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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
Hastings Street
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription79985
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- October, 1976
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Public Library Contemporary Visual Archive Project
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 11 x 16 cm mounted on cardboard
- Scope and Content
- Photograph shows shoppers walking down the 4100 Block of Hastings Street. The Helen's "swinging girl" sign can be seen in the background, along with numerous other signs advertising the businesses in the area.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- October, 1976
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Public Library Contemporary Visual Archive Project
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 11 x 16 cm mounted on cardboard
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 556-541
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- 2013-13
- Scope and Content
- Photograph shows shoppers walking down the 4100 Block of Hastings Street. The Helen's "swinging girl" sign can be seen in the background, along with numerous other signs advertising the businesses in the area.
- Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Cook, Alan
- Notes
- Scope note taken directly from BPL photograph description.
- 1 b&w copy negative : 10 x 12.5 cm accompanying
- Geographic Access
- Hastings Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Willingdon Heights Area
Images
