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North Van museum wants you to Zoom back in time with archival backgrounds

It was a simpler time: streetcars promised a modern new way of getting around Lonsdale, trees the size of giants peppered the land, and many in North Vancouver were obsessed with owning goats for some reason.
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It was a simpler time: streetcars promised a modern new way of getting around Lonsdale, trees the size of giants peppered the land, and many in North Vancouver were obsessed with owning goats for some reason.

Although those times are long gone, for those looking to spruce up their Zoom meetings in what’s been dubbed “these uncertain times," North Vancouver Museum and Archives is paving a way forward by digging through the past.

The museum is now offering a number of backgrounds to use with Zoom – a video teleconferencing platform which has surged in popularity in recent weeks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – which showcase North Vancouver history and heritage.

The images were selected by museum and archives staff in order to provide a pop of history (not necessarily a pop of colour – the backgrounds are largely black and white prints) to complement your next Zoom meeting, according to a page on the organization’s website.

The backgrounds they’ve selected range from historical postcards and photographs – such as an early image of Lonsdale Avenue and North Van’s former Streetcar No. 153 – as well as contemporary images of the Community History Centre in North Vancouver.

You can check out and download the Zoom backgrounds by clicking here.