We are pleased to announce that 7,718 photographs from The Vancouver Courier newspaper are now digitized and available in our online database. The photographs were digitized with support from the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives.
The Courier was a free community newspaper that began publication in 1908 (as the Eburne News). The Courier was delivered directly to homes, and was also a fixture in local coffee shops and newspaper boxes on the street (remember those?) until it ceased publication in 2020.
Newly digitized photographs span the years 1946-1995 (1980-1995 predominant), and include photographs taken by Courier staff photographers and photographs submitted to the Courier from external sources.
Subject matter is extremely wide ranging, including public events, sports, buildings and street scenes, fashion, and people from all walks of life. These photographs cover a period of great change in Vancouver, both culturally and physically. Present are classic Vancouver skyline and nature shots featuring the city’s parks and beaches; popular eighties and nineties events such as the Soap Box Derby, Bathtub Race, and Molson Indy car race; coverage of sports and entertainment, and many shots of Vancouverites enjoying the popular recreation and leisure activities of their time.
Below is a sample to whet your appetite. Enjoy!
For a walk down memory lane, or a taste of what life was like in Vancouver if you weren’t here in the 1980s or 90s, visit the Courier photographs fonds for more of these images.
