I’ve just returned from a week spent at the BC Federation of Labour Convention. It was at times mentally and emotionally draining, so I took my breaks alone, where possible, to recharge. Since we had limited time most days and since the weather was soggy for all but our last day in Vancouver, I kept my lunch breaks to the food court near the convention hall.
The hallways leading between the hotels and the convention hall to the food court are lined with archival photos. Several of them caught my eye, but I lingered longer in front of one in particular.
It is identified as “Newsstand (below B. Boe Ltd.) 132 West Cordova Street – c. 1925.” It caught my eye because one magazine is on almost every shelf — it’s obscuring most of the sporting magazines, some of the women’s magazines, plus has its own full range. I took some more zoomed in photos to get a better look at the title then noticed a newspaper and a few other titles. I realized I could do much better to date it than “circa 1925” — and I can tell you now that I am home and spent just a little time digging, that it was taken in late January 1924.
The newspaper is the Vancouver Daily World which was purchased by the Vancouver Sun in 1924. The headline across the top, not fully visible, is “…LENINE DIES AT MOSCOW” — which I presume is Lenin, who died on the 21st of January 1924. The second headline, “MACDONALD BRITISH PREMIER” refers to Ramsay MacDonald who, after a vote of non-confidence, formed the first Labour government (a minority) in January 1924.
Hanging at an angle, I could read the title of the Labor Herald, which, sure enough, was the January 1924 issue. [source]. Likewise, among the women’s magazines I could pick out Harper’s Bazar — January 1924 — and Theatre Magazine — you guessed it, January 1924 [source]. The Needlecraft magazine is the February 1924 issue, which I’m guessing might have been published before the end of January.
I recognized the magazines Adventure and Pearson’s but there is not enough detail to confirm a specific issue for either one. One of the magazines across the top of the newsstand looks like it is the January 1924 issue of Motion Picture, but again I can’t be completely confident. Many of the remaining magazines have too much information obscured, though with some patience I could probably discern a few others.
But what of that magazine all over the place? That is Hearst’s International — a title that would soon merge with Cosmopolitan. Now the strange thing is that the cover is not the January 1924 issue. So which issue is it, and why are there so many copies of it? The stories include “Secrets of the Klan” (a fairly big story around that time) and “The Battle Line about Germany” (I think). It looks like there is an additional banner or an insert with another title across the top of the issues which makes me wonder if it was a special issue. After quite a lot of searching, I haven’t figured this one out yet. Anyone else feel like playing detective?
(This is what happens when you wave that kind of detail along with a “circa” date in front of someone like me.)