Brush written logo for Woodward’s department store, c1945

The Woodward’s department store wordmark was once as recognizable in Western Canada as the neon signs in Vancouver or grain elevators on the prairies. But as is so often the case with these things few knew that it was the work of a young woman named Irene Porter. In 1939 Irene began working as a lettering artist in Woodward’s advertising department in the Hastings Street store. Within a few short years she would become their head show card writer. Although we don’t know precisely when she created this iconic mark it would most likely have been toward the end of the Second World War. In 1949 she had to resign her job because she was getting married.

From her new home in North Vancouver, Irene went on to become one of the finest calligraphers in Canada. She was a founding member of the Westcoast Calligraphy Society, originally called the Italic Handwriting Society. For many years she taught calligraphy and heraldry and in 1980 she led a small group on a calligraphy tour of England.