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Helen 'The Swinging Girl' Neon Sign
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark591
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- Commercial building.
- Associated Dates
- 1956
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear Sign
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear Sign
- Geographic Access
- Hastings Street
- Associated Dates
- 1956
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 12771
- Enactment Date
- 19/04/2010
- Description
- Commercial building.
- Heritage Value
- While the building here is of some importance as the former North Burnaby municipal office, its primary importance is its delightful neon sign that has become a North Burnaby landmark. Helen Arnold opened Helen’s Childrens Wear shop in the building next door to the old Municipal offices in 1948. In 1955, when North Burnaby moved out, she moved into the vacated building. As part of the renovations, Helen enlisted the assistance of her good friend Jimmy Wallace, owner of Vancouver’s Wallace Neon Company, to create a new sign for her expanded business. One of the company’s designers, Reeve Lehman, created the swinging neon girl that was installed in 1956. Designed in two parts, one section of the sign is cloud shaped and reads ‘Helen’s’ while the other section is a moving representation of a little girl on a swing. The sign is nine feet six inches high and nine feet wide, and the lower section is animated with an internal motor and gears. It immediately became a landmark on Hastings Street, and recently the sign’s design fame has spread far and wide as one of the best surviving examples of kinetic neon art in North America.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Willingdon Heights Area
- Community
- Burnaby
- Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear
- Street Address
- 4142 Hastings Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Images
![Children playing in a classroom, [between 1957 and 1968] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/246-006.jpg?width=280)
Children playing in a classroom
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription52966
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1957 and 1968]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. ; 7.5 x 7.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a classroom full of kindergartners all making paper hats with the help of their teacher at the Tinkerbell Cooperative Kindergarten.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1957 and 1968]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Tinkerbell Kindergarten subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. ; 7.5 x 7.5 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 246-006
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS1990-12
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a classroom full of kindergartners all making paper hats with the help of their teacher at the Tinkerbell Cooperative Kindergarten.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Geographic Access
- Ellesmere Avenue
- Hastings Street
- Street Address
- 300 Ellesmere Avenue North
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Capitol Hill (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Capitol Hill Area
Images
![Children playing in a classroom, [between 1957 and 1968] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/246-006.jpg)
![Students working in clay, [between 1957 and 1968] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/246-002.jpg?width=280)
Students working in clay
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription52962
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1957 and 1968]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 7.5 x 7.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of two students working in clay at the Tinkerbell Cooperative Kindergarten. The two girls are wearing short-sleeved patterned dresses and have their hair in ringlets. They are both using rollers to flatten out their clay before they begin shaping it.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1957 and 1968]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Tinkerbell Kindergarten subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 7.5 x 7.5 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 246-002
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS1990-12
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of two students working in clay at the Tinkerbell Cooperative Kindergarten. The two girls are wearing short-sleeved patterned dresses and have their hair in ringlets. They are both using rollers to flatten out their clay before they begin shaping it.
- Subjects
- Buildings - Schools
- Crafts
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Geographic Access
- Ellesmere Avenue
- Hastings Street
- Street Address
- 300 Ellesmere Avenue North
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Capitol Hill (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Capitol Hill Area
Images
![Students working in clay, [between 1957 and 1968] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/246-002.jpg)