The Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League united numerous Veterans groups and societies together as one national entity. Over 160 Legion branches were founded that first year of 1926. This included Courtenay Branch #17 which was followed locally by Cumberland Branch #28 and later by Comox Branch #160 in 1939.
Long-time Courtenay meter reader Billy Hayman with a good catch, ca. 1920. This photograph appears on page 168 of Step into Wilderness: A Pictorial History of Outdoor Exploration in and around the Comox Valley.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Hot Chocolates opening for business in downtown Courtenay. The newspaper ad seen here, celebrating one year in business, appeared in the June 12, 1987 edition of the Comox District Free Press. Note the original shop location on Duncan Avenue where the Backdoor Gallery & Studio is today.
For the community, this was front page news on May 5, 1976 in the Comox District Free Press newspaper: “The ribbon has been cut and the doors are officially open at the new shoppers’ mall in Courtenay.”
Here a four-horse team driven by Mr. Edwards and Tom Idiens works on ploughing the fairway of the recently formed Comox Golf Club, April 1924. This S.B.W. (Dusty) d’Esterre photograph appears on page 136 of Step into Wilderness: A Pictorial History of Outdoor Exploration in and around the Comox Valley.
Local members of the British Columbia Women’s Service Corps display plums picked for the “Jam for Britain” campaign, ca. 1941. Left to right: Pam Harvey, Mrs. Lucy Muir, Mrs. Clive, Mary Bell.
The Comox Archives and Museum Society just opened their new exhibit, 80 Years Ago: A Comox Time Capsule. This display highlights a pivotal time in Comox — where the community rallied together after the war, pushed for incorporation, and even endured the island-shaking 1946 earthquake.
Comox District Women’s Institute making Red Cross Jam, 1941. Left to right: Effie Clowes, Evelyn Harmston, Maggie McPhee, G.W. Stubbs, Leo Anderton, Theed Pearse, Berkeley Grieve, A.H. Davidson.
This eye-catching advertisement from the 1926 Comox Argus wished readers compliments of the season. Ernie Macdonald moved to the Comox Valley from Victoria in 1921 and opened Macdonald Electric in downtown Courtenay.
The Courtenay and District Museum board and staff would like to extend wishes to all for a wonderful and safe holiday!
