Jon O’Grady uploaded a few vintage snapshots; no date was given. I’ve found that it’s pretty easy to determine the year of street scenes like this by determining the newest car(s) in the shot. I don’t have time, as I’ve been seated on a jury for the rest of the week. So I’ll leave it to you all.
Here’s a crop of that first picture, to make it a bit easier.
Another shot almost certainly from the same general place and time.
He also posted this one, and presumably it’s also from the same time, but no guarantees.
Not sure you can just assume they’re all from the same time. Newest vehicle I saw in all four shots was the ‘87 F-150.
Sam has a good point. The fourth picture does seem to be newer based upon the ’87 to ’91 F-150.
The first three were likely taken around 1979 or 1980. This is based upon the Toronado along with the prevalence of 1970s iron, which would have thinned out by the time this generation of Toronado ceased in 1985. Also the green F-150 facing the camera is a ’78 or ’79 and there is an Olds Aeroback beside it.
My condolences about being on a jury. While I did enjoy doing so a few years ago, it was a civil trial that lasted two weeks. I hope this trial does not last as long.
I dodged the bullet on a civil trial expected to last four weeks. I’m on a criminal trial expected to wrap up by Friday at the latest.
You lucked out. Spent 6 weeks on a malpractice lawsuit here in Brooklyn which never should have gone to trial. And I was an alternate. My fellow jurors took 20 minutes to find for the defendants.
I am going to go a bit newer than Jason and call it 1980-81. The second scene contains a C body Buick Electra that appears to be the 1980 refresh of that model. The economy sucked so new cars were not showing up in typical numbers right around then, and only the Electra and Toronado appear new or nearly new.
Most of what is there is mid-late 70s stuff with an occasional early 70s car, that tells me this is a middle to upper-middle class area, because there was still a lot of 60s stuff on the road then in the hands of less affluent owners.
I was on a jury one time – given my line of work, I found it to be an invaluable experience.
I know it’s off-topic…but it fascinates me how common law works in the jury respect. We Roman law citizens only see that in TV shows or movies. I’m yet to understand which of the systems works in a more balanced manner…I have to study more, I love history and law, but have always been a technology and risk auditor
I usually get out of jury duty by showing my hearing aid. Legal Sign Language Interpreters are $40-50 an hour. No court is gonna pay that for a long trial.
I thought hearing aids allowed you to, well, hear. So why would you need a sign language interpreter?
The easiest way to date the photos (the first three, anyway) is by looking closely at the licence plates. They’re BC plates, of the blue design used from ’79 to ’86. The two vehicles in the foreground have 1982 validation stickers with a green background and serial box at upper centre (the design changed each year). So the picture was taken in 1981 or 1982.
That’s some serious sleuthing! Hard to argue with that, but just based on the cars I lean to 1980 based on lack of anything identifiable as 81 or 82 models and the mix of mid-late 70’s models dominating.
The Cadillac in the third photo appears to have one of the (horrible yellow) 1975-82 Alberta plates, consistent with the 81-82 estimate.
Last picture definitely doesn’t belong with the others. Way too new. If there was a 1987+ F-150 in this same era, that grocery store parking lot would be FULL of first-generation Tempos, Cavaliers (J bodies) and K cars.
I agree with the others. 1981-82, before those incredibly popular cars hit the streets in earnest.
Pics one thru three look similar. I was going to say 1979. JP Cavanaugh though found the rebodied 1980 MODEL year Buick.
I would still say 1979. Maybe it’s Oct/Nov, as pic three has no leaves, and light snow, and the Buick is a ‘first on the block’ car.
However, pic four shows a Japanese car I do not recognize, that looks to be at least 1980 model year. And that seems to be a 1987 F-series and mid-late 80s Dodge. So this picture is NOT with the others.
I like the first three more anyway.
I can’t see first three pics being newer than 1980–there are NO X-cars anywhere. I do spot an fastback Olds or Buick A-car (at least 1978).
So, late 1979 is my first guess. Definitely no later than Feb/Mar 1980 for first three.
Last pic is probably 1987-1988
The Japanese car in picture 4 is a Canadian-market-only Nissan Micra, introduced for the 1985 model year. Also of note is the very rare (at least nowadays) Fiat 131 on the far right in the first picture.
