Friday 31 July 2015

A Passage Through Time


An earlier post showed some of Captain Davis’ belongings from his travels overseas, but they are only a few of the many pieces we have in our collection. We also have a cotton appliqué quilt, signed in ink ‘S. & M.E. Davis’, made by Captain Davis and his wife, Maggie, on their journey from Bombay, India in February of 1875 in the South Atlantic. The quilt is beautiful and colourful with a floral design on white background, and twenty blocks of four red flowers joined at the stems, as well as yellow and green patterns. Clearly Captain Davis’ skill in repairing sails could also be applied to sewing quilts with wife Maggie when she was travelling with her husband!


We also have a picture of the Captain and a reproduction image of the last vessel of which he was part owner, the Tobique. The framed photo of Davis includes an obituary underneath, stating that Captain Davis died in the 55th year of his life leaving behind his wife Maggie and five children Sinclair, Oscar, Percy, Wesley and Nellie. It also details his first voyage, which was very dramatic; it “was as supercargo on a vessel built by his father. On the return voyage the vessel was wrecked off Cape Hatteras and the crew escaped by clinging to pieces of wreckage until land was reached.”
Davis seemed to have a knack for getting into tricky situations on the sea, as he “next shipped in a barque bound for England and although young his coolness and courage were manifested when at the height of a storm the captain declared the situation hopeless. The vessel careened so Solomon took an axe and from her broadside parted the shrouds which allowed the spars to fall and the vessel righted thus saving all on board.”

The Tobique was the last ship of which the Captain was part owner. She was built in 1876 and he sailed her for 15 years, mainly engaging in Pacific trade. It was not long after the Tobique that Davis retired; as John Keirstead notes in From A Seadog’s Logbook, “Capt. Davis retired from the sea after making only one voyage in a steam vessel. He did not think that steam was any way to travel, and he was a man of quite clearly stated thoughts.”


Life on the water was certainly changing for all sea-going adventurers as steam came to the fore. Remaining in the wake of this important era are some of the most unique artifacts in our collection – symbols of a time when iron-men and wooden ships set out to conquer the world, all from the gentle shores of Kings County.


P.S. We can only surmise that the Captain would not enjoy our planned exhibit for Summer 2016 that will focus on Steamships in Kings County!

Thank you to summer staffer Lydia Blois for today's post!

Thursday 30 July 2015

Too Hot to Hold

Grace Ganong married Willis Wanamaker on September 17th 1913. We have many pieces in our collection from the Wanamakers but two of the more unusual artifacts are Grace’s curling tongs! We have already documented one of the Wanamaker artifacts in our “Say Yes to the Vest” post -- Willis’ simple white wedding shirt -- so we thought it fitting to include something which Grace may have used on her wedding day to style her hair. Although if she did, she risked potentially burning her hair instead of curling it; not the prettiest look for your wedding day!



Curling tongs, also referred to as irons, have been found in Pompeii, in the tombs of mummies in ancient Egypt and in many societies throughout history. It is not certain who invented the curling tongs but Hiram Maxim, an American born citizen who lived in England took a patent for a curling iron, which resembled Grace's hair tongs, in 1866. Curiously Maxim also invented the Maxim machine gun, an asthma inhaler, and the mousetrap (Pitt Rivers Museum Body Arts, “Wig curlers and hair tongs”). Looking at Grace’s curling tongs, it is no surprise that the same mind was behind a mousetrap and a machine gun; they look like small torture devices, and that is without even heating them up!

A real danger with the curling irons and tongs was that they were virtually unchanged from around 1765 to the time Grace would have purchased hers, and so there were no improvements in the heating method. Women would heat them over the stove, oven or fire and try and get them to a ‘good’ temperature; too hot and you would literally burn your hair, the only remedy being cutting it off, and too cool and you wouldn’t get a curl. Luckily these tongs have woods handles so they would not have gotten as hot as the rest of the metal, but in the Victorian period some of their handles were of ivory or silver, which could have gotten very hot to hold (Pitt Rivers Museum Body Arts, “Wig curlers and hair tongs”). There were also many variations on the barrel design. Grace obviously wanted options and purchased two different designs, giving her different curling styles.

