Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives
an inclusive gathering place for the local community to engage in the history, heritage and culture of Wetaskiwin City, County, and the Maskwacis Cree Four Nations
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Category: Artifact Collection
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Montgomery’s Department Store: A Community Landmark
This week we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our largest artifact. It is one of our oldest, definitely the neediest, and the only one that we have ever purchased. It protects all of our other objects and provides a friendly gathering place for the local community. It is our historic building! In 1903,…
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Unpacking History: A Trunk’s Tale from Wetaskiwin
The task of moving is hectic, time-consuming, and sometimes even backbreaking, but luckily our ancestors were up to the challenge when they decided to pack their bags and immigrate to Canada. This large rectangular trunk, now featured in the museum’s Swedish exhibit, belonged to Copenhagen-born Paul Sorenson of the Usona area. The trunk is covered…
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Explore Buffalo Fur Coats at the Heritage Museum
In an effort to fend off the bitter winter winds and harsh climate, trappers, ranchers, and traders would have worn a coat made of buffalo fur much like the one found in the Heritage Museum’s trading post exhibit. An earlier version of the buffalo coat, the buffalo robe, would have been used by Early First…
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The Legacy of Wetaskiwin’s First Businesses and Their Impact
For many of us the next three weeks will be busy as we spend our hard-earned money on food, decorations, and that ever elusive perfect gift. As we do so I would like to encourage all of you to make the effort to continue one of Wetaskiwin’s oldest traditions, shopping and staying local.L.T. Miquelon is…
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Rediscovering Vintage Entertainment: The 1955 Admiral Super Cascade TV
As we near the month of December, you may be escaping the season’s chill by curling up on the couch with a blanket and indulging in some television. This Admiral television was built circa 1955 and can be found on the third floor of the Heritage Museum. Dubbed the Super Cascade, it has multiple functions…
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Bairnsfather Ware: A Commemorative Plate of WWI
This so-called Bairnsfather Ware is a commemorative plate of WWI that was on display in the cottage of Elton and Carrie Merner at Ma-Me-O Beach. It depicts a cartoon of soldier getting a hair cut in the trenches as a shell goes buzzing past. It is titled ‘COIFFURE IN THE TRENCHES’ and captioned “KEEP YER…
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Commemorating 100 Years: World War I Artifacts on Display
This November, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice of 1918 on November 11th, we will be sharing objects from World War I that are on display in the War Years Remembered Exhibit on the second floor of the Heritage Museum. The unfinished cotton pillowcase pictured here is an example of efforts on the…
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Vintage Halloween Lanterns from the 1940s
Happy Halloween, we hope that you have a safe night with just the right amount of spooking!! These three paper lanterns were donated to the Heritage Museum by June Hughes who used them as decorations in her classroom in the 1940s. June taught for close to 40 years in Wetaskiwin. The lanterns originally came from…
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Crafting Memories: Nora Rasmuson’s Hair Wreath
This elaborate wreath is made from human hair. The hair was wrapped around wires with some beads strung throughout on the ends, tips, and centres in flower patterns. The wreath belonged to Nora Rasmuson (nee Ruud), who was inducted into our Women of Aspenland Exhibit in 2002. She was born on December 27, 1876 to…
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WW2 History: T1154 Aircraft Transmitter at Heritage Museum
The Wetaskiwin & District Heritage Museum is filled with history from all eras. This brightly coloured T1154 aircraft transmitter was used to communicate from above the target area to the base through morse code during WW2. This type of transmitter was manufactured between 1941 and 1950; over 80,000 were made by Marconi’s wireless Telegraph Co…