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.

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.

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.

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

They had that reputation well into the 90s

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.

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.

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.

I remember that location being a Lumberland.

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.

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

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 :(

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.

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..... :(

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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

all these historic places..


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

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.

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.