History of Saloons, Beer Parlour & Pubs Victoria, BC

Yes it was common practice for many of the beer parlours to close for an hour or two (depending on the owner) especially from 1925-1959. Eventually that practice came to an end.

Pubs were also closed on voting days until after the polls had closed.

I always used to enjoy the Snug at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, which had more of a pub feel to it with their overstuffed chairs and British decor.

Was Maude Hunters on Shelbourne the first neighbourhood pub in the Victoria region?

Well the neighbourhood pub license was created in 1974. The Government of the day urged existing beer parlour owners to change their establishments over to the new pub style by relaxing the liquor rules and allowing their patrons much more choice of food and drink.

The long established Prairie Inn [see: http://www.flickr.co...ry/2511067081/]
was one of the first beer parlours to apply and receive a neighbourhood pub license in 1974.

Maude Hunters was much later -1986, so many places such as Spinnakers Brew Pub (1984), arguably, the Barley Mow Inn (1985)...the point is that many of the old established beer parlours did switch over while others did not.

Could we say that Maude's was the first purpose-built neighbourhood pub? It seems that many of the converts were at some time part of a hotel. Is there any Inn at the Prairie Inn? Or at the Barley Mow (a name I have not heard spoken for a long time!)?

I think so. It opened before I was of drinking age. Maybe one day they will have a website.

But what was/is a place like the Tudor House? Was it a hotel?

Monkey Tree was pretty early too:



http://monkeytreepub.com/about.php

The Tudor House: http://www.tudorhousepub.com/
I wish more establishments would take pride in their history like the Tudor, Six Mile and Ma Millers.
For a short time it was named the "Port of Call" back in the 1980's after an extensive renovation in 1985 resulted in the addition of a second bar near the dance floor and the maritime theme you see today with model ships, and nautical paraphernalia.
It became the Tudor House Hotel in 1937 but never actually offered overnight accommodations.

Spinnakers opened before Maude Hunters. 1984 for Spinnakers. 1987 sticks in my head for Maude Hunter's.

Birds of Paradise was also very early. As was the Stone House out at the ferry. Though I can not remember if they opened before Maude's

This is how I remember the Beaver T-Shirts. They were navy blue with the words "Last night at the Beaver". The graphic was small, a beer mug tipped over with beer spilled out and a beaver tracks leading away from it to a beaver on the left hand side of the shirt. Graphics were in a dark yellow.

Could we say that Maude's was the first purpose-built neighbourhood pub? It seems that many of the converts were at some time part of a hotel. Is there any Inn at the Prairie Inn? Or at the Barley Mow (a name I have not heard spoken for a long time!)?

From my current research Maude Hunters was not the first establishment built specifically as a neighbourhood pub but was an early arrival. Spinnakers(1984) preceded Maude Hunters. The Barley Mow (1984) now Smugglers Cove, had a restaurant license but switched over to a neighbourhood pub in 1987 (after Maude's opened).

The Barley Mow, owned by the Karpiuks faced financial trouble by 1992 and the pub fell into receivership. The new owners changed the name.

The Barley Mow opened as a restaurant and were strict on food with your booze when they opened.

Many hotels only remained hotels on the books because they had a liquor license. The King's Hotel and the Strathcona Hotel did not have rooms for rent in the 80s when I started drinking here.

Spinnakers opened before Maude Hunters. 1984 for Spinnakers. 1987 sticks in my head for Maude Hunter's.

Birds of Paradise was also very early. As was the Stone House out at the ferry. Though I can not remember if they opened before Maude's

This is how I remember the Beaver T-Shirts. They were navy blue with the words "Last night at the Beaver". The graphic was small, a beer mug tipped over with beer spilled out and a beaver tracks leading away from it to a beaver on the left hand side of the shirt. Graphics were in a dark yellow.

I think I remember someone wearing that Beaver t Shirt. I would love to see one and add a photograph of it for my manuscript. I do have a great golf shirt from the Ingy Sports Pub that I got from one of the waiters at the pub back in 2000 which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Ingraham Hotel. That's the day when the owners applied to roll back beer prices to .50 per glass but were only partially successful at $1.00 per glass. The place was packed...reminded me of what it was probably like back on a Friday or Saturday night in the 1960's.

