine Building 1968

Photo from Vancouver of the Marine Building in Vancouver Sun 1932

Downtown Vancouver with the Marine Building 1970

Entrance to the Marine Building - 355 Burrard Street

Marine Building - Art Deco Design

Marine Building

Marine Building Plaque

View of the Marine building from Cambie and Hastings Street

A View of the Marine Building from Hastings and Cambie Street

A view up the Marine Building

Marine Building

Monday, 25 September 2017

Little Mountain Housing - March 2009

I used to work in the Oakridge area of Vancouver and took a lot of lunch time strolls. Some walks took me by multi-million dollar houses and by social housing complexes. In March of 2009, we walked down to explore the Little Mountain Housing project at 37th and Ontario Street. At that time most of the buildings were empty. It was hoped that a new social housing project would be developed to help with the housing stress of Vancouver but sadly almost 10 years later and not much has changed except for a big empty lot. It was sad to see an abandoned community that had existed since the 1950s, but it's even sadder today to see nothing has changed especially when housing is a crisis in Vancouver. The following photos show the complex with some profound murals painted by previous tenants and artists. This was also at a time when a lot of money was being spent on the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics so there was a lot of criticism from some groups.