Viewing Object

Gertrude Lillian Osterberg was born August 21, 1900, in Gleichen, Alberta. Travelling as a young person, she returned to Vancouver in 1916 with her family and worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper at a wholesale jewelry company in Vancouver. In 1918 she began a four year courtship with Noel Booth, who she had met through her father. On June 1, 1921 Noel and Lillian were married at the First Lutheran Church in Vancouver. The newly weds arrived in Fern Ridge in the fall of 1921 by the B.C. Electric Interurban Railway and were assisted by local farmers over the rough roads to their new home. Mrs. Booth began running the Fern Ridge post office when they arrived, while Noel commuted to his plumbing business in Vancouver until the mid-1920s. By that time a small store was added to the post office, and eventually the Booths' developed a small fleet of travelling stores. By all accounts, Mrs. Booth was the one that ran the show, as Mr. Booth concentrated on his political career. The couple had two children: Mark and Valara. Gertrude Booth died in Langley on October 13, 1973.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"

Noel Bowman Booth was born in Nottingham, England on 23 May 1897. His father died in 1906, after which his mother, Edith Maude Booth, brought the family to Canada. Noel traveled around northern BC before settling in Langley. He enlisted in the Canadian military in 1918. Noel married Gertrude Lillian Osterberg on 1 June 1921. He was a School Trustee from 1938-1939 and Councillor in 1945, 1949-1955 and 1959; and Reeve 1933-1935, and 1946-1947. Noel and Lillian were the long-term owners of the Noel Booth General Store, and they ran a fleet of buses that acted as mobile stores around the community. Noel Booth is known for launching the celebration of Douglas Day, and he helped facilitate the building of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. In 1943 the Booths donated the land upon which Glenwood School stands, and in May 1977 a cairn and plaque were placed in a corner of the school yard to honour his donation. Noel Booth Park and Noel Booth Elementary School were later named for him. Noel Booth died 22 May 1979.

The Booths arrived in Fern Ridge, south Langley, in the fall of 1921 to continue operating the local post office there. Mrs. Gertrude Lillian Booth assumed the role of postmistress while Mr. Booth commuted to Vancouver to his plumbing business until the mid 1920s. The Booths expanded the services of the post office soon after (a temporary partition was built to accommodate two services, the post office and a small grocery store). Initially a limited number of goods were offered for sale, due largely to the limited floor area. The post office ceased operation in 1926. The gas station at the Booth Store was built in the early 1930s, a small building with a covering for the pumps. There were two pumps - gas and coal-oil. Coal-oil was used extensively for lighting and heating prior to electricity in rural Langley. The store underwent a major renovation in 1936 when the Booths contracted the Services of the Smith Brothers, a local construction company. The renovation changed the store layout from an "L" to a linear design. After the renovation the store was now called N. Booth's General Store. The Booth's expanded in 1940 and 1941, adding stores in Whalley and White Rock. The White Rock store closed for economic reasons, and the Whalley location after its manager enlisted in the army. During the Second World War the Booths' established a fleet of mobile stores, at the height of their use between 1946 and 1947. The service was decreased to a one vehicle operation in 1947, and the last remaining vehicle, a Diamond "T", remained in service until 1963 when the traveling grocery was cancelled.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"; Inventory of Historic Buildings in Langley by the Langley Heritage Society.