Last Sunday, when Fatidjah Nestman looked out of her high-rise on West 13th she noticed that an old painted ad for White’s Grocery had popped up when construction workers removed the cement siding from a building on Granville Street. Her neighbor, Karen Fiorini, took this picture of the ghost sign and kindly sent it to me.
“I wonder how old this is?” Nestman wrote. “The phone number Bay 433 predates the ‘60s.”
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
It certainly does.
White’s Grocery, a neighborhood store, was at 2932 Granville from 1915, when the building first appears in the city directories, until 1931. It was owned by Thomas and Mary White, who also lived nearby on 13th Avenue.
In 1932, the Whites moved their grocery store to a new building in the next block at #3039, and their former store became Treasures and Oriental Goods, owned and operated by a Mrs. Clark who lived in an apartment above. Mrs. Clark ran the store until 1950 when it changed to D’Arcy’s photography studio.
In 2018, the ground floor retail store at 2932 Granville belongs to Lord’s–shoes, clothing and accessories, and wedged between a women’s clothing boutique and a lingerie shop. The four apartments with the big bay windows, look empty.
On Monday, Fatidjah sent me this message: “Good thing we got the photo yesterday, today they are nailing siding over it,” she said. “It was a dream, now it’s gone, I wonder if the workers took any photos?”
I highly doubt it. But I guess that’s why they’re called ghost signs, because of their ephemeral existence.
Most of the ghost signs that have appeared, seem to be from the 1920s and ’30s. Other signs that have popped up include Rennie Seeds in False Creek, Shelly’s Bakery on Victoria Drive, Moneys Mushrooms on Prior Street, Wildrose Flower in Chinatown and Royal Crown Soap on the London Hotel on East Georgia and Main Street.
For more on ghost signs see Lani Russwurm’s great piece at Past Tense Vancouver
And, if you know of any others currently standing, please send me a photo and location!
- We’ll continue our ride along the North Shore’s Spirit Trail in November
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6 comments on “Ghost Signs: White’s Grocery of South Granville”
I would love to see a community restoration project taken on with the visible sign still around town. It’s a wonderful look at the roots of our community – may be a great idea for a walking tour!
That’s a great idea. Problem is trying to catch them while they’re still here, and convincing building owners that they are worth saving.
Growing up in North Vancouver, downtown was an adventure of sorts complete with iconic signs in neon and paint. We all remember Bow-Mack on Broadway but my personal favourite could only be seen when travelling south on Granville before one got on the Granville bridge. It was high on a brick sided structure and about 16 ft in diameter proclaiming ‘KIK Cola’.
Similar to the Pepsi logo, it towered over downtown for years like a pinned up place label but, by the time I noticed it, 1958, the product was not generally available and I’ve never seen a bottle since.
It would be interesting to learn about the product and the story behind the sign that was remarkably well placed and that outlived the brand by 5 or 6 decades.
Seeing that top photo made me cry. I grew up in that apartment at 2930 Granville. My mom was renovicted from there in 2016. She had been there since before I was born. It was the only childhood home I knew and I miss it. Thank you for providing a bit of history and appreciation to a place so dear to me. I still live in the neighbourhood and have had to watch them turn our home into new fancy apartments only affordable to the mega-rich like so many other Vancouverites who have lost their homes under similar circumstances.
There are lots of old signs in New Westminster. I hope to photograph the old signage one day on the highway 10 barn near hwy 99.
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