[MG1]

As seen through our eyes.................

I'm not the oldest member here, but old enough to remember what Vancouver was like in the 50's and 60's. Some of this stuff is not in the history books, because it is nothing major, but to guys like me, it's the little things that made the neighbourhood what it is/was.

Please contribute with stories of your old neighbourhood, whether it be Chinatown, Marpole, Killarney, Point Grey, North Van, etc. Oh, and correct me if I get stuff mixed up. It's hard to remember shit that far back.

My neck of the woods, for the first 16 years of my life, was the Downtown Eastside. Main and Hastings. It's nothing like it is today. The area back then was flooded with kids. So many kids. Most of them were children of poor immigrants with a sprinkling of the odd First Nations kid. Actually, I think most of the FN ones I saw on the streets never went to school. Anyway, Chinatown and Japantown were very busy places. London Drugs got its first start on Main Street. Did you know there was a Safeway on Hastings and Gore? On the southwest side. Parking lot and all. On the other side of Hastings was a post office. A fairly big one. Carnegy Hall on Main and Hastings was actually the Vancouver Museum. Really cool place from what I recall. On the other corner, kitty corner to Safeway was the Salvation Army Temple. These places are nowhere to be seen today, of course. The United Church on the southeast corner of Hastings and Gore was not there. I cannot remember what was there, but it was an open area of some sort. The firehall on Gore and Cordova was a real firehall. It was Firehall No 2. The biggest and best back then.

On the northwest corner of Hastings and Dunlevy, there was a huge ass car wash and gas station. The car wash was one of those state of the art (back then) pull-the-car-through types. I think it was a 76 gas station. Purves Ritchie had a foundry just up the block and businesses in general were bustling with activity. The big news back then was the building of the Chinese School on Pender Street. Kitty corner to Strathcona Elementary.

Strathcona Elementary. What a great school. I think the population hit nearly 1500+ back in the day. Three buildings. One was the junior building - four stories high, the primary building - two stories and the senior building - three stories high. We had our own dentist. Mrs. Cunninham. Boy, was she scary. Made many a children hate dentists for the rest of their lives. Because the people in the area were so poor, we had great subsidized lunch programmes, too. Cafeteria with hot food for dirt cheap. The school had basement play areas. Great on rainy days. I suppose all Vancouver schools were like that. I knew all the connecting secret passageways between the buildings in the dungeons. As long as my friends and I didn't get caught by any teachers or the engineers who lurked in the basements, we ventured into the girls play area. So cool......... Oh, back then, we were not horny little boys. Girls were like evil little monsters, LOL. Strathcona was by far the best school to be a teacher or a principal at. I heard this from many former teachers and principals. the children who went there ate out of the teachers' hand. Hung on every word. Discipline was not an issue. Even though, and probably more so, because we were so poor, we were taught by our parents that education was the only way out of that miserable existence. Even a happy go lucky guy like me took school seriously. I'm sure the Asian way of life had a lot to do with it, but academics at Strathcona was second to none. Problem was, most of the children were disadvantaged by lack of money, resources, and of course, the language barrier. Still, I look back at what my friends and people I hung out with have accomplished in their lives and boy, I don't know of one single kid who didn't make it out of there (the neighbourhood) to make something out of themselves.

Around the early to mid 60's, the government decide to create low income housing in the form of huge complexes. Enter the Raymur <sp?> projects. That's when all of a sudden, we started to see more and more caucasian kids. Most of them were losers and very few were nice to us and even to each other. I think so many families moved into the projects that they had to reconfigure the catchment area for the schools. Most of them went to Seymour Elementary, which made sense. Why mix Caucasians with Asians, right?

Because the Strathcona / Chinatown area was so full of young children, it had an effect on the rest of Vancouver's downtown. Just the other day, when I was driving over the Georgia Viaduct I noticed that the downtown core is totally void of any children. Man, back in the day, kids were everywhere downtown. We walked to the main library, which used to be on the corner of Burrard and Georgia, to study and do homework on the weekends. We took side trips to our favourite record store, Kelly's (Kelly Dejong). CKLG 73 was the biggest radio station by far. I went every Saturday to get me the top 40 hits flyer for the week at Kelly's. Kelly's then turned into A & B Sound, and we know what happened to them recently.

Oh, the Georgia Viaduct never existed back then. They built it when I was in grade 7, I think.

I remember favourite places, like Jong Wah. It's still there today. Got firecrackers and all kinds of goodies there. Anyway, nuff for now.........

[SkinnyPupp]

I love history, and look forward to reading this post (don't have time right now). Thanks!

[CorneringArtist]

Read it, and the background description of the area was deep considering I'm from a few generations up. The DTES must have been relatively decent back then from what you described, it seems like it was a fairly standard neighborhood given the family backgrounds in the area.

This should be going into textbooks, despite not being that kind of material, it's much better than the crap they have in Social Studies textbooks regarding Vancouver during that era. If anyone remembers anything about their neighborhoods in the Cold War era, please share, I'd like to hear about the goings on, my Social Studies teacher said that there were regular drills going on at the time.

[E-40six]

thats pretty awesome to read
its sorta like the same thing Richmond was 15 years ago

btw, I thought you were white LOL

[nns]

I thought you were white as well.

[maxx]

i still remember when the train, that ran from fraser river docks, through the entire west side of the city to the granville island, was there. i lived on 45th and e boulevard and every morning the train would remind me that it was time to leave for school.

good times.

[B-DiZzLe]

nice read!

[MG1]

i still remember when the train, that ran from fraser river docks, through the entire west side of the city to the granville island, was there. i lived on 45th and e boulevard and every morning the train would remind me that it was time to leave for school.

good times.

That's so cool. I never knew trains actually ran through the city like that. OK, so you must be pretty old, then. When we were kids, we were stuck in the neighbourhood - talk about bubble. Nobody owned a car. We didn't even ride the busses, because it cost money. We walked. Nobody went past Burrard Street, Terminal, and Clarke Drive. Hell, south of Strathcona was nothing but marshland and railway tracks. False Creek was like some far off land.

Seriously, dude. How old are you? I'm slightly over 50.

[maxx]

That's so cool. I never knew trains actually ran through the city like that. OK, so you must be pretty old, then. When we were kids, we were stuck in the neighbourhood - talk about bubble. Nobody owned a car. We didn't even ride the busses, because it cost money. We walked. Nobody went past Burrard Street, Terminal, and Clarke Drive. Hell, south of Strathcona was nothing but marshland and railway tracks. False Creek was like some far off land.

Seriously, dude. How old are you? I'm slightly over 50.

dude, wtf, im 24. this was like 2002, when they stopped the train.

[MG1]

dude, wtf, im 24. this was like 2002, when they stopped the train.

WTF? Is this like some bunny train? :haha:

Here I'm thinking you're like 100+ years old when they had horse and buggies. The old train that went up and down Boulevard. A real steam engine train........ not some cutesy throw back tourist train.

Wow, I've been away from Vancouver that long, eh? Seriously, there was a bona fide train that ran from Fraser River to Granville Island up until recently? I kind of heard about it. Man, I'm such an East Ender.

[maxx]

tourist train???

like you said, it might be the fact that you're oblivious to the west side. (which is ok, im oblivious to the east side)

this was a commercial train that brought pulp or cement or what not from fraser river.. 71st and granville area to granville island. that's why there are tracks in between arbutus and 41st all the way from fraser river to granville island.

[MG1]

tourist train???

like you said, it might be the fact that you're oblivious to the west side. (which is ok, im oblivious to the east side)

this was a commercial train that brought pulp or cement or what not from fraser river.. 71st and granville area to granville island. that's why there are tracks in between arbutus and 41st all the way from fraser river to granville island.

Just messin with you............. I drive over those tracks all the time. Believe it or not, I'm a UBC alumni. My father was a commercial fisherman and his boat was docked at the foot of Blenheim. Celtic Shipyards/BC Packers/Cassiar Fishing Company.

[JayF]

I remember Woodwards had a kick ass toy department, complete with a Lego display.

There used to be a Safeway on Nanaimo and Charles.

The PNE was way better before they added the greenspaces. I miss the various buildings and pavilions. I hope they bring back the Demolition Derby, and the real fireworks.

[maxx]

the conductors would always get off on 45th and e blvd to get their lattes at the coffee shop taht used to be there, just as id walk out of my house. funny, cause the train rolled slowly and they were getting their coffee

[Razor Ramon HG]

Wait, so 89blkcivic is Asian?

[MG1]

Talk about another part of Vancouver's history. Fish Canneries and the mighty Fraser River salmon. All but gone. So sad.

The last time I went to Celtic Shipards, it was all filled in and nothing but condos and developement. Much like Steveston. I wish I had taken photos of the way Celtic Shipyards looked. It was so beautiful. Boats coming in after a salmon opening. The smell of the air....... cannot recreate that.

[maxx]

ohh dude... Eatons!!!!!

they had all the euro imported kitchen and bath stuff

they also had MAJORETTE diecast cars which were the best quality money could buy.

and MAJORETTE race track, garages etc. all made in germany or italy, dont member. i still have the race track with those electric cars, one big ass garage with a few streets and close to 200 cars from majorette.

they were like 3 bucks a car while the disgusting hot wheels were 1.99

the cars had opening doors, glass headlights and they were tiny.. 1/64 i think.

the car i loved most, before i even knew the brands of cars.. was a green 4 door sedan, which turned out to be a 1995 bmw 325i

i fell in love with it and took it everywhere with me and said to my mom one day il have it.. and I DID!! 3 times. (not green or the 2.5 liter but still)

[unit]

i know im gonna like this when i read it tomorrow morning, so heres an early thanks

[MG1]

I remember Woodwards had a kick ass toy department, complete with a Lego display.

There used to be a Safeway on Nanaimo and Charles.

The PNE was way better before they added the greenspaces. I miss the various buildings and pavilions. I hope they bring back the Demolition Derby, and the real fireworks.

Woodward's..... oh my god. The sixth floor. Nothing but toys, toys, and more freaking toys. Christmas time was unreal. The displays. The food floor of Woodwards........ nothing can describe it.

Does anyone remember Dominion Food Store at Woodwards? Some eastern based company thought it could take over mighty Woodwards. Who the hell were they kidding? They went bust. Just like Sam the Record Man tried to take over A & B Sound. That didn't take long, either. Not that A&B Sound is stil around, LOL.

PNE? Wow, have any of you been around when Empire Stadium was the home of the BC Lions? Boy, did they ever let that place die a slow death. I went to a car audio competition that was held at the old Empire Stadium. The place was a disaster. I believe it was the last event ever held at Empire Stadium before it was finally demolished.

Yes, I remember that Safeway, too.

Hard to believe it wasn't that long ago that T&T was a Safeway.

[Rich Sandor]

ohh dude... Eatons!!!!!

they had all the euro imported kitchen and bath stuff

they also had MAJORETTE diecast cars which were the best quality money could buy.

and MAJORETTE race track, garages etc. all made in germany or italy, dont member. i still have the race track with those electric cars, one big ass garage with a few streets and close to 200 cars from majorette.

they were like 3 bucks a car while the disgusting hot wheels were 1.99

the cars had opening doors, glass headlights and they were tiny.. 1/64 i think.

the car i loved most, before i even knew the brands of cars.. was a green 4 door sedan, which turned out to be a 1995 bmw 325i

i fell in love with it and took it everywhere with me and said to my mom one day il have it.. and I DID!! 3 times. (not green or the 2.5 liter but still)

Holy fuck you just brought back memories of 1989. I remember the underground foodcourt below woodwards and I remember I got a 1:24 scale red Majorette convertible sports car.. didn't know what it was but I fucken loved it and played with it all the time. It turned out to be a porsche 944S2 cabriolet.. and lo and behold 13 years later I bought a real 944. I also remember the Batman movie and playing with that huge batmobile car. And army navy..

edit: I also remember, once when I was about 6 or 7, in the foodcourt basement of Eaton's, there was a breakfast bar area, with brass stools.. and I was playing around on the floor and found a $100 bill under the stool. Back then that was a big deal. Upon asking, nobody admitted to losing any bills, so my mom let me keep it. I bought $100 worth of Lego with it!!!!! :D

[MG1]

and MAJORETTE race track, garages etc. all made in germany or italy, dont member. i still have the race track with those electric cars, one big ass garage with a few streets and close to 200 cars from majorette.

Oh, don't get me going on Hot Wheels cars. Of the entire neighbourhood, my family was the poorest of the poor. All I could do was play with other people's Hot Wheel cars. I did manage to get a few from playing cards, which I was pretty good at.

This is when Hot Wheels first came out. Those original cars are like collectors items. Some of them are simply not around anymore. Beatnik Bandit, the Deadora<sp?>, and my all time favourite, the special edition, all chrome, Boss Mustang. I still have that. You should have seen the little bugger's face when I doubled my bet playing topsies and won that car. Eat that, you little shit, wherever you are! Knowing the way things turn out, he's probably some CEO of a major corporation with a dozen or so Chromed Boss Mustangs in mint condition.:cry:

[MG1]

Wait, so 89blkcivic is Asian?

What's so strange? I was told 99.997% of Revscene memers were Asian. I'm just complying with the stats.

[ajax]

89blkcivic, how do you not have a custom title? This guy totally deserves one.

[ienhz]

Still, I look back at what my friends and people I hung out with have accomplished in their lives and boy, I don't know of one single kid who didn't make it out of there (the neighbourhood) to make something out of themselves.

Sad to see the contrast in today's generation. So many kids growing up in 800K+ houses and are complete failures in life.

[Eatman]

I remember Woodwards had a kick ass toy department, complete with a Lego display.

There used to be a Safeway on Nanaimo and Charles.

The PNE was way better before they added the greenspaces. I miss the various buildings and pavilions. I hope they bring back the Demolition Derby, and the real fireworks.

are you sure it was nanaimo and charles and not 1st and renfrew for safeway?

[Talon]

Here's what I remember growing up in Chinatown in the early 80's...
There used to be a park with a pagoda and all, at Gore and Union. Now it's an open space. They had to remove the pagoda thingy cuz there where too many drunks hanging out there. Junkies weren't a problem at that time. Prostitutes would be hanging out along Gore between Union and Georgia. Woodwards 6th floor was the where the toy department was located..loved it. There was also a $1.49 day and you could pick up food (located in the basement) for cheap. There was also a Wools Worth west of Woodwards on Hastings and a Fields across from Army & Navy. Used to buy hotdogs at Army and Navy for something like twenty cents.

There used to be an archade on Georgia across from Phnom Penh that also sold Vietnamese sandwiches. A gas station/automotive repair shop was located on the corner of Georgia and Gore. False Creek was a polluted industrial sh_t hole before Expo. There was at least two Chinese theatres along Hastings.

Strathcona luch program was awesome...Mondays were hotdogs, Wednesdays were hamburgers, Fridays were pizza, and Tuesdays & Thursdays were wild cards (some where along those lines). You could have lunch for about $1. Because we were inner city, we got free passes to the circus, ice capades and PNE.

That's it for now. :thumbsup:

[MG1]

Where are all the old farts?

Thunderbirds chocolate bars. Biggest thing to hit the stores back in?????


ok, that has nothing to do with Vancouver. Back on track.

