Angel has stylish new Desigual for men for Fall-Winter 2023. Here are the styles we have in stock– now on sale 40% off. Desigual for men from previous seasons is on sale up to 50% off at Angel, Vancouver’s only Desigual Wow Shop boutique.
NEW:Desigual RALPH arty poplin cotton shirt. $149. Fall-Winter 2023 collection for men.
NEW: Desigual man AUBREY collage viscose resort shirt. $149.95. FW2023 collection for men.
Angel is Vancouver’s only Desigual Wow boutique with the latest styles of the unique and colorful Barcelona brand for men, women & kids. We are independently owned and have been in business for 45 years – the last 25 in Gastown at the corner of Powell and Carrall in Maple Tree Square. The building was erected in 1886, after the Great Fire that burned down Vancouver, which was a collection of wooden buildings. After the fire, buildings had to be built out of brick and timbers. Here was what the wood-frame building looked like before the fire:
This Vancouver Archives photo shows the location of our store in 1886.
Vancouver February 1886, printed 1888. This view is two months before the City of Vancouver was officially incorporated. Notice the buildings on wooden piles on Water Street. They had trap doors to lower provisions onto rowboats that brought supplies to sailing ships anchored in the harbour. This illustration is from the Ross and Ceperley promotional pamphlet Vancouver B.C., Pacific Coast Terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The illustration now resides in the University of B.C. Special Collections.
After the fire of 1886, this was first city council at Vancouver City Hall – a tent set up in Maple Tree Square.And who is that guy in the background on the wharf?
Gastown has always been resilient. In 1886, the whole damn town burned down. In 2020, we went through the pandemic. Similar but not the same (en espanol, desigual). Here is five weeks after the fire, rebuilding:
Rebuilding Cordova Street, five weeks after the Great Fire of 1886. Taken from Carral Street, looking west. Vancouver’s first archivist, Major Matthews, had a habit of writing on photographs.
Boating at Seymour Creek in North Vancouver, 1886.Vancouver four weeks after the fire that burned down the city. This photo shows laying new boardwalk on Water Street, looking east from the intersection of Cordova, as buildings rise from the ashes. 1886.The Hastings Mill Store in 1888, one of the few buildings that survived the 1886 fire.The Hudson’s Bay Company store in Gastown in 1889, at 150 West Cordova. Looking west from Carrall.Big Boston Cheap Store, Abbott and Water, 1890.1890 photo of the Geo. E. Trorey Jewelry Store at 105 Cordova Street. Notice the unlocked bike.Vancouver market at 20 Cordova Street, 1888, R.V. Winch proprietor.BIG BARGAINS: 1892 storefront of the first Stark’s Glasgow House Dry Goods store on Cordova Street.Charles Gross in front of his shoe store at 313 Carrall Street, 1893.The Woodward Department Store on the north side of 100-block West Hastings, 1900.1903 – Wm. Uruquart Wines, Liquors Cigars & Tobacco. 51 something street in Gastown.Rubinowitz Departmental Store Co., the corner of Water and Abbott Street, 1904. Located a block away from the Woodward’s store, they thought they were a competitor. The signs in the window: “Removal Sale”.1908 banner across 100-block Hastings at Abbott.1910 view from the corner of Water and Abbott, Gastown.
Alahambra Hotel (far left) in the Gastown district of Vancouver, 1880s. Looking west down Water Street.
Here is the map of the land grant of 1887 given to the Canadian Pacific Railway for bringing the rail line to Vancouver, making it one of the longest and most expensive transcontinental rail lines in North America.Gassy Jack obit and ad forVancouver Lots for Sale, 1886.Blackburns Service Station and Garage. 822 Seymour Street, Vancouver B.C., 1928.
Okay, were going to fast forward to 1938, with the Birks Building going up:
1938 animated construction of the Birks building at Granville & Georgia. Everyone would meet at the Birks clock in front of the building; the clock now is located at Granville & Hastings. Credit: Miss 604Two views of the Birks Building, 1939.View of the Birks Building, facing west on Georgia with the second Hotel Vancouver in the background, 1939.
And moving ahead in time to the 1960s:
1969 photo of 319 Carrall Street. Gastown. Now the home of the fine Italian restaurant Di Beppi.1974 photo of the Kings Hotel. The grocery store closed and now is the home of Fromanother – they have lots of sneakers of good vintage T-shirts.
1972 view of Angel’s current location, taken from the Gaolers Mews. At the time, it was the first shoe store of John Fluevog and his then partner Peter Fox. They opened their first store in 1970 at 2 Powell, now home of Angel.
Peter Fox (left) and John Fluevog, 1970.1971 photo of the front of the Hotel Europe, looking east on Alexander. Gassy Jack, the drunk that he was, is teetering on a barrel on the road. He was moved further east in 1986, Vancouver’s 100th anniversary, and was torn down during an aboriginal protest about murdered and missing women while chanting “colonist pedophile.”1974 shot of Bills Confectionary at 225 Carrall Street with competing Orange Crush and Coca-Cola signs.
This is what Blood Alley in Gastown looked like in 1975. Developer Ian Gillespie is now revamping the alley courtyard, which was thriving in the 1970s.
Europe Hotel. built in 1908 as the Hotel Europe, under construction.
The Hotel Europe in 1968.1960s colour photo of the Europe Hotel. I like the station wagon.The Angel store today and then in 1886 (It’s a gif).Actually, that board in front of our window now is gone. We had seven windows smashed in two months, 11 broken in a year, during the pandemic.
I was driving home tonight and heard an interview on the radio with the late Robbie Robertson, talking about how in 1960 he went to the American south to try to get a job playing guitar with Ronnie Hawkins. He went to Nashville, New Orleans and Lafayette, soaking up the music from the delta lands – Mississippi blues, zydaco and New Orleans jazz. Robbie, who grew up on the Six Nations of the Grand Riverreserve southwest of Toronto, was inspired by the music, “I studied it,” he explained. And then he wrote this song, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, performed by musicians around the world:
The Gastown Business Improvement Association posted this video today (Sept. 29, 2023), highlighting some of the events this year that make the area such a great neighbourhood to live and work:
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