by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Jan 26, 2015 | Archives, Exhibits
By Jenna Leifso, Archivist
A Winsch back type postcard imprint
When was the last time you received a postcard in the mail? As more people switch to electronic forms of communication, it can be nice to receive something in the mail that isn’t a bill. Postcards became a popular mode of communication in the 1890s. In Canada, the period from 1901 to 1913 is often referred to as The Golden Age of Postcards. Right now we have a selection of some of our favourites from the collection on display at the Museum.
Perhaps you have some postcards in your collection that you want to find out more about. Here are some of the resources we used in our exhibit.
Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City is an informative site that includes a very detailed history of the evolution of postcards and also a very comprehensive guide to postcard publishers from all over the world.
Picture Postcards from the Great War 1914-1918 explores the propaganda behind the cards. Can you image sending a postcard back home about trench lice?
Did you know that prior to the First World War, most postcards were printed in Germany? The Postcard Album has more information about German printed postcards, including the popular “John Winsch”.
For information related to Canadian postcards try the Toronto Postcard Club’s website. Their annual show is being held next month on February 22nd.
by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Nov 10, 2014 | Archives, Artefacts
By Emily Beliveau, Digital Project Assistant
115 years ago:
Canada sends troops to South Africa to fight with Britain in the Boer War (1899-1900). It is the first official dispatch of Canada troops overseas.
Handkerchief with blue border from the South African War 1899-1900. EMPIRE WELDERG is written across top. Col. Baden Powel and Lord Methuen pictured in the top left corner; Gen. Gatacre and Gen. Hildyard pictured in bottom right corner; South African map in centre. The initials “RM” are embroidered in the lower left corner. Object ID: M951.0339.001.
100 years ago:
World War I starts. The 161st (Huron) Battalion, a unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was formed in 1916. We will be featuring much more WWI history related to Huron County over the coming years, following the 100-year anniversaries of various events.
World War I artifact belonging to Gordon Cameron of Brussels who was born on July 3, 1897, and who died during World War I on August 27, 1918 in France.
This Victory Medal was awarded to British and Imperial Forces for Campaign Service during World War I. Never awarded singly, this Victory Medal was given to those who received the 1914 Star or the 1914-1915 Star, and to most of those who received the British War Medal. Over 6 million were awarded. Object ID: 2005.0027.409
95 years ago:
Remembrance Day and Armistice Day are observed for the first time, marking the first anniversary of the end hostilities on the Western Front of World War I.
Canada at War by J. Castell Hopkins. Object ID: M951.0049.001. Image from a full-text scan available at the Internet Archive.
75 years ago:
World War II starts. Over the past year, we’ve featured many images taken by J. Gordon Henderson at WWII air training sites in Huron County. A less-publicized component of the Henderson Digitization Project are the oral history excerpts that are also available online. Hear about wartime life in Huron County directly from those who were there.
Jeff Mellon on flight instructor liquor runs:
Donald Bruce on surviving a crash landing:
Transcripts and additional recordings available here.
by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Oct 31, 2014 | Archives, Collection highlights
By Emily Beliveau, Digital Project Assistant
Happy Halloween! Behold this postcard image from our collection featuring pumpkin-headed melon people cutting a cake to mark the day. Every year, I marvel at this image and wish that vegetable people were still a common Halloween motif. The postcard itself was sent on October 31, 1908 from Helen to Mrs. G. H. Green in Goderich, and is part of a series of Hallowe’en postcards by British publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons. These kinds of postcard images were very common during the postcard boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and if you’re looking for more, check out some additional examples from the Toronto Public Library’s Halloween postcard collection.
by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Sep 29, 2014 | Archives, Exhibits
By Emily Beliveau, Digital Project Assistant
Twenty-five years ago, on 30 September 1989, the newly redeveloped Huron County Museum officially opened to the public. Just a few years earlier, the fate of the Museum was in question after part of the main building was closed due to structural problems. Seven years later, the Huron County Museum was reborn for a new era with the completion of a $4 million dollar renovation delivered on time and on budget.
Museum exterior before the 1988-1989 renovation
Originally housed in the 1856 Central Schoolhouse building, the museum first opened to the public in 1951. From there its footprint gradually grew as other buildings were constructed to house additional exhibits, most notably the 1913 CPR shunting locomotive purchased in 1958.
In the photo below, you can see the locomotive in its permanent home covered by orange tarpaulins while the new museum building goes up around it. The train is now the central feature of the History Hall gallery, a streetscape of town life from around Huron County in the early 1900s. The redevelopment gave the museum the ability to showcase old and new by building a modern facility around the schoolhouse–itself a historic artefact.
Aerial view of museum construction during redevelopment
From the museum’s Archives, here is a rare glimpse of the empty upper hallway in the schoolhouse while it was being restored as well as a view of the exhibits before redevelopment. The redeveloped museum purposely retained some of the character of our original curator’s displays while also using modern display techniques to tell the story of Huron County.