Back in the day, Oppenheimer Park was home to the Industrial Baseball League. I'm not sure if anything like this still exists. Oppenheimer park, as of today, has no signs of a full size baseball park ever existing, but it was very popular years ago. The industrial league had representative teams from municipalities Burnaby, Coquitlam, and a few other places. Home town team was the Vancouver Longshoremen. I worked at the baseball park as batboy, scoreboard attendee, ball shagger, etc. I worked for 25 cents a game as a batboy and made 50 cents as a score keeper. It was actually a two person job. We had a box full of heavey metal plates that weighed, what felt like, a ton each. We hooked these metal plates that had numbers neatly painted on them up on the scoreboard on bent nails. Pretty primitive, but it was like the most prestigiuous job ever. Let me tell ya, if you messed up, the crowd got on your case real fast. Ball shagging was right up there, too. Because the operator of the ball park was on a limited budget, baseballs were to be retrieved by a shagger. As a shagger, you risked life and limb chasing homeruns and doubles. That meant dodging traffic on Powell Street and Cordova. Foul balls, too. A buddy of mine, who wasn't careful got run over by a speeding car. He survived with a few cuts here and there. Rolled off the hood. Back in those days, cars were made of real steel. If you got hit dead on, that what became of you, dead. When the balls got dirty, the owner/operator used a cool homemade device that consisted of an old bench grinder that had erasers mounted on it. Worked really well. Admission to the games was 5 cents. At the end of the game, I got paid in nickels, duh. I would treat myself to a soda, which was 7 cents back then. No deposit, but you did get money for empty bottles. I collected bottles after the games and made extra money that way. I think the rate was one cent. Man, those were the days.

I said my family was the poorest of the poor. I lived in a rooming house building, where all the families there, about 20 or so, shared the same bathroom facilities. The building was run down, full of mice and cockroaches. My god, cockroaches. I still hate those fucking things. To this day I still have nightmares about them. The way they scatter when you turn the lights on or open the doors into the room. The stove........ I gotta stop. It freaks me out. As for the neighbourhood, Powell Street was no cake walk. At night, the hookers and drug addicts took over the street. I lived above a night club. Danned, you think you have it bad with a pie plate, try deep bass all night long and neon lights flashing all the time into your bedroom. In the morning, there would be a drunk on the doorstep to the building. Piss and whatever everywhere. Once in a while if the rear doors to the building were left unlocked, a drug addict would sneak into the bathroom and shoot up. Many a needles and spoons left behind.

I look back at the living conditions I went through as a child and wonder now how the hell I got through that shit, but at the same time, they were the best times I ever had. Never a dull moment. We played hard and had lots of fun. A colleague of mine once told me you are richer than a lot of rich people out there. At the time, I never really understood, but now I really do.

I don't know why I am spilling my guts out here on RS, but I feel it has some importance. I visit the old neighbourhood every once in a while. I cannot help but to shop at Kay's Seafood or Sunrise Market, or New World Confectionary. The same people still run the place. They still recognize me. I walk the streets and I get a real strange feeling. Most outsiders walk around that neighbourhood and they get stared at. I don't. Kind of freaky.

I took my kids out to the neighbourhood a few times. I stopped taking them there, because one of them said to me, yeah, yeah, dad we get it....... What's that saying again? There by the grace of god go I.

Poverty. It sucks.

[MG1]

are you sure it was nanaimo and charles and not 1st and renfrew for safeway?

It was Nanimo and Charles. The one on Renfrew got built way later.

[MG1]

Here's what I remember growing up in Chinatown in the early 80's...
There used to be a park with a pagoda and all, at Gore and Union. Now it's an open space. They had to remove the pagoda thingy cuz there where too many drunks hanging out there. Junkies weren't a problem at that time. Prostitutes would be hanging out along Gore between Union and Georgia. Woodwards 6th floor was the where the toy department was located..loved it. There was also a $1.49 day and you could pick up food (located in the basement) for cheap. There was also a Wools Worth west of Woodwards on Hastings and a Fields across from Army & Navy. Used to buy hotdogs at Army and Navy for something like twenty cents.

There used to be an archade on Georgia across from Phnom Penh that also sold Vietnamese sandwiches. A gas station/automotive repair shop was located on the corner of Georgia and Gore. False Creek was a polluted industrial sh_t hole before Expo. There was at least two Chinese theatres along Hastings.

Strathcona luch program was awesome...Mondays were hotdogs, Wednesdays were hamburgers, Fridays were pizza, and Tuesdays & Thursdays were wild cards (some where along those lines). You could have lunch for about $1. Because we were inner city, we got free passes to the circus, ice capades and PNE.

That's it for now. :thumbsup:

Ah........... $1.49 day, Tuesday. I love that jingle. I bet it's somewhere in cyberspace. I'll have to google it one day. I remember walking with my mom on Saturdays to go shopping at Woodwards. My treat for carrying the groceries home with her was a delicious soft serve from the food floor.

Funniest thing is, my mom never stepped foot in Save On Meats. It was a very popular place, but for some reason we never went there. I believe it still exists and is still operated by the same familly.

Woolworths and Fields. I remember those places well. I remember the Lux Theatre. B movies for dirt cheap.

[MG1]

OK, getting late. I have to go to sleep, but one more. I remember the PNE parade. It was like gigantic. It started out around the downtown core area and stretched out along Hastings to Clarke Drive. It was televised and was a real big deal back then. Floats and bands from around the Pacific Northwest and from across North America competed for trophies and prizes. People lined the streets. Dickie Dees Ice Cream vendors, clowns, free candy, celebs, etc. I wonder why it died after so many successful years. it was like a tradition.

[Stevie P]

Going to read this tomorrow, and it's going to be great.

[K-Dub]

Subscribed, and I nominate this for a sticky.

[Razor Ramon HG]

What's so strange? I was told 99.997% of Revscene memers were Asian. I'm just complying with the stats.

I always thought you were middle-aged, White, and in his 50s with a receding hairline :lol

[winson604]

I'm young being only 26 but did anybody remember the arcade at Oakridge Mall? Ahh good times

[!Tigger]

as a kid, i loved playing at the playground.. now all i see are little fat kids running around in malls and playing games.. those were the days.. going to the park to meet friends

[InvisibleSoul]

The southeast corner of Fraser & 33rd used to be an A&W Drive-In Diner...

And another Safeway used to be at Knight and Kingsway, which of course turned into a flea market for many years, before finally being turned into the King Edward Village condo complex...

[InvisibleSoul]

LoL, Playland used to be called Happyland?

http://i32.tinypic.com/4glt1u.jpg

[InvisibleSoul]

Use this to try and dig up some old pictures...

http://www3.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/spe/histphotos/photos-search.htm

[ziggyx]

I'm not that old but yeah here goes.

First is my elementary school Charles Dickens. I left this elementary school in 1999 I think?? It was a really nice school with about 500 kids. This school was one of vancouver's oldest buildings ever being built in 1912. Thats right it was built before World War 1 even started lol. Now it no longer stands there because it was torn down due to the fact that it wasn't a safe building if an earthquake ever hit. It was more cost effective for them to build a new school.

heres what the school used to look like
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1219/1281096846_43d5dde3d8.jpg

As for the new school you can see it. The address is 3351 Glen Dr. I can't find any pictures of it online.


Also I'm pretty sure that quite a few of you remember when station square used to be the place where all kids hung out? It had famous player movies that didn't have stadium style seating. This meant that if a really big person or someone with a huge ass afro sat in front of you, you would have to move seats lol. There's bubble tea and karaoke as well. Most importantly who could forget Johnny Zee's ?!? This place was so busy before metropolis, playdium and famous players silver city came along. Oh yeah and who could forget playdium. haha one of the best arcades that I have ever been to because they had some pretty wicked games. Like the ferrari racing game although it was hard as hell, DDR on a huge ass screen, and you could choose to have unlimited plays for an hour. Only crappy part was that they didn't really bother to maintain their equipment.

Now station square is pretty much a ghost town and playdium doesn't even exist anymore.

[Eatman]

It was Nanimo and Charles. The one on Renfrew got built way later.

whoa, good to know. :D

[TypeRNammer]

I'm young being only 26 but did anybody remember the arcade at Oakridge Mall? Ahh good times

Didn't there use to be laser tag in Metrotown? :confused:

[teamsta]

This is a great thread! :thumbsup:

[rb]

OK, getting late. I have to go to sleep, but one more. I remember the PNE parade. It was like gigantic. It started out around the downtown core area and stretched out along Hastings to Clarke Drive. It was televised and was a real big deal back then. Floats and bands from around the Pacific Northwest and from across North America competed for trophies and prizes. People lined the streets. Dickie Dees Ice Cream vendors, clowns, free candy, celebs, etc. I wonder why it died after so many successful years. it was like a tradition.

Probably had to do with costs. It was certainly a tradition as you'd watch the parade on TV and it almost gets you pumped up for the fair, which would open its doors after the parade was done.

[MG1]

This is a great thread! :thumbsup:

I'm glad it has sparked some good stuff. I love Vancouver to death. This city has so much history and some of the stuff gets lost over time. I mean that snapshot of the school, for example, that was posted earlier. It was fairly recent, but that building no longer exists. People who went to and worked at that school must feel sad. Years from now, it will be remembered.

For all the shitty stuff the Internet brings, it has a lot of great benefits. The human component is what defines the Internet. It has the power to bring people together. Even you younger people have a lot to contribute. I have lost touch with Vancouver since moving to the valley and the stories I've been hearing of changes that have happened, even if it was like a few years ago, make a difference.

So please......... more stories. Not just the story, but your take on it. as seen through your eyes.:)

[MG1]

Gastown. Boy was it ever a dump before it turned into what it is today. Developing just that little area changed the face of downtown Vancouver so much. It brought visitors and paved way for all the other things that followed.

The steam clock. I have no idea what the allure of it is, but it sure is popular with the tourists.

[rb]

You can't talk about Vancouver history without talking about Expo. I was only 3 when Expo 86 was on but damn did Vancouver seem like some fantasy land from the vague images I kinda recall.

[MG1]

Expo was amazing. Hats off to Jimmy Pattison, who had a big part in making Expo a big success. I went there almost every day. My kids were young, but boy was it fun for everyone. You got lost in it and all your troubles went away. Sky Train was one of the major showcases. Expo Ernie was just as big a hit. Canada's lame version of Asimo.

I have my passport hidden away somewhere, complete with all the nations that participated. The great thing about Expo was it was affordable when you took under consideration the amount of times you got to go and stuff. McBarge......... floating restaurant. I cannot believe I never took a camera with me. How dumb was that?

[Wetordry]

when did they build the projects in chinatown? (keefer / jackson / union / gore)

[winson604]

Didn't there use to be laser tag in Metrotown? :confused:

What! Was there? haha oh memories

[SumAznGuy]

Awesome post. Here's my little bit.

Grandview and Rupert on the north sides where the Superstore and Petcetra is. The Petcetra use to be a Stacy's funiture store, and before that, it was an RCA warehouse. The office buildings north of Petcetra use to be a feild overgrown with wild berry prickle bushes.
On the other side, Superstore use to be another warehouse building. The parking lot use to be full of those wild berry prickle bushes. On the other side of the railroad track where the Liquor warehouse is, that use to be a Goodyear tire warehouse. They use to have monster truck sized tires out in the back.

The church on Rupert and Broadway use to be an old Texaco gas station.

AS for the $1.49 day at Woodwards, my grandmother passed away a few years ago and when we were cleaning out her apartment, we found 4 or 5 bars of soap that had the $1.49 Woodwards stickers on them.

To go downstairs to the food court at Woodwards, you had to walk down the stair that had those old school brass banisters. I use to go there with my mom, and as a treat she would buy me a chocolate milk.

As far as I can remember, the bus use to cost $0.35 for kids. I remember the really old buses with the swing doors at the top of the rear steps so that you couldn't go down the steps to the rear door.
Then there were those diesel buses that were mint green and you had to push on the doors for the rear doors to open.

I know I am rambling but most of the things that I remember are very vague. Let me sit for a while and see what else I can remember.

[Ch28]

89blkcivic and Gwailo should have a face/off to see who is the oldest member on RS :D

[Tapioca]

I spent many Saturday mornings in Chinatown riding shotgun in my dad's car during grocery runs. Back then, Chinatown was the only place to get your Asian groceries and produce. Even in the late 1980s, Main and Hastings was not the war zone that it is today. My dad would put in a couple of dimes (which would get us a good 45 minutes) into the meter and we would walk up and down Hastings - perhaps taking a peek at what Army and Navy had for sale. We would have lunch at Goldstone, or at a BBQ house on Main St. between Pender and Keefer (on the west side of the street; I can't recall the name.) I remember that all along Hastings, there were banks, but now, only the RBC remains on the corner of Main and Hastings.

Other things I remember:
- I remember when Yaletown was really a rail cargo processing area instead of the full-blown neighbourhood that it is today.
- I remember when Pink Pearl was the place for dim sum on the weekends.
- I remember listening to Frosty on NW98. I also remember listening to Woodwards' "$1.49-day" jingles.

[3seriesBeeM]

wow its really cool to actually learn some of the cool things that were in vancouver. im too young to remember some of the stuff. but its awesome to have somebody tell all of us about what it was like 30 years or 40 years ago. its way better than learning from school in a text book.

but i do remember how cool the PNE used to be. I went yesterday and the only good thing was the superdogs. The demolitian derby used to be awesome at the PNE now its quad racing? and some stupid thing called over the edge?. and i remember when the PNE used to be affordable now its 40$ for an all day ride pass for the same rides that were there last year.

speaking of expo anybody remember the MCbarge its still sitting in the water near were the chevron refinery is in burnaby

[SumAznGuy]

We would have lunch at Goldstone, or at a BBQ house on Main St. between Pender and Keefer (on the west side of the street; I can't recall the name.)

I think you are talking about Gum Gook Yuen. It is now some fancy vietnamese restaurant.

[thumper]

the province used to do vehicle safety inspections, sort of like what the UK does with getting and MOT done. at some point in the 1970's they stopped doing it. if you can find a car from back in that era that still has it's original glass, you'll see a round window sticker with a gov't logo with date boxes scratched off showing that inspection was done for that year. it was a mandatory and you had to take your car in every year. my parents used to live in vancouver and i remember there was a gov't inspection facility on alberni or w.georgia near stanley park. my dad would drive into an inspection bay and the car would be locked down on a platform that would lift the car up at a 45% angle for inspection underneath. they would leave me belted in the seat inside the car while this was happening and i remember playing rocketship waiting for the car to launch :lol

i also remember being taken to empire stadium to watch a bc lions game. all the kids here only know it as some grassy pit but i remember it as this: http://football.ballparks.com/CFL/BC/oldaerial.jpg

[SlySi]

As sad as this sounds.. My memorable historical memories are all the good ol arcades in Vancouver.

Start off with the infamous...
Lesters on Kingsway, (still there right?)
Pie in the Sky on Kingsway (great shady arcade centre)
Satches in Burnaby Hastings (across from Dolphin theatres)
Starcade near Kooteney Loop.. (Still remember the old lady that always worked there)
Laser Illusions in Brentwood.. (All the Nintendo and Segas games you can play.)

One of my all time favorite was near my High School. "Action Snooker" Skip school to play arcades at Action Snooker.. great little arcade pool hall. This is where I learned to gamble on their betting machines... lol

[thumper]

PNE, circa 1992:

http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/vancouver/1992/vch1992_194.jpg

anyone remember before there was the cassiar tunnel? hwy 1 used to cross hastings st. so u had to wait for the traffic light at the intersection like forever if you wanted to go to north van and back...

[Ilagon]

I moved to North Van from the Philippines in 1989 and North Van has changed quite a bit. I remember going to Woolco at Capilano Mall before it was replaced by WalMart. There used to be an arcade on 19th and Lonsdale that I would go to everyday, I think it was called Circuit Circus. Run N' Gun FTW!!

I used to never see homeless people in North Van, but that's changed in the past 5 years or so. There are so many high rise condos being built too. Can't believed so much has changed in the past 20 years.

[unit]

Gastown. Boy was it ever a dump before it turned into what it is today. Developing just that little area changed the face of downtown Vancouver so much. It brought visitors and paved way for all the other things that followed.