While providing us with a very interesting glimpse into the private lives of women from the past, and the means they had to use to achieve the beauty standards of the day, today’ mainly make us at the museum glad to be living in the 21st century and able to plug in our hair curling devices!

Works Consulted:
-       Wig curlers and hair tongs Britain, early 1700s and late 1800s, Pitt Rivers Museum Body Art http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/bodyarts/index.php/temporary-body-arts/hair/75-wig-curlers-and-hair-tongs-britain-early-1700s-and-late-1800s-.html


Thanks to summer staffer Lydia Blois for today's post!

Thursday 23 July 2015

Hallelujah

You might find it hard to believe if someone told you that there was no record or registration of your birth. Interestingly enough, if you gave birth, were married or died during the early 1800s it’s possible that there is no record of the event. During the 1860s authorities in only some of the provinces took it upon themselves to begin keeping records of these important life events; it wasn’t until the 1920s that the complete registration of births, marriages and deaths for individuals of all the provinces and territories was achieved. Obviously there had to be some method of keeping track of all of this information as we are able to track families, their origins, and their dates back to the 1600s. In many cases, these records are found in a family bible.

The bible of each household was extremely important. It was a regular part of the family’s day to day life and was displayed in a prominent place in the home. These bibles were of various designs, sometimes including both the old and new testaments, or sometimes just the old testament. Many contained other highlights as well; families may have stored keepsakes in between the sacred pages of their bibles like newspaper clippings, dried four leaf clovers, or even petals from a wedding bouquet.
The bible for this particular post comes from the Harricks family. It dates back to 1886 and is the:

Pictorial Family Bible
The “Peerless” Edition of the Holy Bible,
Containing the King James and the Revised Versions Of the Old and New Testaments Arranged in Parallel Columns

The book is almost half a foot deep and weighs several pounds! Right in the middle of the book there’s a section that contains the marriage information of Richard Harricks and Ann Peace of Lancaster from 1857. A page of births lists their children's birth dates, while another page lists the names of deceased family members. With a little further research we were able to find that Richard and Ann were both born in Ireland. Richard died of paralysis that he had been dealing with for two years on February 2nd, 1900. Ann died on July 1st, 1913 in Fairville after fighting pneumonia for two weeks. 

Also included among the names and dates is a temperance pledge of Charlie Harricks, son of Richard and Ann, signed October 15th 1896 (readers should click on the image and make note that Charlie not only included the date of the start of his pledge - he also included an end date for the pledge!)
          
This bible was also an educational tool containing the following: The Old and New Testament; History of the Translation of The English Bible; History of the Religious Denominations of the World; various tables including, ‘Tables Relating to the Person, Life, and Teachings of Our Lord’; various maps including, ‘Modern Egypt’ and ‘The Path of Jesus; Household Dictionary of the Bible’. On top of these illustrations, the bible also includes a ‘Gallery of Scripture Illustrations’ which has images like that of ‘Assyrian Weights’ and ‘Egyptian Archer and Quiver’.  Between the pages in this bible we also find photographs, dried flowers and cut-outs of animal pictures - all signs of a book in daily use by the family.

Although record keeping is much more efficient today with digital records readily available to researchers around the globe, there is something very poignant in this homegrown solution; a reminder that preserving and celebrating a family’s history is a personal act and responsibility, and important enough to include in the pages of the Good Book.

Sunday 19 July 2015

Asleep at the Wheel

Sometimes the artifacts in our collection introduce us to a world we never knew existed. A series of photos from the Kingston Peninsula, circa 1920, included the following image:


Yup, that’s right. It’s a car tent.

As cars grew in popularity – and in number – touring became the fashionable pass time of anyone with wheels. Manufacturers jumped on this new opportunity and created touring solutions for their car models that included fold-out tables and camping stoves, and even full tent extensions that converted the car into a mobile inn. The tent solution was touted as not only convenient, but more cost effective than staying in a hotel.

We found this image for a “Schilling Auto Tent” solution on the Model T Ford Forum (a fascinating spot where early car enthusiasts celebrate the best – and strangest – details of early motoring). The 60-pound solution provided sleeping space for two and folded conveniently away on the running board when not in use.

