Volume 3
Issue # 6

June 26, 2003

"UBC and Vancouver circa 1953, Part One"

Outside the Armouries on a brisk September morning, students line up for their 9 o'clock registration. In the wee hours of the night - it is only 2 a.m. after all - they huddle together for warmth, despite the fact that these are the same people with whom they are competing to get into the most sought after classes. With the debt from the construction of War Memorial Gym looming overhead, the UBC Artsmen class of 1953, begin the final year of their bachelor's degree.

What was it like in 1953? Everyone was dancing to Dean Martin's That's Amore and Eddie Fisher's Oh! My Papa (O Mein Papa). Minimum wage was 75 cents, a gallon of milk was 94 cents, and a bottle of coke in the UBC cafeteria cost 7 cents, plus a 3 cent non-refundable deposit. An IBM 701 computer could be rented for $15000 per month (in 1953 dollars). It truly was a year of firsts: Chevrolet began production on the first line of Corvettes, Marilyn Munroe graced the cover of the first issue of Playboy Magazine, and the first successful open-heart surgery was performed in Philadelphia.

The battle for the 1954 British Empire Games swimming pool finally came to a conclusion. After much debate, with both sides being awarded and stripped of the opportunity countless times, the University of British Columbia finally beat out the Riley Park location in East Vancouver as the site of choice. Construction of the Olympic-sized swimming pool began adjacent to the newly built War Memorial Gymnasium. The original plan for the outdoor pool was to have a roof but the idea was dropped after cost considerations.

Work on the new five-million dollar Granville Bridge in Vancouver continued. The first Granville Bridge, a small timber trestle, was built in 1889 and widened in1891. This was replaced by the 1909 steel bridge, and finally replaced again by the current eight-lane structure. In December 1952, the first steel went into the new Granville Bridge, with the bridge finally opening for use in February 1954.

In the world of sports, superstar netminder Emil "The Cat" Francis of the WHL Vancouver Canucks leads his team to a second place finish in the eight-team league, five points back of the rival Saskatoon Quakers. Rocky Marciano became the new world heavyweight champion, the New York Yankees won their fourth straight pennant, and the Montreal Canadiens - led by Maurice "Rocket" Richard - defeated the Boston Bruins to win the Lord Stanley's Cup.