Vintage Matters
A blast
From the past
Take a look at some random site fixtures & hardware of another time.
Remember the 70’s?
Most of our patrons remember this pricing board that hung over the front desk since the 70’s under then Hastings Steam and Sauna banner until mid 2022. Shown here are the prices that were taped over as time passed. Those were the days.
Going further back in time
Let’s start at the beginning – Hastings Bath House (now operating as Hastings Spa) was built by Finnish businessman J. P. Wepsela in 1926. According to reasonable profiling, he would have been more affluent than your average Joes as he had the mean to buy a large piece of land in what was then the downtown area of Vancouver city for this venture. The lot comprised the existing Hastings Spa building and also the neighboring Richardson Wes building which was originally used as a gravel and dirt customer parking lot. Over the years, many artifacts were put aside from the various renovations to the spa building as well as retrieved from the excavation of the parking lot when the Richardson Wes building was developed. They are now on display throughout the length of the Spa’s hallway to add to the history of this venerable establishment.
Mystery license plate
This license plate was found in the cluttered storage room during renovation and was determined to be from the 1920’s by our construction foreman friend, Herman Alexander, who happened to oversee the Richardson Wes building project next door besides being an avid antique car restorer and collector.
DIY evidence?
This Zenith carburetor was also found in the storeroom and was again determined by Herman to be from the 20’s and was standard equipment on Chevrolet cars of the era.
A fine ride
It was surmised that J. P. Wepsela probably drove a more upscale model car such as the the Chevrolet V-8 Model D-5 Touring that used the now restored license plate and he or one of his worker might have changed out the Zenith carburetor while doing repair.
Bottles galore
Hastings Spa’s connection to Herman Alexander is further on ‘display’ with the bottles that he retrieved from the parking lot excavation next door and generously donated to the spa. He explained that they were semi antique pieces and procured a book he had all about old bottles.
Locks & handles
These locks and handles valued for their brass content and old world designs. The door handles were fastened with solid brass nails and not screws!
