The sacred festival of Samhain (Sow'en) marked the start of Winter, and the beginning of the New Year in the old Celtic calendar. It was considered a liminal time in which the world of the living and the realm of the deceased overlapped. This was a time for the remembrance of those who passed on to an unknown place. Candles were set in the window to welcome the beloved ancestors and to light up the path of the recently departed so that they may be blessed as they set out on their new journey.

There was always an element of fear and trepidation about this night – the eve before Samhain – and also one of expectancy. Not only were certain kinds of divination practiced, but also questions were asked of the ancestors and wisdom sought from their descendants. And, it was also a 'mischief night' when young people disguised themselves, played pranks or engaged in light-hearted jokes involving the community.

The modern custom of trick-or-treating is based upon these old traditions, where those in costume went from door-to-door begging for food and drink. At inhospitable houses, for example, the gate might be removed from its hinges.

The mystery and mayhem often associated with this night is not aided by the commercialism of modern Halloween which tends to emphasize ghoulish fascination with goblins and ghosts not to mention spooks and spectres rather than the communal commemoration of their ancestors.

For those who prefer the scary sights and sounds of haunted houses and their mysterious ephemeral inhabitants, James Bay resident and local historian, John Adams highlights one haunted home worth checking out (as reported in the Times Colonist , October 31, 2010.

THE BENT MAST

The Bent Mast (512 Simcoe St.) is a pub-style restaurant in James Bay. The structure started as a house in the 1880s for the Chandler family, but over the years saw many other uses and occupants. The place has been home to so many reports of ghosts, one former employee who was familiar with paranormal phenomena suggested it might even be a portal between our earthly sphere and the underworld.

Among the most frequently reported ghosts are a middle-aged man sitting by the front window, the upper torso of a woman hovering near the women's washroom and several children on the staircase. One spectral boy in particular is said to play hide-and-seek upstairs, and may be the same one who has reportedly talked with patrons on the front-yard patio and has the ability to take control of their cellular phones.

Residents of James Bay have also reported that there are several ghosts who are known to inhabit the Gatsby Mansion Hotel at 309 Belleville Street. Apparently they appear rather regularly which is probably why it takes a certain kind of person who is willing to work the graveyard shift doing maintenance work in the more remote areas of the property.

Image Credit:  Maralina at flickr.com

Reprinted with the kind permission of HeedTheHedonist.com

For the third in our four-part “Victoria’s Secret” series, ’twas a damp, overcast Wednesday night when your Hedonista and Ronaldo  – a.k.a. “Cornichon” – bedecked in vintage attire and traipsed over to The Superior, jonesin’ to catch a film noir flick.

Although naught but a few blocks from the main tourist attractions of Victoria – the Fairmont Empress, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, the Pacific Undersea Gardens, the Royal London Wax Museum, and the Hotel Grand Pacific – lies the lovely neighbourhood of James Bay. Located on the south side of Inner Harbour, James Bay is a rare jewel: it makes up the oldest residential neighbourhood (north of San Francisco) on the North American West Coast. It is here that we found yet another treasure….

Cosmopolitan, Superior style: white, by candlelight, before an ol’ black & white….

HEDONISTA: Ever since I first tried this wonderfully whimsical  place, I’m now happy to say that I’m as close to a regular as one who now lives in Seattle can be. A small plates eatery with a focus on small local food producers and BC beer and wine, The Superior supports local artists and musicians. From the peaceful patio to the always-interesting interior, The Superior – which opened in October 2005 – is all about the ambiance. In fact, the entire restaurant serves as owner Lisa Boehme’s own personal canvas, which she redesigns seasonally (or whenever the mood takes her). Her goal as an artist and visionary: to challenge people to think outside of the box, to change the way one thinks and, by doing so, to make the world a better place.

Mmmmm … root chips, served up with a yummy sweet chili aioli sauce. Just one of their tasty small plates.