The steam clock. I have no idea what the allure of it is, but it sure is popular with the tourists.

imo, i think gastown has gone downhill. its the most historic part of vancouver, but now its nothing but tshirt shops and clubs/bars.

[FiveDime]

www.vancouverisawesome.com


check it out, awesome site for vancouver stuff

[7seven]

Panoramic photos showing the changes in the Vancouver skyline
http://vancouver.ca/COMMSVCS/fade/fade.htm

[achiam]

Sad to see the contrast in today's generation. So many kids growing up in 800K+ houses and are complete failures in life.

Totally agree.
After I went to UBC and met people from a huge spectrum of backgrounds, I became shocked at how people with nothing soar while some people with everything work shit jobs.
I've known people raised by only their mothers from rented basements in Surrey who went on to become professionals while others who live in Van West do shit jobs. Really bizarre.

[silk]

when did Hasting piled up with crack heads and hookers and how ?
Let me know, thanks

[achiam]

To add to this thread, one of my best friend's dads was the first Chinese kid to go to St. George's school back in the 50's; his roommates at the dorm back then were the Roger's kids (Roger's Sugar) and the Brown kids (Brown Brother's Ford).
His father came here from China as a dentist but wasn't allowed to practice and so worked as a stable boy at the PNE racetrack.
Their family eventually ran a large food wholesale business that still supplies many restaurants and businesses in Vancouver today.
He always tells us about how in those days, the West Side was exclusively old money white people, and when their family bought a home at Dunbar (which they still own today), Caucasians would yell at him "Chink what are ya doing here?"

He also tells repeatedly of how their family business and another Chinese grocer family (very well known today), pushed out other grocery businesses. He always told us at dinners how the farmers from the Valley and Okanogan would arrive early in the morning in Chinatown around 5AM, and that while the other western run grocers would show up around 7AM, the Chinese would get there at 4AM to ensure they could buy up the freshest produce available. Over 10 years, his family had a monopoly on the fresh produce delivery business servicing Shaughnessy and Dunbar.

Being another UBC alumni, he also jokes about how there were only 5 chinese people at UBC when he was there, and he could list them all as children from the other large grocery family or his own cousins!

[silk]

^ cool, asian pride... white people are jealous
i see where it came from

[silk]

yesterday counts as history right...well my history is nothing compared to you guys..

i remembered 10 yrs ago..the gas were at $0.32 ...and white boys love to hang in my house to eat chinese food .....white girls hated us tho lol

[ienhz]

^ don't ruin this thread.

[thumper]

when did Hasting piled up with crack heads and hookers and how ?
Let me know, thanks

i remember back in the late 70's/early 80's my mom would walk with me on weekends from chinatown down hastings st. to army and navy, woodward's, and then to harbor centre/sears (before it became sfu) and she would buy me a turtle pastry from the bakery downstairs (hey i was really young back then and it was a really big deal for me! :lol ). there was a marks and spencer somewhere in that neighborhood too. it was really safe back then and all the shops on hastings were open. things went downhill after sears and woodward's left. today, i don't even want to drive through there (saw this bum jump on the hood of a car waiting for him to cross as he was jaywalking once) :(

[thumper]

I spent many Saturday mornings in Chinatown riding shotgun in my dad's car during grocery runs. Back then, Chinatown was the only place to get your Asian groceries and produce. Even in the late 1980s, Main and Hastings was not the war zone that it is today. My dad would put in a couple of dimes (which would get us a good 45 minutes) into the meter and we would walk up and down Hastings - perhaps taking a peek at what Army and Navy had for sale. We would have lunch at Goldstone, or at a BBQ house on Main St. between Pender and Keefer (on the west side of the street; I can't recall the name.) I remember that all along Hastings, there were banks, but now, only the RBC remains on the corner of Main and Hastings.

Other things I remember:
- I remember when Yaletown was really a rail cargo processing area instead of the full-blown neighbourhood that it is today.
- I remember when Pink Pearl was the place for dim sum on the weekends.
- I remember listening to Frosty on NW98. I also remember listening to Woodwards' "$1.49-day" jingles.

oh hey we're in the same boat! but we didn't have a car then just "bc transit" with those weird orange/brown colors they used to have... but transit those days was much nicer than it is now. buses were clean and no one would try to rob or kill you like today.

[Tapioca]

oh hey we're in the same boat! but we didn't have a car then just "bc transit" with those weird orange/brown colors they used to have... but transit those days was much nicer than it is now. buses were clean and no one would try to rob or kill you like today.

I attended pre-school at Britannia and I used to take the old electric trolleys every day. I took the #16 to Commercial and Hastings, then transferred onto the #20 which took me to the school. I rode with the same driver on the 20 each day and when I boarded, he used to call me "scodoo," or something like that. Ahhh, memories.

[iEatClams]

as a kid, i loved playing at the playground.. now all i see are little fat kids running around in malls and playing games.. those were the days.. going to the park to meet friends

yea wtf happened? we never went to the mall. because mall = money.

Nowadays u got kids with their iphones and shiet. I remember downloading mp3s at 56K and when getting Cable modem was like HOLY FUCK!!!!. . . .

[El Bastardo]

Awesome thread. Although I grew up in Courtenay which basically looked the same from 1975 to 2002 it brings back a lot of good memories of coming to the mainland to visit my dad or on trips with my mom.

When I moved here in 2004 I was stunned to see that they had taken that giant hockey stick off of the side of the stadium downtown. Then I realized that they had simply moved it to Duncan.

[iEatClams]

Panoramic photos showing the changes in the Vancouver skyline
http://vancouver.ca/COMMSVCS/fade/fade.htm

it's scary to imagine what things will look like 30 years from now. . . .

[PavelGTR]

I remember there is one street beside Gastown where the asphalt has disappeared in some places and you can see the brick underneath. Its nice.

[achiam]

^ cool, asian pride... white people are jealous
i see where it came from

No its not about anyone being jealous, its about hard work and struggling to make it against huge barriers. Race is not the issue as I'm sure there must be groups of European caucasians that may be racially discriminated against by other groups.

[maxx]

I remember downloading mp3s at 56K and when getting Cable modem was like HOLY FUCK!!!!. . . .

I remember getting the Internet was like HOLY FUCK!!!!!

[MG1]

I remember the really old buses with the swing doors at the top of the rear steps so that you couldn't go down the steps to the rear door.

Holy cow....... I forgot about those swingbars.

Eaton's warehouse was on Renfrew and Broadway. Chong Lee on Rupert and 22nd used to be Stong's.

[Durrann1984]

thats interesting

[MG1]

To add to this thread, one of my best friend's dads was the first Chinese kid to go to St. George's school back in the 50's; his roommates at the dorm back then were the Roger's kids (Roger's Sugar) and the Brown kids (Brown Brother's Ford).
His father came here from China as a dentist but wasn't allowed to practice and so worked as a stable boy at the PNE racetrack.
Their family eventually ran a large food wholesale business that still supplies many restaurants and businesses in Vancouver today.
He always tells us about how in those days, the West Side was exclusively old money white people, and when their family bought a home at Dunbar (which they still own today), Caucasians would yell at him "Chink what are ya doing here?"

Strangely enough, that kind of shit makes you want to succeed even more. It's like being cheered on. Back then, it was a huge climb to make it in a white man's world. Kudos to your friend's dad.

[MG1]

No its not about anyone being jealous, its about hard work and struggling to make it against huge barriers. Race is not the issue as I'm sure there must be groups of European caucasians that may be racially discriminated against by other groups.

Very true. Times were different back then. It was the norm and you did whatever it took to make it. Italian, German, Jewish, whathaveyou immigrants all had to struggle.

[Tapioca]

Holy cow....... I forgot about those swingbars.

Eaton's warehouse was on Renfrew and Broadway. Chong Lee on Rupert and 22nd used to be Stong's.

Stong's! I grew up 3 blocks away from that location!

Aside from Woodwards and Eaton's, anyone else remember prominent businesses that went belly-up over the years? One store I remember for its Boxing Day sales was Stereo Pacific. They'd let in like two people in line to buy $59 turntables. :lol

[MG1]

One store I remember for its Boxing Day sales was Stereo Pacific. They'd let in like two people in line to buy $59 turntables. :lol

Vancouver Brake and Wheel. Jim Robson commercials and the mascot, Beep Beep. They were at the Vancouver C's games handing out frisbies and other freebies. They had two locations. The Kingsway one and the one on Hastings.

[MG1]

Anyone remember the Phoenix Restaurant on Hastings? A few doors down from Ovaltine Cafe. Phoenix had the best chow fun (noodle dish) this side of the Rockies. Greasy as hell, but full of awesomeness.

Is The Only Seafood restaurant down and out? I saw that it was closed when I drove by a few weeks ago. I'm hoping it was just the health inspector shutting it down. That place is the place to go for great clam chowder.

Marine View Cafe. The best place for fish and chips. It was on the top floor of the building that existed at the foot of Campbell Avenue. It was the most scenic restaurant in Vancouver. There were dozens of small fish processing plants on the docks. Fishermen would dock their boats and unload fresh shrimp, crabs, grond fish, etc. The view of the North Shore Mountains was incredible. One side of the restaurant, the side facing the pier, was all glass. It was like straight out of the movies. Campbell Avenue dock is no more. Completely torn down. Balyntine Pier on the left and the old sugar refinery on the right is all that is left.

Again, there are probably no pictures of the place. If I could only describe it to an artist as I remember it and have them paint it. I remember every inch of that place, as I worked there for many summers.

[SumAznGuy]

Holy cow....... I forgot about those swingbars.

Eaton's warehouse was on Renfrew and Broadway. Chong Lee on Rupert and 22nd used to be Stong's.

I remember when that restaurant on Renfrew and Grandview had part of that old bus as the window display. Now that corner is the adult section of Tom's video.

I remember that episode of X-files where they were in the old bus graveyard in Surrey/Delta. Not sure which one it was. Always wanted to go there and check out those old buses like what Hondracer did.

The Eaton's warehouse is still there, not part of Eaton's of course. Chong Lee's new warehouse is right beside the old Eaton's warehouse. I remember going to the old Eaton's outlet store upstairs from the warehouse. Beside the Eatons outlet store use to be a small bus loop for the Broadway bus to turn around, when it didn't have to go all the way down to Boundry rd. Now it has been replaced with that technical center on Broadway.

The corner of Rupert and Broadway use to be an old MacMillan Bloedel office, until they went belly up and Public storage came in and turned it into what it is today.

Behind the PNE, where New Brighton Park is, on the west side, there use to be some old metal building. The first time I saw it, I must have been around 7ish. That metal building is no longer there, and there are no signs of it ever being there. Well, maybe except for a few pieces of broken concrete with heavy rust stains, assuming those are still there.

The condo building on the north east corner of Victoria and Broadway use to be a shady mini mall with a vietnamese restaurant named May May. They had limo tinted windows and I've heard it was full of bad people. Before that, it was a Gulf gas station. I think I still have an car window ice scraper that was from that Gulf station. And accross the street use to be a shell station.

I do remember the chong Lee being a Stongs way back in the day.

The BJ BMW dealership use to be a some bakery warehouse. My mind is telling me it was the brand with the little girl on it. Was it Weston bakeries?
The Fitness Depot on Lougheed hwy use to be another bakery warehouse.

And the Circuit Circus that use to be in the same mall as the Boston Pizza and Cactus Club use to be on the second floor upstairs in the back of Brentwood Mall.

Oh yeah, and the first building as you enter the PNE from Hastings and Renfrew, use to be an ice rink where Hastings minor hockey played. Instead of glass, they had the metal fence on top of the boards.

[MG1]

Oh yeah, and the first building as you enter the PNE from Hastings and Renfrew, use to be an ice rink where Hastings minor hockey played. Instead of glass, they had the metal fence on top of the boards.

It used to be one of three buildings there. That's when the PNE was huge. BC sports Hall of Fame..... is it and the huge ass BC Relief Map still around somewhere?

That map was the work of one man who, piece by piece, put that map together. It was massive. They had this moving walkway that held 50 or so people up high that swept across the map.

[MG1]

Oh, speaking of Bakeries. Pacific Bakeries on Powell Street had the most delicious cream puff buns. Cindy's and other goodies were equaly good.

That 300 block of Powell Street was bustling with action. Rooming houses upstairs and retail shops downstairs. One of my best friend's family owned Eng's Cafe. It catered to the single men who lived in the rooming houses. There were quite a few Japanese shops there. All on the south side of Powwell......Shimizu Shoten, Mori Shoten, Aki Restaurant, Evergreen Japanese pottery store, Mihamaya, KC Barber Shop, just to name a few. Kay's Seafood is still there, but it isn't owned by the original Japanese owners anymore. They still make fish cakes using the old recipe, but for some reson, it ain't the same.

[GoateeMe]

i remeber the sizzler

[dachinesedude]

the oldest memory i have is around the early 90's when no.5 rd in Richmond consisted of ditches and farms

[InvisibleSoul]

To add to this thread, one of my best friend's dads was the first Chinese kid to go to St. George's school back in the 50's; his roommates at the dorm back then were the Roger's kids (Roger's Sugar) and the Brown kids (Brown Brother's Ford).
His father came here from China as a dentist but wasn't allowed to practice and so worked as a stable boy at the PNE racetrack.
Their family eventually ran a large food wholesale business that still supplies many restaurants and businesses in Vancouver today.
He always tells us about how in those days, the West Side was exclusively old money white people, and when their family bought a home at Dunbar (which they still own today), Caucasians would yell at him "Chink what are ya doing here?"

He also tells repeatedly of how their family business and another Chinese grocer family (very well known today), pushed out other grocery businesses. He always told us at dinners how the farmers from the Valley and Okanogan would arrive early in the morning in Chinatown around 5AM, and that while the other western run grocers would show up around 7AM, the Chinese would get there at 4AM to ensure they could buy up the freshest produce available. Over 10 years, his family had a monopoly on the fresh produce delivery business servicing Shaughnessy and Dunbar.

Being another UBC alumni, he also jokes about how there were only 5 chinese people at UBC when he was there, and he could list them all as children from the other large grocery family or his own cousins!
Are you talking about the Louies?

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/bc150ed/story.html?id=e4f0b95f-8540-4dd5-9a77-dcea8d886439

H.Y. Louie

The multi-billion dollar H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd. had the humblest of beginnings in 1903 when an immigrant peasant named Hok Yat Louie opened a general store in Vancouver's Chinatown.

Today, 105 years later, the small store has not only thrived, it has flowered into an energetic family business - B.C.'s second largest after the Jim Pattison empire.

At the time Hok Yat Louie arrived in Canada in 1896, Vancouver was a hostile city for Asian immigrants. He initially worked as a farm labourer, saving money until he could fulfill his dream of opening a store. He endured his share of prejudice as he built a business that, in 1934, he left to his sons. He also left a series of letters advising them on how to conduct their affairs - from setting their goals on the business's profitability to following the laws of Heaven and being charitable.

The Louie brothers followed their patriarch's advice and today, grandson Brandt Louie, 64, heads a $4-billion empire, employing 8,000 people in four different businesses: food wholesaling, the IGA food chain, London Drugs and an import-export division.

Brandt Louie is the 39th wealthiest person in Canada with a personal net worth of $1.29 billion, according Canadian Business magazine. He is president, chief executive officer and a director of both H.Y. Louie and London Drugs as well as vice-chairman and a director of IGA Canada. He is also firmly rooted in the nation's establishment. In 2005, Simon Fraser University awarded him an honourary doctor of laws degree and named him chancellor. He is a director of the Royal Bank and governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

The business his grandfather founded 105 years ago still follows the principals Hok Yat Louie laid down to his sons: serve your customers, be fair in your business dealings, honour your parents.