Empty second floor hallway during restoration of the schoolhouse, circa 1989, Huron County Museum
Displays in the second floor schoolhouse hallway before restoration, c. 1986
If you visit the museum today, you will find a mix of old favorites and new things to discover. You can still turn the handles on Mr. Neill’s wooden models, see the two-headed calves and ring the train bell, but you can also learn something new from a temporary exhibit or do something new at a special event. Twenty-five years later, our new building might not be so new anymore, but it serves us well as we continue to share the evolving history of Huron County in new and old ways.
by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Jun 20, 2014 | Archives
By Emily Beliveau, Digital Projects Assistant
Soccer game between the Seaforth Hurons and the Brucefield Rovers, 16 June 1911.
For the next several weeks, soccer fans everywhere will be consumed with the geo-political sports drama of the World Cup. Going back to June 1911 in Huron County soccer history (19 years before the first World Cup), there was a local rivalry playing out between Seaforth and Brucefield.
Over the course of June and July 1911, Seaforth and Brucefield played a series of games to determine who would advance to the semi-finals at the intermediate district level. After the game on 9 June 1911, the Huron Expositor printed a recap of the match, dancing around the delicate issue of disputed refereeing and fair play.
9 JUNE 1911
Brucefield
Football.–An intermediate game was played in the village on Friday evening last between the Rovers and the Hurons of Seaforth, which resulted in a victory for Brucefield by a score of two to one. We are in receipt of a letter dealing with the game, from which we judge considerable hard feeling has arisen and also that, as far as Brucefield is concerned, the rulings of the referee were not satisfactory to the home team. If, As our correspondent contents, the referee was incapable and partial, it is a matter of regret, and as we have said on previous occasions, is a matter which should be taken up by the association, as incompetent or partial officials are often the cause of much dissatisfaction and considerable hard feelings, not only among the teams, but the spectators as well. However, we do not think any good can come of publishing strictures, which would only add to the ill feeling which now apparently exists. It is right and proper that each team should endeavor to win by all fair means, but this should and can be done without creating bad feelings between communities. For this reason we ask the forgiveness of our correspondent for not publishing the letter in question. Let us have good clean sport, but let us keep away from bickering and hard feelings. –Editor Expositor.
Soccer game between the Seaforth Hurons and the Brucefield Rovers, 16 June 1911.
A week later in Seaforth, the Hurons “walloped the Brucefield Rovers”, winning 2-0. In this instance, the Huron Expositor deemed the refereeing to be fair:
The game throughout was fast and clean. Norman Fiebig, of Stratford, handled the whistle and did so very well. He continually kept the players in check and whenever dirty work was exhibited he gave the offenders a rest.
Seaforth’s luck changed, however. The last two games of the series were played on June 30 and July 7, and Seaforth lost both, despite entering with a two goal lead. A line of disappointed Huron fans watched on June 26 as Seaforth was beat 4-0.
Photo postcard depicting spectators at the 26 June 1911 soccer game between the Seaforth Hurons and the Brucefield Rovers. Object ID: A991.0016.001. Rights: Public Domain.
After this defeat, it was improbable (but not impossible) that the Hurons would advance to the semi-finals given the number of goals they would need to make up, and indeed, the Rovers beat them once again on July 7, by a single goal (1-0). Here are the victors as they appeared in their team photo a year earlier (the 1911 lineup was similar–according to names mentioned in the Expositor recaps, the Wright brothers, Turner, Mustard, and Aitkenhead continued playing the following season).
1910 team photo of the Brucefield Rovers, cropped from a photo postcard. Object ID: A991.0016.005. Rights: Public Domain.
by Elizabeth French-Gibson | Jun 12, 2014 | Archives, Artefacts
By Emily Beliveau, Digital Projects Assistant
Township of Usborne Voters’ List, 1986. Object ID: 2004.0056.231 (detail).
Today is Election Day for eligible Ontario voters, a chance to make history by participating in the democratic process. To mark the day, here are some election-related items from the museum’s collection: a 118-year-old voters’ list from the former township of Usborne, and a small collection of metal ballot boxes used at various times within the county.
The voter’s list is one of many historical municipal voters’ lists held at the Archives at the Huron County Museum. It is printed single-sided and the back of most of the pages were later used for scrap paper. Sometime around 1905, for instance, the back cover was used to tally additions to the collector’s (tax) rolls.
Detail from back cover of the 1896 Township of Usbourne Voters’ List.
Today, all Canadian citizens over the age of 18 who reside in Ontario are eligible to vote in Ontario provincial elections. Historically, that was not the case. To compare, in 1914, women were specifically excluded from voting in provincial and federal elections, though most women who owned property in Canada were able to vote municipally by about 1900. Voting rights in Canada went through many changes at the federal, provincial, and municipal level in the first decades after Confederation. For more information, check out this timeline of Human Rights in Canada, or A History of the Vote in Canada, by Elections Canada.
