Vancouver / Names / B / Blue

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Blues

In the city directories 1940 · five people at five addresses

The directories print five people named Blue at five addresses in 1940 in four 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 Blues 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

    355 Burrard Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Star Line Registered Blue 1940

    Next door in 1940: Bank of Montreal at 385. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    5529 Dunbar Street

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • Moon (Mrs H A Johnson) Blue, a confectioner 1940

    Next door in 1940: Can Wind Bkries at 5525 and Ladyfair Beauty Shop at 5539. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    720 Smithe Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Cabs Blue 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Holm at 716 and A C Giles at 722. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    4410 West 10th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • Jay Library (V J Roberts) Blue, a confectioner 1940

    Next door in 1940: R F C Baldrey at 4408 and L F Hawley at 4412. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    2242 West 3rd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Blue, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: G M Ferguson at 2236 and Mrs S Baker at 2244. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the five: a confectioner (2).

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2), Dunbar-Southlands, Kitsilano and West Point Grey. 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 Star Line Registered Blue at 355 Burrard Street. The 1940 name section lists Moon (Mrs H A Johnson) Blue at 5529 Dunbar Street, a confectioner. In 1940 the directory lists Cabs Blue at 720 Smithe Street. The 1940 name section lists Jay Library (V J Roberts) Blue at 4410 West 10th Avenue, a confectioner.

The 1940 name section lists Blue at 2242 West 3rd Avenue, retired.

Today

355 Burrard still has its building from before 1946, dated 1930 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 5529 Dunbar, 720 Smithe, 4410 West 10th and 2242 West 3rd, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Shriners in striped robes marching in a parade on Burrard Street
1942 Shriners in striped robes marching in a parade on Burrard Street. Not at the house at 355 Burrard: no archive photo of the 300 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 1184-1239. Public domain.

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 Blues

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Blue 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.