Louie's sons, Tong and Tim, expanded the family business from a retail store into a food wholesale powerhouse in Western Canada, earning the family a place in Vancouver's business elite that their father could only dream of.

When Tong Louie died in 1998, 2,000 people filled a Vancouver church for his funeral to celebrate the life of the son of a pioneer, renowned for his business triumphs and charitable giving.

Under Tong Louie's direction, the company acquired the B.C. franchise of IGA grocery and the London Drugs chain. At London Drugs, Tong Louie pioneered marketing concepts such as selling cosmetics, computers and kitchenware under one roof.

Tong Louie's son Brandt Louie, a graduate of the UBC's commerce program, continues the philanthropy urged by his grandfather so many years ago. A Maclean's magazine article, in which Brandt Louie gave a rare interview, states the family and a corporate foundation give an estimated $700,000 annually to charities, in addition to initiatives at individual stores.

"It's always nice to give money away," Brandt Louie said in the interview.

[JSALES]

Panoramic photos showing the changes in the Vancouver skyline
http://vancouver.ca/COMMSVCS/fade/fade.htm

holy shit, vancouver changed so much

[ajax]

Wow I feel super young in this thread. A verbal thanks for 89blkcivic and this awesome thread.

[maxx]

any1 remember Playdium at Metrotown?

even though at that time i didnt know where burnaby was, my friends and I always used to hang out there, that was before all the teenage filth carried nines

[skyxx]

I remember the time when there was a "Fields" on Hastings. It's a Vancity now along with a coffee shop and other misc stores/housing. Oh and the Mcdonalds beside London drugs used to be a Chinese restaurant. Many have opened and closed over the years till the day that Mcdonalds opened. Another was the Shell on Hastings/Renfrew across from Petro Canada. It's now a Holiday inn.

[mrclean604]

any1 remember Playdium at Metrotown?

even though at that time i didnt know where burnaby was, my friends and I always used to hang out there, that was before all the teenage filth carried nines

haha how could i forget.

my dad took me there almost every weekend, and i remember playing ddr with all the 'pros' back then i was like 10. i remember playing am3p on expert so much that i memorized it haha.

and the birthday parties that i went to at playdium.. man those were fun times.

weren't they supposed to build another playdium in richmond in that huge plot of land on garden city and alderbridge/westminster?

[skyxx]

^ That land is apparently owned by some first nations....

[JSALES]

another addition to the history would be the canada line now.. haha

[PiuYi]

What's so strange? I was told 99.997% of Revscene memers were Asian. I'm just complying with the stats.

i think the master roshi avatar throws us off

...even though technically he's asian... he looks kinda white

[thumper]

the oldest memory i have is around the early 90's when no.5 rd in Richmond consisted of ditches and farms

do you remember no.3 rd? it was nothing like now... no canada line, no parker place/aberdeen, etc... just landsdowne and richmond centre and a small bunch of strip malls. richmond motorsports used to be out there too. everything else was just warehouses... i used to come off westminster hwy on my bike and just open it up all the way to bridgeport on no.3 because there was zero traffic and almost no traffic lights (and what little there was is usually green)...

[murd0c]

I grew up in newton before everything basicly got devolped. I remember late 80's playing in farmers fields
Hideing in the tall grass and exploring old barns and houses that have been abbanded. It used to be
Great back in the day building forts and being outside all summer having fun. Nowthose areas have 100's
Of houses and kids stay inside andit in front of the tv or computer all day long. I don't even remember the
Last time I saw someone play street hockey. Its kinda sad seeing how the new generation is dependent
On this technology and seems to be loseing there imagination.

[MG1]

do you remember no.3 rd? it was nothing like now... no canada line, no parker place/aberdeen, etc... just landsdowne and richmond centre and a small bunch of strip malls. richmond motorsports used to be out there too. everything else was just warehouses... i used to come off westminster hwy on my bike and just open it up all the way to bridgeport on no.3 because there was zero traffic and almost no traffic lights (and what little there was is usually green)...

My recollection of Richmond was limited to strawberry fields. 5 am pickup in front of Jong Wah in Chinatown. We rode on the back of a two ton flat bed truck that had sides and roof made out of plywood. No windows, except two small openings at the front for ventilation and a opening up high at the back. We sat on wooden benches. I remember standing up on the back bench, hanging on to the door at the back and seeing what was out there. Richmond was like nothing. Nothing but open land. I remember going over the bridge. It wasn't Knight Street Bridge, 'cause I don't think it was built yet. I believe it was the Fraser Street Bridge, which no longer exists.

We knew we were getting close to the fields when we saw the red radio towers - at least that was what we thought they were. We got to the farm at around 6 am and stayed there till about 5 pm. The ride back was not so good. The smell of perspiration mixed with rotting strawberry was not cool. The sounds........... not good. Those Chinese ladies were so loud - they kept getting louder to overcome each others' yelling The truck itself was extremely loud and the old man who drove it couldn't shift. He was careful when he went around corners, but there were some really scary moments when he braked all of a sudden. People would go flying.

We got home at around 6:00 pm. Walking home after a long hot day was enjoyable, especially after getting off that horrible truck.

When strawberry season ended, bean season started. Sometimes we worked on the cucumber fields and even potatoes. The worst job, by far, was weeding. I sucked at picking strawberries. I was damn slow at it and didn't make half as much as my sister, who was one of the fastest there. I was fast when it came to beans. I could yank a whole bunch in my hands and I was so quick at finding them. I do remember getting into trouble because I ended up tearing the plants to shreds going so fast.

Even though it was so shitty to work in the blazing heat, in a perverse way, I miss it. If I did anything like that today, they would have to send me to hospital. It's amazing. We never had UV ratings, sun blockers, and shit like that back then. We just turned a dark brown in the summer, LOL. I looked like a bloody Mexican, so I was told.

The place we went to was owned by a German family and the farm was on No. 1 Road. I know exactly where it is today. It's all condos now.

[MG1]

I don't even remember the
Last time I saw someone play street hockey. Its kinda sad seeing how the new generation is dependent
On this technology and seems to be loseing there imagination.

Absolutely...... we played at night until the sun went down and then some. Imagination. That's something we all had. We invented games, we used whatever we could find to play sports, and we built stuff, like forts, without the use of fancy tools.

Where I grew up, we had a large, at least it was in our eyes, parking lot. We played stick ball using sticks (duh) and a half pint milk carton. We built forts using old crates we took from Sunrise Market (vegetable store). We used the nails and wood from the crates.

For hockey, we made our own version of a hockey stick and used rolled up old tape as a puck. We ended up shooting more rocks at each other than anything else because there were so many rocks on the asphalt. I remember that caused a lot of fights. Funny........ I don't know what we called each other when we fought. Fuck wasn't used back then, I don't think. Asshole, maybe? Anyway...........

EDIT: just remembered, we used Chinese words like, Diu Nei Makahai. Humgup, and a few other choice words.

[SumAznGuy]

It wasn't Knight Street Bridge, 'cause I don't think it was built yet. I believe it was the Fraser Street Bridge, which no longer exists.

Wow. That makes perfect sense now. :thumbsup: I've always wondered why the lights on No. 5 rd lined up with Fraser st. as you go down towards Marine Dr.

[SumAznGuy]

Another was the Shell on Hastings/Renfrew across from Petro Canada. It's now a Holiday inn.

The old shell station was on the corner, where the low raise condo is. The Holiday Inn was next door to the shell station. ;)

[SumAznGuy]

The Pacific Coliseum was where the Canucks use to play before GM place. Before and after the game, the restaurant across the street was very busy. The building is still there, but is no longer a restaurant. I believe it is some sort of school or something for the challenged people.

Back in the mid/late 80's, the team was horrible. When watching the them, by the middle of the third period, people were already heading out the doors. There was one fan who and a trumpet or a leather wrapped drum and he would always try to start the wave.

There is video of him going nuts banging on the drum and dancing, trying to inspire the fans and team.

I remember going to one game with my dad. The CAnucks lost to the Pens 6-3, but Tony Tanti scored a hat trick for the Nuck's.

[K-Dub]

Wow. That makes perfect sense now. :thumbsup: I've always wondered why the lights on No. 6 rd lined up with Fraser st. as you go down towards Marine Dr.
I've always wondered that too!

[MG1]

The Pacific Coliseum was where the Canucks use to play before GM place. Before and after the game, the restaurant across the street was very busy. The building is still there, but is no longer a restaurant. I believe it is some sort of school or something for the challenged people.

For some strange reason The Keg comes to mind, but I think the last restaurant to be there was the Sirloiner.

Back in the mid/late 80's, the team was horrible. When watching the them, by the middle of the third period, people were already heading out the doors. There was one fan who and a trumpet or a leather wrapped drum and he would always try to start the wave.

There is video of him going nuts banging on the drum and dancing, trying to inspire the fans and team.

I remember going to one game with my dad. The CAnucks lost to the Pens 6-3, but Tony Tanti scored a hat trick for the Nuck's.

I don't think it was him, but as far as famous people who were at games cheering people on go, all I can remember is a guy who went by the name of "Crazy George". He was at Lions games and the Canucks games, I think......

[Ride]

Wow. That makes perfect sense now. :thumbsup: I've always wondered why the lights on No. 6 rd lined up with Fraser st. as you go down towards Marine Dr.

your meaning #5 Rd. will most likely line up with Fraser St.

[shenmecar]

Wow. That makes perfect sense now. :thumbsup: I've always wondered why the lights on No. 6 rd lined up with Fraser st. as you go down towards Marine Dr.

Yeah dont you mean No 5 rd? i noticed that too driving on No 5, and seeing fraser st ahead.

EDIT:

Found something on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge

The [Knight Street] bridge was built to replace an obsolete span linking the south end of Fraser Street with No. 5 Road in Richmond via Mitchell Island. The Fraser Street Bridge was a through truss built in 1905 with a swing span on the northern side of Mitchell Island. The channel was difficult to navigate, making collisions with ships and barges routine. The height of the Knight Street bridge alleviated this problem and the Fraser Street Bridge was dismantled.

[MG1]

Thanks, shenmecar...........

Just as a side note. Why is it I can thank people sometimes, but can't at other times?

Right now, I only have three choices. Quote, Multi+, and Quick. Is there like a limit or something?

[Chuck Norris]

I'm pretty young compared to some of the stuff mentioned but I do remember a few things.

I am old enough to remember Woodwards and the LEGOLAND display. The 6th floor was a kids dream at any time of year let alone at Christmas.

I remember going to Gastown as a kid when the Skytrain first opened. Back then, we had to catch it from New West as we lived way out in the valley. No bridge to Surrey at that time. There was this neat place called 'The Meatmarket' in Gastown near the old spaghetti factory.

I actually have tickets from Expo 86 (family had a season's pass) and even have skytrain tickets from 1986. I was a little kid then but I remember Expo really well.

Prices are one thing I remember. Back in 1985, I remember my dad was starting a business and was stressed out because he had a $50,000 mortgage on a brand new home on 5 acres in Langley.

I'm starting to feel old but it makes me understand how old people will think back to when they were little and how it just felt so much 'better'.

[rb]

Here's a great link and a must see/read for those that are loving this thread http://vancouverneon.com/. The photo's are amazing but i can't link them.

[rb]

I don't even remember the
Last time I saw someone play street hockey. Its kinda sad seeing how the new generation is dependent
On this technology and seems to be loseing there imagination.

I was thinking the exact same thing the other day. I guess kids are too busy playing NHL10 on their consoles and flatscreens rather than heading outside for the real thing. Lucky for us the games sucked back then..

[hotjoint]

Wow this is an awesome thread. I lived in vancouver on grandview and nanaimo where the chevron used to be until I was 6 then we moved to surrey. I remember the safeway that used to be on kingsway and knight and the fields that used to be there as well which is now a dollar store. Vancouver has changed so much from when I was a kid. When we were younger technology wasnt as advanced as it is today so we had to play sports and do other shit then sit on our asses playing cs, wow, console games. Now a days kids just care about who's got better clothes, cars, etc.... pretty sad how cell phone texting, twitter, facebook and online communication has replaced going out to meet up with your friends or just plain old talking on the phone.

[MG1]

Wow this is an awesome thread. I lived in vancouver on grandview and nanaimo where the chevron used to be until I was 6 then we moved to surrey. I remember the safeway that used to be on kingsway and nanaimo and the fields that used to be there as well which is now a dollar store.

Haha............. now that you mention it, I remember that Safeway. It had a huge parking lot. It later became Value Village until they tore the building down.

The dollar store you speak of is awesome. It survived a huge fire not long ago.

I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but Mainland Liquidators suffered a fire, too. They are now at Mopac's old location.

Speaking of Mopac, do you guys remember them having a store further up Kingsway in Burnaby?


EDIT: Correction, they were still on the Vancouver side of the border. Funny about all Mopac locations. All the workers there, no matter which location, including the old Surrey store, parked their cars in an angle to, I guess, protect their cars from being dinged. Never parking between the lines like us regular folk.

[eFx[A2C]]

^Don't you mean Kingsway/Knight ?
There also used to be a safeway at 41st/Victoria, now its the London Drugs.

[MG1]

;6574498']^Don't you mean Kingsway/Knight ?
There also used to be a safeway at 41st/Victoria, now its the London Drugs.

Yeah, it was Knight Street........

Right........ there was a Safeway at 41st and Victoria. What's with Safeway? There was a time all Safeways were built the same way. Dome or parabolic shaped roofs. Then, for some crazy reason they either turned into Vallue Villages or IGA's.

The Value Village on Kingsway and Edmunds. Was that a Safeway too? I bet it was, 'cause it has the same architecture.

[shenmecar]

;6574498']^Don't you mean Kingsway/Knight ?
There also used to be a safeway at 41st/Victoria, now its the London Drugs.

That was before Victoria and 41st became known as Victoria Square. I remember that because I lived on 41st, not 200 steps away from that Safeway. Sometime back in 1998? 1999?

[SumAznGuy]

Haha............. now that you mention it, I remember that Safeway. It had a huge parking lot. It later became Value Village until they tore the building down.

The dollar store you speak of is awesome. It survived a huge fire not long ago.

I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but Mainland Liquidators suffered a fire, too. They are now at Mopac's old location.

Speaking of Mopac, do you guys remember them having a store further up Kingsway in Burnaby?


EDIT: Correction, they were still on the Vancouver side of the border. Funny about all Mopac locations. All the workers there, no matter which location, including the old Surrey store, parked their cars in an angle to, I guess, protect their cars from being dinged. Never parking between the lines like us regular folk.


The Safeway became some flee market before they tore it down.

The dollar store survived 2 fires.

Mainland Liquidators is in the old Mopac store, that use to be a Consumers Distributing.

The old Mopac was the newer location. The old location is further up Kingsway, and is now a Korean Market.

How many people remember Minnam Racing? How many people remember where their old location was?

[InvisibleSoul]

Only decent shot of the Fraser Street Bridge I was able to find...

http://i29.tinypic.com/iwq4xu.jpg

[shenmecar]

Thanks, shenmecar...........

Just as a side note. Why is it I can thank people sometimes, but can't at other times?

Right now, I only have three choices. Quote, Multi+, and Quick. Is there like a limit or something?

Maybe because i edited my post? I dunno. weird. LOL.

[InvisibleSoul]

Mainland Liquidators is in the old Mopac store, that use to be a Consumers Distributing.
LoL... Consumers Distributing used to be so popular... what happened? :p

Just the other week, I saw an old Consumers Distributing bag at my fiance's mother's place... :D

[SumAznGuy]

That was before Victoria and 41st became known as Victoria Square. I remember that because I lived on 41st, not 200 steps away from that Safeway. Sometime back in 1998? 1999?

