THEN & NOW
/A ROBSON STREET MEMOIR
by Daryl Nelson
(click on images to enlarge)
In 1969 I was working in the Display Department at the Eaton’s store on Hastings Street. I clearly remember staff commenting on the loss of affordable housing from West End houses that were slated to be torn down to build high-rises. In those days, many people who worked in downtown offices and stores lived in the West End. It was affordable and convenient.
The busy section of Robson at Burrard has been like that for decades. Here, Murchie’s Tea, Gilbert Hardware and the Salamander Shoe Store show up along the 1000 block of Robson circa 1970. (City of Vancouver Archives Photos)
Part of the appeal was that Robson Street was on their way home from work, especially upper Robson from Burrard to Jervis. In the 1970’s there was a plethora of shops there that West Enders would regularly patronize.
Who could forget Murchie’s Tea & Coffee with its fan above the door venting out the aroma of fresh ground coffee to the street? It was catnip to coffee lovers. And all those German restaurants and delicatessens which gave rise to the sobriquet “Robsonstrasse”. Of course, there was European News, which was the best place in Vancouver to find almost any newspaper or magazines you could think of.
I doubt anyone can forget the “Egg & Cheese Man” with his line up of customers bringing back their empty egg cartons for a discount, at a time long before recycling became popular. He also sold bird seed. There were also grocery stores like The Old Country Bakery and Olympia Fish Store -- which was a favourite of my mother. Galloway’s was there too, selling bulk foods. And remember Happy Feet Shoes & Repairs?
I could go on, but you get the picture. These were mostly small businesses that provided needed services and goods to West Enders – but unfortunately it would end.
The 1000 block of Robson Street at night in 1973, featuring the (bottom of the sign for the) Schnitzel House, the Danish Tea Room and the Gem House.
At some point someone at City Hall decided that we needed a “fashion street”. Around this time Royal Centre Mall was opened as a “fashion mall”, with Zsa Zsa Gabor hired to officiate at the grand opening. But the question is -- a fashion street and fashion mall for who? Vancouver is known for its west coast casual vibe where something in fleece from Mountain Equipment Coop is considered to be fashion. I suspect the word “fashion” was just used as a euphemism for “tourist” – easier to sell to unsuspecting West Enders. Alberni Street does not pretend to be anything other than a tourist street for the two percent.
So now we are left with a street, with the possible exception of London Drugs, which offers little to West Enders in terms of the provisions for every day living. Pity. Sometimes I walk down Robson Street and remember what it was like and wish I could smell Murchie’s coffee again, or take my shoes into a repair shop. The difference between then and now isn’t always progress.
