Inspired by Michelle Reid’s “Glamour Issue” article on Prop House Café, Sad Mag contributor Darren Li decided to explore this place himself. Li took Reid’s description of the Café as “a cross between the living room of a kooky grandma and a rambling antique museum,” as an erstwhile challenge, deciding to seek out four items and discover the story behind each one. In an interview with café owner Ross Judge, Li chronicles the material history of this unique Vancouver setting.
Darren Li: What or who inspired the idea of Prop House Café?
Ross Judge: Me. I felt that communities in Vancouver needed a home.
DL: How do you feel your one of a kind café influences the art and culture of Vancouver?
RJ: We are, what you would call, cultural provocateurs. This place invites and inspires all types of artists. There are cameras that would excite photographers, old records that would inspire musicians; we’ve got everything.
DL: How old were you when you first started collecting these items? Do you remember the first item of your collection?
RJ: I think around 1996. The oldest item that I have is a mountain lion growling on top of a rock.
DL: Most people have collections or memoirs. For me, I collect shot glasses from places I visit. What inspired you to start collecting antiques?
RJ: A disease – a hoarding disease.
DL: Which item is sentimentally worth the most to you?
RJ: The piano. It is a 1957 upright grand Heintzman. I bought it at the Woodward’s Building downtown in 1959. I won’t list anyone specific, but an incredible amount of people have played it.
Antiques and their stories
Hanging doll
This funny looking figure caught my attention as soon as I walked into the café. I thought he must have something to do with Christmas because of his red nose and innocent look, but upon asking Ross about it, he told me different.
“It is actually a hobo; he symbolizes homelessness on the Downtown Eastside. I have him hanging from the ceiling right as you walk in because I feel that homelessness is a big issue in Vancouver. You can tell he is homeless because of the clothes he is wearing; it looks like he made it himself.”
Sleeping Garfield phone
When I saw this old-fashioned phone, I smiled. I just had to ask Ross about it. Turns out he hates Mondays just as much as Garfield.
“I like Garfield and his sense of humour, and that is why I got it. When you pick up the phone, Garfield’s eyes open.”
Record player
AKA “Grove Machine,” turntable, phonograph, gramophone… this particular player picks the beats on Judge’s solid café record collection. The mellow sounds you hear when you first walk in are 100% vinyl.
This is old news, but bears repeating because did you know that the first record player was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison? The man was doing everything. It looked a bit like a trumpet, but we’ll excuse the Victorians their aesthetics. Later on, Emile Berliner transformed the phonograph, making it able to play gramophone records. Ross’s record player is Berliner’s version, what most people refer to as a turntable. There are grooves on records (get it? get it?), and while the record spins on the turntable, the needle traces the grooves and vibrates to produce the wanted sound.
Wooden figures
There was something mysterious and intriguing about these two wooden figures. When I asked about them, Ross told me the interesting story behind them.
“These two figures are from a tavern called The Breakers located in Point Roberts, Washington. There was a ‘no drinking on Sundays’ rule in Vancouver until around the 1980s. So people would have to leave Vancouver just to get a drink on a Sunday. The Breakers was a famous place people went to just past the border. The owner sold me these two figures. They are Tiki gods that guarded the entrance of the tavern to keep evil spirits away.”
