Browsing “Our History”

From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.

Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.

Here are some thoughts from one of the subjects of this 1954 photo:
“Evening downtown, heading to dinner out with relatives. Penciled number on back of 54627G and Foncies’s stamp.” – John

This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people… so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.

We’re sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents’ and grandparents’ archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!

From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.

Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.

Here are some thoughts from one of the subjects of this photo:
“My dad was attending Fruit Growers meetings and I stayed with my parents at the Georgia Hotel. My dad and I were walking along Granville Street, whistling.” – Mary

This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people… so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.

We’re sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents’ and grandparents’ archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!

From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.

Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.

Here are some thoughts from one of the subjects of this photo:
“Dad and I at the PNE.”

This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people… so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.

We’re sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents’ and grandparents’ archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!

Vancouver Heritage Foundation is a registered charity supporting the conservation of heritage buildings and structures in recognition of their contribution to the city’s economy, sustainability and culture.

Vancouver Heritage Foundation‘s 2013  Heritage House Tour is coming up in two weeks and we’re giving you the inside scoop on some unique sites opening on tour this year! The tour is on June 2nd from 10am-5pm. One of the more interesting sites on this year’s tour is a 1906 Japanese tenement, now converted into Single-Room Accomodation (SRA’s). Volunteers from the Nikkei National Museum, the Vancouver Japanese Language School and James Johnstone, House Historian, will be on site to answer historical questions about the site which has a very intriguing history! From a tenement for Japanese workers, to a possible (unconfirmed) stint as a brothel, to its current use as an SRA, this building holds a wealth of Vancouver history. It will be open only in the morning (10am – 1:30pm) during the tour, so if you want to get inside, make sure you get there early.

If you fancy a lunch stop, the Vancouver Japanese Language School at 487 Alexander St will be open from 11am-2pm offering a delicious bento (udon noodles, Japanese side dishes and dessert) for $10. They will also offer 15 minute building tours, highlighting the heritage daycare renovation of the 1928 Hall. Tours begin every 1/2 hour.

So who was Yonekichi Aoki? From the 1901 census, Yonekichi Aoki (1861- 1940) immigrated in 1896.  His wife Suye (1877-1931) came in 1897.  They had at least one son, George Tameo Aoki who married Kiyo in 1929. (He went to get his bride in Japan and brought her back to Canada). There was an Aoki still living at the buildings address in 1941, before the forced expulsion of all Japanese Canadians from the Coast in 1942. There are two large biographies of Yonekichi Aoki and the Nikkei National Museum Archives will have them on display at the Heritage House Tour in translation!

The tenement building was typical of those built by early Japanese settlers in Vancouver. Aoki started logging in 1895 at Indian River and like many, worked at the Hastings Sawmill on Burrard Inlet at the foot of Dunlevy. From the late 1800s to World War II, Alexander Steet was part of the bustling Japantown district centred on Powell Street.  In 2006,the tenement become Ross House, a privately owned Single Room Accommodation (SRA). A tribute to the owner’s son who died of a drug overdose in 2000, the house has 24 rented rooms and much of the original 1906  building still remains including fir floors, tongue and groove panelling in the hallway, and the ghost lines of many doors that lead to speculation that it may at one time have been part of the Alexander Street red light district. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.

Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.

Here are some thoughts from the mother and wife of the subjects of this 1954 photo:
“My husband Eddie is shown here taking our first born daughter, Robbyn Anne, about 5 years old, for a walk. She is wearing a coat that my mother-in-law bought from Woodward’s. It was red with a black collar. Eddie and Robbyn are probably on a shopping trip of some kind. We lived on the North Shore and it would have been a real treat for her Dad to take her shopping downtown. They probably would have driven into town in our blue Roadster. We all grew up in West Vancouver where my dad was one of the first milkmen.”

This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people… so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.

We’re sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents’ and grandparents’ archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!

From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.

Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.

Norm Duplissie (18) with friend (unknown) going to a movie on Granville.

This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people… so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.

We’re sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents’ and grandparents’ archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!