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Illustrated Vancouver Volume Two

Words: Jason Vanderhill One of the intentions with my Illustrated Vancouver blog is to expand the definition of art to include items or objects that might normally get excluded from fine art circles, but pay just as much love to the subject matter of

Words: Jason Vanderhill

One of the intentions with my Illustrated Vancouver blog is to expand the definition of art to include items or objects that might normally get excluded from fine art circles, but pay just as much love to the subject matter of the city. This includes souvenir art, the occasional kitsch object, and extraordinary examples of advertising or commercial art. This vintage Eaton's ad is the perfect example of this, and an über rare one at that!

It was an advertising insert, announcing the grand opening of the Eaton's Pacific Centre on February 8, 1971 1973 (date, publication, and artist unknown). Odds are, this was printed by the thousands, most of which would have ended up in a landfill within a month. Fortunately, at least one copy was spared to decorate the room of a new baby boy.

Take a close look at the styling fashion illustrations of the early 70s! I love the fact that an Emily Carr sneaks in the background of the lady's fashions, while the men's side features all manor of extreme plaid, with a few Vancouver landmarks appearing in the background. Good to see cycling was considered high style in 1973 as well! Special thanks to the young woman who saved this in 1973 for all of us to enjoy today!

Dates corrected from 1971 to 1973, ehr, two years after initial publication!