Both the Safeway on Vic and 41st and Renfrew and 1st ave closed at the same time. This was back in 96 or 97. I started working at Superstore back in 98 and the LD was already there. There use to be a shoppers Drug mart on the opposite corner and closed soon after the LD was opened, then it became a 7-11 which replaced the 7-11 that was on Kingsway and Nanimo when they built the new Esso station.

The 7-11 on Vic and 41st is now gone and is that ice cream coffee place.

[SumAznGuy]

LoL... Consumers Distributing used to be so popular... what happened? :p

Just the other week, I saw an old Consumers Distributing bag at my fiance's mother's place... :D

They use to have a store at STation square, just under the stairs beside the old Sport Check.

I bought my first set of rechargable batteries from the CD on Kingsway.

[hotjoint]

I remember going to expo with my parents. That was the shit

[MG1]

LoL... Consumers Distributing used to be so popular... what happened? :p

Just the other week, I saw an old Consumers Distributing bag at my fiance's mother's place... :D

Wowsers........... Consumers Distributing. Damn, it was huge news back then. I remember lining up the day they opened up in their Burnaby location. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Station Square in Metrotown?? It's that sporting goods store now.

Damn, so much history, huh?


EDIT: Damn, you buggers type so fast.......... I hunt and peck

[SumAznGuy]

Wowsers........... Consumers Distributing. Damn, it was huge news back then. I remember lining up the day they opened up in their Burnaby location. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Station Square in Metrotown?? It's that sporting goods store now.

Damn, so much history, huh?


EDIT: Damn, you buggers type so fast.......... I hunt and peck

You know what, you are right. They were in the bigger store then in the final few months moved to the smaller store which is now that shitty dollar store.

The Sport check is now some golf store.

[shenmecar]

Both the Safeway on Vic and 41st and Renfrew and 1st ave closed at the same time. This was back in 96 or 97. I started working at Superstore back in 98 and the LD was already there. There use to be a shoppers Drug mart on the opposite corner and closed soon after the LD was opened, then it became a 7-11 which replaced the 7-11 that was on Kingsway and Nanimo when they built the new Esso station.

The 7-11 on Vic and 41st is now gone and is that ice cream coffee place.

Yup, I remember that Shoppers. Don't forget half of it is a pharmacy now! :D

[hotjoint]

I wonder why all the arcades slowly dissapeared. I used to love going to arcades when i was smaller.

[shenmecar]

I wonder why all the arcades slowly dissapeared. I used to love going to arcades when i was smaller.

Guess business wasn't going to well for the smaller arcades. It really depends on where your location is. Johnny Zees at station square disappeared because really, who goes to Station Square? CHQ got even bigger! (compared to the T&T location)

Yet surprisingly Playdium is gone too......I never found out why Playdium closed down.

[FiveDime]

http://vancouverisawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/van_01.jpg

[skyxx]

Oh and I remember something else, it's not really history but in the mid 90's the Province would have centerfolds of almost every Canuck's player. They still had their Orange/Black/Red jersey's on then. I would always wake up in the morning and see who's the next player. I collected most of them, but I think the newspapers are all yellow now. Another Canucks moment was when they were in the Stanley Cup finals against the New york Rangers. Church's Chicken would give out free chicken for every game they won. I still remember to this day that they almost had it in the finals. I believe this was during the year of '94. Good times.

[shenmecar]

http://vancouverisawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/van_01.jpg

how old is this picture?

[FiveDime]

how old is this picture?

1960

[SumAznGuy]

Oh and I remember something else, it's not really history but in the mid 90's the Province would have centerfolds of almost every Canuck's player. They still had their Orange/Black/Red jersey's on then. I would always wake up in the morning and see who's the next player. I collected most of them, but I think the newspapers are all yellow now. Another Canucks moment was when they were in the Stanley Cup finals against the New york Rangers. Church's Chicken would give out free chicken for every game they won. I still remember to this day that they almost had it in the finals. I believe this was during the year of '94. Good times.

94-95 season. I was studying for grade 12 finals and never did any looting that night. :cry:

[thumper]

I wonder why all the arcades slowly dissapeared. I used to love going to arcades when i was smaller.

playstation
ps2
wii
etc...

[figure.09]

u guys remember teh nintendo gameboy and the old nintendo box with the game duck hunt that was the best

[hotjoint]

^ yeah but there are some games that are strictly made for the arcade. I prefer home consoles as well

[winson604]

I wonder why all the arcades slowly dissapeared. I used to love going to arcades when i was smaller.

Well one main reason why arcades started vanishing was mainly because of Lan Cafes. I remember spending day after day in arcades in Richmond before and then CS among other games blew up hardcore and when Lan Cafes started appearing arcades was just a thing of the past. The whole online gaming thing just became insane.

[hotjoint]

Well one main reason why arcades started vanishing was mainly because of Lan Cafes. I remember spending day after day in arcades in Richmond before and then CS among other games blew up hardcore and when Lan Cafes started appearing arcades was just a thing of the past. The whole online gaming thing just became insane.

Yeah that's true online gaming has changed everything

[MG1]

Church's Chicken would give out free chicken for every game they won. I still remember to this day that they almost had it in the finals. I believe this was during the year of '94. Good times.

Church's Chicken still gives out some kind of coupon to customers each time they win a home game. Something like that. It wasn't a killer deal, but saved you a few bucks. I know this because a lady in front of me gave me a coupon. I asked where did you get this and she told me, "Here, when the Canucks won the last game." ??????????

[GoateeMe]

any1 remember Playdium at Metrotown?

even though at that time i didnt know where burnaby was, my friends and I always used to hang out there, that was before all the teenage filth carried nines


wasnt that like 5 years ago man?

[MG1]

When I graduated from Strathcona Elementary and entered Britannia Secondary, I was in for a culture shock. Never have I seen so many caucasians. As a horny little grade 8 kid, I couldn't keep my eyeballs in my sockets. Italian girls......... Mamma Mia. I've never seen girls with such huge breasts! Most of them were pretty stuck up and had no time for skinny little Asians. I was so shy in grade 8. And those grade 12 boys. They were pretty scary in their football jackets. Football was really big at Brit back in those days. We had a great team. Barry Houlihan was the star of the team. He went on to play for the Lions until his career ended due to a terrible car crash. He went on to be a sportscaster for a local TV station and was pretty good at it.

I think our football team won the provincial title one year (Shrine Bowl) and went to the finals a few times. Our rivals back then were the Notre Dame Jugglers (private school bastards). They always seemed to beat us. I don't think Britannia even has a football team now. The football coach at the time was Mr. Shreiber <sp?> and Bill Vance, Jodi Vance's father, taught PE.

Britannia is Vancouver's oldest secondary school. In those days, the student body consisted of Asians from the Strathcona/Seymour feeder schools, while the remainder were Italians from the schools around the Commercial Street neighbourhood. You'd figure there would be some racial tensions there, but I never saw any of it. The school itself was not what it is today. They added a new wing to the school while I was there. I remember having science classes there along with shop classes. Walking across the skywalk between the old building and the new wing was awesome. A few years after I left Britannia, they built the ice rink, where the Canucks used to practice, squash court facility, and added the elementary school. I went back to Brit about two years ago and went in to see what it was like. To my surprise, there were some former teachers of mine still teaching there. How amazing is that? I thought they were older than the hills when I was a student there.

As far as the other secondary schools around the area went, Van Tech and Templeton were known to be the dumping grounds of East Vancouver. Students who got kicked out of the other schools would get transfered to Templeton. If they couldn't get their shit together there, they got shipped off to Van Tech. So, Van Tech was full of misfits and losers. Sorry, but that's the way it was back then. I'm sure those two schools had their regular classes for normal kids and then the special classes for the problem kids.

In fact, toward the end of my stay at Brit, I think they started a special program for kids who couldn't make it in regular classes - probably some principal from the other two schools said, "Fuck you Britannia, stop sending us your losers!" I remember the program being called 8H, 8J or something like that. We really never really saw the kids from there. Only in the yearbooks, because they were in portables way off at the other end of the football field. It was probably for druggies and pregnant girls. Yes, we had them back then, too.

Both Strathcona and Britannia have shrunken in size since I went there. The last I heard, Strathcona sold or rented one of their buildings to someone else. I'm not sure if it is a private day care or a private language school. Britannia is having a hard time keeping any programs afloat. Band, music, the arts, they're all fading out. So sad to see great things like that go. So much pride and history at that school and now it's like a wasteland.

[sas]

I've been registered on RS for some time now and this is a very refreshing post.

[goo3]

That was before Victoria and 41st became known as Victoria Square. I remember that because I lived on 41st, not 200 steps away from that Safeway. Sometime back in 1998? 1999?

More like late 80s.

I remember it went like this:

1. Union threatened to strike
2. Safeway threatened to close stores
3. Union went on strike
4. Safeway settled.
5. Safeway closed stores.

The lot sat empty for like >5 yrs cuz Safeway didn't want LD to move in.

[InvisibleSoul]

Just as a side note. Why is it I can thank people sometimes, but can't at other times?

Right now, I only have three choices. Quote, Multi+, and Quick. Is there like a limit or something?
Yeah, I think you can only give out five Thanks per day...

[skyxx]

^ Your record is epic.

[SumAznGuy]

Though not as interesting as the really old stuff that 89blkcivic posted, here is what I have to offer.
Joyce station area now was completely different back in the late 70's/early 80's. I remember living in a 1 level shack of a house till my family moved when I was 3. That area use to be full of warehouses. The last warehouse was torn down 4-5 years ago before they built the last condo.

Along Broadway, where the condo's are on the southeast corner with Nanimo st. there use to be a GMC truck dealership there. Even in 1990, the dealership was still there till around closed and that was when they started to build those leaker condo's.

Accross the street use to be an IGA on one corner and a small parking lot on the other side. I remember the IGA was already closed by the early mid 90's and was closed for quite a bit of time before they tore it down and built the condo. A few blocks east is another condo that use to be a church. I believe they tore the church down and moved it across the street to where it is now back in 1993. I remember that church because I went there for daycare before I was old enough to attend kindergarden.
Where the new church is on the south east corner, that use to be an old warehouse/building.

[MG1]

Along Broadway, where the condo's are on the southeast corner with Nanimo st. there use to be a GMC truck dealership there. Even in 1990, the dealership was still there till around closed and that was when they started to build those leaker condo's.

Accross the street use to be an IGA on one corner and a small parking lot on the other side. I remember the IGA was already closed by the early mid 90's and was closed for quite a bit of time before they tore it down and built the condo.

I knew about the GMC dealership, but did not know about the IGA. Man, used to go to Trocodero's during the high school days. That place was very popular. Not anymore from what I see. All those times going to Trocodero and never looked that way. Mind you, we always came from 1st Ave when we went to Trocodero's.

I'm trying to think what other restaurants existed back then that aren't around anymore. Little Billy's? Plum Blossum on Renfrew and Grandview Hwy. Is Nick's Spaghetti House on Commercial still around?

[MG1]

Oh......... just remembered a restaurant that was soooo popular in the 70's. It was like the place to be, if you had a bit of cash. Something like the Keg, but a tad better. It was called Victoria Station. I think the restaurant was built with railway cars. It was in the Downtown Core. Somewhere near where BC Place is now. I should google to see if there's some info on it.

[SumAznGuy]

I'm trying to think what other restaurants existed back then that aren't around anymore. Little Billy's? Plum Blossum on Renfrew and Grandview Hwy. Is Nick's Spaghetti House on Commercial still around?

Nick's is still on Commercial drive. I go there for lunch with customers/suppliers once every few months.

Little Billy's was on Nanimo and 2nd. That place has changed owners/restaurant names quite a few times. Now it is called Jaguar's or something like that and they serve chinese food and BBT.

Not too sure about Plum Blossum.

[SumAznGuy]

The Canadian Tire on Kingsway and Gladstone use to be a Home depot type place back in the 80's. IIRC, it was an Irly Bird?

As someone posted earlier, there are 2 movie theaters along Hastings. 1 is just east of Main st. while the other is just west of Main st. Their names slip my mind but I do remember both of them being closed since the early 80's. I think the west one was called Sing Sing, and I vaguely remember watching a movie there.

Then there is Gold Harvest on Main st, just before Cordova street. For one price, you get to see the 7:30 and 9:00 movies.

As for chinese movie theaters, there is also the Far east theater on Commercial Dr. and 8th ave. In high school, we would cut class on fridays to go there and watch 2B chinese low budget porno movies.

Along Broadway and Commercial, where the Raja is now, that use to be the Golden Princess theater. I remember back in the late 80's, some guy got shot in the head in that theater. I believe that guy lived.

During the mid 90's, they were playing chinese movies in one of the buildings at Plaza Nations. It is the building behind the current Edgewater casino.

[thumper]

anyone here old enough to remember Capitol 6 movie theatre on granville st before they tore it down? i watched star wars when it first came out at that place, and now it's gone.... sigh.

[eFx[A2C]]

There use to be Lumberland at Renfrew where AI is now. Also there was Beaver Lumber but i can't remember where that was, somewhere on Kingsway ?

[nns]

;6576151']There use to be Lumberland at Renfrew where AI is now. Also there was Beaver Lumber but i can't remember where that was, somewhere on Kingsway ?

If I remember right, there was either a Lumberland or Beaver Lumber where Rona is now on Kingsway & King Ed. Also, there was a Lumberland/Beaver Lumber in Richmond, on Bridgeport, near Ikea. I think a Rona/Revy replaced it, before they themself were replaced by a Linens N Things or something like that now.

[misteranswer]

The football coach at the time was Mr. Shreiber <sp?> and Bill Vance, Jodi Vance's father, taught PE.


Ah, Mr Schrieber. That guy made students cry, and always looked like he was going to have a heart attack.


As far as the other secondary schools around the area went, Van Tech and Templeton were known to be the dumping grounds of East Vancouver. Students who got kicked out of the other schools would get transfered to Templeton. If they couldn't get their shit together there, they got shipped off to Van Tech. So, Van Tech was full of misfits and losers. Sorry, but that's the way it was back then. I'm sure those two schools had their regular classes for normal kids and then the special classes for the problem kids.


They had that reputation well into the 90s

[skyxx]

anyone here old enough to remember Capitol 6 movie theatre on granville st before they tore it down? i watched star wars when it first came out at that place, and now it's gone.... sigh.
Yeah been there many times to watch movies. It got torn down about 5 years ago or so. They used to have film festivals there.

;6576151']There use to be Lumberland at Renfrew where AI is now. Also there was Beaver Lumber but i can't remember where that was, somewhere on Kingsway ?

Ah yes, Lumberland. I remember my dad would bring me there many times to shop around. When it was torn down it was left empty for a while till Wholesale took over the building.

[skyxx]

Another memory of Hasting street was the old A & W location with the brown roof near Nanaimo. After A & W moved locations "Chong Lee" market took over that place but not for long till the site was demolished.

[SumAznGuy]

If I remember right, there was either a Lumberland or Beaver Lumber where Rona is now on Kingsway & King Ed.

I remember that location being a Lumberland.

[MG1]

Wow, this is great. I remember the A&W drive in on Hastings.

As for the two theatres on Hastings Street east and west of Main Street. The one on the east side was a Chinese movie house. The other one was the Lux Theatre.

Lumberland became Revy/Rona eventually, but I do remember Beaver Lumber. Wasn't it where Canadian Tire is now? It was definitely on the south side. Lumberland also had a store on Dundas/Powell Street at the foot of Victoria Drive. I'm not sure if Beaver Lumber had any ties to Lumberland or not. In that one of them bought the other out.