Much like the interior and exterior, the menu at The Superior Café is also a blank canvas; for, here, art is food and food is art. Not over the top, mind you – just good, creative-yet-simple small bites served up with an artistic eye. They do weekend brunches (10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) and evening meals Tuesday through Sunday (5:00 p.m. ’til “late”). (They don’t currently do lunches.) They do offer a “soup of the moment.” And their menu changes up weekly. In the evenings they host art and cultural events, be they movies, music, or even dating games.

That night – in my crushed black velvet dress, black stockings and patent leather Mary Jane-heeled shoes tied with black ribbons – we enjoyed the 1941 flick The Maltese Falcon – complemented by their version of a Cosmopolitan, sans rose: white cranberry juice, cointreau & vodka, served up with a lime wedge. Very nice – think gin & tonic meets lemonade…. Their noshies are very pleasant – their root chips, for example, get on like a house on fire with their beer, wine, and spirits  … not to mention their film noir (think a creatively classy alternative to the traditional movie fare of potato chips and popcorn).

Lisa bears a striking resemblance to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketch of yet another artist, French carbaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque, Yvette Guilbert. (Source: www.allposters.com.)

Lisa Boehme of The Superior. Ever-smiling, she gives to her diners the gifts of unique and positive experiences that become memories to keep and treasure. She instills art into the everyday.

RONALDO: Film Noir night at a cafe just off the Inner Harbour called The Superior. Film noir as in Bogie. It’s been almost three-score years and ten since the great writer-director John Huston and his gang of players (Bogie, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre) launched their concept: hard-driving, fast-talking, high-contrast urban adventures. Guns, dames, cigarettes, booze. Quick cuts interspersed with long, long takes. Actors who created dark characters; scripts that told a dark story.

Thus does Cornichon find himself, of a Wednesday evening, in ascot & leather jacket, watching the iconic Maltese Falcon. Best supporting actor for Greenstreet in his first movie. Bogie misquoting Shakespeare (“The stuff dreams are made of”) as the elevator takes Mary Astor away.

Lights up and The Superior’s owner, Lisa Boehme, appears. We recognize her, don’t we? From Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketches of Paris nightlife. Superior’s lofty space across from Fisherman’s Wharf Park was built as a gathering spot for under-age, off-duty seafarers; later it became a Unitarian church. Now it’s an arty restaurant, an eclectic performance venue and unofficial community center. Hundreds of shoes festoon a tree in the courtyard: a fundraiser for battered women, an expression of Lisa’s open-hearted, California-girl, earth-mother personality. There’s food and drink here nightly, as well as a popular weekend brunch. Organic, of course. A “culinary artist” named Torin Egan’s in charge of the kitchen. But the spirit of the place comes from Lisa, self-described “visionary,” who has the creativity to keep all the wheels spinning without going off the tracks.

(Want to feel Superior? Try this unique gem, and you will.)

Danda Humphreys, one of our talented writers in the neighborhood and a well-known local historian, offers a wonderful new book, Tour Guide Tales, a perfect gift for the globetrotter who’s long on digital photos and short on stories, a happy-faced hospitality industry employee with sore feet, or an armchair traveller living life in the slow lane.

If you have travelled, on your own or with a group, you’ll enjoy this book! “Tour Guide Tales” is a collection of real tales told by real people – tour guides, directors and managers from right across Canada. The stories, edited by Danda Humphreys and illustrated by Elke Hierl-Steinbauer, will make you chuckle, nod in agreement, shake your head in disbelief, maybe even a shed a tear a two.

Read about the "two bad apples" in a busload of tourists who threatened to ruin the group’s trip to Tofino… the European tourist looking for the location of the camp where he once was a prisoner-of-war… and what happened the day a royal duke decided to steer a SeaBus.  Along the way, you’ll share some of the questions people ask, such as (at Lake Louise), "How do they drain the lake so they can paint the bottom blue?", and (pointing to the Undersea Gardens in Victoria’s Inner Harbour), "How often does that ferry sail to Vancouver?"

It’s a fun read and a great gift! Enjoy this unique collection of Canadian tour guide tales!

“Tour Guide Tales” (6” x 9”, 150 pages) is available for $19.95 per copy (including tax) from Danda Humphreys: dandah@shaw.ca or www.dandahumphreys.com.
 

