Vancouver / Names / B / Backman

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Backmans

In the city directories 1940 · seven people at six addresses

The directories print seven people named Backman at six addresses in 1940 in six 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 Backmans lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    1406 Alberni Street

    West End, 1940

    • Eric Backman 1940

    Next door in 1940: K G Phillips at 1404 and Mrs J C Henderson at 1412. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2520 Columbia Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • May Backman, a domestic 1940

    Next door in 1940: J T Court at 2532. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1490 East 20th Avenue

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • C A Backman, a logger 1940
    • Arvid H W Backman, a student at UBC 1940

    Next door in 1940: W S Clayton at 1474. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1433 East Hastings Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • O A Backman, a logger 1940

    Next door in 1940: D Ciarnielli at 1429 and D S Rodgers at 1437. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    739 Homer Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Eugene Backman 1940

    Next door in 1940: Superior Plating Wks at 731 and Mrs M Peart at 741. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    1386 West 71st Avenue

    Marpole, 1940

    • G Backman, a boomman at Canadian White Pine 1940

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the seven: a logger (2), a boomman and a domestic.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Grandview-Woodland, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Marpole, Mount Pleasant and West End. 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 Eric Backman at 1406 Alberni Street. The 1940 name section lists May Backman at 2520 Columbia Street, a domestic. In 1940 the directory lists C A Backman at 1490 East 20th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section lists Carl A Backman there as the householder, a logger, with Arvid H W Backman, a student at UBC.

In 1940 the directory lists O A Backman at 1433 East Hastings Street; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists O Arvid Backman there as the householder, a logger. The 1940 name section lists Eugene Backman at 739 Homer Street.

G Backman is listed at 1386 West 71st Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Gonnar Backman there as the householder, a boomman at Canadian White Pine.

Today

1490 East 20th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record; 1386 West 71st (1965) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1406 Alberni, 2520 Columbia, 1433 East Hastings and 739 Homer, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 10 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 Backmans

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Backman 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.