Travelogue. Travel film of sights from a train trip across Canada, including footage of Nova Scotia, St. John, St Andrew's, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Georgian Bay, a Great Lakes steamboat, Fort William, Kenora, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Bassano Dam, Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, and Lake Louise. B.C. footage includes: the Spiral Tunnels at Field (with train passing through); Field; open-topped railway observation car with sightseeing passengers; Glacier; Mt. Sir Donald; Albert Canyon; train en route in Fraser Canyon; Vancouver (street scenes, Hotel Vancouver, Stanley Park, English Bay bathers); CPR steamers en route to and at Victoria; Legislative Buildings; Empress Hotel.

SUMMARY: "BC Folio" was a series of weekly programs that featured items of interest to BC listeners, including interviews with British Columbians of diverse backgrounds. "BC Folio" was broadcast from 1971 to 1;976 on the Pacific Network, first on AM and later on FM. This episode is a documentary consisting of interviews and sounds about the Empress Hotel in Victoria. This is part 1 of 2.;

SUMMARY: "BC Folio" was a series of weekly programs that featured items of interest to BC listeners, including interviews with British Columbians of diverse backgrounds. "BC Folio" was broadcast from 1971 to 1;976 on the Pacific Network, first on AM and later on FM. This episode is a documentary consisting of interviews and sounds about the Empress Hotel in Victoria. This is part 2 of 2.;

SUMMARY: "Best of Emerson" is a twice-a-week series (Monday and Friday) that ran from July 2 to September 28, 1962. In this series Vancouver's provocative conversationalist, John Emerson, discusses unusual asp;ects of Vancouver history and gives his recollections and impressions of well-known people. This episode, number 23 in the series, is about Victoria and the Empress Hotel.;

Amateur film. "[B&W:] Victoria Harbour. Empress Hotel. View from Empress Hotel. [COLOUR:] Evening in Esquimalt. University of British Columbia. A house in Shaughnessy. Becky and Gore and her brother Bob. Vancouver skyline from Brockton Point. Scottie Wilson. North Vancouver. B&W: Osoyoos Lake, going up Anarchist Mountain. Looking [southwest] through windshield. Causeway between Osoyoos Lake and Skaha Lake. Penticton main street. Looking at Okanagan Lake from Summerland. Kelowna Regatta. Aquatic Club. Ferry from Westbank to Kelowna. Becky and Rob on ferry at Kelowna. Black Mountain in distance. Looking north on Okanagan Lake. Kelowna main street. Rutland Road, packing house. Dog on Edie Gay Ranch. T.G.S. Chambers and dog. House on Belgo. A.K. Lloyd, our next door neighbour. Apples. Pixie Wilson with horse. Kelowna looking down Okanagan Lake. Paddy and Patricia Acland. O.V. Maude Roxby & Mr. Hart. Looking over RLO Bench to Kelowna. Looking at Black Mountain from ranch. House. Orchards on Belgo Road, Kelowna. Pruning the orchard. Revelstoke - main ski jump. Nels Nielson, champion jumper. Looking down the Columbia River. North shore road at Agassiz. Harrison Lake with Mt. Douglas. Railway and road bridge across the Fraser River. Pattullo Bridge. Empress Hotel. Pier D, Vancouver, before the fire. "Princess" boat. View from Metropolitan Building. Marine Building with Stanley Park. Top of Royal Bank Building, Vancouver, with representatives of Cockfield-Brown and both Chambers. Pan over Vancouver skyline. Cambie Street Bridge. Advertising tea. Georgia Street. Old CPR Hotel. House on Balfour Street, Vancouver. Film star Lilian Chambers off to Chicago." (Colin Browne)