GHOSTS

By all accounts, there are plenty of ghosts to go around in James Bay. These amusing apparitions often make their appearance known to custodial staff hoping to catch a bit of shut-eye on the graveyard shift, individuals suffering from insomnia out for a midnight stroll, or imbibing imps inhabiting certain neighborhood parks where they expect to enjoy a few short snorts and snooze until the following morning.

However, due to severe budget cuts in the area of government transparency and Vital Statistics, the provincial authorities are no longer prepared to invest in services for seniors or the measurement of invisible incorporeal beings. Regretably, the federal government does not keep track of phantom figures whether in the budget or in  the population Census, so it is difficult to determine exactly how many ghosts make James Bay their home.

Judging from the number of ghost tours organized in the neighborhood of late, one might surmise that these spunky spirits tend to frequent happily haunted places such as the Gatsby Mansion Restaurant, the James Bay Inn, and Helmecken House (all of which are popular tourist traps).

GOBLINS

Goblins are mythical, mischievous munchins. Research reveals that the source of their dreadful dispositions may be attributed to the fact that Noah declined to offer them a spot on his ark to escape a frigging flood because they didn’t have cachet or strong collateral let alone impressive ivy-league credentials and an impeccable credit-rating.

As a consequence, it’s not surprising that these dreadfully-dressed diminutive damsels and dudes with extraordinarily large ears or long tails have resorted to wandering about puffing on pipes or cigarettes and finding temporary accommodation in mossy cracks in rocks and tree roots, while local politicians decide how to build a spanking new state-of-the-art multimillion suspension bridge for them live under, together with other dispossessed demons including ogres, trolls, and kelpies. 

Goblins come in any colour, but most prefer hideous hues such as green or brown. This is a handy thing to know, especially for the tree-huggers who are really keen on saving these environmentally-friendly endangered species, as opposed to the Sasquatch and Cadborsaurus (who although rarely seen aren’t worth saving because the latter critters can’t abide tipplers, tourists or tree-huggers).

Image Credit: Tony DiTerlizzi.com

It is difficult to estimate the number of goblins who frequent the neighborhood. Some are said to find the wet west coast winter climate to their liking, while others choose to drop by on an itinerant basis, particularly on Halloween.

Judging from the number of ghastly and sometimes giggling goblins appearing at the front door of the neighborhood’s 7,338 private dwellings on October 31 each year, it would appear that these entertaining elf-like creatures are more than welcome in James Bay, (in contrast to bogeymen who inhabit the lawns of legislature during political protests and bugbears who hang out in the loos where they enjoy frightening the knickers, briefs, or pants off humorless homo sapiens).

GRANNIES

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

According to official population statistics from the 2006 Census, the James Bay neighborhood is home to the highest proportion of grannies (grumpy or otherwise) in all of Victoria.

According to the James Bay Community Project, the medical clinic currently provides care to more than 2,650 patients, of whom 700 are over the age of 75. Due to patient confidentiality, they are not permitted to release the total number of grumpy grannies under the care of their physicians.

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

As entertaining elders of the tribe, grannies are given a wide berth…even wider on Halloween. Grumpy grannies, which comprise the largest suck-it-up segment of the experentially-enhanced population, are easy to spot. They’re the ones who think "trick-or-treaters are so cute…imagine them coming to my door expecting to get something for free."  

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

These boisterous biddies are more often than not given to hooting and howling on Halloween. After all, it’s the only legal time of the year they’re are entitled to do so, without someone suggesting that they be confined to a "supported living" residence with padlocked doors and windows!

What do you mean the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t welcoming any boisterous bats, giggling ghouls, or pesky pumpkins on Halloween?*!

The moral to this tawdry tale is never tempt fate on All Hallow’s Eve unless you don’t mind being devoured by pesky Pumpkin Eaters.

Frankly, when the Wicked Witch of the West is dangerously undermedicated, clicking her heels together just doesn’t seem to do the trick!

Message to the Neighbors: "We got rid of the bats, the spiders and the kids because our black cat was allergic to them — what more do you want?"

