Candlelight Tours - Factor's House

We pick up with our last stop, the main parlor and dining room areas of the Factor's House. While the men are out and about attending to business and ensuring that the Hudson's Bay Company employees are performing their appropriate duties, the ladies are preparing to entertain. They are listing the various necessities for an evening of pleasantries in the parlor.

Mr Finlayson (aka the Curator :) assists the servants in lighting the hall so that the evenings amusements may be viewed by our guests.

Mrs. Tolmie regales us with tales of her difficult travels by carriage and sets the tone for the telling of more outrageous stories as the night progresses.

Mrs. Bacheldor, our resident lady of the dulcimer and story-teller supreme, prepares us for an evening of laughter (and a surprise visit by a fake mouse, pulled along on a string, resulting in shrieks ringing throughout the entire house)!

Mr. Work, known as dear Papa to many in the house, and the Patriarch of the Work clan, is down from Victoria to check on the household management of his daughter, Jane Work Tolmie, and to enjoy her hospitality.


Mrs. Work, or Mama, warms herself by the fire and passes the evening hours engaged in memory games and conversation cards. Drinking tea is a favorite among her pastimes and she adds such an element of graciousness and wisdom to the parlor!


Last, but I hope not least, is a picture of me at the event. I was so excited to wear my new wool dress and I felt beautiful in it! I had a wonderful couple of evenings with all the ladies and gentleman and learned several new stories along the way. I can't wait to do it all over again next year. So ends Candlelight Tours 2008 and after this event, I think we definitely deserve to win Best of Western Washington's Best Museum contest! There is not a finer group of reenactors in the U.S. and I am privileged to work with each of you throughout the year!