Vancouver / Names / V / Vroom

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Vrooms

In the city directories 1940 · five people at four addresses

The directories print five people named Vroom at four 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 Vrooms 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

    5132 Dunbar Street

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • N E Vroom, a postman 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs J Fulcher at 5144. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2731 West 36th Avenue

    Arbutus Ridge, 1940

    • Bessie Vroom, widow of R V 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs A V J Burke at 2719 and Mrs F A Dickie at 2743. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2918 West 44th Avenue

    Kerrisdale, 1940

    • A T Vroom, a building contractor 1940
    • Ron A Vroom, a shipwright at General Boat 1940

    Next door in 1940: E F Rea at 2906 and C W Hales at 2928. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1645 West 68th Avenue

    Marpole, 1940

    • A S Vroom, a barber 1940

    Next door in 1940: A S Bliss at 1635 and L Plumridge at 1665. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the five: a barber, a postman and a shipwright. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Arbutus Ridge, Dunbar-Southlands, Kerrisdale and Marpole. 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 N E Vroom at 5132 Dunbar Street; 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 Nathaniel E Vroom there as the householder, a postman. The 1940 name section lists Bessie Vroom at 2731 West 36th Avenue, widow of R V.

A T Vroom, a building contractor, is listed at 2918 West 44th Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Ron A Vroom there, a shipwright at General Boat. A S Vroom is listed at 1645 West 68th Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Alfred Vroom there as the householder, a barber.

Today

2918 West 44th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1920 by the City's record; 1645 West 68th (1984) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 5132 Dunbar and 2731 West 36th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

A No. 14 Dunbar streetcar on Dunbar Street, past bungalows
1940 A No. 14 Dunbar streetcar on Dunbar Street, past bungalows. Not at the house at 5132 Dunbar: no archive photo of the 5100 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, 2009-005.530. Public domain.

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 Vrooms

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Vroom 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 V. Want a name removed? Tell us.