----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > VANCOUVER CONFERENCE BULLETIN, 11TH HOUR PLUS > HOTELS AND HIGH TEA > > Those of you who opted for the MEMBERS HIGH TEA on Monday, March > 29, 3 p.m., following the Membership Meeting, are in for a real > treat. The Hotel Vancouver is one of the original Canadian > Pacific Railway hotels that were built to entice well-heeled > tourists, many from Britain, to travel to Canada. With their > exotic locales but familiar elegance and amenities the hotels > became destination resorts. During the 1920's when this Hotel > Vancouver was built, the CPR was an international transportation > giant, with ocean liners, steamships, transcontinental > passenger trains, and lavish resort hotels built across Canada, > mostly in the 'chateau style'*, such as the Chateau Lake Louise, > the Banff Springs Hotel (both in Alberta), and the Empress Hotel > in Victoria, among others. It was as shrewd marketing, as well > as an enlightened form of art patronage, that the CPR hired > artists to travel its routes and paint the scenery along the > way. The resulting works were used to illustrate the promotional > brochures of the company, with travel to the west, and the > Canadian Rockies, being the most promoted. Also among the British > tourists were members of the royal family, who stayed at these > hotels, and expected and received all the trappings of British > traditions, even in the far west of the Dominion of Canada. > > Afternoon tea is one of the traditions of the CPR hotels, most > observed at that former outpost of empire, the Empress Hotel in > Victoria, but also at the Hotel Vancouver. You can expect a > selection of teas, strawberries with devon cream, egg, cucumber > and tuna sandwiches, raisin scones with preserves, and a > selection of French pastries. > > You can still partake of this British custom by contacting Arlis > headquarters until March 12 for reservations (payment can be made > in Vancouver), and/or inquire at the Arlis registration desk when > you arrive, but remember that the hotel prefers 72 hours notice > for these events. > > Kathy Zimon > Vancouver Conference Program Co-chair > > *Check your libraries for Harold Kalman's The Railway Hotels and the Development of the Chateau Style in Canada,(1968) for more about this style of architecture. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kathy E. Zimon Library, LT 116F Fine Arts Librarian (Emeritus) University of Calgary Adjunct Assistant Professor 2500 University Dr.N.W. Department of Art Calgary AB T2N 1N4 Ph: (403) 220-6097 FAX: 282-6837 e-mail: [log in to unmask]