Delta in the 1920s: A Living History Project

09/03/2024

Did you know that the Royal BC Museum is currently partnering with various local arts, culture, and heritage organizations across the province to host a series of in-person Community Conversations to explore the future of the Royal BC Museum?

YOU have the opportunity to discuss together with your community "how the museum can be responsive, representative, welcoming, and inclusive for all visitors. Through a collaborative process, we will dive deeper into the themes that were emphasized in earlier dialogue. Our intention is to engage actively, welcome feedback, build meaningful relationships, and hear from diverse voices and perspectives." - Royal BC Museum

Here's a short list of just some of the upcoming sessions. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required.

⭐Qualicum Beach at the Qualicum Beach Museum - March 5 @ 1pm-4pm
⭐Vancouver at Science World - March 5 @ 6pm-8pm
⭐Rossland at the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre - March 6 @ 5:30pm-7pm
⭐New Wesminster at the New Westminster Museum & Archives - March 6 @ 6pm-8pm

Upcoming sessions will also take place in Victoria, Revelstoke, Kamloops, Langley, Fort Langley, and more. There will be a virtual session on Mar 13 @ 6pm-7:30pm.

📌Visit here for more information about the upcoming sessions and their locations and to register: https://ow.ly/i9hL50QIVFO

18/01/2024

Community halls were the social hub and heart of communities in Delta BC in the early 20th century. Annual balls, theatrical performances, movies and dances were all held in the halls that served local communities. In 1920s Ladner, the old McKeeley Hall on Delta St., gave way to the larger Delta Community Hall at the corner of Chisholm and Elliot St. The building served the community from about 1924 to 1968 when it was lost to fire. (Images courtesy of the Delta Archives, accession 1970-001, 2006-025)

10/11/2023

On Remembrance Day, the tomb of the unknown soldier in Ottawa is the gathering place for veterans, families of Canada's fallen heroes and so many more whose lives have been touched by war. The sculpture was created by Mary-Ann Liu, a well-known Canadian artist from Mission, BC.

09/11/2023

Salmon canning for export to Europe was big business in Delta in the late 19th century. By 1895, nearly a third of B.C.’s canneries — which numbered 76 in 1901 — were staffed by Indigenous women. The record of their low paid, traditionally skilled work and contribution to to the financial success of canneries in Delta and around BC are captured in this article by Leah Siegel https://bcanuntoldhistory.knowledge.ca/1890/indigenous-women-in-canneries
Photo credit: BC Archives. Indigenous women cannery workers in Yalis, BC
Photo Credit: Annieville Cannery. Image 1980-052-174 courtesy of the Delta Museum and Archives

01/10/2023

Delta Stageworks' newest show brings mother's stories from the 1920s to the 2020s to the Genesis Theatre stage in Ladner Oct 12-15 (Preview Oct 11). Featuring the 'extraordinary lives of five ordinary women' and a diverse group of talented local actors, the show will capture your heart and make you want to know more about your own mother's story! For more info and tickets visit www.deltastageworks.ca

Delta Stageworks Theatre Society brings together experienced theatre artists and community-based theatre-makers to present innovative new theatre projects for Delta audiences. Using the theatre art practices of devised theatre, site-specific performance as well as traditional forms of theatre, Delta...

07/09/2023

Delta Stageworks brings compelling real-life stories of the 'extraordinary lives of five ordinary women' at the Genesis Theatre in Ladner! Transformational, thought-provoking and funny, this is theatre that will capture your heart and make you want to discover more about your own mother's life story! Senior 15% ticket discount available at www.deltastageworks.ca

08/08/2023

The Delta Heritage Society is leading a FREE 1.5 hr walking tour of the village of Ladner on Sunday Aug 13 @ 1:00 pm. The tour includes a look at historic buildings dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and social history commentary. Reserve your spot with the City of Delta online and find out where to meet up: https://cityofdelta.perfectmind.com/24140/Clients/BookMe4LandingPages/CoursesLandingPage?widgetId=83ce4775-1cd3-4f8f-8189-768fa00e599a&redirectedFromEmbededMode=False&courseId=6c521317-ed1d-425f-b6f5-ec02f51339ec

21/07/2023

The other popular beach for summer time relaxing with friends in Delta was Tsawwassen beach; facing west to Vancouver Island (south of the present day ferry terminal) with its spectacular sunsets. The Brandwith family delivered milk and produce in a horse and buggy to families who summered in cabins along the shore (Delta Archives photo dated 1936).

07/07/2023

Summers at Boundary Bay beach - a tradition of South Delta living for generations! In the early 1900s cottages were built (look to the right of the beach in the view towards Lily Point in Point Roberts), and by the 1920s it was a well known summer destination for camping for those living south of the Fraser River.

