Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 7, 2014 11:16:59 GMT -5
Coin, stamp celebrate legend of Banff hotel’s ‘Ghost Bride’
There’s a lot of history within the walls of the Banff Springs Hotel – and if you believe the stories, a few ghosts that can pass through them.
The Royal Canadian Mint and Canada Post are celebrating that lore with a collector’s coin and commemorative stamp released Monday that depicts the Ghost Bride said to haunt the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel since the 1930s. “It’s very exciting for us,” said David Roberts, Fairmont Hotels’ regional vice-president and general manager of the Banff Springs. “These stories have been around for many years, and they’ve gained momentum and mystique.”
The legend of the Ghost Bride dates back to the 1930s, when, according to lore, a woman fell to her death down a staircase on her wedding day. In the most common version of the story, the woman was walking up a curved staircase to the Cascade Ballroom as her new husband waited at the top. She lost her balance and fell to her death as her dress caught fire from one of the candles ringing the staircase. It is said the Ghost Bride has haunted the 125-year-old hotel ever since, with people claiming to have seen her on the staircase or dancing alone in the ballroom.
The Ghost Bride coin, which has a face value of 25 cents, depicts a woman’s visage ringed by a flowing wedding veil. The coin uses a lenticular image – one that changes when viewed from different angles – to make it appear as though the Ghost Bride is opening her eyes. Tilting the coin also makes candles lining the staircase light up around her.
“The artist has obviously taken some licence . . . but I think they did a very good job,” Roberts said.
Indeed, despite the fact the Banff Springs has a well-documented in-house history, Roberts said nobody could find any record of the incident that gave rise to the Ghost Bride legend. “There’s no living soul who could help us go that far back,” he said.
The Ghost Bride occupies the Banff Springs’ lore alongside another famous apparition: Sam the Bellman. Sam McAuley was a longtime employee of the Banff Springs who died in the mid-1970s. Some people have told hotel staff about seeing a man in a 1960s-era bellman’s uniform, or reported their luggage had been inexplicably placed outside their hotel room by an unseen hand. “As recently as last week, I’ve had guests tell me they’ve met him,” Roberts said.
The Royal Canadian Mint has struck 15,000 Ghost Bride quarters, which go on sale for $29.95 on Tuesday. The coin can be ordered at www.mint.ca and will also be available at some Canada Post outlets.
The minting of the coin coincides with the release of a Ghost Bride stamp, which is part of a “Haunted Canada” series from Canada Post. “We are pleased to join the mint to highlight these stories and offer the perfect keepsake for those who revel in this particular type of folklore,” Mike Shearon, general manager of western plant operations for Canada Post, said in a news release.
Source: Jason van Rassel, The Calgary Herald, June 2, 2014.
