Tag: archival film

Building on FilmBuilding on Film

July 1, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Last month (June 18) the Whistler Museum and the Point Artist-Run Centre hosted a film screening that featured 8mm film from our archives. The films, mainly from the 1950s and ’60s, included snippets of sailing on Alta Lake, pie eating contests at Cypress Lodge (today the Point), and even the 1958 hike where stew was burnt on Whistler Mountain, along with footage of a under construction.

The house in question was built in September 1966 for Florence Strachan (Petersen). Florence first came to the Alta Lake area when she, June Tidball (Collins), Betty Atkinson (Gray), Jacquie Pope and Eunice “Kelly” Forster (Fairhurst) bought a cabin together in 1955. They named the cabin Witsend and would visit often throughout the summer. The following year, four of the five purchased the lot next door for $500. Over the following years, the other three sold their shares, leaving Florence as the sole owner of the lot.

(Left to right) Florence Strachan, Jacquie Pope, June Tidball, Fido, Betty Gray and Eunice “Kelly” Forster at their Witsend cottage in 1955.

Florence then decided to build a summer home overlooking Alta Lake, as she was till teaching full-time in Burnaby and spending her summers at Alta Lake. First, the lot had to be cleared, both of trees and, as can be seen in the 8mm footage, a couple of structures. The project was headed by Andy Petersen (who Florence married in 1967) and he was helped by Florence’s friends and family, who can be seen moving what appears to be an “explosive” outhouse while wearing shorts and sandals. Once cleared, construction could begin on the house.

Florence ordered a prefabricated house designed by Greenall Bros. Ltd., who in the 1960s produced prefabricated structures including houses, schools and construction camps. According to their advertisements in 1964, their buildings offered solid construction, good value, almost immediate occupancy, and “conventional appearance.”

Florence’s house arrived at Alta lake in September 1966 with all of the pieces cut to size. Like the clearing of the lot, the house was constructed by friends and family under the supervision of Andy. While the construction was sound, some of the practices would not be accepted today, such as the group working on top of the roof with no harnesses or safety gear (including children).

While the Alta Lake community was small, friends and neighbours were often willing to help with projects from chopping and stacking firewood to building a house. Petersen Collection

While the house was considered “built” in 1966, according to Andy it took them 25 years to finish it. For the first year, the house was uninsulated and had no power, making it very cold and uncomfortable in the winter. The Petersens would come up to check on the house but it wasn’t until after they installed electric heating that they started to visit more regularly throughout the year. Built on posts, Andy added a “proper foundation” and continued to work on the finishing touches.

In the spring of 1968, Andy moved up to live in the house full time as he and Dick Fairhurst of Cypress Lodge were constructing the Scotia Creek water line. Andy recalled that during this time, he accidentally put some holes in the roof while blasting the path for the line down to the house. He had to go down to Vancouver to get the tools and materials to fix the roof and, when Florence asked what he was doing home, told her “Oh, well, I have to go and get some stuff, something broke.” According to Andy, “I didn’t say I blew the roof off the house!”

Florence moved up to join Andy in Whistler full-time after retiring from teaching in 1983. After Andy retired, having finally finished working on the house, he turned his attention to the garden, building three terraces between the road and the house. In 2006, Florence wrote that she and Andy “can’t imagine living anywhere else and never tire of the view across the lake.” The Petersens continued to live at the house until Florence’s death in 2012, after which Andy moved away from Whistler.

It is always exciting when we find archival films, like many of the films in the Petersen Collection, that give us a better view of stories that are told to us through letters, interviews and more. You can view some of the film that has been digitized online – check out the Whistler Museum YouTube channel to see more.

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Digitizing Alta LakeDigitizing Alta Lake

June 17, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Long before the Whistler Museum and Archives Society (WMAS) was officially founded in 1987 – when it was just a few shelves tucked away in the basement of the Whistler Public Library inside Municipal Hall – the idea of preserving the valley’s summer resort history was already taking root. Even then, the vision was clear: to safeguard and share the stories of the people who helped shaped this community, and to make sure they would not be forgotten.

