Vancouver / Names / P / Press

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Presses

In the city directories 1940 · six people at two addresses

The directories print six people named Press 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: five Presses at 2426 West 7th 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 Presses 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

    2426 West 7th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Mrs R Press, widow of H J W 1940
    • Gertrude Press, a stenographer at R S Day & Son 1940
    • Grace Press 1940
    • Herbert A Press, a salesman 1940
    • Vera Press, a cashier at Spencer's 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs L M Thomson at 2416 and N C Vidal at 2436. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    207 West Hastings Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Censorship Press, who worked for L Gordon assistant censor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Clothes Shops Natl at 217. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the six: a cashier, a salesman and a stenographer. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

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

In 1940 the directory lists Mrs R Press at 2426 West 7th 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, where each person's work is printed, lists Rosetta Press there as the householder, widow of H J W, with Gertrude Press, a stenographer at R S Day & Son, Grace Press, Herbert A Press, a salesman, and Vera Press, a cashier at Spencer's. The 1940 name section lists Censorship Press at 207 West Hastings Street, who worked for L Gordon assistant censor.

Today

2426 West 7th and 207 West Hastings still have their buildings from before 1946.

Every line as printed

All 7 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

The book of the Presses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Press 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 P. Want a name removed? Tell us.