Image Credit: Courtesy of Elite Home Vacations (view today from historic downtown Victoria out to the James Bay neighborhood (including the Inn at Laurel Point, the Shoal Point condos and the Ogden Point Cruiseship Terminal), and beyond to the Sooke Peninusula foothills in the distance). 

Reprinted with the kind permission of John Adams, a local author, historian, and James Bay resident; this article originally appeared in its entirety in the July/August issue of Douglas Magazine).

Inner Harbour Mudflats

The Pendray family is synonymous with the rise of Victoria’s industries. William Pendray opened his soap factory in 1875 along the northern shoreline of the James Bay mudflats (where Humbolt Street is today). His White Swan brand and "electric" soap were big sellers and no one paid much attences to the soap lees that sometimes spread out into the harbour. Plans to fill in the mudflats prompted Pendray to relocate the works to Laurel Point where he also began manufacturing paint, shellac, and varnish. A sign on the roof of the factory proclaimed to all arriving by steamer that this was the home of the British American Paint Company (BAPCO). Oil drums lined the shoreline and pipes spewed coloured liquids of dubious content into the water until the plant was teaken over by Canadian Industries Limited and moved to Surrey, B.C. in 1974. The Inn at Laurel Point graces the site today.
 

Breweries and More

Victoria’s hardworking factory workers were able to slake their thirst on beer brewed in the city’s numerous breweries. The first one started up in 1858 and, in 1870, was bought out by Joseph Loewen and Emil Erb, two enterprising Germans who named the business the Victoria Phoenix Brewing Company. By 1891, they boasted an annual production of 120,000 gallons that supplied customers throughout British Columbia and along the coast. The impressive brewery building stood on the 1900-block of Government Street, until the 1980s when it was demolished by Labatt’s. Other breweries came and went — the Lion, Bavarian, Silver Spring — but eventually all closed and Victorians could only drink beer brought in from elsewhere.

Many other factories and workshops opened and closed in Victoria during the 1800s and early 1900s. Residents could purchase vinegar, boots, shoes, clothing, candles, roofing felt, peanut butter, rice, flour, industrial chemicals, dynamite, dairy products of all descriptions, and even cigars and opium made or processed right in their own city.

Vancouver: The Young Upstart

Victoria was the undisputed industrial powerhouse of the province until Vancouver sprang up as the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886. Some in the capital city were smug about the poential for the mainland city but soon realized Vancouver’s superb harbour and new rail connections to the rest of North America gave it a distinct advantage.

Still, Victoria remained bigger until about 1898. Unwilling to admit defeat, the city’s plutocrats devised many schemes to bring prosperity back to Victoria. One such plan in 1897 was prepared by architect Thomas Sorby and called for filling in the shoreline to provide land for new factories, warehouses, railyards, and deepsea docks. Hopes were high in the early 1900s when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was seriously proposing to bridge Seymour Narrows and bring a transcontinental railway line to Vancouver Island with Victoria as its terminus.

The breakwater and industrial development at Ogden Point were tied to that vision, also spurred by the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. However, the railway dream faded and the Panama Canal never quite brought the shippiing to Victoria that the businessmen had hoped for. A grain elevator was built in the 1920s but was never a success. A rail barge slip, a textile factory, fish packing plant, and a few other factories hardly achieved the site’s full potential. Lumber was shipped from Ogden Point for many years, but eventually the freighters no longer stopped there. By the end of the 20th century, Ogden Point was a barren parking lot until cruise ship companies discovered it.

Victoria’s industrial past may surprise young people or those who are new to the city. Though a few former industrial sites lie vacant, many have already been redeveloped or are in the planning stages, typically for townhouses, office and commercial space, parks and walkways. However, one exciting phenomenon is seeing some industries being revived in Victoria. Craft breweries, organic bakeries, custom furniture makers, and specialty woodworks and ironworks are among the businesses that now attract considerable attention. They are on a much smaller scale than their predecessors but, nevertheless are continuing a proud tradition of manufacturing in the capital city that extends back to its earliest days.