That vision was driven by a promise. Florence Petersen, the founder of WMAS, made a personal commitment to Myrtle Philip who, alongside her husband Alex, opened Rainbow Lodge in 1914 and brought the first wave of tourism to the Alta Lake and later Whistler area. That promise was simple yet profound: to ensure that Whistler’s history and the lives and experiences of its residents would not be forgotten.

One of the many photos in the Philip Collection.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, efforts to collect oral histories, photographs, and films documenting life in the valley were already underway. The first items added to the museum’s archival collection reflect this early work, including 1,700 images related to Myrtle and Alex Philip and Rainbow Lodge, spanning from 1895 to 1986. These mostly black-and-white photographs, along with various 16mm films, capture a transformative period in the valley’s history, showcasing the growth of the Alta lake community and the broader evolution of Whistler as a tourist destination.

Preserving these materials is a responsibility we take seriously. Following Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) standards, we handle photographs using cotton gloves and store them in acid-free, archival-safe sleeves. These simple yet essential steps ensure that these fragile items remain in good shape for future generations.

Florence Petersen chats with Myrtle Philip. Philip Collection

Of course, preservation is only part of the job. Sharing Whistler’s history with the public, without risking damage to delicate originals, means creating digital copies of these items. Over the years, we’ve steadily expanded our capacity to digitize our collection. Today, we can convert a wide variety of media, including 16mm and 8mm film reels, colour slides, photographic prints, VHS tapes, Hi8, and DVCam formats.

Digitization is carried out using lossless formats like TIFF (Tag Image File Format), which preserve every pixel of the original image. A single high-resolution TIFF can be as large as 150 MB – about the size of 14 JPEGs on a modern smartphone. Unlike JPEGs, which compress data and average out similar pixels (sometimes causing those “blocky” images you see when streaming video on a slow internet connection), TIFF files retain the full fidelity of the original image.

Once digitized, we render to more manageable JPEG versions for everyday use, including social media, educational materials, and exhibits. These smaller files are easier to handle and help us tell Whistler’s story more widely and effectively.

Acid-free boxes, sleeves and more help keep archival materials safe.

To ensure the safety of our digital archives, we back up all high-resolution files to offsite servers and secure long-term storage systems, including LTO (Linear Tape-Open) tapes, which provide up to 30 years of reliable “cold” storage of these digital items.

WMAS is proud to be able to continue Florence’s promise and Myrtle’s legacy. Every photo we scan, every film we digitize, and every story we preserve is another piece of Whistler’s remarkable history saved – not just for today, but for generations to come.

WMAS will be hosting a film screening tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18) at the Point Artist-Run Centre, featuring archival films shot around the Alta Lake community, including 16mm films from the Philip Collection. This screening will offer a fascinating look at films from the Whistler Museum’s archives, shown right on the shores of Alta Lake. Get your tickets for the event here!

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Tokum Film NightsTokum Film Nights

March 5, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When searching for a place to hold a film screening, a cabin in the woods in probably not the first venue that comes to mind. Tokum Corners, however, hosted multiple screenings of films captured by George Benjamin in the 1970s.

George Benjamin first came to Whistler Mountain on a ski trip in 1968 before moving to the area in 1970. He briefly stayed at Toad Hall before moving into Tokum Corners with Rod MacLeod and John Hetherington. Though they bought the building from Daisy Barnfield for $1,100 (about $6,800 today), they leased the land from BC Rail as it was right beside the train tracks on the southwest end of Alta Lake.

Tokum Corners, as seen across the tracks in 1971. Benjamin Collection.

Tokum Corners had no running water and no electricity when they first moved in. Within the first couple of years, they managed to connect the property to the power lines running through the valley, followed soon after by the addition of a well and water system, though Tokum Corners never was connected to any kind of sewer system. The building itself was once described by Hetherington as “a shack sort of in the woods” and was reportedly often repaired using found materials, creating a somewhat hodgepodge appearance.

Thanks to Benjamin, who at the time was a semi-professional photographer, we have quite a few images of Tokum Corners in the archives. He donated over 8,200 images taken during his time in Whistler to the archives in 2010, all of which have now been digitized and many of which have been shared in social media posts, articles and more. The collection, which includes shots of ski patrol, baseball games, and trips to Squamish to do laundry, provides a candid look at life for some Whistler residents in the 1970s and early 1980s.