This same website directed us to a 1923 publication, Motor Camping written by J.C. Long and John D. Long. The book explores a series of ‘great American trips” to take by motor car. It also provides a series of trip comparisons to illustrate the cost-effectiveness of auto tent solutions. In one comparison, a family of five travelling with an auto-tent solution take a month-long journey for just $101.03; a similar journey by rail with hotel stays is tallied at $921.93. That’s a cost savings of over $800!!! How could you afford NOT to purchase an Auto Tent solution?!

Obviously, the adventurous group in our photograph were more than convinced of the tent’s usefulness as they purchased two attachments, making their car a multi-tenant solution come nightfall. They also had great taste in campsites, choosing a spot on the Kingston Peninsula along the beautiful St. John River for their excursion in “The Big Outdoors”. Today, the Kingston Peninsula is still a great bet for a camping adventure but if you do not have a Model T with Auto Tent, you may want to explore a modern camping solution at Ridgeback Lodge. This beautiful site overlooking Kingston Creek offers ‘glamping’ (that’s glamorous camping) in a series of glass-fronted geodesic domes; a unique and elegant solution, but very much in keeping with the adventurous camping spirit of Kings County’s past!

Saturday 18 July 2015

In a Nut Shell

A favorite pastime here at the Kings County Museum is pulling a random storage container and having a snoop through the contents to see what treasures might be tucked inside. Our favorite containers for this activity are the “tiny treasures” boxes. Inside these lunch box-sized totes are the smallest items of our collection. Some hold pocket watches, others medals and pins, but a few hold what could only be called “bits and bobs”. 
These are the best boxes of all.

In tiny treasure box #76, the intrepid explorer will find today’s hidden history; a walnut shell. “Oh my!” you’re thinking; “How delightful! A walnut shell – never saw anything like that before!”

Well, you are correct! You’ve likely never seen anything like this walnut shell. Today’s Hidden History object holds a hidden history of its own – inside the shell is a teeny, tiny series of tourist photos of Halifax, Nova Scotia, likely from the time of the First World War.



That’s right; blink a couple of times in astonishment. That was our reaction as well!

Helping to date the piece is the name of the seller included inside the shell: "J.L. Connolly, Stationer, 127 Barrington Street". A search on Library & Archives Canada found Connolly's stationery and bookstore included in the 1886-1887 McAlpine's Halifax City Directory.

The series of black and white photos in the shell further help us to date the artifact; included are images of the Halifax Public Gardens, the Princes Lodge, the Sevastopol Monument (making this artifact post-Crimean War) and also a pic of Melville Island Military Prison (used by Canada as a prison for detained Austro-Hungarian nationals during the First World War). So it seems likely this piece was purchased about the time of WWI.

This little walnut and its impressive series of images was no doubt a tourist trinket of the past, a reminder of a beautiful summer vacation, or a treasure given to someone at home who did not make the trip. How fortunate we are that its owners held on to this incredible memento, treasuring the hidden beauty concealed within an ordinary shell. We are delighted to be its caretakers and to share its wonder with you.

As you plot your own summer adventures, whether in Halifax, Nova Scotia or here in beautiful New Brunswick, open your heart and mind to the little details along the way. Take the road less traveled; visit a site you’ve never been to before; open the door to a new experience. You never know what wonders await in something as small as a walnut shell.

What are our top "Kings County in a nut shell" tourist recommendations? 
Take a pontoon boat ride on the beautiful Kennebecasis River with Zelda’s River Adventures; explore the best of farm fresh produce at Fullerton’s Farms and Kredl’s Market; steel your nerves and walk the Kilpatrick Footbridge, or share a kiss in one of the county’s 16 Covered Bridges! Oh, and you can never go wrong with a visit to the Kings County MuseumWe guarantee all the scenic photos you take will NOT fit in a walnut shell!

Tuesday 14 July 2015

"Then let 'er go to hell!"

Those who love Kings County genealogy will be familiar with the Davis family; a loyalist family descending from Caleb Davis who emigrated from Wales to the United States, and finally to Canada circa 1783.
We happen to have a lot of artifacts in our collection from Captain Solomon Davis, a fourth generation descendant of Caleb Davis. He was a very interesting man who was a fixture of Hatfield Point until his death in January 1895. He was born on December 12th 1839 to Zebulon Southard Davis and Ann Dykeman. Davis married Maggie Edna Spragg on November 6, 1864.

