1947::Record-Breaking Christmas Mail Arrives at Victoria's Bay Street Armoury

The Post Office is overwhelmed, but Vancouver Islanders still receive their Christmas parcels on time.

"1947::Canadian Pacific Railway's Cargo-Passenger Ship Beaverford Carrying a Record Load"

Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1947)

Victoria, British Columbia

On November 23, 1947, the Canadian Pacific ship Beaverford left Montreal for Liverpool with a small list of passengers, a heavy deck load of timber, and nearly 20,000 parcels weighing 800 tons. It was a record shipment of Christmas mail, packed 25 feet deep in the ship's hold, and it was all for Great Britain.

The Beaverford was just one of several ships deployed to transport a staggering 4,000 tons of Christmas parcels across the Atlantic in 1947. Arriving in Liverpool, the distribution of these colossal shipments required 123 British mail transport cars on a train that stretched for three kilometres.

"1947::Fixing and Sorting Christmas Parcel Overflow in Victoria's Bay Street Armoury"

Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1947)

Victoria, British Columbia

Back home, the season's rush was felt at Victoria's docks when a record shipment of Christmas parcels arrived for Vancouver Island residents. The extraordinary amount of parcels flooded the local post office, forcing authorities to temporarily repurpose the Bay Street Armoury to handle the overflow. Postal clerks worked tirelessly to repair as many damaged packages as possible before returning them to Victoria's Post Office for distribution or to the Esquimalt & Nanaimo train station for delivery to up-island locations. Despite the overwhelming volume, it was said that all packages arrived on time for Christmas morning.