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: From the Vault
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The History of the Electric Telegraph: Innovations by Samuel Morse
Look at this telegraph. The electric telegraph was invented in 1832 by Samuel F.B. Morse, he became interested in the possibility of electric telegraphy and made sketches of ideas for such a system. Morse later devised a system of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers (Morse Code). The telegraph equipment in our collection…
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The Heritage of a Vintage Barber Chair
Blain Fuller inherited this chair from his best friend’s father, Cam Bratt. Cam bought it used in the early 1970’s and used it in his barber shop in Camrose. Blain has had the chair for 5-6 years. His children used to bounce on it, which may account for the poor condition of the seat. This…
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Preserving Legacy: The Story of the Brightview School Organ
In the early 1900’s the one room schools were few and far between with children driving horse and buggys four or more miles. The Lone Ridge School was filled up and couldn’t take any more. The Goodhands, my grandparents, who had started the Brightview Post Office, store and stopping place helped organize a new school…
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Watchmaking Heritage: The Story of H.R. French and Mac
H.R French was a self-taught watch repairman. He learned by reading and watching experienced repairmen at work. He passed his knowledge on to his son, Mac, who began helping his father while still in high school. Even as a child, Mac was fascinated with his father’s work, setting up his own bench using an apple…
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Fritz Kirstein’s Legacy: Wetaskiwin’s Iconic Meat Shop
In August 1921, Fritz Kirstein opened the City Meat Market between 49 Street and 49 Avenue in Wetaskiwin. They sold everything from homemade wieners, fish, to cheese cut from wide rounds. Sawdust was used in the back for cleanliness and blocks of ice preserved the freshness of the meat until the sanitary coolers were installed…
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The Legacy of Gus Elgert: Alberta’s Award-Winning Farmer
This week we got a donation in from Deborah Kirstein which included a ton of items from the 1930s to the 1970s. One of the items she included was a picture and magazine article about their grandfather Gus Elgert who was a farmer that owned land one and a half miles east of Wetaskiwin. His…
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The Impact of Chemical Warfare in WWI
Remembering those who have experienced the traumas of war and those that will never return, we continue this week’s Heritage Moment discussing gas masks. Prior to the Battle of Ypres, 18,000 gas shells filled with xylyl bromide targeted Russian lines over Bolimow in January of 1915. This early form of tear gas was a failure…
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History of Masks in Warfare: From Gas Masks to Respirators
Every November we stop to reflect on the unimaginable sacrifices that our armed forces have suffered and continue to endure serving our country. Something as simple as breathing clean air was a challenge and at times not within reach for those in the theatre of war operations. In the early 1800s, firefighting, diving, mining, and…
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The Evolution of Goalie Masks in Hockey
Would you like to face a 102-mph slap shot with no mask? I know I would not want too. The first mask was worn by Elizabeth Graham when goaltending for Queen’s University in 1927 and wanted to guard her teeth, so she donned a fencing mask. Next, in 1930, Montreal Maroons’ goaltender Clint Benedict played…
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History of Halloween Noisemakers: A Spirited Tradition
It is now that month when we enjoy disguising ourselves and anticipate the screams of onlookers or chilling reactions from passersby. These party horn blowers that were popular in the 1950s helped to announce the Halloween occasion to the detriment of many a parent’s ear. This particular set was used by the Lahls in John…