A creative approach to entering Alpine Meadows after a flood. George Benjamin Collection.

Along with thousands of photographs, Benjamin also shot 16mm films during his time in the area. He was able to follow along with ski patrol on Whistler Mountain while they worked on avalanche control and captured some impressive slides on film, as well as events and happenings in the valley. They films would be screened at Tokum Corners, usually with a soundtrack (at least one person has told us that Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon was a fitting accompaniment to avalanches) and viewers crowded in.

Tokum Corners was dismantled by the early 1990s and no trace of the building remains on the site today. Evidence of its importance as a cornerstone of social life in the valley, however, remains in photographs, films, memories, and even “Tokum,” the ski run on Whistler Mountain that got its name from the residence.

An avalanche set off during control on Whistler Mountain. George Benjamin Collection.

Recently, the museum was able to acquire the Benjamin Film Collection and, thanks to the support of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, purchase equipment to digitize 16mm film. Last summer, our collections student Liam McCrorie digitized the Benjamin films along with other 16mm films in the archives, such as the collection of Jim McConkey’s films that he donated in 2016. This spring, the museum will be hosting a couple of different events to share these films, so be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements soon!

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Archiving Your Life in a Digital WorldArchiving Your Life in a Digital World

November 3, 2020 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Where and how do you store your personal files and photos?  It’s easy to forget that before the days of cellphone cameras and social media, time and effort were put into printing photographs, labelling them, and putting them into albums.

When I was training to become an archivist, I began to realize that my own photos were scattered across Facebook, my phone, and my laptop, and that if I ever wanted to look back on those memories to share with family or donate them to the archives, it would be one great, big mess.

Personal archiving is the organization and safe preservation of material that relates to the life, memories, and experiences of a person.  Modern personal archiving is often concerned with digital preservation, especially bringing together content from social media and digital devices to ensure the long-term preservation of the memories we store digitally.

Digital files could be stored on many different devices.

It’s hard to know exactly what is going to be of personal or historical importance in the future, and hard to know how to choose what to keep and how to organize it so that we can access it later.  For instance, after actress Vivien Leigh’s death in 1967, her laundry receipts ended up providing insight into how mid-20th century haute couture was preserved and presented in public.  Yet, it’s unlikely that Vivien kept these laundry receipts knowing they would provide historical value later.

While we can’t always know what will be important to keep, we can do our best to keep our core memories and evidence of our impact on the community alive by keeping our media and documents organized, in a safe place.  Based on the Library of Congress’s advice for personal archiving, I’ve provided some steps here that can guide you in preserving you and your family’s digital files:

  1. Locate your files.  Are they on your phone?  On your Google Drive?  On your computer?  On a memory card or USB?  On Facebook?  Decide on one place to compile them.
  2. Choose which files are most important to you and the historical record.  Historical value can often be found in items that document activities, people, places, and events.  Delete duplicates and keep the highest quality versions.
  3. Organize your files chronologically, by subject, or both.  Develop a hierarchical structure of folders for storing the files, and name your files and folders consistently.  Include dates in file and folder names wherever possible.
  4. Preserve your organized files by making copies and storing them in different physical locations (e.g. keep one set of files on your computer, one on an external hard drive, or one on a cloud file-sharing drive, etc.).

If many of your files or photos are not yet in the digital world, consider scanning them.  If you are planning to donate your files to the Whistler Museum & Archives, we are happy to scan any physical photographs you may have and send you copies.

While physical photos can be stored in boxes such as these, digital photos require a different system.

Recently, we have noticed our archival collection is severely lacking in donations from the past 25 years; we believe this may be due to the shift to digital creation with the onset of new technologies.  We would be ecstatic if this article could prompt our community to begin donating old cell phone videos and photos (even if their digital quality is that of a potato nowadays!), or even old Word documents of newsletters from local organizations.  The early days of the internet sparked massive changes in how we create, share, and preserve our stories – this time of change merits preservation.  If you’re able to help us fill the 1995 – 2020 gap in our collection, please email archives@whistlermuseum.org.

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