Up in smoke

It seems like such a good idea.

You take the family album down from the shelf and flip idly through the pages. A smile crosses your face as you delight in memories of the past. But then, you see it and your smile withers and fades to be replaced by a look of horror.

It’s awful.

It’s tragic.

It’s you, circa 1972, wearing a pair of yellow plaid, polyester bell-bottom pants.

Every generation has its bell-bottom blunder, and for gentlemen of the mid to late 1800s, that blunder has to be the smoking cap. These ornate head toppers were covered in embroidery, gilt tassels and every embellishment the lady of the house was capable of creating. The caps were worn in the home after dinner while the gentlemen of the house enjoyed a leisurely smoke and the obligatory glass of brandy. Sometimes the cap was accompanied by a matching jacket – both were worn to keep the smell of smoke from settling on the clothes and hair.

Our particular smoking cap was once worn by Robert Jones and, as smoking caps go, it is a bit subdued. Robert’s cap, perhaps lovingly made for him by his wife, is of sober black velvet with two black tassels that hang from the crown. But don’t worry about Robert’s trendsetting status – the somber qualities of his cap are more than compensated for by the addition of a gold silk lining and heavy gold-beaded loops - plus the word “SMOKE” spelled out in gilt beads along the band. 

One has to wonder if the jacket was similarly labelled? 

The style of Robert’s unique head gear was definitely from the “more is more” school of design.

Though we may chuckle now, the smoking cap was considered the best of fashion in its day, something no well-dressed man would be without. It was part status, part homemade treasure, and all the rage.

In 100 years, will people say the same thing about your bell-bottoms?

Recognizing that some fashionistas out there might disagree with our pronouncement against smoking caps, we offer this link to Lock & Co. Hatters of James’s St. London. This firm (with appointments to both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh) offers two smoking cap options for purchase: a plain velvet smoking cap for £145; and an embroidered option for £260. If you still have a BeDazzler packed away in the attic with your bell-bottoms, you could update the plain velvet cap for your own ‘custom’ look for a lot less.

Location, location, location

When you think about objects included in a museum collection, you probably wouldn't think about a book of real estate listings. Well, let us introduce you to a sweet little number that will change your mind!

A wonderful pamphlet in the museum archives is the “Burley’s Farm Catalogue, No. 8, Remarkable Farm Values, New Brunswick & Nova Scotia, 1919.”

This pamphlet was a real estate tool of the early 1900s, offering descriptions of farms available for sale, often with accompanying pictures. The details with each listing provide a great historical view of the types of farms in Kings County at the time, and the broad range of produce, crops and livestock produced by these farms. The listings deliver another, unexpected history as well; that of the changing fortunes of family farms at this difficult period right after the First World War.

Many listings detail once prosperous farms that still had much to offer, but needed “a farmer with some grown up sons” to manage the acreage. One listing for a Hampton farm offered “Fifty-five acres cultivated, 15 in intervale, 25 in pasture, balance in woodland containing 100,000 feet of timber, 150 cords of pulpwood and 300 cords of cordwood….. Present hay crop 25 tons, which can easily be doubled at least….. Comfortable 7 roomed house, stone foundation and frost proof cellar. (Three) barns, woodshed, hog house and sheep house…. All in fair repair.”

The asking price for this 300 acre property? Just $2,650.

It’s a stellar deal that seems too good to be true until one reads the next line of the listing: “The widowed owner, having no one to work the farm for her, feels obliged to sell and has named a very low price in order to insure a sale.” 

In all, sixteen Kings County farms are listed for sale in this single edition from 1919, including the listing below for a property in Belleisle Creek.

Though the Burley Farm Catalogue may seem an unusual selection for our archives, it provides an incredible snapshot of farms and farming conditions in the years after the Great War.

As it turns out, a museum is the perfect location, location, location to house a real estate guide.

A stitch in time

One of the beautiful things about an artifact is the way it can carry the story of those that held it first.

Many items in our collection hold just a whisper of their original owners – a set of initials embroidered in a lace handkerchief, a single name carved into the handle of a wooden tool. Today’s artifact, however, carries a complete family history.

In 1844, eleven-year-old Mary McGowan used needle and thread to capture her family’s New Brunswick story. On a fine piece of linen, encircled by a delicate border of flowers and birds, Mary stitched the details of her father’s emigration from Ireland:

Samuel McGowan born in the parish of Loughgilly in the county of Armagh Ireland 2’d of August AD 1800. Emigrated to New Brunswick British America in the year of our Lord 1823.

Samuel was one of thousands of Irish immigrants to arrive in New Brunswick at this period, seeking a new life and new opportunities to grow. Mary’s fine handwork goes on to show how just five years after his arrival part of that dream was realized as Samuel was married in St. David, New Brunswick to:

Jane Seccond Daughter of Mr. Moses Clindinnin of St. D---s [St. David’s?] on the 28^th of April in the year 1828.

As the sampler attests, the marriage was soon blessed with four children: Robert McGowan born 2^nd July 1829; Moses McGowan born 3^rd June 1831; Mary McGowan born 18^th January 1833; and James McGowan born 30^th April 1835.

But for Samuel, this joyful start to his new life in New Brunswick would soon change. Mary’s sampler next quotes the funeral hymn:

Hark from the Tomb a Doleful Sound

Mine Ears attend the cry

Ye living men come View the ground

Where you must shortly lie.

