With the school year starting up, many of us may be in the midst of stocking up on stationery supplies, or various bits of required tech.
If you were stocking up in the late 1800s in Vancouver, you might just be doing your shopping at Clarke & Stuart. The company was established in 1894 by Harold Curtis Clarke and J. Duff Stuart, originally from New Brunswick and Scotland respectively.
Not only did their company sell stationery supplies and books, but they also sold sporting goods, sheet music, and musical instruments, and were the exclusive agent for Heintzman piano, the Thomas organ, and the Smith Premier Typewriter in British Columbia at the time.
Clarke & Stuart began operations at 11 Cordova St. As the business grew, it eventually moved to 411 W Hastings St, then 320 Seymour St, and finally to 550 Seymour St. In 1945, the company was sold to the Winnipeg- based H.L. Willson Company.
Interested in finding more archival photographs of Vancouver? Search the City of Vancouver Archives’ online database. For more information about the Archives, its holdings, and how to research, visit the Archives’ website.
