Yesterday was Office Professionals Day, and the day we opened our Office Evolutions exhibit.  We had a number of office machines around for people to try out.  Here are a few photos:

Mayor Ron Toyota signing the guest book with the quill pen and ink:



We figured if we're taking people back to old and obsolete office tools, we might as well have pen-and-ink there to sign the guest book with.  We did have a few people laughing and asking how to do it, though!

The typewriters were popular - everyone had to get their hands on one or another of them:





Karleen liked the one with the double keyboard:



And whenever someone tried out the cheque writer, we got the comment that "The banks still use these, for money orders!"  Yes, they do.



Missed the official opening yesterday?  The exhibit is here all summer - though some of the hands-on machines have gone back to storage.

Can you read this?



It's an example of Pitman shorthand, transcribed by Erika Woker for our Office Evolutions exhibit.  Think you know what it says?  Come down tomorrow afternoon and see if you got it right!

The new exhibits are pretty much done.  The Museum has been dusted and swept and vaccuumed.  Today, we brought down a couple more typewriters, a cheque-writer, and an adding machine that you can try out tomorrow.

Tomorrow, April 26, is Office Professionals' Day, and the perfect time for you to come down and check out our new Office Evolutions exhibit!  12:00 - 7:00 PM.  Admission is free with a business card (no, it doesn't have to be your business card!), and we've got the goodies ready!

Remember this?



This was our medical exhibit in progress, a couple of weeks ago.  But we've been working hard on it since then, moving things in and out and around, and this is what it looks like today:



A "portable" X-ray machine (it weighs a ton!), some TB treatment equipment, lots of surgical tools, and some photos of the first doctors and the local hospitals fill one wall of the exhibit.  Here's another view:



There's our nurse in full uniform, with her cape hanging behind her; a very basic operating table complete with drainage channel for fluids; the crutches and wheelchair.  On the floor is a "portable" electrocardiograph machine and the battery box that goes with it (both also very heavy).  And the third side:



This section pays tribute to the many different medical professions we've had, and still have, in the Creston Valley - dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, and physiotherapists, to name a few.  The yellow machine on the far side of the display case is a physiotherapy diathermy heat-treatment machine.  The window, and a good section of the display case, are filled with patent medicine and prescription-medicine bottles.

There are just a few details left to finish: Some photos to put up - some of them are on the operating table, but there's a few that need to be copied and framed still.  And the big empty space next to the display case is waiting for a dentist's chair to make its way out of storage.

Which reminds me, if you're feeling strong on Tuesday afternoon, how'd you like to come down and help us with that?

Thanks to everyone who came down to help get the Museum all clean and sparkling for the start of the summer season: Lou, Ian, Ed, Rick, Ken, Carol, Bunny, Crystal, Rainer, Betty, Janet, Greg, and Jacquie.  I think that's everyone!

Thanks to Bunny, too, for making the muffins!

The place looks fantastic!  I took a few photos, but my camera's still down in the museum and, after putting on about four miles today up and down the stairs getting cleaning supplies and taking out garbage, I don't have the energy to go get it.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this photograph of one of our exhibit galleries, all torn apart and sadly chaotic, awaiting two new exhibits.  Well, we've been working hard at changing that, and I am very happy to say that half of that room is now 95% put back together!



This is our brand-new War Stories exhibit, which tells the many military stories of the Creston Valley.  It starts on the right with the Boer War, goes through the First and Second World Wars, and continues right on up to the Korean War on the left.  Along the way, it looks at the impact of the various wars at home.

As you can see from some of the large gaps on the walls, there's still a bit of work to be done: an information panel on the role of First Nations people from the Valley, another on the various women's branches of the services, and two small ones about the Boer War.  We're also working on a complete list of everyone from the Creston Valley who served in the military, in war time or peace time.  That panel, which will go on the empty wall that you can just see to the right of the Boer War uniform, will be the very last part of the exhibit to go in, to give us as much time as possible to collect all the names that should go on it.

In the empty space in front of the display case, just underneath the First World War uniform, we'll put a table, with a print-out of our list of veterans and their service, along with a pen.  That print-out will have lots of empty space, so that veterans and their families can add their stories to it at any time.

The best part is, everything is designed to be changeable.  As we gather more information, we can easily update, change, and interchange any of those information panels, and reprint the book we're putting together - because there are many more fascinating and moving stories than can possibly fit into an exhibit that takes up a space of only about 50 square feet.

We got notification this morning that three out of four planned summer student positions have been approved for funding!

Two of them are Visitor Services and Interpretation Postions, working in the Museum, giving tours, planning events, and staffing the gift shops - very much the front line of Museum operations.

The third is in the Archives, finishing up a map-cataloguing project and replying to public research requests.  It also involves some tour guiding and front-end work.

We're still waiting to hear about our fourth position, which will be for a cataloguing project in the storage areas.