Captain Davis traveled a great deal and had a very varied career, going to places such as China, India and Ceylon. He was also a Sea Fencible*, a unit created in Canada during the War of 1812 to protect exposed coastline from an attack. In Saint John, where Solomon Davis was found to be among the muster roll as a seaman, the Sea Fencibles were part of the Saint John Militia. Davis was also part owner of the ships he captained, which was very standard at that time. Being part owner of the ship meant that he was much more invested in his cargo. He was praised for being quick on his feet and courageous, as well as a good manager of accounts and cargo.

Captain Davis also seemed to have quite the sense of humor, as told in John Keirstead’s two part series about Captain Davis, “From A Seadog’s Logbook,” published in the Weekend Showcase. Keirstead recounts Captain Davis' examination for his captain’s papers; “a member of the examining board asked him what he would do if his ship were rigged in a certain way, encountered high winds and was being driven on shore. He answered that he would rig more sail and steer a certain course.” The examiner pressed Captain Davis two times further about what he would do if that did not work. Captain Davis provided the same answer, that he would rig more sail and steer a certain course, “until the third time in which he responded ‘Then let her go to hell,’ Davis roared, and passed his examination with flying colors.”**

Throughout his varied career Maggie accompanied Davis on many of his voyages. On one voyage to China in 1870 Maggie purchased the beautiful (and enormous) handmade fan pictured above. It is two-sided, with one side showing flowers and the other birds.

We also have Davis’ pen, an amazing instrument with two different nibs that can slide out for use; the picture at right shows the piece with the pen nib in use. Once the pen nib slides back in place, a second slide mechanism deploys a pencil point. 

The bottom of the pen is also a functional feature: engraved in the end is Davis’ seal - the letters S and D entwined - which was used to imprint wax seals on his letters. An elegant yet practical bit of kit for a man who combined elegance and practicality himself.



Works Consulted:

* The Saint John Sea Fencibles by Daniel F. Johnson, Generations the journal of the New Brunswick Geneological Society, Issue 62 Winter 1994-5


** “From A Seadog’s Logbook,” written by John Keirstead in two parts in the The Weekend Showcase, December 1966

Our thanks to summer staffer Lydia Blois for writing today's blog post!

Friday 10 July 2015

Say Yes to the Vest!

It didn’t seem fair to leave the men out of the equation with our wedding dress post last week and so it was deemed that a sequel was necessary! When most of us take the time to think about men dressing up in suits or tuxedos, the occasions that come to mind are weddings, proms, church or special gatherings. Once upon a time men actually wore a suit of sorts daily. Surprisingly enough they had different variations to their outfits depending on the time of day – I know many of you will not believe this as you think of your own husbands and the fight you may go through just to get them to wear dress pants! Well ladies, I’m not lying to you, at one point in time men put quite a bit of thought into their outfits. During the early 1900s, or the Edwardian era, fashion was determined by the time of day. From morning until noon men were to be seen wearing their morning coats. From noon until six in the evening they could be seen in their lounge suits and after six o’clock the clothing was dependant on the occasion they were to attend. To give you an idea of the outfits these men wore we dug up a few stories on some men’s wedding pieces that we have in our collection.

On September 17th, 1913 Grace Nellie Ganong married Willis Hill Wanamaker in Kings County, New Brunswick. One piece of Willis’s wedding attire would have been this shirt. Willis wore this simple white shirt of the Cushion brand. We also have a few other pieces from Willis’s wardrobe including a white tie, as well as a black tie, a couple of shirt cuffs and a few pairs of socks. The shirt, though not flashy, is incredibly well made


Flashy comes in with our next fashion piece. This blue, black and red striped vest with mauve and cream lines was donated to the museum by Ralph S. O’Neill. The vest was worn at the wedding of William and Mary Ganong in 1847 and passed down to Margaret Irene (Ganong) O’Neill, then to her daughter, Ellen Catherine (O’Neill) McKnight then to Ralph. Born on December 21st, 1821 in Springfield, William Ganong was a farmer who lived for many years at Snider Mountain. His wife, Mary Catherine Erb, was born on December 27th, 1827. On December 30th, 1847 the two were married at Trinity Church. The two had six sons and three daughters (tragically, in April of 1883 Mary and three of her children --Edward Miles, Howard Burnham, and Sophia Elizabeth -- all died within a week from measles).