Another restaurant that was famous in Vancouver, was the Aristocrat. It was on the corner of Granville and Broadway. Speaking of Broadway, the Bowmac sign, was another Vancouver landmark. I think Toys R Us took over the spot. Another sign that got taken down because some politician hated it, was the one on top of the building on Main and Broadway. The three most recognizable landmarks that took over Vancouver's skyline was the Bowmac Sign, the sign on top of Main and Broadway building, and the W at Woodwards Downtown. The Sears Tower hadn't been built yet, but that became the new landmark.

Do you guys remember what Home Depot used to be called?

Aikenheads.......... green was their colour. When they opened up, their promise was that there would be a minimum of one person at each isle, guaranteed. BS, that lasted like all of one or two months.


Three things that define Vancouver shopping and shoppers. $1.49 day at Woodwards, A&B Sound Boxing Day Sale, and Army and Navy's annual Shoe Sale. Those events were traditions.

Is Jimmy Pattison's still on Main Street? Right where Main Street curves. A car accidentally smashed through the display glass near the front entryway. It must have been one of the employees, because it was from the inside. They taped it up with the car still sticking out. Eventually, they made it a permanent thing, because people thought it was cool. They even painted fake cracks in the glass to make it look more realistic. This was when Jim Pattison was just starting out. My dad bought his first car from Jimmy. A Green Biscayne <sp?>. I laugh to this day, because the big deal back in those days was the amount of chrome a car had on it. Salesperson would say, yes, this car is quality. Lots of chrome....... my dad would repeat in broken English..... lots of chrome, good. If you bought a car at Jim Pattison's you got an invoice with a dozen or so stamp sized coupons that was good for a free lube and oil change.

[skyxx]

Oh I remember the Army and Navy Shoe sales. My mom would always head downtown to Army and Navy just for that. haha :)

[tonyzoomzoom]

Another memory of Hasting street was the old A & W location with the brown roof near Nanaimo. After A & W moved locations "Chong Lee" market took over that place but not for long till the site was demolished.

A family friend drove us to this A&W. It was such a neat experience having the waitress come over to our car so we can make the order; and the food tray that hung over the car door....

Carelton was my first elementary school when we first came to Canada (Kingsway and Joyce / 41st) in the mid-70s. It has two school buildings on the same lot. The neat thing is that both buildings are still there. I drive by there everyday when heading to work. Brings back lots of memories. There was the bus loop across from the school (now a 7-11). The pancake house (bino's?) next to 7-11 is still here though.

Just east on Kingsway were a Safeway and a Super-Valu. Both had the same curvy roof design. I never figured out why the two looked exactly the same. I still remember buying a pound of Winsor salt there for 22 cents !!

The first house where we lived (on Ormidale) is still here. There was no alley in the back and back then there were no fences either. It was like one huge playground right in our back yard -- lots of grass and trees. It looks a lot less welcoming now. Everyone building fences around their lots :(

[MG1]

I remember that bus loop. I would take the Rupert Street Bus to that loop and transfer onto the UBC bus. Carelton had a big reunion not that long ago. Did you go?



Speaking of elementary school, did any of you guys remember having crossing guards? At my old elementary school, we were the crossing guards. In fact, I think it was a district wide programme. I remember this because once a year we got to go to Gladstone Secondary for a big celebration/dinner. It was sponsored by the VPD, I think. We got to wear uniforms and hold these metal stop signs. Before Hastings got really scary, all it was were three kids with whistles and stop signs. One would stop traffic, while the other two would walk across the road passing each other. Afterwards, the city put in traffic lights. We got keys from the police every morning and afterschool to open up the control box so we could work the stop lights on Hastings and Jackson Street. I remember we all took our jobs very seriously, because Hastings Street was pretty busy during those times - rush hour. Patrol boys, as we were called, aren't used any more, due to the invention of pedestrian controlled stop lights. I don't ever recall seeing a girl on a patrol team. Hmmmmmm...... girls, yuck. LOL. Probably because girls would just sit and yack all day or get into cat fights, they banned them.

[tonyzoomzoom]

I was only at Carleton for three months before the school year ended. We then moved and I ended up at Charles Dickens for a bit, then Van Horne, and then finally Hastings for Gr 7.

On a slightly different note, does anyone remember the wooden pedestrian walkways on the old Cambie Bridge? I rode my bike across it once. One can see down to the water of False Creek between the cracks / holes of the wooden planks.

I still remeber my buddies at elementary school getting up at 4 in the morning to delivery the Sun / Province to people's home. Then the newspaper coin boxes took over..... :(

[MG1]

Another thing that came to my mind, is the huge streams that run through our city. Some of you may not know this, but there are lots of underground streams that run throughout our city. One of the bigger ones flows right under Renfrew Street. I haven't gone there recently, but back in the 70's, maybe early 80's, the park had a rather deep ravine running through it and just before 22nd avenue, there was a waterway/tunnel made out of concrete. On rainy days, that waterway gushed out water at an alarming rate. It was downright scary. I remember one time, it rained so hard the whole tunnel was filled nearly to the top with water shooting out. Now this tunnel was around 6 feet tall and 7 or so feet wide, so when I mean to the top, you can imagine how much water was going through. It flooded the lower part of the ravine. I guess that's why they eventually covered up the ravine. I could see little kids being washed away with the current. Still creek is yet another well known urban waterway. Parts of it can be seen everywhere along East Van and Burnaby. Right behind Superstore on Rupert Street and Grandview Hwy, I think is a tributary. I read somewhere that most of these underground streams have salmon in them. BTW, I think these are natural streams and not part of the city's sewer system.

[MG1]

On a slightly different note, does anyone remember the wooden pedestrian walkways on the old Cambie Bridge? I rode my bike across it once. One can see down to the water of False Creek between the cracks / holes of the wooden planks.

OK, this means you are a pretty old guy. Cambie bridge - wooden? That was how many years ago?


EDIT: OK, just googled it. I guess it wasn't that long ago. They rebuilt the bridge in 1984. I should have read your post more carefully. Wooden pedestrian walkway. I never walked across the bridge, just drove, so I didn't know about the walkway still being wooden. The things you learn, eh?

[tofu1413]

quite the read!

the world is changing everyday..


and so is vancouver.


apparently, the service department for carter honda (where i work) was once a fishing cannery back in the 50's or so..? . i wondered why they wont fix all those problems with the building, and apparently its a historic building now. its an old building, but painted over. correct me if im wrong.

[carisear]

man you guys are old. :P

good read. i am the generation after you -- but i've heard some of those descriptions from my parents.

[skyxx]

Speaking of elementary school, did any of you guys remember having crossing guards? At my old elementary school, we were the crossing guards. In fact, I think it was a district wide programme. I remember this because once a year we got to go to Gladstone Secondary for a big celebration/dinner. It was sponsored by the VPD, I think. We got to wear uniforms and hold these metal stop signs. Before Hastings got really scary, all it was were three kids with whistles and stop signs. One would stop traffic, while the other two would walk across the road passing each other. Afterwards, the city put in traffic lights. We got keys from the police every morning and afterschool to open up the control box so we could work the stop lights on Hastings and Jackson Street. I remember we all took our jobs very seriously, because Hastings Street was pretty busy during those times - rush hour. Patrol boys, as we were called, aren't used any more, due to the invention of pedestrian controlled stop lights. I don't ever recall seeing a girl on a patrol team. Hmmmmmm...... girls, yuck. LOL. Probably because girls would just sit and yack all day or get into cat fights, they banned them.

You're still a kid at heart aren't you! Anyway, back on topic. I remember clearly that Hastings elementary still had patrol boys and GIRLS. Mind you this was in the 90's, I'm not sure about now. I'd walk to school every morning and I'd see the older kids patrolling the crosswalks. I always wanted to be one cause it was so COOL! So grade 4 came and I got a couple opportunities to become one. I realized it wasn't all that great because I'd have to head to school earlier and go home later than the other kids. Oh and I didn't get to hang out/walk home with any my friends. LOL The only part that was cool was when I'm wearing the vest, helmet while holding the Stop sign. I felt like i had complete control (of course I didn't)

To this day I still think Hastings elementary is a great school. It was one of the first schools in Vancouver to be earthquake "proof". So when it was announced that the school was due for a renovation. All students had to move to the Portables on the Back field. I think there was about 700 kids running around the connected portables. It was massive. During recess and lunch we would have soccer against the French kids. What do I mean by French kids?, well the school had a french immersion program. I don't know how the separation started but it was always like this. There was a lot of stupid name calling and "THAT WENT IN../NO IT DIDN'T" type of affair.

I got a lot of more stuff to talk about but that's it for now. haha

[MelonBoy]

dam u guys are old haha.. only thing i really remember is Wally's burger back in elementary.. me and my friends used to sneak there during lunch.. good times.. mushroom burger, root beer float, and pin ball machine... hell as a short cut we ripped a nice hole in the fence at the back so we didnt have to walk around each time... good times indeed =X

[MG1]

quite the read!

the world is changing everyday..


and so is vancouver.


apparently, the service department for carter honda (where i work) was once a fishing cannery back in the 50's or so..? . i wondered why they wont fix all those problems with the building, and apparently its a historic building now. its an old building, but painted over. correct me if im wrong.

That makes total sense. My father was a commercial fisherman and back in those days, False Creek was jammed with small commercial fishing boats. I'm not sure about any fish canneries, but it might have been a fish processing plant of some kind. Come to think of it, there was a very small family owned cannery somewhere in False Creek, but that would have been long gone. Way before even my time. My father was one of the last people to stop mooring his fishing boat at False Creek. I remember him cursing about all these recreational boaters taking over the docks. If he were alive now, he would have a fit........ yeah, dad, it's called Granville Island Market. Tourism is more important. Now you know how farmers feel, being pushed out further and further away. Progress, I guess.

[ienhz]

You're still a kid at heart aren't you! Anyway, back on topic. I remember clearly that Hastings elementary still had patrol boys and GIRLS. Mind you this was in the 90's, I'm not sure about now. I'd walk to school every morning and I'd see the older kids patrolling the crosswalks. I always wanted to be one cause it was so COOL! So grade 4 came and I got a couple opportunities to become one. I realized it wasn't all that great because I'd have to head to school earlier and go home later than the other kids. Oh and I didn't get to hang out/walk home with any my friends. LOL The only part that was cool was when I'm wearing the vest, helmet while holding the Stop sign. I felt like i had complete control (of course I didn't)

To this day I still think Hastings elementary is a great school. It was one of the first schools in Vancouver to be earthquake "proof". So when it was announced that the school was due for a renovation. All students had to move to the Portables on the Back field. I think there was about 700 kids running around the connected portables. It was massive. During recess and lunch we would have soccer against the French kids. What do I mean by French kids?, well the school had a french immersion program. I don't know how the separation started but it was always like this. There was a lot of stupid name calling and "THAT WENT IN../NO IT DIDN'T" type of affair.

I got a lot of more stuff to talk about but that's it for now. haha

lol, I went to Macdonald elementary near Hastings. God damn, that school was like 50% asian and 50% native. We always had freakin potlatches at our school and I remember they made all the kids make native blankets for their ceremonies. I don't know what the educational value of that was but i guess they were smart in taking advantage of free labour.

You didn't happen to go to templeton for high school did you?

[skyxx]

I did. Wasn't the best school haha. Had some fond memories. Apparently it's one of the lowest ranked school in Vancouver. Anyway, speaking of Macdonald elementary. I heard it's like 80% native now. My buddy's sister goes there and one time she got lice from one of the kids. Pretty funny stuff. On one of her report cards. It states that she did well in some aboriginal dances. That's all that was said. haha

[tofu1413]

all these historic places..


makes me think of the historic HAUNTED places in vancouver.. o.o"

[ienhz]

I think my elementary (Macdonald) is one of the lowest ranked schools in Vancouver as well. Apparently it came 2nd last or so in some math rankings. Templeton didn't seem too bad (Grad '06) but Brit is ranked lower than Templeton haha. I think they (Brit) had a 25% failure rate for provincial exams in 2007 LOL.

It's funny, growing up in some of the shittiest schools and I'm still somehow managing a 3.6 GPA at SFU. I don't think these rankings really mean anything.

[Blinky]

Wow. What an awesome thread.

Some random memories:

I remember going to Oakridge Mall as a kid. They were doing some massive renovations... Oakridge used to be open-air (the fountains were open to the elements). The color scheme was this serious retro blue & green, not the simple white that is there to this day.

Granville Toyota once really was a car dealership. There's still the service center on the NW corner (beside the Shell) but the NE corner used to have a dealer lot. It's now a HSBC and Hot Pot Restaurant.

On the NE corner of Cambie and King Ed there used to be a White spot with carhop service. I kind of miss it - it was a random place for that kind of business. There were many old Safeways that became something else... one on Vic near 49th (now a Value Village), Fraser and 45th (now a Buy-Low).

Though I don't remember 89blkcivic's Chinatown, the Chinatown I went to as a kid is seriously different from the one there today. There used to be two Chinese short-order places every block (incidentally, Kam Gok Yuen mentioned earlier is still open). Now I think there are only one or two left in all of Chinatown. On Pender west of Main there used to be a row of cutesy Chinese junk-gift stores that my sister loved to frequent. Don't know if any of them are still there.

How about Main street? There used to be a row of car dealerships around 19th ave. The last one, a Ford dealership, just moved away recently.

Cambie and Broadway has changed too. Where the Save-On/Crappy Tire complex was used to have GM dealership... and then a SportMart for a few years before it was cratered for what's there right now. The Wendy's there had an operating lower floor :D.

The NW corner used to have Fairchild Plaza, and Dai Masu, which was my first "regular" sushi place. I remember that Dai Masu had a pretty good view of Downtown Vancouver, save the stupid McDicks sign.

[Ride]

A family friend drove us to this A&W. It was such a neat experience having the waitress come over to our car so we can make the order; and the food tray that hung over the car door....

Carelton was my first elementary school when we first came to Canada (Kingsway and Joyce / 41st) in the mid-70s. It has two school buildings on the same lot. The neat thing is that both buildings are still there. I drive by there everyday when heading to work. Brings back lots of memories. There was the bus loop across from the school (now a 7-11). The pancake house (bino's?) next to 7-11 is still here though.

Just east on Kingsway were a Safeway and a Super-Valu. Both had the same curvy roof design. I never figured out why the two looked exactly the same. I still remember buying a pound of Winsor salt there for 22 cents !!

The first house where we lived (on Ormidale) is still here. There was no alley in the back and back then there were no fences either. It was like one huge playground right in our back yard -- lots of grass and trees. It looks a lot less welcoming now. Everyone building fences around their lots :(
That bus loop was next to 7-11 now it' a apartment building and the Supervalu has turned into the now London Drugs.

[Ride]

The Canadian Tire on Kingsway and Gladstone use to be a Home depot type place back in the 80's. IIRC, it was an Irly Bird?
.
Before the Irly Bird it was a IGA or a Stongs.

Any one remember the Dragon Inn with the huge neon dragon at Kingsway & Slocan it was one of the nicest signs in the area. Also when KFC used be called Kentucky fried Chicken with spinning bucket as their sign, those were the times their chicken was actually finger lickin good, and there butter milk biscuits they used melt in your mouth I still don't know why they got rid of those.

[Ride]

another piece of history is gone today the Richards on Richards nite club and Madam Cleos just got demolished today to make way for a new highrise.

[ZhangFei]

I remember wearing an Asian Avenue hat in my high school.... bahahaha

I rigged the system to get those points :D

[skyxx]

^ That's not Vancouver History.....

[thumper]

Cambie and Broadway has changed too. Where the Save-On/Crappy Tire complex was used to have GM dealership... and then a SportMart for a few years before it was cratered for what's there right now. The Wendy's there had an operating lower floor :D.



egh? not that it matters but i thought that was a ford dealership that was there... then it was some sort of computer store and then what it is now.

[MG1]

Before the Irly Bird it was a IGA or a Stongs.

