Artifact of the Week: Ville de Mons Medal

This week’s artifact is a Ville de Mons Medal given to John Fitzgerald. This was a commemorative medal that was given to the members of the 3rd Canadian Division for liberating the Belgian Town of Mons on Nov 9th, 1918, two days before the end of the First World War. The ribbon is faded and at one time was the colours of the Belgian flag.

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Artifact of the Week: Carbide Bicycle Lamp

This Miller’s Carbo Carbide Bicycle Lamp is a gas headlight, typical of those used on bicycles around the turn of the 20th century. Similar lamps were used on automobiles at this time. Operators beware: a collision could yield explosive results!

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Yearbook Flip – The Last Page

As 2020 draws to a close, this year’s final instalment of the Yearbook Flip series flips to the last pages of yearbooks in search of parting words and messages.

Beyond the stories told within their pages, yearbooks are also innate objects, each carrying a material history of their own. As an object, a yearbook is a fascinating material token of memory and nostalgia. To the yearbook’s owner, this object carries the weight of what this part of their life meant to them: the relationships made, the experiences had, the interests cultivated, and the paths chosen. Here, what matters are the bent pages and tattered covers, habitual signs of use; or the personalized markings with pen, pencil or marker, a result of our relentless impulse to leave a mark on the world.

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Object Legacies: Slave Memoir

arefully wrapped in acid-free paper and stored inconspicuously among other artifacts of its kind, is an 1856 edition copy of Solomon Northup’s memoir, 12 Years A Slave. It is part of the Museum’s Rare Book Collection. Materially, this artifact is catalogued with the following description…

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