"Helen's Childrens Wear" found 3 records

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.

1 image

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.

Subjects: Advertising Medium - Signs and Signboards

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

Hastings Street, October, 1976 thumbnail

neon sign

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact86079

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: BV016.18.2

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: BV016.18.2

Description: Eagle Ford neon sign. It is a large double-sided hollow sheet metal sign measuring 13.3 feet tall and 8.9 feet wide. The sheet metal and structure of the sign retains most of the eagle's original painted image, including the dramatic wings with their blue and white feather pattern.

Object History: Eagle Motors Limited was established by the well-known Burnaby businessman Frank McCracken at 4161 Hastings Street in 1948. The car dealership became a successful local Heights business and was the largest Ford car and truck retailer in the province during its operation. The company had adopted the silhouette of the classic Bald Eagle in full flight to serve as a logo which was utilized in advertising and promotional materials. The eagle symbol was famously developed into a classic chrome badge with the name "Eagle Ford - Burnaby, BC" that was installed on all the Eagle Ford cars and trucks sold by the dealership. After a new showroom building was constructed on the site in 1950, the company commissioned Neon Products of Vancouver to manufacture a very large double-sided neon eagle. Typical of neon signs of the era, the eagle was painted with dramatic designs and bright primary colours on metal with blue, white, and gold neon tubing serving to highlight the outline of the eagle.; The "Burnaby Eagle" sign immediately became a landmark on the Burnaby Heights business district. From its high perch atop the dealership building, located at Carleton Street, the Burnaby Eagle shared the night sky with other nearby classic neon signs of the era including the "Swinging Girl" sign of the Helen's Children's Wear store. Eagle Motors was a successful dealership until the recession of the 1980s, and in 1985 the business was closed. Vandalism on the site resulted in damage to the neon tubing of the sign before the leased sign was reclaimed by its owner, Neon Products Limited. The sign was obtained by a local collector, who carefully looked after it for 25 years. In 2012, the sign was sold to the City of Burnaby.; The sign will be restored and installed near its original location on Hastings Street in 2024.

Reference: Community Heritage Commission report to Council, September 17, 2012.

Measurements: Height: 14 ft. Width: 9 ft. Thickness: 14 in.

Subjects: Advertising Medium - Signs and Signboards

Historic Neighbourhood: Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Heights Area

Images

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

3 images

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.