The quote would be terribly prophetic for the McGowan family. It was added to the sampler in reference to Mary’s mother who had already died when the sampler was created:

Jane McGowan Died May 23^rd 1836 in the 27^th Year of her Age.

What the sampler does not tell us is that the ‘doleful sound’ of the tomb would continue to call out to the members of the McGowan family. Samuel and his hopes for a new life in New Brunswick would meet with tragedy again and again. His wife was already lost to him after eight short years of marriage. And of his four children, three would soon lie next to their mother in St. David Ridge Cemetery; sons Robert & James and daughter Mary, the artist of this piece, would all die in their 22^nd year. Only Moses would survive to marry and have a family of his own.

Samuel McGowan immigrated to New Brunswick in hope and expectation of a better life but the promise of those early days was met with many sorrows. Would his choice have been different if he had known what would come to pass? It’s impossible to say. What we do know is that his daughter’s sampler is a beautiful testament to one family’s history in early New Brunswick, capturing both the hope and sorrow that would make up their lives.

A poignant stitch in time.

Soda. Fountain.

Imagine yourself in Sussex, New Brunswick on a hot, humid summer day in 1929. You’ve finished a long day of haying and it’s time for a rest on the verandah. Before you head outdoors, you step over to the ice chest, open it wide, and grab a cold, refreshing bottle of Sussex Ginger Ale. Now to the porch, pop the top and….. ahhhh! Soda heaven!

Sussex Ginger Ale has been a favorite of these parts for a long time – even longer ago than our imagined summer day of 1929. The iconic New Brunswick brand actually got its start in 1895. That’s the year mineral waters were discovered on Church Avenue by S. H. White. Mr. White knew a good thing when it came bubbling out of the ground and he quickly formed a partnership with G. Armstrong and started the Sussex Mineral Springs Company.

The initial offering of the company was pure mineral water, straight from the spring. Sales were good, but after a time they added ginger, sugar and carbonation to the mix.

Hello, Local Legend.

By 1910, the Sussex Mineral Springs Company was a growing concern that required the construction of a new building on Pleasant Avenue to house the business. Things were bubbly all over but in 1911, a newcomer arrived on the scene.  J. Howard Pearn and G. Percy Bolton formed P & B Beverage Co., a direct competitor to the Sussex Mineral Springs Company. The two firms were competitors until 1929 when they joined forces and became Sussex Ginger Ale Ltd. This stoneware bottle from our collection comes from this new phase of the beverage’s history; very different from today’s cans and plastic bottles – but the same delicious taste!

Such is the story of the soda… but what about the fountain?

The town of Sussex has not forgotten the font of its fizzy goodness. A walk along Church Street will lead you to a modest monument known as the Church Avenue Fountain. Here, in 1932, a granite fountain was installed as a testimony to that original mineral spring discovery and the incredible business that grew as a result. The fountain, fed by a nearby artesian well, allows the town of Sussex a place to pause and reflect on its historic past. 

What better spot to rest in the shade with a bottle of Sussex Ginger Ale?

Here’s to good taste! 

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

It’s fair to say that the story of Kings County farmers from the 1870's will never make the big screen. Blockbusters – especially ones based on historical fact – focus on the larger players. But we feel that one of the hidden histories in our museum is a story well worth the telling.

On a shelf in the archives is a leather-bound ledger; the record book of The Kings County Famers’ League of 1875. The opening page proclaims that; Pursuant to arrangements, a Meeting of the Farmers of Kings County was held at the County Court House on Thursday, April 15^th, 1875 to take the necessary steps to organise a Farmers’ League.

Now, a League of Farmers may not sound like a blockbuster story, but imagine the setting: it is 16 years since the arrival of the railway, and just 8 short years since Confederation; both of which would have a profound effect on the business of agriculture.  Union with the rest of Canada – and a railway that provided access to this vast area – meant new markets for Maritime farmers; but this open market demanded the highest quality and the best prices. The League’s list of objectives show how determined Kings County farmers were to ensure they could meet the needs:

The Object of the League shall be 

1. To promote a better system of Agriculture by a more extended intercourse and a closer union of Farmers
2. To enrich our farms and to increase our production by every available means
3. To make a united effort for the increase in emigration of farm labourers
4. To advance our influence in Legislative measures
5. To improve our condition by buying less and producing more
6. To improve our farm stock
7. To elevate our position socially and intellectually and to encourage an agricultural journal that will take a lively interest in our pursuits

Lofty visions for a lofty goal.

The pages of the record book continue with meeting minutes that detail how these men went about their mission: 

To elevate our position socially and intellectually, guest speakers were brought in to share new ideas from other farming areas; 

To advance [their] influence in Legislative measures, appeals to government and other agencies were drafted; 

To improve [their] farm stock they established buying schemes to obtain the best breeds at the best prices, and even developed a trading system where members could swap livestock with one another if it was felt the particular breed of animal might be better suited to another area of Kings County.

In their effort to promote a better system of Agriculture by a more extended intercourse, members were required to present on a particular farming topic at the sessions. One such round table explored the question of field drainage in detail. A LOT of detail. Four pages of ledger notes were required to capture the cautions and recommendations provided by the various members.

Though the ledger now sits quietly on a shelf, the story within its pages shows that the Kings County League of Farmers would never be content to do the same. Their story is one of action (and the occasional adventure) as they strove to define their place in the new national story.

A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, indeed.

A small selection from the epic discussion on drainage!