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    Nostalgic Roads
    Nostalgic Roads
    Nostalgic Roads
    Ebook154 pages1 hour

    Nostalgic Roads

    By Dan Propp

    ()

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    About this ebook

    In his well known, inimitable style, Dan Propp takes the reader down Nostalgic Roads that meander through British Columbia's coastal history. In short stories, punctuated by Dan's own photographs and song lyrics, Dan covers such topics as B.C. radio, the politics of the past, Hollywood, and gefilte fish. Dan's past as a postcard photographer is evidenced in his plethora of images from times gone by that are scattered throughout this book. Gibsons Landing of the 1950s and '60s, the town where Dan spent much of his youth, brings back many memories of what life was like when the local dock was the centre of a boy's existence. The streets of Vancouver and the happenings throughout the years play a big role in Dan's life as a young man. When he hit the road as a salesman in a clunker that was by no means trustworthy, Dan recorded his experiences in song and photos. Take a leisurely trip with Dan Propp through the gentler days of yesteryear and down nostalgic roads.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDan Propp
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9780978080099
    Nostalgic Roads
    Author

    Dan Propp

    Born in Bolivia to German Jewish parents, Dan Propp has been a postcard photographer since high school and worked for the Richmond Review and the Surrey Leader before becoming a school teacher. An accordion player, singer and performer, he lives in historic Steveston, British Columbia, with his wife.

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      Book preview

      Nostalgic Roads - Dan Propp

      Dan Propp

      ACCORDION TO DAN PUBLISHING

      Nostalgic Roads

      Copyright 2014 © Dan Propp

      Smashwords edition

      This is a work of non-fiction.

      All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

      Published by Dan Propp,

      Accordion to Dan Publishing

      10430 Hollybank Dr.

      Richmond, BC

      V7E 4S5

      www.accordiontodan.com

      www.danpropp.com

      www.jewishreflections.com

      ISBN: 978-0-9780800-8-2

      Digital ISBN: 978-0-9780800-9-9

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ****

      Acknowledgements

      My thanks to Yosef Wosk for his support and encouragment.

      Also, many thanks to Wendy Dewar Hughes at Summer Bay Press for editing, book design, cover design and helping this writer become a published author.

      ****

      Dedication

      To the memory of my parents,

      Elsa and Arthur Propp.

      ****

      Introduction

      This book contains the lyrics of several of my songs. These songs can be read as poetry or sung. Feel free to add your own melody and rhythm. You can also listen to most of them on my CDs available directly at ajpropp@shaw.ca or through my website at www.danpropp.com.

      ****

      VANCOUVER MEMORIES

      When we moved to Vancouver from Bolivia in 1950, our first residence in Canada was in the rented basement of an old wooden house on Davie Street. I was five years old and Dad and Mom would walk me to Kindergarten at Gordon House in the West End. I could only speak Spanish and a bit of German because my parents had fled the Nazis from Koenigsberg, East Prussia. That’s how I ended up being born in Bolivia; it was one of the few nations that would accept Jews fleeing the Nazis.

      Anyway, walking up into the heart of Vancouver’s West End where the only-high rise was the Sylvia Hotel, my mouth would hang open as I watched two horses, klippitty-klop-klippity-klop, pulling a milk wagon. Thus, this song.

      BUTTERMILK AND CHOCOLATE

      There are so many stories one could tell

      when the only skyscraper in

      Vancouver’s West End was the Sylvia Hotel.

      Buttermilk and Chocolate were horses.

      In Vancouver, they pulled a dairy van.

      As they went to all those old wooden houses

      with their friendly delivery man.

      In the good old days, when the cream stayed on the top of every pint and quart colourful bottle.

      And the children on the way to school would still walk and watch Buttermilk and Chocolate Waddle.

      Yeah, Buttermilk and chocolate were horses.

      In Vancouver, they pulled a dairy van as they went to all those old wooden houses, with their friendly delivery man.

      Today, life is more like heaven.

      We’ve got 1%, 2% and whole.

      At Save-On, Safeway and Seven-Eleven

      We lead a much more sophisticated role.

      But if you skim back to the good old days, when the cream stayed on the top

      of every pint and quart colourful glass bottle

      and the children on the way to school would still walk and then stop

      watching Buttermilk and Chocolate waddle.

      There are so many stories one could tell

      when the only skyscraper in Vancouver’s West End was the Sylvia Hotel. This….has been one of them, klippity-klop, klippity-klop….

      As a kid, mechanical aptitude was not my forte. It took me a year in Industrial Arts to make an ashtray.

      Vancouver’s red Dominion Building, centre, still holds dominion to our proud past.

      And you should have seen that ash tray! Guaranteed to make anyone give up smoking! How I ever ended up working in later years as a cab driver for Black Top cabs in downtown Vancouver, remains a mystery. Mind you, I lasted only about three weeks. In that time period I was responsible for three accidents. The worst was sideswiping a notable competitor’s cab, Penthouse Cabs. I still remember the owner. I think it was Joe Philipone using a few choice words. The expressions, no doubt, were well-deserved. It all happened right in front of his club, too.

      What a view a Vancouver hi-rise can do.

      Once a klutz, always a klutz, know what I mean? It reminds me of the time, many years later, when I was teaching a grade five class in one of those classic wooden portables. At recess it was my turn for supervision duty. In Cloverdale, those fields were muddy from an overnight downpour. This old stuffy academic did a head first right into the mud. Fortunately, there was a change of clothes inside the portable (you have to try to think ahead sometimes, eh?) and I managed to get cleaned up before the bell rang and the children entered. I was trying to look as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

      All settled in, it was time for the Principal’s announcements. They were concluded with the following:

      …Oh, and Mr. Propp – please be a bit more careful next time while playing outside at recess...I swear, Cloverdale shook like a minor earhquake had occurred, from the laughter that followed.

      An old-fashioned jalopy is a vehicle for heaven on earth!

      Now, where was I? Oh yes, driving a cab and the following song. See what happens to a senior when the mind, or whatever is left of it, begins to wander?

      Vancouver in the foggy non-digital 1960s

      VANCOUVER, YOU BRING BACK MANY A MEMORY

      Vancouver, you bring back

      many a happy memory.

      That’s why Vancouver,

      you still mean so much to me!

      Having a pint at The Devor The Ritz,

      when the West End looked a lot more like Kits

      and the Shrine Circus was still Part of The P.N.E.

      Oh, what memory!

      That’s why Vancouver,

      you still mean so much to me.

      Benched by the wings of Vancouver’s English Bay past.

      Do you remember The St. Helen’s Stand for those of us who drove for Black Top? How about The Alcazar Hotel? How about The Krak-A-Joke Shop? When Theatre Row’s neon lights were still ablaze?

      Let’s take a few minutes and turn back that hour glass of sand. The

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