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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
![3951 and 3953 Hastings Street, [1965] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/316/366-014.jpg?width=280)
3951 and 3953 Hastings Street
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription37385
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1965]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w negative
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the buildings at 3951 and 3953 Hastings Street. A number of business signs are visible including "Paulettes Beauty Salon" and "Norburn Secondhand Store."
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1965]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Municipal record subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w negative
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 366-014
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS1998-12
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the buildings at 3951 and 3953 Hastings Street. A number of business signs are visible including "Paulettes Beauty Salon" and "Norburn Secondhand Store."
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Geographic Access
- Hastings Street
- Street Address
- 3953 Hastings Street
- 3951 Hastings Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
Images
![3951 and 3953 Hastings Street, [1965] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/316/366-014.jpg)
![Jubilee Avenue, [192-] (date of original), copied 1986 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/126/187-002.jpg?width=280)
Jubilee Avenue
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription35069
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [192-] (date of original), copied 1986
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 11.4 x 7.1 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of stores on Jubilee Avenue looking north from Imperial Street (later the location of Bonsor Park, 6550 Bonsor Avenue). Signs visible read; "Jubilee Drug Store," "Drugs," "Jubilee [Mercantile?] Co. / Groceries," "Nabob Tea," and "[Carvers or Corvers]." An accompanying description in the…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [192-] (date of original), copied 1986
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Heyworth family subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 11.4 x 7.1 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 187-002
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1986-38
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of stores on Jubilee Avenue looking north from Imperial Street (later the location of Bonsor Park, 6550 Bonsor Avenue). Signs visible read; "Jubilee Drug Store," "Drugs," "Jubilee [Mercantile?] Co. / Groceries," "Nabob Tea," and "[Carvers or Corvers]." An accompanying description in the accession file states that a man named Pat Flannagan ran the grocery.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Stamp on verso of photograph reads: "5272"
- Geographic Access
- Jubilee Avenue
- Bonsor Avenue
- Street Address
- 6550 Bonsor Avenue
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Marlborough Area
Images
![Jubilee Avenue, [192-] (date of original), copied 1986 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/126/187-002.jpg)