Vancouver / Names / E / Elmer

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Elmers

In the city directories 1940 · nine people at seven addresses

The directories print nine people named Elmer at seven addresses in 1940 in seven of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Elmers at 986 East 54th 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 Elmers 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

    1165 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • Peggy B Elmer, a hairdresser at Los Angeles Beauty Shop 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M H Ross at 1163 and A R Benson at 1167. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    396 East 2nd Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Thomas E Elmer, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: O MacKenzie at 350 and F P O'Keefe at 398. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1751 East 3rd Avenue

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • J W Elmer, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Ross at 1745 and H Watts at 1757. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    986 East 54th Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • E C Elmer, a painter 1940
    • Doris Elmer, a domestic 1940
    • Ethel D Elmer, a boundary at Columbia Paper 1940

    Next door in 1940: M Kruger at 976. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    4791 Gladstone Street

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • R T Elmer, a clerk for Kelly Douglas 1940

    Next door in 1940: G R Stewart at 4777 and Rev T B Wetmore at 4799. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    5295 Spencer Street

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • Harriet Elmer, a housekeeper for Mrs N P Benn 1940

    Next door in 1940: F P Stephens at 5277. The block, door by door

  7. 7

    2475 West 35th Avenue

    Arbutus Ridge, 1940

    • C H Elmer, a manager at Douglass Paint 1940

    Next door in 1940: W R Craig at 2499. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for seven of the nine: a boundary, a clerk, a domestic, a hairdresser, a housekeeper and a manager, among others.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Arbutus Ridge, Grandview-Woodland, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Mount Pleasant, Renfrew-Collingwood, Sunset 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 Peggy B Elmer at 1165 Comox Street, a hairdresser at Los Angeles Beauty Shop. The 1940 name section lists Thomas E Elmer at 396 East 2nd Avenue, retired. In 1940 the directory lists J W Elmer at 1751 East 3rd Avenue. The 1940 name section lists John W Elmer there as the householder, retired.

In 1940 the directory lists E C Elmer at 986 East 54th 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 Ernest C Elmer there as the householder, a painter, with Doris Elmer, a domestic, and Ethel D Elmer, a boundary at Columbia Paper. In 1940 the directory lists R T Elmer at 4791 Gladstone Street. The 1940 name section lists Reginald T Elmer there as the householder, a clerk for Kelly Douglas.

The 1940 name section lists Harriet Elmer at 5295 Spencer Street, a housekeeper for Mrs N P Benn. C H Elmer is listed at 2475 West 35th Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Charles H Elmer there as the householder, a manager at Douglass Paint.

Today

1751 East 3rd, 4791 Gladstone and 5295 Spencer still have their buildings from before 1946; 396 East 2nd (1978), 986 East 54th (1962) and 2475 West 35th (1989) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1165 Comox, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 13 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 Elmers

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Elmer 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 E. Want a name removed? Tell us.