CITY TURNS THE BIG 5-0
Vancouver turned 50 years old in 1936, so the city decided to throw a big party from July 1 to Sept. 7.
To kick things off, the city had Bullman Brothers produce a giant Golden Jubilee poster that was 24 inches wide by 36 inches deep.
It’s a classic, touting “a joyous festival of gaiety, carnival and pageantry,” with “spectacular fetes of sea, air and land,” along with “melody, drama, (and) historic scenes re-invoked before you.”
Eighty-two years later, it’s still an eye-catcher.
The poster features oval portraits of Queen Victoria and King Edward VIII. Victoria was the monarch when the city was incorporated in 1886; Edward in 1936. There are also a dozen vignettes showing some of the attractions during the “10 weeks of splendour, revelry and fun.”
Many were historic, such as “the gold rush re-enacted,” “primitive Indian ceremonies” and the “arrival of the first train.” Capt. George Vancouver’s visit to Burrard Inlet in 1792 was commemorated as “historical pageantry.”
Other vignettes promised “pyrotechnic displays,” “giant outdoor symphonies” and “searchlight tattoos” from ships in the harbour.
The “water-sports-championships” illustration featured 1930s speedboats clipping across the water in front of freighters, while a scene from a “Trans-Canada Air Race” featured a couple of planes soaring over the mountains, in front of the sun’s brilliant rays.
The oddest vignette is “pastoral dramas,” which features a lovely blond woman hugging a man with a donkey ’s head who looks bummed.
Several reporters were perplexed about what this referred to — Nick Eagland joked it was some kind of death-metal deal, Doug Todd thought it had something to do with fertility. Then librarian Carolyn Soltau pointed out that it was a scene from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The city must have printed a ton of posters, because you still see them from time to time at antique shows. They usually sell for about $50.
Vancouver was in the middle of the Great Depression at the time, and the idea of having a celebration was popular. On July 2, 1936, The Vancouver Sun reported that 100,000 people witnessed the jubilee’s opening on Canada Day, when metropolitan Vancouver had about 350,000 residents.
Never a newspaper to shy from civic hype, The Sun headlined that the opening was the “Greatest Event in City’s History.” Many of the celebrations were in Stanley Park, where 40,000-50,000 people ringed Lost Lagoon to see the dedication of the jubilee fountain.
Oops, make that the “great electric fountain in Lost Lagoon,” an attraction that was “kaleidoscopic in its ever-changing light effects.”
Vancouver was building its art deco city hall at the time, and mayor Gerry McGeer laid the cornerstone of the structure in a ceremony that drew 2,000 people. The building ’s architect, F.L. Townley, handed McGeer a golden trowel to smooth the mortar for the cornerstone.
For some reason, federal Conservative leader R.B. Bennett was on hand for the ceremony.
Bennett had been Canada’s prime minister from 1930-35, but his hands-off approach to the economy during the economic depression was unpopular: in the 1935 election, the Tories were trounced by Mackenzie King’s Liberals 171 seats to 39.
Still, Bennett came to Vancouver for the Jubilee opening, King didn’t. Bennett dubbed the new city hall “the guardian watchtower of your city.”
The ceremony ended with the assembled multitude singing God Save the King.
Events continued every day around the metro area. On July 3, Old 371, “the wood-burning locomotive that hauled the first train in Port Moody 50 years ago” arrived at the Port Moody station in a reenactment of the first coast-tocoast train on July 4, 1886. (The first train to reach Vancouver didn’t arrive until May 23, 1887.)
Still, the centre of the celebrations was Brockton Point. On July 4, there was a “great historical pageant at night,” along with a “quaint Chinese Tea Garden and Indian Pageantry exhibit.” There was also a performance by the Bach Choir at Malkin Bowl, and live vaudeville at Lumbermen’s Arch, followed by a fireworks display.
Admission was 25 cents for adults, 10 cents for children.
Never a newspaper to shy from civic hype, The Sun headlined that the opening was the ‘Greatest Event in City’s History.’