Any one remember the Dragon Inn with the huge neon dragon at Kingsway & Slocan it was one of the nicest signs in the area. Also when KFC used be called Kentucky fried Chicken with spinning bucket as their sign, those were the times their chicken was actually finger lickin good, and there butter milk biscuits they used melt in your mouth I still don't know why they got rid of those.

The Dragon Inn......wow. The parking lot is still there, I think. People sell corn and stuff off the back of their truck. Awesome sign. KFC was so good back then. Now it's pretty shitty. Church's Chicken is better. Spinning bucket was cool. I always thought it would tip over one day and kill people because it was titled.

[MG1]

another piece of history is gone today the Richards on Richards nite club

That place was damn popular. People always lined up for hours to get in. Damn fine looking ladies.......... and I'm not talking about the hookers in that area.

Speaking of which, is the Penthouse still operating?

[MG1]

Wow. What an awesome thread.

Some random memories:

I remember going to Oakridge Mall as a kid. They were doing some massive renovations... Oakridge used to be open-air (the fountains were open to the elements).

Very much so. I remember Woodwards being there and the Bay? I guess it's Zellers now, which makes sense, since Zellers and the Bay are owned by the same people. Oakridge Shopping Centre was for the rich people, so most East Enders never went there. At least that was the perception.

[SumAznGuy]

egh? not that it matters but i thought that was a ford dealership that was there... then it was some sort of computer store and then what it is now.

Thumper is right. The ford/Mercury dealership was on the underside from 7th ave?? while from 8th ave it was a sport Mart. The computer store was right beside it.

That ford/mercury dealership used to be on Broadway till they moved/combined the 2 dealers onto that location on 7th ave. If my memory serves me correct, the Ford dealer was on Broadway while 7th ave was a Mercury dealership. I'm thinking it was Totem Mercury.

There was also an AMG shop there, before they moved. I remember one of my friend's uncles working there and telling us stories of doing 200+ km/h over the Cambie st. bridge in some AMG Mercedes that was in for some servicing.

The McD's across the street is now a liquor store.

Does anyone remember the name of the chinese restaurant on 1st and Rupert? I think the owner was also the owner of Dragon's Inn? I know the look was similar.

[SumAznGuy]

That place was damn popular. People always lined up for hours to get in. Damn fine looking ladies.......... and I'm not talking about the hookers in that area.

Speaking of which, is the Penthouse still operating?

I remember clubbing at RoR once. Always heard stories about Madam Cleo's cause I had a friend that lived in an apartment behind it and from his window he could see the women going outside for smoke breaks.

I believe the Penthouse is still operating. I was there 2 years ago for a friend's stag. Ewwwww....

Well, it is better today than it was when I was in high school though. Most of the hookers along that block are gone. I remember in high school how we would cruise around looking at the hookers and shit for fun on the weekends before we headed up and down Robson.

Around Vancouver, Quebec st. between 4th ave and 6th ave use to have the mid class hookers back in the early 90's while downtown had the high end ones. And of course Hastings had the lowest of the low class ones. Now downtown and Quebec street are hooker free, but there are some that stand on Kingsway near the starbucks and Safeway, though there are less now than there was about 3-4 years ago. Guess everyone that can, is moving indoors.

[Ride]

Does anyone remember the name of the chinese restaurant on 1st and Rupert? I think the owner was also the owner of Dragon's Inn? I know the look was similar.
was it Canton Palace?

[Blinky]

Penthouse was operating a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that it's still there. Anybody remember the Marble Arch? It was where I popped my peeler bar cherry.

Kingsgate mall used to Not Suck. Safeway on top. Mr Mike's in the mall.

I've got a good one. There was Honest Nat's department store on Fraser Street, around 47th. It was an independent department store... don't remember if they burned up in a fire or else just up and died.

[jigjag]

Fastest growing thread i've seen so far, friggen eh!
anyhoo, i have a few good ones, but to keep in line w/ the topic...

Remember Caseys bar/stripclub? At the Mr. Sport Hotel on Kingsway? Its where "Jaguars" is now....
that was my peeler peepin' OG spot. I was 16. We used to pop in for a pitcher after hockey practices at Killarney. I swear, they knew we were younger i'm sure, but as long as u acting confident and didn't act a fool, it was all good. Then i brought one of my good buddy's (1/2 chinoise, 1/2 gwai lo, i'm EI btw) and we were promptly ID'd for the first time going there in like a year. Friggin asians and their lack of facial hair!!!!
Anyhow, it was sad when they shut it down, but went out with a bang, they musta had about 15-20 stripper given'er at the same time, w/ free lappy's all around. Sigh.

And how bout "BK grocery", the corner store on 34/nanaimo? Its a heritage blding from way back. I knew it was old, going there as a kid, but one day I was at the library, perusing some random shit, ie. vancouver heritage, and there it was in this hardcover book, a painting/pic of good ol' "BK" from baaack in the day. Kinda neat to see the corner store u've been going to since u were 3 in a book.

Avalon Dairy? On Wales st., just off of 41st? that place is like a mini farm in the middle of vancouver. Started in 1906, the Orig. farmhouse/office is still used today. You can go there to buy individual chocolate milk's, in glass bottles. That is fking gangster.
http://www.avalondairy.com/index-2.html


This farmhouse harkens back to days gone by in vancity. There was lots of lil' farms and the like around. I'm too young to remember this, but Cunningham Elementary School on 35th used to be a goat or chicken farm or something. There were houses on the property that had to be removed when they built the school, so they moved some of em over to St. Margerets and one over to nanaimo st. (a somewhat dilapidated older green house that's still there today).

And yes, street hockey was the norm. I remember having to bloody wait w/ my boys till we could play. Now, well, its been said. Fat lil' shits sitting round the screen, rotating btween their PS3 and facebook. Truly a diff. world we live in now, really quite sad.

And another thing i remember is how truly culturally diverse da' hood used to be. I went to gladstone/killarney and recall how there was so many euro's w/ lots of asians, and a few E.I.'s in the mix. Grew up learning bout everything/everyone this way. Now, it really is almost all asians in van (east anyways), in the homes anyhow. Sign of the times as all the euro's whose mom/dad pass on, sell the house, split the $, put the remaining parent in a friggin home, and move out to the burbs, as oppossed us asians (generally speaking of course), who stay united/together. And the folks that live here now, its almost like the whole multicutural/western thing has degraded, as lots more ppl don't speak english compared to b4.... more mainlanders, etc. Sign of the times i guess.....

Cheers,
jigger.

[MG1]

lol, I went to Macdonald elementary near Hastings. God damn, that school was like 50% asian and 50% native. We always had freakin potlatches at our school and I remember they made all the kids make native blankets for their ceremonies. I don't know what the educational value of that was but i guess they were smart in taking advantage of free labour.

What? No Bannock? I used to think Bannock and dried salmon were the only things FN people ate.

I did. Wasn't the best school haha. Had some fond memories. Apparently it's one of the lowest ranked school in Vancouver. Anyway, speaking of Macdonald elementary. I heard it's like 80% native now. My buddy's sister goes there and one time she got lice from one of the kids. Pretty funny stuff. On one of her report cards. It states that she did well in some aboriginal dances. That's all that was said. haha

I think my elementary (Macdonald) is one of the lowest ranked schools in Vancouver as well. Apparently it came 2nd last or so in some math rankings. Templeton didn't seem too bad (Grad '06) but Brit is ranked lower than Templeton haha. I think they (Brit) had a 25% failure rate for provincial exams in 2007 LOL.

It's funny, growing up in some of the shittiest schools and I'm still somehow managing a 3.6 GPA at SFU. I don't think these rankings really mean anything.

Well, the Fraser Report is pretty useful. The highest scores in all of BC come from the district of West Vancouver. I remember one of the assistant superintendent, or it might have been the super himself, going public and basically saying that the clientele was better bred. He got into a lot of flack, but he was just telling the truth. When your schools are filled with children from well to do families, you better do well. East End schools are filled with kids from families where half the children come to school with empty stomachs, have FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), been through hell the night before, etc. It's no surprise.

Both Strathcona and Brit have changed demographics. Everything has gone downhill.

On a positive note, Templeton recently won a "Reach for the Top" type competition that beat out teams from other private schools like St. Georges. This was no local competition. It was national. People were like, WTF? Some dumb ass Vancouver East End school takes the national title for having the smartest kids? Haha.... so much for rowing clubs and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. I hear Templeton is one of the better schools in Vancouver now, with a good arts programme (film, drama, etc.). Good for them 'cause it used to be one of the shit hole schools for the longest of times.

[MG1]

Penthouse was operating a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that it's still there. Anybody remember the Marble Arch? It was where I popped my peeler bar cherry.

Kingsgate mall used to Not Suck. Safeway on top. Mr Mike's in the mall.

I've got a good one. There was Honest Nat's department store on Fraser Street, around 47th. It was an independent department store... don't remember if they burned up in a fire or else just up and died.

Marble Arch........... yes. I've been there a few times, but all time favourite is No. 5 Orange.

[MG1]

Penthouse was operating a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that it's still there. Anybody remember the Marble Arch? It was where I popped my peeler bar cherry.

Kingsgate mall used to Not Suck. Safeway on top. Mr Mike's in the mall.

I've got a good one. There was Honest Nat's department store on Fraser Street, around 47th. It was an independent department store... don't remember if they burned up in a fire or else just up and died.

Mr. Mike's. There were lots of those kinds of restaurants all over the place. Honest Nat's. I recall 3 Vets being the same for some reason. One of them replaced the other, perhaps?

[MG1]

Avalon Dairy? On Wales st., just off of 41st? that place is like a mini farm in the middle of vancouver. Started in 1906, the Orig. farmhouse/office is still used today. You can go there to buy individual chocolate milk's, in glass bottles. That is fking gangster.
http://www.avalondairy.com/index-2.html

Wow, I didn't know Avalon was that local. I must go there. This brings back memories of Dairyland milk delivery and tokens. I never understood how they worked, but they were plastic and red in colour. Strange how milk in bottles always tasted better.

[InvisibleSoul]

I remember wearing an Asian Avenue hat in my high school.... bahahaha

I rigged the system to get those points :D

LoL... what the random...

[InvisibleSoul]

Wow, I didn't know Avalon was that local. I must go there. This brings back memories of Dairyland milk delivery and tokens. I never understood how they worked, but they were plastic and red in colour. Strange how milk in bottles always tasted better.
You can get Avalon milk in stores still... but not 100% sure which ones. Maybe Buy Low Foods?

[MG1]

You can get Avalon milk in stores still... but not 100% sure which ones. Maybe Buy Low Foods?

Well, the IGA close to where I live has it, but a sign on the dairy case reads, "Due to low supply, we cannot guarantee this product to be in stock at all times." Sure enough, empty. I'm really not interested in the bottled milk as I am in seeing this historic place in the middle of the city with so much history behind it.

I work in Abbotsford, so dairy farms are no big deal.

[jigjag]

check the website, it has their hours of operation....
its really amazing to see such a "farm" like this smack dab in the middle of urban residential vancouver....
that property must be worth MILLIONS!

hey 100 posts! 3 years later, woohoo.

[fliptuner]

Don't want to quote a bunch so I'll just say what I remember.

What most people remember as PhoBichNga was originally VicWay trucker style diner.

Where the Canadian Tire was on Gladstone/Kingsway used to be a Lumberland.

A few doors East was a full service Shell station that my dad's friend owned. Remember the rubber hoses that went ding-ding to call the gas boy? When they would check your oil and air and air and water were free?

IIRC the PetroCan on Kingsway/Naniamo used to be a Texaco and they would give away free steak knives and shit when you got a fill-up.

The cornerstore right across from there used to be owned by a Chinese family that lived upstairs. Back in the 80's we used to actually call cornerstores...ready...??? Chinese stores. It wasn't a racial thing - just that they were all owned by Chinese people. A carton of cigs was $15 and sticks were like 10cents each.

Further E on the same side of Kingsway was another Shell station (Clarendon St.) Followed by a Thriftway grocery store. Beside that was Vancouver Karate Club (used to go there) then further down was Beefway, Harvey's Hardware, Purdy's and Wally's and Collingwood Library.

The only reason we really went to Oakridge Mall was for $1.49 days at Woodwards and to check out the displays at Christmas time.

I went to Norquay Elementary on Slocan and 29th and in the summer we would all hang out at Slocan Park where they would fill the pool and have different activities for the kids. There were never a ton of parents there - only those watching very young kids. All our parents were at work so we would just kind of hang out and play til our parents got home. My friend's and I were all latchkey kids with the yarn necklaces lol. A lot of back alley street hockey, soccer and bike riding back then. All around the neighborhood - none of this up and down the street shit.

There used to be a REAL sense of community back then, less PC bullshit, more common sense, better service at stores, etc.......

[jigjag]

^^^Damn Straight dude....
I went to that dojo too, the head instructor was "Pat McCarthy" if i recall correctly. Ahh, good times...indeed latchkey, folks had to pay off the house!

Norquay Park FTW! haha, ah man... almost brings a tear to my eye thinking bout the good ol' days. Community fo sho, vancouver altogether felt like a big community, now its just grown out of that vibe, shit.

Wally's Burgers!!!!!!!

How bout when the McPukes on kings/vic was the ol' skool one w/ the 7/11 joined to it??
damn.

[SumAznGuy]

Flip, I'm pretty sure the CT use to be either an Irly Bird or a Beaver lumber, but definately not a Lumberland. The Revy near Knight st. was a Lumberland.

The Shell station is now that redish/pink coloured mechanic shop right?

One thing that hasn't changed is the Top's restaurant. That thing has been there for over 20 years.

There use to be a Jerrys Goal Crease hockey shop in the building just W. of the Wally's.

The old Royal Bank is still there, well the building anyways.

[Farfetched]

You can get Avalon milk in stores still... but not 100% sure which ones. Maybe Buy Low Foods?
i remember having the avalon milk as a kid. we would always bring the bottles back and get new ones. the difference in their milk is night and day. they also used to have ice cream cakes which were i remember to be quite good.

[fliptuner]

Look familiar?
That 2way mirror to his office always scared the shit out of me cause you never knew if he was watching.

http://theshotokanway.com/images/images12/McCarthy%2015.jpg

Who knew we were being trained by one of best in the world?

http://www.theshotokanway.com/interviewwithpatmccarthy.html

The weightroom in the back smelled like shit from the stagnent air and sweat. Sempai Larry was an asshole when Sensei Pat wasn't teaching.

[jigjag]

^^^ whoa!!!!!!!! buddy, thats a good find!

Ya i found out a few years after i was done there (still very young, like 10), that he was world renowned. CRAZY....
Used to walk to Shitu Ryu by myself at age 5, walk accross the street to Churches on the way home, grab a corn on the cob, and karate kick the cutout of ROCKY they had inside... remember that shit... "Churches, we fed Rocky". bwhahahaha.

[TylerY]

As sad as this sounds.. My memorable historical memories are all the good ol arcades in Vancouver.

Start off with the infamous...
Lesters on Kingsway, (still there right?)
Pie in the Sky on Kingsway (great shady arcade centre)
Satches in Burnaby Hastings (across from Dolphin theatres)
Starcade near Kooteney Loop.. (Still remember the old lady that always worked there)
Laser Illusions in Brentwood.. (All the Nintendo and Segas games you can play.)

One of my all time favorite was near my High School. "Action Snooker" Skip school to play arcades at Action Snooker.. great little arcade pool hall. This is where I learned to gamble on their betting machines... lol

Laser Illusions :thumbsup:

That place was awesome until they closed and I had nothing to do with the 3000 tickets I saved . FUUUUUUUUUUUU

[MG1]

Shito Ryu Karate. Lots of Kung Fu places, too in Vancouver. One used to be on Jackson Street. Just north of Hastings. The place was below ground. So cool to find out this stuff.