So, if you're a full-time student between the ages of 16 and 30, and able to start working full-time on May 8, get your resume in!  Full details and eligibility are posted on our "Summer Student Jobs" page.

If you've already applied, check your email - I'm sending you a message to set up an interview.

Today is the last day of Volunteer Week, and here's what the Museum's volunteers have been doing around here:



Tuesday:  John spent a few hours going through newspapers to finish up his research on Creston's involvement in the First World War. Helen spent the morning cataloguing artifacts that have been recently donated to the Museum. Lou and I had a discussion about the website.  Tuesday was also a board meeting, which means Jim was working on financials, Janet did the minutes, and most of the other directors also have to-do lists.

Wednesday:  Crystal help straighten things up in the Loft, where they'd been moved around a bit during our recent electrical upgrade.  John was in again, with more research.  Eileen prepared some flyers to promote our upcoming opening for the Office Evolutions exhibit.  Greg brought in some drawings he's prepared for the extension we're about to build on the Outdoor Shed.



Thursday: Betty and Crystal came in to work on the new medical exhibit.  Bunny did her usual Thursday-morning work on the collections, and Sharon was working on a project with the Museum's collection of phonograph records. Larry is working on getting a document translated into court-stenography shorthand; Lou and Greg are taking care of some legal stuff.



Friday: Lois P. and Gerry helped compile a list of all our life members, to make sure we've got them all.  Lois has also been working on indexes for the Archives collection.  Bunny and Jacquie spent an hour or so discussing succession planning.

Saturday: Lois C. is investigating a funding program based on volunteer hours.  And, although I haven't talked to her, Helena has probably indexed this week's issue of the Creston Valley Advance.

And the most amazing thing is, this is a pretty typical week around here!

Thanks to all of you who do so much to make the Museum happen.

I think they are for making suppositories.

Betty and Crystal were in this morning, working on our new medical display.  We have two display cases to fill, so they were dividing the collection of medical tools and instruments into two categories: things related to general practitioners, surgery, and hospitals; and things relating to other medical professions such as optometry, pharmacy, dentistry.

Let me tell you, that's not easy to do!  Especially when in the early days, the general practitioner doctor was also the optometrist and dentist.  And double-especially when you don't really know what the tools and instruments are!

Here's an example:



There are ten of these long (over two feet), flexible rods, with grooves on one end and plastic pointy things on the other.  They are stamped with the words "Pilling Phila," which from what I've seen online is a brand name for a company that makes medical supplies.  Which actually helps a bit, because at least we know these things are in the right display - unlike the suppository maker which at one point years ago wound up in the military display as a bullt mould.

But what on earth are they?

Thank heavens Maggie is coming in one of these days to help us figure some of these things out!

The battle of Vimy Ridge took place from April 9 to April 12, 1917, and this day, April 13, was the day that the German defenders of the ridge completed their retreat in the face of a very determined Canadian onslaught.  So it seems very fitting - though completely coincidental - that today is the day that I'm working on an information panel about the role of Creston Valley soldiers at Vimy Ridge, for our new military exhibit.
There were at least ten local soldiers forcing their way up that hill in northern France.  Ralph Clark, Hubert Mahood, and David Hamilton all came through the battle uninjured, though Mahood was killed only two weeks later in a subsequent battle at Arleaux. Fred Hilton was killed in action early in April, probably at Vimy Ridge. Irwin Simmons and Rupert Wilson were killed on the first day of the battle, April 9.


The article above, announcing the death of Stanley Reid, doesn't give very many details, but we can make a few educated guesses. William Smith, who wrote the letter back home announcing Reid's death, was with the 4th Canadian Division, which was tasked with capturing Hill 145 and a nearby knoll called "The Pimple," on April 12.  If Smith saw Reid killed, presumably Reid was also a part of that attack.





William McBean, shown here, was with a medical section of the 8th Battalion, with the 1st Canadian Division at Vimy Ridge.  On April 13, 1917, as the Germans were retreating, he was attending the members of a Canadian gun crew who had been wounded when a German shell fell among them.  As he worked, a second shell landed amongst the group, and McBean was killed.


William Fraser of Kootenay Bay was serving with the 9th Field Ambulance with the 3rd Canadian Division.  His job was to carry the casualties off the battlefield.  This photo of the stretcher bearers is from his collection:

Bunny visits Swan Valley Lodge every month, with a hands-on presentation using objects from the Museum's collection.  It's a huge hit - the residents love it!  Bunny always come back with some stories they've told her about growing up with the objects, music, or photos she brings.

Last week, Bunny brought up a collection of games from the Museum, including this one:



It's a trivia game - the first player to answer thirty questions correctly wins.  Some of the questions are pretty easy, for anyone:  Name the only two provinces that do not border on salt water?  Name the three Prairie provinces?

Some of them are easy if you remember most of your high school history lessons:  What was the old name for Ontario?  Who discovered the Prairie provinces?  Who was the first Prime Minister of Canada?

