2006 at the Bay and All Nations

Memories from 40 years in the stamp and coin business
by Brian Grant Duff

2006 at the Bay and All Nations
Discovered a Columbia Mission label and cover which Jack Wallace acquired.

Jack was a lifelong collector of stamps and postal history, specializing in the Colonial period of the Crown Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. This philatelic enthusiasm was shared with his friend, the late Gerald E. Wellburn

Harry Sutherland died. The Vancouver Postcard Club began selling Abe Charkow’s estate at their annual show. The Sun’s John Mackie covered it and the show was well attended.

Abe Charkow who had 10,000 Vancouver Postcards

Luciano Bassetto likes to tell the story of getting stuck in an elevator while coming to visit our Eaton’s Stamp and Coin department. He got a $150 Eaton’s gift certificate for his trouble. The department stores kept extending their hours to try and be more convenient for shoppers. They were open 7am to 11pm for a while. This made closing staff a necessity.

Eaton’s at Hastings and Richards Streets. Angus McIntyre photo early 1970s

The Bay elevators trapped my closing staff on several occasions. No gift certificates and little help were proffered. Had to race downtown and help calm and extract trapped coworkers myself.The downtown Bay is in the news still for having no working elevators or escalators and forcing everyone to use the stairs. The stairwells are quite something and were featured in the film Blade Trinity.