Learn more about the historic personalities included on this year’s annual Guided Spirit Walks including Mary McCalla, D.W. Bixby, Lily Wilson, and Robert Lawrie.
Pictured is Brenda Schultz as Martha Burgoyne in the 2024 Guided Spirit Walks. Brenda returns to portray Martha Ann St. John this year.
Explore the crucial role of kitchen gardens for Freedom Seekers in 19th-century St. Catharines, as they overcame myths about Canada.
Explore the role of corn in 19th-century St. Catharines as culinary historian Abbey Stansfield uncovers the truths for Freedom Seekers.
This week’s artifact is a wax cylinder donated by a resident of St. Catharines. The cylinder contains an instrumental selection […]
This week’s artifact is a bottle of Pure Native Wine that was bottled and sold by J. D. Neelon of […]
This week’s artifact is a handmade glass Christmas tree ornament that was made in Germany prior to the Second World […]
Just when you thought Museum Chat Live! was done for the year, we decided to send one more special episode […]
Throughout our celebration of season 10 we’ve put together a few “supercut” episodes looking back at some of our favourite moments and episodes. We revisited the series we put together about the history of the bridges of the Welland Canal, and we revisited the series about the Victorians called Victorian Tweets. On today’s last episode of season 10, we bring you a supercut compilation of our favourite instances where we used primary sources on the podcast.
This week’s artifact is a glass mug commemorating the Centennial of Merritton’s incorporation as a village in 1874. 1975.9.2A Find […]
This week’s artifact is a porcelain whisky jug likely dating to the late 19th or early 20th century. The whisky […]
This week’s artifact is a Walter Ostanek Band 8-track tape from 1971. Walter Ostanek is a popular St. Catharines-based accordion […]
Click HERE for Part 1, HERE for Part 2, and HERE for Part 3 Welcome to our People of the Parks […]
This podcast episode includes an interview with Foster Festival playwright and actor Jamie Williams and director Emily Oriold. Representing the […]
Click HERE for Part 1 and HERE for Part 2 Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part […]
This week’s artifact is a coal bellows from c.1875. This kind of implement was commonly used locally in the late […]
Click HERE for Part 1 Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part series is a companion to […]
This week’s artifact is a badge from the 1973 Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Regatta. This event, also known as […]
Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part series is a companion to “You are Here,” our temporary exhibit […]
This week’s artifact is a ribbon from U.A.W. 199 in St. Catharines. This is the General Motors union, which now […]
This podcast episode is in our Hearing History series, exploring local history through sound. Today’s sound comes from opening up an ice […]
This week’s artifact is a mangle or wringer machine dating to the mid 19th century. This device was used to […]
This cast metal nutmeg grinder dates to the late 19th or earliest 20th centuries. It was used locally and is […]
This week’s artifact is Brian Bellows hockey card from 1991, while he was playing for the Minnesota North Stars. Brian […]
This podcast episode is in our Hearing History series, exploring local history through sound. Today’s sound comes from a musical […]
It’s time for the big reveal. After an interesting discussion about pablum (ironic, we know), Adrian reveals the theme (and subthemes) that linked together the episodes of this season!
Now in its 14th year, the annual Guided Spirit Walks at Victoria Lawn Cemetery are an excellent way to experience historical narrative lifted off the written page. It’s traditional (and sometimes required) for the writer/director to offer thoughts and perspective on the intentions and research behind the stories of the annual production.
In the most scientific episode since the infamous gyroscope episode in season 7, Kathleen and Adrian try to tackle the fascinating and very technical history of the wirephoto.
This week’s artifact is a metal lunchbox. which is similar to the ones used locally between the 1900s and 1940s. […]
The challenge, which I always enjoy, is simultaneously selecting historic persons to include on the tour whose burials are located on an enjoyable walking tour route that also fit into the theme of that year’s tour, and whose life story can appropriately carry a relevant historical narrative.
How does the mail get sorted? One of the first computerized and automated mail sorters was the Route Reference Computer. Despite its “state secret” level of confusing technical aspects, we learned a lot about the mail in this episode.
On this episode we’re explore the important history of the electric powered wheelchair, and our research takes us through the history and importance of mobility aids today.
We’re cracking open season 8 of One Hour in the Past with the history of the egg carton. The episode is filled with a surprising amount of unintended egg puns and lots of egg-sellent history. Enjoy the episode!
Enjoy this look back on our Season 6 3-part miniseries about the Victorians which was produced during the run of our temporary exhibition Victorian Tweets.
On this episode of Museum Chat Live! we’re chatting local food history and baking as we wrap up our (now beloved) Food, Glorious Food Blog Series. The series was a chance for Abbey Stansfield (public programmer) and Kathleen Powell (curator) to explore local food history by baking through historic recipes in our collection. This bake-off was a way to explore food history in a first-hand way and draw attention to our temporary exhibit of the same name, on display at the Museum through the autumn of this year. Listen in for a chat about food history, writing a blog series together, challenges in baking historic recipes, the things we learned, and most importantly: our favourite desserts!
This week’s artifact is a ceramic iron that was likely used as a decorative storage container. The item is undated […]
Things are about to become a whole lot sweeter with Part 7: Calla Lillies, written and baked by Curator Kathleen Powell.
This week’s artifact is an early 20th-century stoneware foot warmer. This item was made in London and sold through the […]
Throughout our 10th season, we will be including several “supercut” episodes which revisit clips from some of favourite episodes, themes, […]
The area around Ontario and Carlton Streets is probably most remembered for McKinnon Industries and St. Catharines’ first General Motors […]
This week’s artifact is a late 19th to early 20th century soap dish including a partial bar of soap. At […]
