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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
![Aerial View of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive, [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication) thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0040_0001_001.jpg?width=280)
Aerial View of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4296
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication)
- Collection/Fonds
- Herbert Yee Law family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (jpg) : b&w
- Scope and Content
- Photograph is an aerial view looking south over the Chinese Market Gardens along Marine Drive in the Big Bend area of Burnaby.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Herbert Yee Law family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (jpg) : b&w
- Scope and Content
- Photograph is an aerial view looking south over the Chinese Market Gardens along Marine Drive in the Big Bend area of Burnaby.
- Names
- Chinese Market Gardens
- Geographic Access
- Marine Drive
- Accession Code
- BV017.40.1
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication)
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Fraser Arm (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Big Bend Area
- Scan Resolution
- 600
- Scan Date
- 11/19/2017
- Scale
- 100
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph.
Images
![Aerial View of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive, [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication) thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0040_0001_001.jpg)
![Planning Map of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive, [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication) thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0040_0002_001.jpg?width=280)
Planning Map of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4297
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication)
- Collection/Fonds
- Herbert Yee Law family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : col. ; 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Scanned copy of a survey plan of district lots 163, 162, 157, 158, and 165, near the Chinese Market Gardens along Marine Drive.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Herbert Yee Law family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : col. ; 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Scanned copy of a survey plan of district lots 163, 162, 157, 158, and 165, near the Chinese Market Gardens along Marine Drive.
- History
- Survey plan of district lots 163, 162, 157, 158, and 165, which is primarily the area farmed by Chinese and Chinese-Canadian market gardeners around Marine Drive between Royal Oak and Mandeville (present-day Nelson). Two Chinese/Chinese Canadian land owners can be seen on the map: N.G. Wah Sing (or Ng Wah Sing) and Yee Law (or Herbert Law).
- Geographic Access
- Marine Drive
- Accession Code
- BV017.40.2
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication)
- Media Type
- Cartographic Material
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Fraser Arm (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Big Bend Area
- Scan Resolution
- 300
- Scan Date
- 11/19/2017
- Scale
- 100
- Notes
- Title based on contents of copy scan of map
- Herbert Yee Law was donor's father and this map may have originally been his copy of the city planning/engineering documents.
Images
![Planning Map of Chinese Market Gardens on Marine Drive, [between 1950 and 1959] (date of original), 2017 (date of duplication) thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2017/2017_0040_0002_001.jpg)