17/06/2023

A 1920s game changer for domestic life - and women's work - was the invention of electric appliances that appeared on the market: the vacuum (always 'the Hoover' in my grandmother's house), the electric washing machine - even the automatic toaster, changed the way people lived and allowed women more time to be outside the home. Of course, you had have electricity to be able to use the new appliances! And in Delta, electricity did not come to many farms until the 1930s

20/04/2023

Local South Delta legend Pansy May Stuttarts' story (2nd from right) runs through the history of Delta during the US Prohibition era of 1919 to 1933. How did the bootlegger and brothel keeper end up in remote South Delta? Why did the notorious entrepreneur build the ‘Goat Ranch’ - a saloon and brothel - on the border between Tsawassen and Point Roberts? Who are the other people in this photo? Pick up a copy of Lord Don't Want Me, Devil Won't Take Me by Gary Cullen and Jim Dwight at local bookstores to explore these and other fascinating questions.

23/03/2023

A little known history of Delta in the 1920s is that of Chinese Canadians who had been settling in the area since the 1880s. Ladner's Chinatown - pictured here - ran west along along the river and was home to some 400 residents. Chinese Canadians like Yip Kew Hun and Lee Lan Fan (Vancouver 1914) were able to build their family roots in BC - that was until the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1923 which denied entry to all people of Chinese heritage until its repeal in 1947. Photos courtesy of the Delta Archives and Vancouver City Archives.

12/03/2023

Flappers were part of the new Jazz culture of the 1920s, and the dance crazes, devil-may-care social attitudes and demonstrations of young women's independence had many people in Canada a moral panic. Where was society headed if women threw over their traditional roles!? Here's a great look back at Flappers by the CBC https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/how-the-modern-flapper-gal-of-the-1920s-spurred-moral-panic-in-canada-1.5450536

27/02/2023

The advent of the gramophone and the radio in the 1920s bought a whole new kind of music to rural communities like Delta - jazz! And it wasn't all imported from the US, Vancouver's own Eleanor Collins and many other talented black musicians were part of BC's early jazz and big band music scene. (Photo courtesy Delta Archives)

27/01/2023

Delta Stageworks Theatre Society newest show is about the extraordinary lives of five ordinary women. Heirlooms & Baggage (My Mother's Story) tells histories of the unique and universal journeys of five diverse women, all knit together with the personal discoveries made by their storytellers - their grown children. In turns celebratory, humorous, relatable and transformative, the play delves into those oh-so-essential relationships, the ones we have with our mothers. Runs Feb 16-18 at Kin Village Centre in South Delta (Tsawwassen)Tickets now available on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/heirlooms-baggage-my-mothers-story-tickets-516257378717

02/01/2023

The New Year's day polar bear swim has a long tradition around BC! In the 1920s English Bay in Vancouver was the place to be, and, as my father told me, the place where all kinds of New Year's day shenanigans with friends happened. This picture tells a story of just such group of friends in 1928. Have a picture of a polar bear swim from days gone by in Delta to share? We'd love to see it!

02/01/2023

Delta Stageworks Theatre Society would like to wish all the followers and fans of this page a very Happy New Year! We look forward to bringing new programs to the Delta community this year including a 'Delta in the 1920's history workshop. Take a moment to visit our website to find out all the the current shows and programs on offer!

www.deltastageworks.ca
www.instagram.com/deltastageworks

27/11/2022

On Giving Tuesday please consider a donation towards the cost of bringing Delta Stageworks next show, Heirlooms & Baggage (My Mother's Story) to the stage. Find out more about this show and how to donate at www.deltastageworks.ca

25/11/2022

Our next show, Heirlooms & Baggage (My Mother's Story), is about the life journeys of mothers who gave from diverse places in the world. The stories - funny, moving - are explored by five Delta Stageworks actor-writers who have been on a year long journey of writing about their mom's life. Please consider giving towards the cost of bringing this show to audiences in the spring of 2023! www.deltastageworks.ca

16/11/2022

The three young women pictured in Delta St. in Ladner BC in the 1920s tell us a story of the changing times in post WWI society. Reformers like writer Nellie McClung urged women to be a force for a more just society. Photo courtesy Delta Archives.

08/09/2022

On the day the world has sadly lost the longest reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, take a look back to the 1920s when her grandfather, George V was the King of England. His reign lasted from 1910-1936.

06/08/2022

As part of our historical research for Delta Stageworks living history show about 1920s Delta(and for our My Mother's Story for Diverse Voices project), we've been reaching out to the Sikh community of Delta asking people to share their family histories. And so it's great to see this CBC story about a film about Sikh pioneers in BC coming to screens! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/punjabi-movie-filmed-in-bc-explores-history-first-sikh-settlers-1.6540148

Chhalla Mud Ke Nahi Aaya — Chhalla Never Returned — follows the story of a Punjabi man and the difficult working conditions he faces after migrating to Canada to earn a living. The movie, filmed across B.C., is based on the true stories of South Asian migrants who came to Canada in the early 20t...

22/07/2022

Boundary Bay beach - on both side of the US/Canada border - was a summer time mecca for locals and those from further away. Many beach goers and campers arrived on foot by ferry in Ladner and needed a ride to the beaches. In 1922 the White Star Motor Company began bus service between Ladner and Maple Beach. (Photos courtesy Delta Archives, Vancouver Archives, Point Roberts Archives)