Vancouver / Names / S / Spankie

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Spankies

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Spankie at three addresses in 1940 in three 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 Spankies 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

    501 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Dr J E Spankie 1940

    Next door in 1940: Wo Kung at 507. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1350 Minto Crescent

    Shaughnessy, 1940

    • Dr J E Spankie 1940

    Next door in 1940: W A Denby at 1370. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3936 West 19th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • Lucina C Spanke, a waitress at Common Gold Cafe 1940

    Next door in 1940: L C Oades at 3926 and D P Todd at 3942. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a waitress.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands, Shaughnessy and Strathcona. 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 Dr J E Spankie at 501 Main Street. Dr J E Spankie is listed at 1350 Minto Crescent in 1940; 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 Lucina C Spanke at 3936 West 19th Avenue, a waitress at Common Gold Cafe.

Today

501 Main still has its building from before 1946, dated 1915 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 3936 West 19th (1967) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1350 Minto Crescent, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards
March 1940 Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards. Not at the house at 501 Main: no archive photo of the 500 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Spankies

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Spankie 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 S. Want a name removed? Tell us.