[fliptuner]

pic fail, sorry

[Ride]

Look familiar?
That 2way mirror to his office always scared the shit out of me cause you never knew if he was watching.

http://theshotokanway.com/images/images12/McCarthy%2015.jpg

Who knew we were being trained by one of best in the world?

http://www.theshotokanway.com/interviewwithpatmccarthy.html

The weightroom in the back smelled like shit from the stagnent air and sweat. Sempai Larry was an asshole when Sensei Pat wasn't teaching.

I went to that place also and you know what happened to Pat Mcarthey apperently he told everyone he was gonna move to China to learn more but my friends dad was his doctor and he didn't go to China he went to jail for drugs or something I can't remember the whole story it's been so long.

[SumAznGuy]

Out of the blue, the wife wanted Pizza King tonight so I did a google search for the phone number and found out that they have been around at that location on Broadway since 1984. Wow. And the army/navy surplus store next door with the Gorilla in the rain gear has been there for a while too.

Interesting....

[Vansterdam]

haha i had full week binges on pizza king, good pizza and pasta FTMW!

[skyxx]

Asians sure know how to make awesome value for food!!! :D

[InvisibleSoul]

What happened to Pizza 222?

[Vansterdam]

are you referring to 222-2222? LOL i grew up eating that shit. earliest memories of ordering pizza :P

[bcrdukes]

When I graduated from Strathcona Elementary and entered Britannia Secondary...So much pride and history at that school and now it's like a wasteland.

Wow! You're a real vet!

When I went to Britannia, Bill Vance had retired several years ago. And you're right - the demographics at Britannia have significantly changed even after I graduated 7 years ago. The Arts department pretty much imploded upon itself and teachers who once cared, are now retiring and there is no longer a band program.

The lower portion of Strathcona was later on (late 90s) rented out as a private pre-school as Kindergarten enrollment was low. It was once funded by the city and federal gov't but since then, no funds were allocated to keep the program. My brother was a victim of this where we had to pay for pre-school when we lived at the Maclean Park Projects.

Living at the Maclean Park Projects, I recall Chinatown being so vibrant and full of culture/history. Now, it's an empty wasteland with million-dollar condos being built as we speak. Stores like Ho-Ho Grocery are gone, Fung's is still around but called something else, and the ol' Benny's is still alive and kicking. :)

[SumAznGuy]

Going back to Chinatown, there use to be a chinese newspaper that had their printing press in the basement. I was very young when my grandmother worked at that place.
I'm thinking it might be that unit just south of the Corning pharmacy.

I remember hanging out downstairs where the printing press was and how there were underground tunnels all over chinatown. Both my parents worked and in the summers I got to hang out in chinatown.

If you go down some of the streets, you can still see the purple coloured glass tiles. I'm thinking I was prolly around 5 when I was shown those tunnels and have just the vagest memory of them.

Another thing that has changed over the years is produce row. Just south of Venables, near the gelato place, is Malkin ave where most of the produce wholesalers in Vancouver are located. On of them, Van Whole, use to be located on Union st, a lot closer to the heart of chinatown. Of course, that warehouse has long been torn down and replaced with other buildings.

[Meowjin]

Are you talking about the Louies?

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/bc150ed/story.html?id=e4f0b95f-8540-4dd5-9a77-dcea8d886439

They also pay their employees pretty damn well. I can't think of any other job where unskilled labour pays up to 32 with benefits.

[HOTSHOTKEN]

I think you are talking about Gum Gook Yuen. It is now some fancy vietnamese restaurant.


Nope, I think Gum Gook Yuen is still there, but on Pender a few doors away from the BMO

The one on Main used to be called Wah Dut Kee

[MG1]

Wow! You're a real vet!

When I went to Britannia, Bill Vance had retired several years ago. And you're right - the demographics at Britannia have significantly changed even after I graduated 7 years ago. The Arts department pretty much imploded upon itself and teachers who once cared, are now retiring and there is no longer a band program.

The lower portion of Strathcona was later on (late 90s) rented out as a private pre-school as Kindergarten enrollment was low. It was once funded by the city and federal gov't but since then, no funds were allocated to keep the program. My brother was a victim of this where we had to pay for pre-school when we lived at the Maclean Park Projects.

Living at the Maclean Park Projects, I recall Chinatown being so vibrant and full of culture/history. Now, it's an empty wasteland with million-dollar condos being built as we speak. Stores like Ho-Ho Grocery are gone, Fung's is still around but called something else, and the ol' Benny's is still alive and kicking. :)


Aiya!! Fung's. I remember that place. That was the first and only time in my entire life I stole something. It was pearled candy. I felt so guilty about it and it haunted me. Many years later. Like 20+ years later, I went back and paid for the candy. I explained to the old lady behind the counter why. She tought I was nuts, but it cleared my conscience. I never stole anything in my life except for that one time. I'm not Christian so I can't ask for forgiveness.

Anyway, Benny's is owned by Italians, yes? I know them. Actually everybody knew them.

So, bcrdukes, if you graduated 7 years ago, was Victor Guy still kicking around?

[MG1]

Another thing that has changed over the years is produce row. Just south of Venables, near the gelato place, is Malkin ave where most of the produce wholesalers in Vancouver are located. On of them, Van Whole, use to be located on Union st, a lot closer to the heart of chinatown. Of course, that warehouse has long been torn down and replaced with other buildings.

The fire hall just north of the produce warehouses never used to be there. I also remember a certain sausage company that had a factory outlet on either Williams or Napier. Just a block or so east of that rather large park on Venables. Googling that area, I see it is called Strathcona Park now, but I swear it was called something else before. It had a track and a grandstand. The grandstand was where guys took their g/f for you know..... anyway, I used to go by the sausage place on my way to Brit to get their famous pepperoni sticks. I have forgotten the name of the place. Someone remember the name?

Back in those days walking to and from school was no big deal. I bet if kids nowadays had to walk that far, they'd die of a heart attack. LOL.

[SumAznGuy]

The fire hall just north of the produce warehouses never used to be there. I also remember a certain sausage company that had a factory outlet on either Williams or Napier. Just a block or so east of that rather large park on Venables. Googling that area, I see it is called Strathcona Park now, but I swear it was called something else before. It had a track and a grandstand. The grandstand was where guys took their g/f for you know..... anyway, I used to go by the sausage place on my way to Brit to get their famous pepperoni sticks. I have forgotten the name of the place. Someone remember the name?

Back in those days walking to and from school was no big deal. I bet if kids nowadays had to walk that far, they'd die of a heart attack. LOL.

When I was 14, we were playing baseball at that park. This was back in 91 and it was already called Strathcona park. Even back then, there was a huge prostitute/drug problem. Like today, there were condoms and condom wrappers all over the place as well as disgarded needles.

Doing some research for an RS thread about old racetracks in the 604, that track was actually used as a race track back in the 50's. IIRC, it was called the False Creek Stadium.
http://www.canadianracer.com/track-display.asp?trackid=falsec&querytype=detail&extra=history

[SumAznGuy]

http://www.canadianracer.com/track-display.asp?trackid=falsec&querytype=detail&extra=history

An interesting read. Didn't know there were so much racing in Vancouver before 1960.

[MG1]

I always thought it was a track, as in the track and field kind. The things you find out.

[bcrdukes]

Anyway, Benny's is owned by Italians, yes? I know them. Actually everybody knew them.

So, bcrdukes, if you graduated 7 years ago, was Victor Guy still kicking around?

Yeah, Benny's is Italian. They live around the corner on Princess Ave and I don't think the store is going anywhere anytime soon.

And yes, at the time I was at Brit, Victor Guy was still head of the Arts department. After I graduated, he decided to retire in 2003 or was it 2004? I don't remember. His wife, who taught at Templeton, had cancer so they decided to take it easy and went traveling all over the place. Everything is okay now. He's currently playing in his quartet all over town while running the North Shore Community Band.

[tofu1413]

I always thought it was a track, as in the track and field kind. The things you find out.

yea.. during my work experience week, i drove by there, guys from the park board told me the same thing. it was a mini track of sorts back in the day... hmmm u must go sideways to go fast i guess!

[misteranswer]

They also pay their employees pretty damn well. I can't think of any other job where unskilled labour pays up to 32 with benefits.

That's to deter the formation of a union

[MG1]

He's currently playing in his quartet all over town while running the North Shore Community Band.

So, if you know that much about him, you must be a former band student of his?

[Razor Ramon HG]

That place was damn popular. People always lined up for hours to get in. Damn fine looking ladies.......... and I'm not talking about the hookers in that area.

Damn, my dad worked bar in RoR when he was in his 20s.

[bcrdukes]

So, if you know that much about him, you must be a former band student of his?

Yes, from 97 to 2002. We still talk from time to time.

[MG1]

Off on a tangent here, but I recall watching television on a small black and white TV with rabbit ears when I was a wee little lad. One of my favourite shows was the Bugs Bunny Show - Merrie Melodies. It came on during the hockey games and I remember having to argue with my dad to let me watch cartoons. I hated hockey when I was six years old, because of that. I later started to watch hockey more and more because, well, my dad usually won the arguments. I'm not sure if it was called HNIC back then, but the theme song was still the traditional one. We cheered for the Toronto Maple Leafs, because Montreal was the evil team. Dave Keon was my favourite player. My sister cheered for the Boston Bruins. She had some thing for Phil Esposito (ewww......). Anyway, we watched a lot of local tv shows. One I remember well was a show that starred Peter Rolston - Pete's Place. He became quite popular with the kids and adults. I never knew why, because as a ventriloquist, he sucked. I mean his lips moved so much it didn't make sense to do that act. His puppet was named George, IIRC. George was better than his master, LOL. Aside from his not that great, ventriloquist act, the rest of his act was very entertaining and I looked forward to seeing him on TV and in live appearances at places like Woodwards downtown. Then there was wrestling. It was local and hosted by an old dude named Ron Morrier <sp?>. I still hear that opening tune in my head. More catchy than the HNIC theme song. The wrestlers at that time were, Hawaiian Dean Higuchi (my favourite), Gene Kiniski, Eric Frolic, Bulldog Brown, Dutch Savage, and Kenji Shibuya....... oh and The Iron Shiek, LOL. Those were the good old days. All the good American tv shows were on KVOS channel 12. We got that station when the weather conditions were right. I also remember the French channel. I would sneak out and watch it late at night to try and see some nudie flicks that my friends told me about. The first nude woman I ever saw on the tube was Bridgette Bardot. The movie was in French, but it didn't matter. I totally blame my horn dog ways on TV. It corrupted me. LOL.

[MG1]

Yes, from 97 to 2002. We still talk from time to time.

Was the Brit community band still around when you were in band? If so, was Chuck Currie still playing in it?

I knew Victor since he first moved here from HK. I remember his first wife. They lived in Richmond at the time. Actually, everybody knew/knows Victor Guy. He's so out there. He connects with everybody he meets. He became the band teacher at Brit at the tail end of my stay at Brit.

[SumAznGuy]

Someone told me Mark Donnelly was a former student from Brit.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

[thumper]

another one for richmond residents... before aberdeen became the monster it is now, it used to be a little mini-mall that had a bowling alley in it... i used to go with classmates every friday after school to bowl there.

[?NR]

The Pacific Coliseum was where the Canucks use to play before GM place. Before and after the game, the restaurant across the street was very busy. The building is still there, but is no longer a restaurant. I believe it is some sort of school or something for the challenged people.




If my memory serves me, that restaurant which is now a Christian school was called Uptown Charlies.

[maxx]

You can get Avalon milk in stores still... but not 100% sure which ones. Maybe Buy Low Foods?

ahahaha.. everywhere: Safeway, IGA, BUYLOW, SAVEON, small grocery shops. its the best milk.

[Meowjin]

^after reading what you posted I went to IGA immediatly.

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs280.snc1/10716_127131204332_510689332_2254646_6290424_n.jpg

[maxx]

yah bro, but u gotta get organic with cherry strudels

[InvisibleSoul]

http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/7843/jimmysbeefjerky2zv.jpg

Picture says it all...

[skyxx]

OH SNAP!!! I REMEMBER THOSE!!! I think they are still available....

[Vulcan300]

if anyone knows where to find that beef jerkey, please share.. tasted so good and been looking for those

[SumAznGuy]

if anyone knows where to find that beef jerkey, please share.. been looking for those

Chinatown. Try San Lee.
last store on Pender on the North side, just before Gore st.
Just east of Maxim restaurant.

[skyxx]

if anyone knows where to find that beef jerkey, please share.. tasted so good and been looking for those

Why don't you try "Bee Kim heng" on Fraser and 26th. Awesome Jerky. :)

[sh0n]

awesome thread.

i'm saving this spot for my memories from the past

[Ch28]

Out of the blue, the wife wanted Pizza King tonight so I did a google search for the phone number and found out that they have been around at that location on Broadway since 1984. Wow. And the army/navy surplus store next door with the Gorilla in the rain gear has been there for a while too.

Interesting....

Friend's family owns Pizza King and yeah they've been around for awhile.

[MWR34]

Only decent shot of the Fraser Street Bridge I was able to find...

http://i29.tinypic.com/iwq4xu.jpg

what area was this bridge going from/to?

[MWR34]

http://vancouverisawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/unknown.jpeg
english bay:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/archives/exhibits/images/A02252.JPG
1936, Lions Gate Bridge, $ 1.25 to cross:
http://www.miss604.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/lionsgate-tollbooths.jpg
http://www.miss604.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/lionsgateticket.jpg
World War 2. 1943 Kits beach, Practicing for Pearl Harbour
http://www.jazzstreetvancouver.ca/files/event_files/images/20080515045458_kitsilanowargamesCVA1184-3496.jpg
False Creek:
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archives/PHOTOS/CVA677/A46301.JPG
Granville @ Robson 1980's:
http://www.nonstopdesign.com/fredherzog/Granville_Street.jpg

[Senna4ever]

Westwood Racetrack!!!!

[Senna4ever]

Granville @ Robson 1980's:
http://www.nonstopdesign.com/fredherzog/Granville_Street.jpg
No way that was in the 80's. The cars are too old, and the buses were the BC Hydro green, white and blue colour scheme in the 80's, I'm sure. That is a picture by Fred Herzog taken in the 50's or 60's.

[MG1]

I remember that White Lunch sign. The people on the outside spun around the cup. Those one way signs are classic.

[SumAznGuy]

No way that was in the 80's. The cars are too old, and the buses were the BC Hydro green, white and blue colour scheme in the 80's, I'm sure. That is a picture by Fred Herzog taken in the 50's or 60's.

In the picture, that bug is either a late 50's or early 60's model. Earlier bugs had the "dual" oval windows and the later ones had a different rear bumper.

The olive coloured busses were the BC Electric company buses that ran from August 16 1948 to January 14 1984.
http://www.translink.ca/en/About-TransLink/Media/2003/January/TransLink-issues-RFP-for-North-Americas-largest-trolley-bus-purchase.aspx

It was on these buses that had the swing door at the top of the rear stairs to keep people out of the stairway while the bus was moving.

[tonyzoomzoom]

I remember going to Ming's for chinese food.

And the pic of Pender street has the cars going one way in the opposite direction than today (westbound rather then eastbound).

[shenmecar]

what area was this bridge going from/to?

I posted this on page 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge

The [Knight Street] bridge was built to replace an obsolete span linking the south end of Fraser Street with No. 5 Road in Richmond via Mitchell Island. The Fraser Street Bridge was a through truss built in 1905 with a swing span on the northern side of Mitchell Island. The channel was difficult to navigate, making collisions with ships and barges routine. The height of the Knight Street bridge alleviated this problem and the Fraser Street Bridge was dismantled.