Thanks, I couldn’t remember the 131 number. Its taillights are apparently pre-1980, and imports stopped 1982.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1980-fiat-brava-131/
Glad you answered.
I couldn’t get that one and thought I knew that era pretty well.
I keep realizing as I get smarter just how dumb I am.
@ TheMann ;
You’re not dumb, you just realize how little you know, always the problem when you learn more…..
-Nate
Thanx Andrew ! .
I always enjoy looking at vintage photos .
Jury duty can be a good thing, I managed to meet my Sweet there thirty years ago…..
-Nate
I was called for jury duty some years ago.
I was one of those dismissed early on.
When I left, I talked to the bailiff who was on a break same time. He said my answers were too thoughtful and they don’t want anyone who thinks very much. His words!
I really wanted to do it. It was a multiple murder, drug bust, gangland thing.
But I wasn’t simplistic enough I guess.
Some people will remember and fixate on little details, or the lack thereof, that the lawyers hadn’t planned for.
I know this place, it’s the Baker Street entrance to the Cranbrook Mall, Cranbrook, BC. Much of this was demolished and rebuilt many years ago but the Safeway is still going strong. The old Church to the right still stands The last picture of the Cominco building is more likely taken in Kimberley, BC about 20 minutes away.
My offhand guess for picture #1: After the disfiguring bumper regulations, and before the demise of Woolworth’s.
What’s the car in front of the Toronado? It isn’t a Volvo 760. Some kind of Fiat?
I was on three criminal juries (2 armed robberies, 1 undercover $20 crack sale) in 1991, and they all lasted a day each. Lawyers and CSI must be working harder for their money now. Talked myself out of a civil malpractice trial. Her doctor had allegedly scared her with nonexistent breast cancer for a few weeks. I had just stopped limping from melanoma surgery, thanks to a cortisone shot under the kneecap, a fun experience I highly recommend. The limp might have meant the cancer had spread, a death sentence at the time, so I wasn’t terribly sympathetic to the plaintiff and said so.
Good work J Metzinger, I assumed Kootenays somewhere when I saw the Cominco building but have not spent enough time in the area to recognize it right away. When i saw Cominco Trail BC came to mind first.
Woolworths of course, found everywhere in BC in those days.
I can’t see a fender badge on the Dodge to see if it’s a Cummins powered unit which would put this last picture at ’89-ish or later. The winter blanket on the grill may identify it as a Cummins truck; they run notoriously cool in cold climates.
I think the first picture is 81 at the latest. The 2nd picture is later, maybe 87-88 due to the newer F-150 and Micra.
Newest car in the top 3 pics is a red 1980 Corolla liftback hiding behind the big brown Merc.
The first three have a peculiar look I remember from home photos and school photos taken in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, a sort of selective fading likely from sunlight. The fourth one is lacking this and appears to be less exposed also, so I would imagine later in the 1980s. Hope that helps.
1980’s cars are hard to distinguish for me, so I have to cheat.
Others have mentioned the license plates. The other clue is fuzzy sign saying ‘Western Drug Mart’, which I’d never heard of but which Wikipedia tells me amalgamated with United Pharmacy in 1981 to become the current Pharmasave chain. That would suggest 1981 at the latest.
Here’s the view today.
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.5121833,-115.7650083,3a,75y,92.21h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scZtu1zC9ZTyPgIUwSvVplQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DcZtu1zC9ZTyPgIUwSvVplQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D93.400536%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Wow, another really original clue. Some of you should have been detectives.
Early 1980s. Still almost all 1970s cars, but it’s always best to add a year or two – brand new cars are rare in settings like this. I do not see anything newer than 1982 or so – the white Buick, the Sapporo, the Aeroback and the Toronado appear to be the newest cars here. I agree that the last picture is a few years later than the others.
I was once dismissed from jury duty after showing up because the lawyer doing the selection said I was “too impartial”. True, I didn’t care one way or the other, while he was obviously looking for a certain kind of juror. I always thought it was funny: theoretically, jurors are supposed to be impartial.
1982