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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
Calendar
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact90316
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV020.8.14
- Description
- A Childhood Safety Calendar from Helen's Children's Wear from 1966. The front page of the calendar has a airbrushed image of a small girl smiling with blue eyes. She has a headband with silver pom-poms. She is holding a doll with a red hat and braids. The first two pages of the calendar are entitled "Children's Safety Diary. Each month of the calendar has a different image of a child. The back page has a reading entitled "Safety: Your Child's Most Important Lesson!"
- Object History
- Helen's Children's Wear was a popular and well known shop in Burnaby
- Helen's Children's Wear was located at 4142 Hastings Street. Owner Helen Arnold opened the store on East Hastings Street in 1948. She moved to the 4142 Hastings Street location in 1955, and added a landmark neon sign to the building in 1956. The sign featured a girl on a swing, and served as an important landmark in the neighbourhood. The store closed in 2007.
- Category
- 08. Communication Artifacts
- Classification
- Documentary Artifacts - - Other Documents
- Object Term
- Calendar
- Marks/Labels
- Helen's Children's Wear Specializing in Brand Name Merchandise 4142 E Hastings Street, North Burnaby, BC
- Measurements
- 21 cm l x 17cm h
- Country Made
- United States of America
- Title
- Childhood Safety Calendar
- Publication Date
- 1966
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area