When was the last time the Kings Hotel was actually used as a hotel? I would have loved to see the interior as I bet it was like a museum up there.

The Barley Mow opened as a restaurant and were strict on food with your booze when they opened.

Many hotels only remained hotels on the books because they had a liquor license. The King's Hotel and the Strathcona Hotel did not have rooms for rent in the 80s when I started drinking here.

Ya, the Kings was kind of a running joke among our friends, we'd tell them to meet us in the lobby of the King's. But they did provide accomodation for the dancers in rooms upstairs, didn't they? That is usually a provision of a stripper allowance.

Spinnaker's has guest rooms. So I'd still like to hold firm on Maude's being the first purpose-built neighbourhood pub without accomodations. I do remember now that the Barley Mow was a restaurant license.

The Barley Mow opened as a restaurant and were strict on food with your booze when they opened.

Many hotels only remained hotels on the books because they had a liquor license. The King's Hotel and the Strathcona Hotel did not have rooms for rent in the 80s when I started drinking here.

The King's Hotel had seven rooms for long time residents and/or friends of the owners - so your kind of right on that one.
The Strathcona always had rooms (since it switched over to be a Hotel in 1918) My wife and I stayed in a room on many a long drinking weekend when we didn't want to drive to our house in Sooke after spending hours in BBJ's. So they gave us a cut rate. That was in the 1980's.

The King's Hotel had seven rooms for long time residents and/or friends of the owners - so your kind of right on that one.

It was near to the cluster of cheap long-term "hotels" on Johnson as this 1960s map shows.

^ I take it that map was not sponsored by the "skid row hotels".

^ I take it that map was not sponsored by the "skid row hotels".

Neat map. Had to be after 1966 as the museum was already built and Pandora Avenue had already been changed. Probably 1968...have you seen this picture of Lower Johnson (I refuse to say LO JO) http://www.flickr.co...ory/4459611799/
That was in the heart of the so-called skid row Hotels.

Here is a list from, The Victoria Guidebook (published 1979) of "Beer Parlours" in the city:
-The Beaver "Chili a specialty, cocktails available."
-The Centurion "Dance Floor"
-The Colony Pub "Exotic Dancers Nightly"
-The Colwood Inn
-The Corral Room at the Westwind
-The Crown and I
-Friar's Pub (Sherwood Park Inn)
-Friar Tuck, King John's Inn
-The Golden Bear in Sidney
-Goldstream Inn
-The Gorge (beautiful old California Mission style long gone)
-The Halfway House (since 1860!)
-Ingraham Pub
-King's Hotel
-Prairie Inn
-Royal Oak Inn
-Royal Olympic Pub
-Seventeen Mile (Royal Ensign)
-Six Mile, oldest drinking establishment in British Columbia still surviving.
-Sooke Rive Hotel (The Castle)
-The Square (Churchill)
-Tally Ho (now Murphy's Pub)
-Tudor House
-Waddling Dog

Researched by Betty Campbell (1979)

^ ^ map is marked 1967, small print for us old guys.

Ha, right-o, time to get my glasses....now where did I leave them?

^ ^ map is marked 1967, small print for us old guys.

Don't rub it in. How do you think I feel.

If you have an interest in the early saloons of Greater Victoria have a look at my listing (1851-1917): http://docs.google.c...3c4n46zhn&hl=en

I did one for Vancouver too: http://docs.google.c...vcq3g_2hdf9pnds

These lists took years of research and are continually improved and tweeted (not on twitter).
I want to thank Ron Green (Capital Iron) for generating his original list all those years ago.

I am looking for a picture of the Beaver t-shirt, if I find one, I will scan it.

Spinnakers guest rooms did not come till much later.

The Strath rented rooms? I stand corrected.

The next article in my series on Beer Parlours and pubs in Victoria (1954-2000) is:
The Douglas Street Motor Inn's: 1957-1965, which briefly cover the following hotels and their beer parlours: The Colony Motor Inn (1957), The Ingraham Hotel (1960), The Tally-Ho Motor Inn (1961), The Imperial Inn (1961) and the Red Lion Motor Inn (1965).

To be completed in April 2010 and found here: http://raincoasthistory.blogspot.com/

Comments, clarifications, corrections and/or your experiences within this time frame at these establishments are always welcome.

http://www.flickr.co...ory/3973276574/