When Vancouver Had Soul: Fred Herzog's "Vancouver Colour"

[Prometheus]

Witness the grit, soul and funk of 1950's Vancouver as caught by the genius of Fred Herzog's lens:

[Note: a small number of the photographs appear to be of locations other than Vancouver]

Maximizing the screen is a must!

• Video Link

[delboy]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Witness the grit, soul and funk of 1950's Vancouver as caught by the genius of Fred Herzog's lens:

[Note: a small number of the photographs appear to be of locations other than Vancouver]

Maximizing the screen is a must!

• Video Link

Interesting. Funny though how we tend to romance bygone eras and replace words like dilapidated, depressing, and tired with words like gritty, edgey etc.

[Yume-sama]

lol most of that looks poor, dilapidated, and depressing. If you're looking for that kind of soul, look no farther than the DTES.

Or Detroit.

[whatnext]

Keep in mind many of those images were taken in what is now the DTES, or Chinatown.

Seeing Granville makes you realize how much fantastic neon we've lost.

[Rusty Gull]

I was surprised how many of those photos were -not- taken in the DTES.

The downtown core (not including DTES) seemed like a much more interesting place than it is today.

Brilliant photo-essay.

Where were those waterfront shanty villages at the beginning? Dollarton? Coal Harbour? That was impressive.

[entheosfog]

Some of those shots of Strathcona sure paint a different picture than it is today. That's one area that is way better off now than then. I think Vancouver is a much better city now in general than it was in those photos, but it's too bad that many of those neon signs and a few standout heritage buildings were lost along the way. But man, I'd love to go back and see what the city was like, camera in hand...

[Stingray2004]

Huh. At 5:04 one can see the old White Spot outdoor car-hop/ coffee shop, which was situate on a good chunk of land on Burrard just south of Robson. I believe that it remained there until the late 1970's.

And yeah, parts of Strathcona in 1966 looked like today's Detroit. No wonder the city had plans to punch a freeway eastward through there in the late 1960's.

Here's East Georgia St. and Dunlevy in 1966:



Source: http://www.frieze.com/uploads/images/middle/jeffwall.jpg

[Distill3d]

Wow did Vancouver ever look like a depressing Ghetto outside of downtown during that time. It just looked dirty.

When did we change our tone? In the 80's? Whatever happened to all that neon on Granville anyways? That would be something else to see now.

[giallo]

My mom grew up in East Vancouver back in the 50's/60's, and even then there were places you just didn't go. She hated Vancouver for most of my childhood (I grew up in Kelowna), but has now embraced the city like never before.

These pictures show the side of the city she obviously grew up around. I guess the Okanagan must have felt like paradise in comparison.

[renthefinn]

ok, so it looks a little derelict, but old cars makes the picture beautiful to me....

[renthefinn]

and to add.. very nice photo essay, I really loved it all, grit is cool in historical reference

[delboy]

wow. I know Vancouver pines for anything that hints of history, but beyond some neat neon, vancouver was a shithole, unless one aspires to run down wooden shacks and derlict autos.

Don't get me wrong I love a look at the past as much as the next guy, but I'm glad I'm not living in that era. Looks largely like a bad area of east van on a good day.

I understand know why the city wanted to level the place the during the 60's.

[touraccuracy]

we mostly all grown up in a super clean, prosperous, sanitized, boring city. of course we pine for this.

[EastVanMark]

Downown Vancouver had more life and excitement in it back then than today's sleepy version does with 1/4 the population

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by entheosfog

Some of those shots of Strathcona sure paint a different picture than it is today. That's one area that is way better off now than then. I think Vancouver is a much better city now in general than it was in those photos, but it's too bad that many of those neon signs and a few standout heritage buildings were lost along the way. But man, I'd love to go back and see what the city was like, camera in hand...

Ditto, I would love to visit all eras, 50's upward.

Not only Vancouver but other cities too.

Beautiful pictures, and I like the way some kids dressed then, much better then most today with "tapout, Ed hardy" and all that shit.

[squeezied]

Wow I'm glad Vancouver turned out to be "Vancouver" and not Detroit.

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by Distill3d

Whatever happened to all that neon on Granville anyways?

What happened to all of our beautiful neon was that a group of nimby a-holes decided that neon was the symbol of everything unholy (and the direct cause of every nefarious act in this city; with my personal best being one old lady saying that neon lights drove men to drink, gamble, and hire the services of prostitutes ) in this city and made it a personal crusade to impose their views on the rest of us. A practice that has not only survived in this city; but thrived ever since then.


Vancouver was once home to the second most neon signs in North America at one time. It's an absolute disgrace what the city did to one of the greatest things ever to be seen in this city.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by delboy

wow. I know Vancouver pines for anything that hints of history, but beyond some neat neon, vancouver was a shithole, unless one aspires to run down wooden shacks and derlict autos.

Don't get me wrong I love a look at the past as much as the next guy, but I'm glad I'm not living in that era. Looks largely like a bad area of east van on a good day.

I understand know why the city wanted to level the place the during the 60's.

Vancouver was small city, largely bungalows with neatly trimmed lawns and gardens with a thriving downtown. Hardly a "shithole".

Of course once could visit Abandoned Britain and conclude from those photos that whole country was a rotting cesspool.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by squeezied

Wow I'm glad Vancouver turned out to be "Vancouver" and not Detroit.

lol yes. It's funny how we "long" for the old days, but would never want ourselves or our children to have to live like those people did.

Even I find myself at times rather nostalgic about my near poverty upbringing~ Wouldn't want to go back, though

[delboy]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Vancouver was small city, largely bungalows with neatly trimmed lawns and gardens with a thriving downtown. Hardly a "shithole".

Of course once could visit Abandoned Britain and conclude from those photos that whole country was a rotting cesspool.

Of course i was generalizing, but Vancouver of the 50 s, 60 s and 70s was not a wealthy place and was plauged by social issues and poverty. The west side of the city certianly did (and still does) have nice hoods. But the focus was on the downtown, west side and East Hastings, from what I could recognise, thus my comments.

It is common knowledge that many homes what made up the west end, were slum infested rooming houses, many had to be condemned for health reasons. We like to romance by gone times as somehow better, it's not always the case as much as what a few artistically taken photos may suggest.

As for Britain, grew up there thanks, in some of the worse areas of Manchester and Glasgow.