Thursday, February 2, 2023

Informed And Shaped By Nature

A note to readers in the area: Winterlude is back in full force starting tomorrow and running through until the 20th. I will be taking pictures, of course, so expect a lot of that down the line.

Continuing on where I left off. Settlement of the Canadian West was a concern for the federal government in the last third of the 19th century. Many went into what could be a challenging land. 


Education was important for the settlers to see to it for their children. Many one-room schoolhouses would be established.


Quotes from Canadian writers speak to life in the West- and indeed into one of the fundamentals in what defines Canada and Canadians: the vastness of the land.


Towns and cities in the West developed as the 19th century slipped into the 20th century. This domestic uniform dates to the time.


The Eaton's company made it possible for retail goods to be shipped out into remote areas by catalogue sales. Some of the items of the period are here.


The last of the three galleries in the Canadian History Hall is on the upper level. It is accessed either by elevator or by a long winding ramp around the central hub. A physical map of the country is laid out on the floor. Three staff members are seen talking right at the northern islands of the Canadian Arctic.


I leave off with this display case, featuring items late in the reign of Queen Victoria, who can be seen in two stages of life on the flag in the background. The bust is of Sir Wilfred Laurier, prime minister at the time of her diamond jubilee.

42 comments:

  1. How interesting to learn about Canada's history William

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  2. Interesting to browse through the clothing and artefacts from the period

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  3. That's very good ! Education is the best mean to avoid to vote for idiots. Unfortunately even today some farmers still think it's more important to work on the field then going to school ! In Morocco the "new" King has a special police who collects children with reluctant parents and force them to go to school ! That's in intelligent man, he also took back all the money his father the old king had bunkered abroad and invested it in his country. Thanks for your explanation concerning GOAT lol ! Fortunately it was not PIG !

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    1. A colleague uses that term, so I've gotten accustomed to it.

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  4. I am not given to nostalgia about commercial enterprises, but I confess to a touch of it when seeing the Eaton's ad. It is part of the personal experience of so many, and people made pilgrimages into the downtown Toronto store just to gaze at the windows.

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  5. ...I will be looking forward to seeing Winterlude.

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  6. I continue to marvel at the resourcefulness and hardiness of those early settlers; if by some remote chance I survived the first winter I'd be scheming for ways to get somewhere warmer!

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  7. Great exhibit, I am happy that clothing has changed over the years. Take care, have a happy day!

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  8. My husband taught in a one room school in an isolated area of Newfoundland as late as 1987.

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    1. One room schools in my area got converted to homes before my time.

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  9. Does Winterlude mean the Skateway will be open? Or maybe it is already?

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  10. Especially the old agricultural tools and the school appeal to me in this series.

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  11. Winterlude - I look forward to that again (from my warm place inside).
    Still wonder how that worked with schooling all ages in one room.
    Such a dress would simply kill me. Can you even sit down with that?!

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  12. It is sad that things like Eaton's are gone.

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  13. Eatons also sold houses. You ordered a house. They sent all the materials for the house and the buyer put it together.

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  14. So the Canadian Eatons was like our US Sears & Roebuck. Interesting.

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  15. When I was a little kid, I remember my mother shopping from catalogs. The big Sears catalog was a favorite.

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  16. Awesome post and photos ~ Nature is the 'gift.' ~

    Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  17. Another fine exhibit, thanks William.

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  18. I find the clothing very interesting!

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  19. I love the poster for the Eaton company. It would have been hard to learn in a one room school but I'm guessing the teachers really knew how to discipline!

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  20. I have always felt bad about how little I know about Canada so the last time we visited I bought a history of Canada book (something like History of Canada for dummies although that is not the name of it). Your blog is a more enjoyable way to learn and the pictures are much better!

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