Narrow Results By
Interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription20285
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1905-2023] (interview content), interviewed 25 Sep. 2023
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recordings (wav) (121min., 14 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (121 min., 13 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher Denise Fong on September 25, 2023. The interview is divided into four sections: early life of Harry Toy, the Canada Way Food Market, the Fraser M…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Subseries
- Many Voices Project Interviews subseries
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recordings (wav) (121min., 14 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (121 min., 13 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Denise Fong Interviewees: Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy Location of Interview: Residence of Harry Toy Interview Date: September 25, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 02:01:13 Digital master recording (wav) was converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher Denise Fong on September 25, 2023. The interview is divided into four sections: early life of Harry Toy, the Canada Way Food Market, the Fraser Merchants’ Association and Harry's daughters, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy's memories of growing up in Burnaby. 00:00:00 – 00:23:53 Harry Toy shares biographical information about himself and his ancestors. Harry provides information about his migration to Canada and his life in Manitoba, attending school, working at the family restaurant and teaching high school. 00:23:53 – 00:41:16 Harry talks about moving his family to Burnaby and his experiences owning and operating the Canada Way Food Market. 00:41:17 – 00:54:19 Harry talks about his involvement with the Fraser Merchants Association (FMA) and provides some history about the organization. 00:54:20 – 1:22:44 Harry talks about running the Canada Way Food Market and the alterations that he made to the store over the years. Harry and his daughters comment as they look through photographs of Harry and his store and the Fraser Merchants Association. 1:22:45 – 2:01:14 Beverley and Christina talk about their early childhood in Manitoba and growing up in Burnaby. They recall what it was like growing up and working in the family owned store.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Harry Wee Koon Toy was born in February 9, 1936 in Taikong, Toisan county, Guangdong, China. Harry's father William Toy came to Canada in the early 1920s when he was ten years old. Harry arrived in Vancouver, Canada on September 9, 1950. After staying in Vancouver for one night, he joined his father in Neepawa, Manitoba where the family operated a cafe business (Royal Cafe). Harry grew up in Neepawa and graduated from the University of Manitoba and teacher's college. He became a high school teacher and worked at schools in Minnedosa and Gladstone, Manitoba teaching various subjects including, science, business, geography, history and physical education. Harry and his wife, had three daughters, Melinda, Beverley and Christina who were all born in Neepawa. When the family decided to move to the west coast, Harry was introduced to the grocery store business through an uncle who was a store operator. Around 1970, Harry purchased a grocery store at 4694 Canada Way in Burnaby which he named "Canada Way Food Market" and Harry and his daughters made their home at the back of the store. Harry owned and operated the store for approximately 40 years between 1970 and 2010. Around 1986, Harry purchased the butcher shop next door (4692 Canada Way) which was no longer in operation, expanding his store and adding a second storey to use a residence. Harry's children helped him operate the store throughout their childhood. In the early 1970s, corner stores were threatened by the spread of small chain-operated convenience stories from Eastern Canada to Vancouver. Formed in April 1972, the Fraser Merchants’ Association was established to protect the rights of corner store operators. With no paid legal help, the association was incorporated in Victoria, BC for the cost of 56 cents. The benefits of being a member of the association included warehouse and group purchasing, common advertising and other advantages of being part of an association. Founded by Gary Lee Ling and five others, Fraser Merchants’ Association’s first member was Graham Grocery. By 1978, the association represented over 200 corner stores in the Lower Mainland (Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Coquitlam, and New Westminster) and Fraser Valley. The association remained active into the 1980s and 1990s. Harry has served as President of the Fraser Merchants' Association from 1992 to present. Interviewer biography: Denise Fong is a historical researcher at Burnaby Village Museum. She has degrees in Anthropology (BA) and Archaeology (MA), and is completing her doctoral degree at UBC in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her primary research interests are in Chinese Canadian history and critical heritage studies. She is the co-curator of BVM’s “Across the Pacific” exhibition, and the Museum of Vancouver’s “A Seat at the Table – Chinese Immigration and British Columbia”.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Education
- Migration
- Occupations - Teachers
- Occupations - Grocers
- Organizations
- Organizations - Business Associations
- Persons - Chinese Canadians
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Buildings - Commercial - Grocery Stores
- Names
- Toy, Christina
- Toy, Harry Wee Koon "Harry"
- Babey, Beverley
- Canada Way Food Market
- Fraser Merchants' Association
- Responsibility
- Fong, Denise
- Geographic Access
- Canada Way
- Street Address
- 4694 Canada Way
- Accession Code
- BV023.16.19
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1905-2023] (interview content), interviewed 25 Sep. 2023
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Related Material
- See also: BV023.25 - Harry Toy fonds
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy, [1905-2023] (interview content), interviewed 25 Sep. 2023
Interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy, [1905-2023] (interview content), interviewed 25 Sep. 2023
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0019_002.mp3J.P. Dickson subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58383
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1920-1939 (dates of originals)
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and photographs
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photocopied scrapbook pages as well as three original photographs pertaining to J.P. Dickson.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1920-1939 (dates of originals)
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- J.P. Dickson subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and photographs
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS1992-51
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photocopied scrapbook pages as well as three original photographs pertaining to J.P. Dickson.
- History
- James P. Dickson was born in Peeblesshire, Scotland. He came to Manitoba first in 1905 when he was 21 years old, but didn’t move to British Columbia until 1909 when he started the Dickson Brothers Flower Shop and Nursery at 3271 Kingsway. He was a landscape gardener, designing the garden for the Model Burnaby Home at the Royal City Fair in 1920 and designing Burnaby exhibits at the provincial fairs at New Westminster in 1922 and 1923. In 1922 he spoke at a South Vancouver Horticultural Association event; the subject of his talk was “Natural Gardens.” J.P. Dickson was a Burnaby School Board Trustee from 1921 to 1924 (chairman in 1924), 1927 to 1932 (chairman from 1929 to 1932) and 1943 to 1944. In 1925 he was the Labour Party Candidate for Reeve of Burnaby. In 1930 he was president of the May Day committee and officiated at the crowning. J.P. Dickson attended the British Columbia School Trustees Association 26th Annual Convention in Vernon with his family and served as the association’s president from 1932 to 1933. The Dickson family lived at 1519 (later 7770) Nelson Avenue, Burnaby. J.P. had at least one child born about 1913, who attended South Burnaby High School in his teen years. According to “Burnaby: A Proud Century” by Pixie McGeachie James Dickson is also known for his part in creating an unofficial presentation to the King George and Queen Elizabeth during their royal visit in 1939. There was no official stop scheduled for Burnaby, but he persuaded the parade marshal beforehand to slow the procession as it approached Royal Oak (and the Chamber of Commerce built a viewing platform there to attract a large crowd). Dickson encouraged everyone to move in to narrow the width of passage on Kingsway. As the royal car appeared on Royal Oak, the crowd surged forward and blocked its path. A Burnaby girl rushed towards the car waving a bouquet from the Dickson Brothers Flower Shop and an aide-du-camp passed it directly to the Queen “who acknowledged the gift with approval just as the car began to move again.”
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Creator
- Dickson, James P.
- Notes
- Title based on contents of subseries
- PC308 and MSS079