the item is a travelogue film. "An animated curtain rises to reveal waves washing in on a sandy beach. [Long shot of] Hatley Park castle from pond at bottom the garden, a rowboat passing by. "Princess Kathleen", CPR ferry, arrives in Victoria's Inner Harbour with visitors crowding the decks. [Close-up of] passengers along the rails as ship passes. Empress Hotel over the after deck of the "Kathleen". Passengers leave the ship, down gangways into a shed. Car driving along ramp out of a ferry named the "Olympic", under a sign reading: "Come again, Au revoir. For information apply Victoria Publicity Bureau." Several other cars disembark. Good aerial view of Inner Harbour, Customs House, CPR ferries and etc. from top of Parliament Buildings; pans across to Empress Hotel. Sign on a building reads: "New England Cafe -? ? ? - Ask anybody". Also good [long shot of] old Post Office, Belmont Building, streetcar passing on Causeway. A man and a girl examine a rose bush in the Empress garden. Ladies in Mayor Pendray's topiary garden look at a sitting bear, a fat bird, a bird's roost, etc. CPR ferry in [background]. Old codgers lawn bowling. Oak Bay golf course with golfers and CPR ferry sailing by in [background]. Swimming and diving in the Crystal Gardens. "Empress of Japan" in Esquimalt dry dock. Shot down Moss Street (?) with Olympic Mountains in distance. Mount Baker in far distance from Malahat overlooking Pat Bay. Car driving over Malahat Drive -- several shots including one down Finlayson Arm. A car travelling through the forest over a dirt road; a man & woman walk through ferns beneath the trees. Two couples hold hands around the base of a large tree. Car continues through forest. A speedboat, perhaps on Cowichan Lake. A gracious tea being served outdoors by a maid dressed in black, somewhere on the Oak Bay Golf Course, with the ocean & Olympic mountains in [background]. Curtain comes down over beach scene from beginning of film." (Colin Browne)

Stock shots. 1. Fire on the dock. Shots of burnt shipyard. 2. Police & victim at Tolmie Apartments; gunshot? 3. Bank of Montreal vandalism. 4. Air Canada balloon in front of the Empress Hotel. 5. The tall ship "Eagle" enters the Inner Harbour. 6. Projectionist at the Odeon Theatre. 7. Visit by Prince Philip. 8. Police in action - dusting for fingerprints. 9. Fire at an older building, near the Salvation Army building. 10. Cedar Hill Community Centre - police investigating in the fields. 11. Brentwood College School - fire damage. 12. Inflatable roof. 13. Miniature submarine "Pisces IV" being sent to Ottawa. 14. Experimental aircraft. 15. Fire damage at a school. 16. Night shots of fire at Gorge Vale Apartments; daytime survey of damage. 17. Sooke Lake reservoir. 18. Unidentified state visit - military parade. 19. Airport arrival. 20. Fire at sea. Rescue operations. The freighter "G.B. Church". 21. Caterpillar munching away - aerial shots of forest. 22. Prince Charles welcomed by Premier Bill Bennett. Colour Guard. 23. Prince Charles giving speech and departing. 24. Sidney Fire Department pumper.

Stock shots. 1. Outdoor speech - Pierre Trudeau. 2. Joe Clark. 3. Ship in harbour - the "Chavez". 4. Small freighter "Samarkanda" being unloaded. Police boat; gunny sacks. 5. Naval vessel. 6. Colour Guard at the Legislature. Lieutenant-Governor [presumably Bell-Irving] reviewing troops. Demonstrations re: Rock Creek, Cheekye-Dunsmuir power line. Premier Bill Bennett and cabinet ministers. 7. Demonstration at Harbour Square re: BC Buildings Corporation. 8. Colonist newspaper headline re: Sandanista victory. 9. Harmac strike banner - PPWC Local 8. 10. Pickets in front of the Empress Hotel. 11. Evangelical baptisms - field service. 12. Water bombing - blazing forests. 13. Interior of cathedral interior - unidentified dignitary. 14. BC Ferry aground on the rocks. Damage review. 15. Forest fire and water bombers. 16. Craigdarroch Castle. 17. Victoria Conservatory of Music. 18. Sketch of masked person. 19. BC Ferry & Marine Workers Union - on strike. 20. Submarine. 21. Fire - unidentified location. 22. The Raeside cartoon of "Vander Zalm picking the wings off a fly". 23. Flag raising outside Legislature. 24. James Bay Lodge. 25. Royal Trust Building. Police and military personnel. [A bomb or hostage taking incident?]