Not to be outdone by the striped number above, our next piece is a black velvet – yes I said velvet - vest from 1859 – how many men do you know that still wear velvet? I bet the list is very short! This velvet vest belonged to Mr. H. Price of Midland, Kings County. The vest has double rows of 10 black cloth covered buttons down the front and also has a black waist strap.

Our second velvety piece is the wedding coat of Duncan Leonard McLeod. Mr. McLeod of Portage Vale wore this coat in 1861 when he was married to Catherine Musgrove of Lower Millstream. Aside from the black velvet collar being an interesting highlight of this coat, the five clothed buttons have a floral design. Very fashion forward!



It’s obvious from these men’s fashion from the late 1800s and early 1900s that the lads of Kings County could hold their own when it came to style! Maybe it’s time we said ‘no’ to today’s jeans and t-shirts and instead say ‘yes’ to the vest!  


Our thanks to summer student Jamie Pearson for writing this post for our museum blog!

Thursday 2 July 2015

Say Yes to the Dress

After accepting a proposal, one of the most exciting next steps for a girl is saying yes to the dress! For most women today other than finding a venue, creating a guest list, and ordering a cake, dress shopping would be at the top of their priority list. Finding the perfect dress may take no time at all, but can become complicated with all of the dress styles available today. So who do we have to thank for all of the different dress styles out there? Our fellow ladies of the 20th century certainly contributed to the vast assortment of wedding gowns we now have to choose from.
Today we may load up a car with our mother, grandmother and closest friends to hit all of the local wedding boutiques, but ladies from Kings County’s past like Ethel McLeod Good, Grace Winnifred McKay and Annie Frost Wetmore did not travel far for their gowns. Ladies of the early 1900s actually had their wedding dresses handmade. Their dresses could have been creations of their mothers or even of their own. In the early 1900s although the style of a dress would vary slightly from individual to individual there were some similar characteristics to be found in most of the dresses. Gowns with high dog collar necklines, high waists and long trains were very popular, while some ladies wore dresses with gigot sleeves – gigot sleeves started wide and puffy at the shoulder and tapered down to a narrow forearm. Another popular dress characteristic, which I’m sure we’ve all heard about before and wondered in amazement how these women dressed in such a way, is the corset. The corsets of this time were of an S-bend style and very tight. They were made to draw the stomach in and push the bosom out!

We have quite a few wedding dresses in our collection, but the three of the above mentioned ladies were all made and worn in the early 1900s. In June of 1908 Miss Ethel McLeod Good was married to Oscar Frederick Dearkin at her parents’ home in Fillmore, Saskatchewan. On the 4th day of June, Ethel would have been seen wearing a wedding gown she had made earlier in the year for her special day. Her dress was cream in color and made of linen. The panels of the skirt were attached using lace, and lace trimmed the sleeve cuffs as well as the capped shoulders. Because the design and manufacturing of your dress was left in your own hands, depending on your level of talent, you could have quite a tasteful gown!

The following year Grace Winnifred McKay was married a little closer to home. On October 27th, 1909 Grace was married to Harry Brown Clarke in the Chalmer’s Presbyterian Church in Sussex. She wore a dress made of ivory Duchess satin that had an insert of Battenburg lace in the bodice and mother of pearl and crystal beads. In 1938 Grace’s granddaughter Marianna Lynn Clarke wore the dress at her wedding in Aylmer, Ontario.

Annie Frost Wetmore was born in 1880 to Howard Douglas Wetmore and Clara Ada Frost. She was married on September 14th, 1913 to William Sterling Parlee. The last lady to be married of the trio, Annie wore a dress that in some ways appears to be a combination of Ethel and Grace’s gowns. Annie’s wedding dress is made of a cream color silk and, like Grace’s, has pearl and bead trimming along the edge of the “V” lace insert in the front and back. Her dress also had six satin roses – three on the skirt, one on each sleeve and another on the satin belt. For being a dress of over a hundred years old it has aged remarkably well.

Although the chances of a bride being seen in a wedding dress resembling one of these three is highly unlikely today, each one of these gowns is very unique and beautiful. Maybe we should bring back the making of our own wedding gowns – say yes to making the dress!

Special thanks to summer student Jamie Pearson for writing this article for our blog!