Comments on: Vancouver’s Store Windows – an Essay in Photos

By: e.a.f.

e.a.f. — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:39:51 +0000

Thank you for the post. Loved the pictures. The picture with the title on the out side of the shop, I remember buildings like that. The hat shop on, yes they had those also and the area where the Stanley was had a lot of higher end women’s clothing shops. It was fun to walk and window shop on that section. The areas in downtown, remember many of the store fronts. You’d walk on Hastings Street from Eatons to Woodwards and you’d pass Sweet 16. Across the street from Sweet 16 was a cafeteria style coffee shop. Don’t remember the name of it but it was there for a long time. I can remember going with the parental units grocery shopping at Woodwards food floor and yes those Christmas windows were amazing. I loved them and still do. We’d be in the area every two weeks on Friday after work, from about 1956 until Oakridge was built. As a teenager I remember going on the bus to the Army & Navy to buy clothes. They had such good deals. Camping equipment was also a good buy there and their fishing rods. Some of the old buildings in the area were great.

By: Jake Reynolds

Jake Reynolds — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 22:00:12 +0000

My auld man was born in cache creek in ‘18, his family moved to Vancouver in the late ‘20, he went to auld Dawson school of which I have a class picture of him in front of the school, I also have a picture of him and my uncle in the mid ‘30s at Oppenheimer park, this pic is at the southeast corner of east Cordova and Jackson and you see three houses that are still there today, your mention of blood alley reminded me of a place on Powell between Jackson and heatley that was monikered with a name like bloody den or blood house from it’s reputation as a booze den and a place where fights and blood letting were commonplace, even though we lived in Burnaby from ‘50 to ‘08 I would go into this area by bus by myself in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s which was a lot of fun with pool halls, eateries and tattoo shops that a young teen could “window shop” and enjoy.

By: Sherry Hunter-Yzerman

Sherry Hunter-Yzerman — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 15:21:16 +0000

I really enjoyed this
For decades – esoecially during tough economic times- window shopping was a must for people and was something that people thoroughly enjoyed. I miss the big Dept Store window displays we used to have. And if course loved the Woodward’s Christmas windows each yeat!!

By: Loretta Houben

Loretta Houben — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 14:55:19 +0000

I enjoyed this a lot! I can’t imagine walking slowly down streets and staring at window displays. It seems like a lot of fun! I do recall the Woodward’s Christmas windows in 1979, when I worked downtown, and I took a few photos of them as they were “old-timey” style. I’m glad someone thought to save their displays and set them up again each year near the cruise ship terminals downtown. Thanks for this post.