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History

Vintage Advertisements from the BC Historical Newspapers Collection: 1899-1950

By Jillian G. on November 28, 2023

Looking back at old advertisements can not only be extremely entertaining, but can also provide fascinating insight into commonly accepted knowledge during a given era. Historically, lack of advertising laws or regulations resulted in exaggerated, dishonest and extreme claims being made in attempts to sell products. Advertisers were able to claim almost anything they pleased […]

Posted in advertising history, BC historical newspapers, Carousel, Digitizers' Blog, History, open collections, Vintage Advertisements | Read More | No Comments

UBC, the UEL, and How They Got That Way

By feedwordpress on June 21, 2022

Anybody who has ever attended or worked at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus knows that it is not actually part of the City of Vancouver – despite the fact that its mailing address clearly states “Vancouver”.  Together with the University Hill neighbourhood and Pacific Spirit Regional Park, it actually forms an “unincorporated area” […]

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Myth-busting the “Cows On Campus” Photograph

By feedwordpress on August 13, 2021

[This is an expanded version of an article originally published in Alumni UBC’s Grad Gazette in 2010] One of the enduring legends from the history of the University of British Columbia is that the Faculty of Agriculture’s dairy herd was once allowed to graze along Main Mall.  But did this really happen? It is true that, during […]

Posted in cows, History, legends, Photos, publications, UBC Archives, UBC history | Read More | No Comments

Point Grey’s original student hang-out – The Dolphins

By feedwordpress on December 1, 2020

[This is an expanded version of an article originally published in Alumni UBC’s Grad Gazette in 2010] Before The Pit, the Gallery Lounge, Koerner’s Pub, or any of the other popular student retreats on or around the UBC campus… there was The Dolphin. The Dolphin Tea House was located on Marine Drive, across from what […]

Posted in History, Student experiences, student life, students, The Dolphins, UBC history | Read More | No Comments

The early Chinese-Canadian presence at UBC

By feedwordpress on September 11, 2020

One of the projects undertaken by our colleagues at UBC Rare Books and Special Collections during the COVID-19 shut-down of on-campus operations  has been to develop a new on-line guide to Chinese-Canadian materials in their collections.  One of the subjects being researched for this project was the identity of the first Chinese-Canadian graduate of UBC. […]

Posted in Guides, History, people, Photos, publications, Student experiences, students, UBC_history | Read More | No Comments