Vancouver / Names / B / Back

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Backs

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Back at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Backs at 2136 West 6th in 1940.

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 Backs 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

    930 Drake Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • John Back, a salesman 1940

    Next door in 1940: D A McDonald at 920 and G V McWilliams at 936. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2136 West 6th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • R H Back, proprietor of Economy Lunch Counter 1940
    • Daisy J Back 1940
    • Thomas W Back, a sign maker 1940

    Next door in 1940: A McS Reid at 2134 and W Riley at 2146. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a proprietor, a salesman and a sign maker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown and Kitsilano. 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 John Back at 930 Drake Street, a salesman. R H Back is listed at 2136 West 6th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Roland H Back there as the householder, proprietor of Economy Lunch Counter, with Daisy J Back, and Thomas W Back, a sign maker.

Today

The City no longer lists 930 Drake and 2136 West 6th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Backs

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Back 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.

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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 B. Want a name removed? Tell us.