Stock shots. 1. 20th Anniversary of BC Ferries. 2. Liquor Store temporarily closed. 3. Ferries. 4. Speech - remember the pension rule. ( Indoors.) 5. Outside the Legislature. Big crowd. 6. Pickets in front of the Empress re: BC Tel dispute. 7. Bank of BC protesters (BC Tel pickets). 8. BC Tel pickets at ferry terminal. 9. Picket parade in parliamentary precinct. 10. CUPW pickets - Legislature lawn. 11. Postal pickets at processing plant. Posties with signs. 12. Picket in front of Labatt's - brewery workers. 13. Street full of protesters. 14. Teamsters on strike - Local 213 at Air West. 15. United Fisherman & Allied Workers Union strikers. 16. Labour rally - inside auditorium. 17. Demonstrators in front of Legislature. Premier Bill Bennett on steps. 18. Public Service Alliance - pickets. 19. 2-4-D protest. 20. BCGEU pickets. 21. Retail clerks on strike against Woodward's. 22. BCTV strikers (NABET). 23. Construction workers protesting. 24. Large parade of protesters - Inner Harbour. 25. Yarrows Ltd. - flying pickets re: BC Tel hot equipment. 26. Pickets in front of the Empress.

The item is a travelogue film. 'Sunshine and flowers - thus it is that one thinks of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Its enterprising business district is only overshadowed by its beautiful gardens. Such places of interest as Beacon Hill Park, the Mayor's Garden, the Dominion observatory (which houses the second largest telescope in the world) and the Butchart Gardens, are famed across the continent.' Scenes include a map of Victoria and Vancouver with a line shoring the ferry route, and an aerial view of Victoria, Inner Harbour and CPR ferry entering. Parliament Buildings. Empress Gardens and Hotel. Pan of cars driving along Causeway toward Belmont Building. Two shots of busy street corner (Yates & Douglas?). Beautiful homes and gardens along Rockland Avenue (?). Mayor Pendray's topiary gardens with visitors. Exterior shots of Dominion Observatory. At Butchart Gardens: Italian Garden, child with clay rabbit and Sunken Gardens. Very picturesque shot of the Parliament dome through the veranda portal of the Empress Hotel. (Colin Browne).

Footage. "Probably members of the Columbia Coast Mission visiting the mission boat ['Columbia'] in Vancouver harbour during the Royal Visit. Includes ladies and two nurses. Scenes up the coast taken from the Mission boat: blue sky and sea, islands, and an unidentified [floating] settlement and its residents. Lion's Gate Bridge [long shot], looking out Vancouver Harbour. Lighthouse up the coast. Scenery through the islands, [fishing] boats & settlements. [Logging sequence.] Flowers in an unidentified garden and a little stone fountain in a pond with swans. Two women on deck of Mission boat look out over small village up the coast. Fishing boats, settlements. Man painting hull of Mission boat. Nurses. Boat at dock with other boats nearby, probably in Inner Harbour, Victoria. Empress Hotel. Ladies [disembarking]. Fishermen picking fish out of hold, Mission boat nearby. Scenery and settlement with fish-boats up the coast. At a Lighthouse (Pachena?), a small boat is transported across the top of the water by a cable, then lowered into the water when out of danger. The boat is then rowed out to the Mission boat. More scenery, settlements and islands. Scenery up the coast, islands, settlements, tugboat passing, destroyer passing. Point-No-Point Lodge and beach. [Logging scene.] [The yacht 'Taconite'] in Vancouver Harbour for King and Queen's visit. Many flags and pennants. Lion's Gate Bridge in background. Hundreds of boats in Harbour: fishboats with flags, cabin cruisers, motorboats, and RCN destroyer H48, 'HMCS Fraser'. Biplanes fly over bridge very close to cables. 'Princess Marguerite' hoves into view then sails away under bridge to Vancouver Island, carrying the King and Queen. Village church with wedding party emerging. Settlements, scenery and people up the coast." (Colin Browne)

Amateur film. Footage of the Parliament Buildings, Inner Harbour, Empress Hotel (ca. 30 feet) and the exterior and interior of the Crystal Garden, including the ballroom and swimming pool (ca. 50 feet).

