Fonds consists of textual and photographic records pertaining to Brewster Transport and its predecessor and subsidiary companies. Series are: I. James I. Brewster, 1892-1962; II. Brewster Brothers, 1905-1909; III. Brewster Transfer Company Ltd., 1909-1916; IV. Brewster Trading Co. Ltd., 1907-1926;…
ca.5 m of textual records : includes ca.50 v. -- ca.1280 photographs : prints, negatives, transparencies, proof sheets. -- 2 photograph albums. -- ca.100 sets of cartographic records : plans, blueprints. -- 11 motion pictures (10 videocassettes, 1 film reel). -- 11 sound recordings : audio cassettes
History / Biographical
Brewster Transport Company is a transportation company based at Banff, Alberta. Formally organized in 1900 as W. & J. Brewster, Guides and Packers, the company expanded in 1904 into commercial development in Banff and acquired the Canadian Pacific Railway livery concession at Banff in 1905. From 1909 until his death in 1947, Jim Brewster guided the company, with Lou Crosby handling finance. Beginning in 1917, Brewster Transport entered the motorized era with touring cars, later replaced with a succession of buses. From 1920 to 1933, Bill Brewster was general manager and during this period the company acquired Royal Hawaiian Transport and the Sunshine Ski development. The company amalgamated its transportation interests with Rocky Mountain Tours in 1957, and in 1965 the company passed out of the Brewster family's hands, being sold to Greyhound Lines of Canada. Brewster Transport continues to operate as Brewster Transportation and Tours, a diversified transportation and accommodation company in the Rocky Mountains.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of textual and photographic records pertaining to Brewster Transport and its predecessor and subsidiary companies. Series are: I. James I. Brewster, 1892-1962; II. Brewster Brothers, 1905-1909; III. Brewster Transfer Company Ltd., 1909-1916; IV. Brewster Trading Co. Ltd., 1907-1926; V. Brewster Hotel Company Ltd., 1909-1926; VI. Brewster Transport Company / Brewster-Rocky Mountain Grayline, ca.1900-1988; VII. Brewster Transportation and Tours Co. records, 1930s-1996; VIII. Other, 1956-1972.
Series VI is the major series, consisting of 146.5 cm of textual records (and ca.50 col), ca.700 photographs, and ca.100 sets of plans and blueprints. The series includes: Agreements, 1915-1974; Minutes, 1915-1963; Financial papers, 1915-1966; Operating, ca.1900-1988; Properties, 1906-1974; Subsidiaries, 1924-1962; Other, 1943-1977. Photographs, ca.1900-ca.1970, are mainly publicity photographs relating to Brewster Transport vehicles, tours, facilities, Sunshine Ski Lodge and area, Canadian Rockies hotels and scenic views, also Brewster family and Banff personalities; include 2 albums. Plans pertain to properties and facilities.
Fonds is primarily a broad-ranging commercial negative collection pertaining to Banff and area, including businesses, buildings, projects, events, people and scenic views; skiing, mountain travel and recreation; Sunshine Village Ski Area; warden activities in the mountain parks; national and provin…
ca.31,580 photographs: negatives, prints, and transparencies. -- 1 photograph album (ca.150 prints). -- 50 motion pictures: 1 original, 8 copies on 3 video cassettes, 41 film reels: 16mm, 35mm. -- 18 sound recordings: audio tape reels, audio tape cassettes. -- 5 electronic records: computer diskettes. -- 3 maps. -- 15 cm textual records.
History / Biographical
Bruno Engler, 1915-2001, was a mountain guide, ski instructor, photographer and film maker at Banff and Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Engler arrived from Switzerland in 1939 and initially worked as a mountain guide and ski instructor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, Sunshine ski area and for Deer Lodge at Lake Louise, Alberta. During the Second World War, he served as a mountain warfare instructor for the Canadian Army. Following the war, Engler worked as a free-lance photographer for the National Film Board and others; as coach of the University of Alberta Ski Team; and as a technical advisor, cameraman and actor for numerous movies made in the Banff area. Throughout his career, Engler worked as a still and motion picture photographer, both for the movie industry and for governments at all levels, as well as operating his own business, Alpine Films of Banff, Alberta.
Scope & Content
Fonds is primarily a broad-ranging commercial negative collection pertaining to Banff and area, including businesses, buildings, projects, events, people and scenic views; skiing, mountain travel and recreation; Sunshine Village Ski Area; warden activities in the mountain parks; national and provincial parks; scenic views of western Canada, particularly mountain landscapes; some portraits and candid shots of local and international personalities. Photographs pertaining to film making include helicopter rescue; highway construction; Norquay, Sunshine, and Lake Louise ski areas' histories; Banff events and buildings; Canmore events and buildings; professional and amateur ski races; scenic mountain and wildlife; mountaineering and highway accidents; mountain guiding trips including Pierre Trudeau, Roland Michener and Peter Lougheed. Fonds consists of four series: Photography, Motion Pictures, Sound Recordings, and Textual records. Photography series consists of four sub-series established by the photographer: I. Old file, 1949-1970; II. Main file, alphabetical A - Z, 1950-1976; III Sunshine file, [1939], 1950-1975; IV. Warden file, 1954-1976.
Motion pictures on video cassettes are footage of skiing at Sunshine, 1930s; Clifford White films, 1930s, from WMCR Archives collection (V682); "Snow Capers" by Thomas Mead, 1946, includes Engler; "Ski Pro's Holiday" by George Encil, 1950?; "Mount Bulyea" by George Encil, 1950?, includes Engler; "Diary of a Mountain Man," a CBC documentary feature on Bruno Engler broadcast on "20/20" in 1965 (ca.27 minutes); "Great Days in the Rockies" by National Film Board of Canada, 1983; "Mountain Man" by Banff Centre, 1985, re Engler. Original film is "Sunshine 1940" and includes Brewster Transport ski buses travelling from train station to Sunshine Lodge, skiers, guide, lessons, games, rope tow, ski action, slalom, Bruno Engler, other. 16mm and 35mm film reels, 1946-1964 are films produced by the National Film Board.
Sound recordings, electronic records and and related textual material pertain to interviews with Bruno Engler, 1987, done by Brian Patton and Jon Whyte for Bruno Engler autobiography project. Interviews covered Engler's life, but are not complete to 1987. Transcripts, prepared from recordings by Brenda Goeres, are not verbatim. Audio tape cassettes consist of portions of content of audio tape reels.
Textual records include corporate records, newspaper clippings and magazine articles pertaining to film making, cast and crew listings and schedules for various movies, ski racing, mountain guiding trips and ski race listings. Also included is documentation pertaining to film making with producer National Film Board including letters, film stock footage, press releases, and film summaries; maps indicate film location shots for Arctic Rampage.