For some, the correct answer definitely depends on remembering that this game was produced in 1967:  Name the four most recent Governors-General?  What is Metro Toronto's approximate population?

And for this one, the answer is wide open to interpretation:  What is Ottawa's chief industry? (The answer on the card is timber, by the way!)

I found this article in a 1910 newspaper today:

"What the Aviator Must Know

Unexpected danger lurks everywhere in a flying aeroplane.  The aviator must learn to judge air currents and most of all, he must have the steadiest kind of nerves, so that he can act instantly in a hundred possible emergencies.

I do not believe that aviation is going to become as common as automobiling, as some persons seem to think it will.  The sport is much more expensive than automobiling, and far more dangerous."

The writer was Philip Hall, a member of the Aero Club of America, and was considered an authority on the subject because he was building two airplanes for his own use.

It's fun to look back at predictions made a century ago, and see how much foresight people had (or lacked, as the case may be).  Is flying as popular as driving?  In terms of everyone having one or two airplanes parked in their driveway for the daily commute, no, probably not.  But as an occasional means of transportation for a longer distance?  Maybe.  And I doubt most of us would even consider building our own airplanes - or cars, for that matter.

I also love how Mr. Hall refers to both driving and flying as a "sport."  I don't think he foresaw a society almost entirely dependent on cars for daily transportation!

Gotta go now, and I'll be back next week - tomorrow, I'll be "automobiling" down to the Lower Mainland.  Where I'm sure I will have plenty of opportunities to consider the modern society's dependence on automobiles.

As you may know, we try to write an article every month for the I Love Creston magazine.  We do this for two reasons.  One, it's a great way to share details about some interesting, obscure, and/or bizarre aspect of local history, which we can't always do through the Museum's permanent exhibits or special events.  Two, it's a really good way of sorting out fact from fiction, because inevitably if we get it wrong, someone's going to call to straighten us out.

Take this monthy's article on local greenhouses, for example.  It was a challenge to research, because this is the sort of day-to-day humdrum thing that doesn't make headlines very often.  And the references we did have were contradictory, especially regarding the ownership of Moore's greenhouse (which may or may not be the one shown in this photo!).  A couple of sources here said Moore's commercial greenhouse was owned either by local surveyor Charlie Moore or his son.  Another source said Charlie Moore did own greenhouses, but they weren't commercial.

Well, I now have it on very good authority that the commercial Moore's greenhouse was not owned by either Charlie Moore or his son Boyd, but by another man named Moore who was unrelated to them.

My authority is Bill Constable, who is about as good a source of information on local history as you're going to find. Unfortunately, neither he nor Lew Truscott can recall the first name of the Mr. Moore who owned the commercial greenhouse, but both are quite certain that Charlie and Boyd had nothing to do with it. 

Mr. Constable recalls Moore's greenhouse quite clearly - he and his wife Nancy ordered their wedding flowers from there.  Unfortunately, the flowers were dead by the time they arrived on the morning of the wedding!

Love your article, you will have a total volte-face when you are done.
Bravo

I confess, I don't like the chaos and confusion that happens when we're shifting things about and building new exhibits. This is the room where we're working on our new medical and military exhibits, and it's a mess.  Display cases out in the middle of the room, artifacts and tools and cleaning supplies everywhere, random photos on the walls that still haven't come down from the previous exhibits.  But we're working on it and hopefully the mess will be short-lived.
Chaos aside, I do like creating new exhibits. It's actually one of the most challenging parts of working in a museum, because there's so much that a single exhibit needs to accomplish. 
An exhibit needs to tell a story - or several stories - which means knowing enough about the topic both in general terms (the evolution of the medical knowledge and equipment, for example) and in specific-to-the-Creston-Valley terms (such as who the Valley's first doctor was, or when the various hospitals were built) so we can put the objects into an appropriate context.
We also try to make sure that visitors can relate to our exhibits. They have to bring back memories, or connect directly to something people are dealing with today, or help visitors learn something completely new, or in some other way make people feel that the stories that the exhibit tells are their stories. Otherwise, looking at the exhibit is about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Choosing the artifacts, photographs, and other items that go into the exhibit is also challenging.  Sometimes the problem is that we have too many things to choose from; sometimes we don't have just exactly what we need to illustrate the stories behind the exhibit.  Sometimes the challenge is figuring out what we have - and in the case of the medical exhibit we're working on now, that is especially true (okay, I know it's a Thoma's Haemocytometer, because that's what it says on the box, but what exactly is a haemocytometer?).
Then comes the challenge of putting it all together: arranging all those artifacts so that they illustrate the stories we're trying to tell, in a way that at least sort of resembles how they'd look if they were actually being used (not always easy to do in a display case!), while also making sure that the objects are safe - properly supported, protected from direct light and handling and bugs and all that - and, most difficult of all, making it all fit in the space we have available!
Check back in a couple of weeks - I'll be posting the "after" pictures soon!