This adorable photo from 1930 shows John Robert Beck in a replica airplane called The Spirit of Childhood at Second Street and Mahon Avenue in North Vancouver. We have another photo in our collection featuring the same plane but a different child. This is the work of an itinerant photographer.
A photographer would travel around town in residential neighbourhoods with an irresistible novelty prop like a model airplane or a pony (and sometimes costumes), in hope that they could convince the parent to purchase a photo of their child posing with, in this case, an airplane.
This idea is likely inspired by the popularity of Charles Lindbergh’s first solo nonstop transatlantic flight aboard The Spirit of St. Louis in 1927.
Visit the MONOVA website for more information about the history of the North Shore and to plan your visit to MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver, now open at 115 West Esplanade in The Shipyards.
Currently, MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver ,at 3203 Institute Road in Lynn Valley, is open by appointment only. Contact: [email protected]
Navigate culture on the North Shore by using the North Shore Culture Compass.