The file consists of about 180 feel unedited footage in seven reels. 1. Test or construction of a bridge on the Fraser River, ca. 1937. 2 & 3. Ships sailing through the open swing span of the same bridge. 4. Victoria's Inner Harbour, with the Parliament Buildings lit up at night. 5. Daylight moon over dome of Parliament Buildings; Empress Hotel decorated for Royal Visit. (Kodachrome) 6. Boat launching. (Kodachrome) 7. Cariboo Highway near and in Fraser Canyon; Alexandra Bridge at Spuzzum. (Kodachrome)

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-29 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Dr. Douglas Hunter talks about his family coming to Victoria in 1884, and his grandfather, John Robson, who was editor of the "British Columbian", "Colonist", and "Victoria Colonist", and later Premier. Dr. Hunter discusses his grandfather's life and character; his conflict with Judge Begbie; the island-versus-mainland rivalry; Richard McBride as premier; W.J. Bowser; Colonel Prior; Joe; Martin; and Thomas McInnes. TRACK 2: Dr. Hunter discusses elections in Victoria; early Victoria; the Legislative buildings; the Empress Hotel; ferries; changes in Victoria; confederation debates; s;ports; Lester Patrick; the James Bay Athletic Association, and the future of Victoria.

CALL NUMBER: T1325:0001 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), [ca. 1972-1973] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Jergen Hesse talks to Norman Levi, BC Rehabilitation Minister, about his experiences in the Bengal Room and as guest; guest Don McLean; comments on hotel; Joe Zanichelli, pastry cook for twenty-five years, talks about the future of the hotel; the retiring maitre d'hotel talks about changes and incidents at the hotel; general manager Bill Gray discusses the hotel's traditions and reputation; tourism; and the building. TRACK 2: Jergen Hesse continues his interview with Bill Gray; general manager; who talks about the conservatory; siting and construction of the building and hotel residents; Art Murphy; purchasing agent; speaks about hotel incidents; "Billy" Tickle, the band leader at the hotel from 1928 to 1960; talks about his trio; musical selections; employment during the depression and Royal visits.

CALL NUMBER: T1325:0002 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), [ca. 1972-1973] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Jergen Hesse continues his interview with Billy Tickle; who speaks about playing "God Save the Queen"; musicians; life at the hotel; war time; Mrs. Macmillan, a permanent guest at the hotel; since 1944, talks about her experiences and Christmas celebrations; Fred Crewe, porter captain, talks about his thirty-four year career, including incidents, guests, remittance men, tourists and unions. TRACK 2: Jergen Hesse continues his interview with Fred Crewe who talks about wages, Mr. Riddler, head porter from 1933 to 1973, recalls his years at the hotel; Christmas celebrations and guests; during the depression; Mrs. Yard, Garden Cafe guest, talks about her hotel meals since 1947; Godfrey Holloway, Empress Hotel historian, talks about the hotel during the 1950s, tourism, Operation Teacup; and the remodeling process; Cyril Chapman, former general manager; talks about his responsibilities.

CALL NUMBER: T1325:0003 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), [ca. 1972-1973] SUMMARY: Cyril Chapman discusses incidents that occurred during the 1950s; and discusses the conservatory, afternoon tea, changes made to the hotel, the bus terminal, the Crystal Pool, anecdotes, conventions; ;Tommy and Alf, who were cocktail waiters in the Bengal Room since 1929, discuss wages during the Depression, the union, work during the war, the dress code and working conditions.

PERIOD COVERED: ;1912;-;1920 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1962-03-30 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: In an interview with Imbert Orchard, Mrs. Eva Gillan speaks about her arrival in Victoria from England in 1912, and her first impressions. She is a well known singer under her maiden name, Eva Hart, and talks about the Empress Hotel, music and entertainment. She discusses the "Englishness" of Victoria; tourism; prominent families; the Pemberton family; the Pooley family; the Dunsmuir family; the Barnard family; local Indians; the Chinese; Esquimalt; Vancouver and the real estate boom. Grace L. Shaw continues the interview (for a radio program on the history of theatre in Canada). Mrs. Gillan talks about her musical career; theatrical life in Victoria in 1912; Reginald Hincks; the opening of the Royal Theatre; and various performances. Grace Shaw's interview with Mrs. Gillan is continued on tape T1301:0001. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Television stock shots. Footage includes: moving of Pioneer School; moving of Stavley School; Fort Rodd Hill artillery; Empress Hotel; [statue of?] Captain Vancouver; the New Year's baby, 1974 ; dismantling of Victoria Machinery Depot; Causeway up-date; historic buildings; Remembrance Day, 1974.