Vancouver / Names / A / Acme

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Acmes

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Acme at three addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Acmes lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    751 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Laboratory Acme, in manufacturing jewellers 1940

    Next door in 1940: Orpheum Hosiery Shop at 749 and Aloha Hat Shop at 755. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    882 Howe Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Towel Acme 1940

    Next door in 1940: Suzette at 880 and U Drive Ace at 886. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1517 West 5th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • Protective Systems Acme 1940

    Next door in 1940: Suprema Polish Co at 1523. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a manufacturing jewellers.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2) and Fairview. Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Laboratory Acme at 751 Granville Street, in manufacturing jewellers. Towel Acme is listed at 882 Howe Street in 1940. In 1940 the directory lists Protective Systems Acme at 1517 West 5th Avenue.

Today

The City no longer lists 751 Granville, 882 Howe and 1517 West 5th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk
1917 Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk. Not at the house at 751 Granville: no archive photo of the 700 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-350. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Acmes

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Acme name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under A. Want a name removed? Tell us.