Anyone remember the Ingraham Hotel?

Greetings gracious readers and contributors to VV. I am adding to my article on the history of the Ingraham Hotel, specifically to the history of the drinking establishments inside the Ingraham Hotel.
I would love to read any of your stories, thoughts, memories or even ideas regarding your experiences at the old Ingraham. Once I confirm your information I (with your permission) may add it to a revised article on the history of the hotel. The point is to have a confirmed factual record of the history of the beer parlour/sports pub, the Big I Cabaret and the Ingy Lounge as lasting record for all to enjoy, to that end I ask for your thoughts.

Please view the following links for some great old photographs of one of my favourite water holes until it closed:
http://www.flickr.co...ory/5571247717/

http://www.flickr.co...ory/2462205794/

http://www.flickr.co...tory/445267028/

http://raincoasthist...-1960-2003.html

Thank-you for indulging in my obsession with historic hotels of Greater Victoria.

I used to play darts at the Ingy from time to time. I remember vividly the first time I went into that gymnasium like pub it was quite the experience. This was one of the last real working person locals. The food was simple and to the point. There was a wall of dart boards and a bunch of pool tables. Even with 30 - 40 people there it felt empty and of course the flourescent lighting was strange for a pub. Still it was fun cheap and always had a free Board or two.

Have you seen any photos of the inside? I would love a trip down memory lane if someone has one. That said it was not the kind of place people took photos. That would have ended badly.

I love the yellow sign on the hotel with the atomic design element!

My Dad, Ken, worked for decades selling hardware at 'Simpson' Sears in Hillside, no doubt many of you bought tools from him. Later, he sold real estate and had many loyal clients over the years. It seemed we could not go anywhere without someone stopping to say hi.

I have memories of being in that pub - and others, including the red lion - from when I was a child. My Dad worked very hard to support the family in the late 70's and early 80's, holding a variety of part time jobs in addition to his full time job! He owned a janitorial firm for a while, cleaning offices in the evening to make ends meet, and for years he owned a vending company that leased things like pool tables, cigarette machines, pinball tables, etc, and one of the things this company provided were large, wall mounted electronic games, like baseball, golf or trapshoot. Of course, this was before most anyone had heard of a computer.

The way these games worked was very, very basic. The player would stand a podium about 10 feet away from the game, and press the single button on the podium at the right time to, say, hit the ball, shoot the gun, swing the club, etc and you would see an object sail across the large screen - there might have been sound effects like a cheering fan, or the crack of the bat. Really rudimentary stuff. The box on the wall was maybe 10 feet by 7 feet and would hang from the ceiling. There were light bulbs (just regular old bulbs) behind a thick black sheet of plastic. The sheet had lines that would relate to the game (bases, etc) and the bulbs would turn on and off according to what was happening in the game. Some of these memories are early, pre-school age, and maybe in to kindergarten, so I would hang out with my Dad and go to these pubs while he maintained the machines, took out the coins, etc.

Of course, we always seemed to have one or two of these games in 'storage' at the house in the family room or garage and our friends always liked coming over to play. Quite a novelty!! They stuck around the house for a few years, into elementary school. Perhaps they went out of style and were removed from the pubs, or perhaps I just stopped going to these places with my old man, but I do well remember the strange feeling of being someplace where I knew I wasn't normally allowed, and often there was nobody else there, or maybe a manager sitting down counting money or cleaning... and the sticky floors. I really remember the sticky floors.

Matt.

ETA: They were these Gremlin wall games, I remember them very, very well.

http://www.wallgames.com/trapshoot.htm