Student Museum Musings: Jay

By Jay R., Co-op Student

Hi everyone! It’s Jay again. Since the summer is fast approaching, my time here at the Museum is coming to an end. Over the past few months, I’ve learned some things, ranging from using Canva for videos (I never knew you could do that!) to how much of a history nerd I can be. As I’ll be in Grade 12 in the fall, I’ve often thought about my post-secondary education. One of my options is to work at a museum as a social media manager, curator, or something along those lines. The other option is for broadcasting and television, which is funny because both of the options are very different from one another!

Lake Ontario and the beach

Either way, I know I’ll be sticking around even after my placement is up. I love how museums can connect with the community and positively impact someone’s day after they’ve come in for a tour or even a coffee. I’ll be doing as many of the volunteer opportunities as I can. I’ve met many people and done many things I would never have done without being here. And the staff here are excellent!

The steering wheel from the Helen, on display in Guy House

Over the past couple of months, I’ve done various projects, all of which I loved to do. One of my favourite projects was researching information for three schools in Oshawa, Albert St. School, Mary St. School and Westmount Public School, and writing about them. It was fascinating to read about how schools have changed over the decades, which I can relate to, especially as I’m still in high school. One thing that shocked me was that one class had a 1:75 teacher to students ratio due to overcrowding. The other thing that brightened my day has to be giving tours. When I first started my placement here, I was worried about giving tours, and now I love them. It’s always fun to inform people about things they don’t know.

One mini project for school was these SMART goals. They were something you had to accomplish by the end of your placement. Mine was to positively impact the community and museum in whatever way works, which I achieved through my tours and little timbits here and there. I’m so grateful to get the experiences I did here at the museum and meet everyone I did. I’ll miss my time here and all the little things I’d see and do daily.  

“I want to ride my bicycle”

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

While there are several, earlier, unverifiable claims to the bicycle invention, the earliest verifiable claim is to a German inventor in the early 1800s. This simple mode of transportation has seen evolution, adaptations, and various safety enhancements through the years.

This post is inspired by photographs in our collection that feature bicycles and, coincidentally, is published a day before World Bicycle Day on June 3. So, in the famous words of Freddy Mercury, “Get on your bikes and ride!” Enjoy the read!

From the photograph collection:

From the Lowry Lakeview Park Collection:

From the collection:

From the blog:

Profiling: Joseph Dick

By Karen A., Visitor Host Born in Jackson Township, Stark County, Ohio, on May 28th 1840, Joseph Dick was a machinist in Oshawa from 1863 util 1874, later becoming a proprietor of his own business, Dick’s Agricultural Works, located in Canton, Ohio. What’s really interesting about Joseph is his patent from 1869 for the “improvement…

Staying Cool: The Way The Victorians Did!

By Melissa Cole, Curator

As summer heat builds, more people will rely on air conditioning units to keep cool. No air conditioning? No problem! There were a variety of options for ‘cooling off’ on a hot summer day before the days of air conditioning! Here are a few of the creative ways people in Oshawa beat the heat at the turn of the 20^th century.

Parks

Parks are a wonderful place to cool off; trees absorb heat, and ponds and lakes help further cool the temperature in the air.  The development of city parks boomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.¹ Early city parks were usually privately owned land made available, for a small fee, to the public.  This model evolved after WWII. 

An example of this type of privately owned park was Prospect Park (located where Parkwood Estate is today).  In 1880, Eli Edmondson landscaped the grounds with ornamental gardens, gazebos, and water fountains that would have provided an easy way to cool off in the summer!

Prospect Park; Oshawa Museum archival collection (A996.27.7)

One of the best parks to cool off in would be Oshawa-on-the-Lake (today’s Lakeview Park). For the citizens of our community, it is a favourite location to spend a summer’s day, swimming and relaxing along the sandy beach.  There is an abundance of large trees providing shade to sit under to escape the summer sun or to take an afternoon nap!

Cooling off at Oshawa-on-the-Lake, 1910. The Thomas Bouckley Collection, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

Cool Architecture

Awnings became popular as a way to block out the sun while still allowing daylight and air to enter into storefronts that needed ventilation. On rainy days, awnings made it possible for passersby to enjoy window-shopping excursions.  Throughout their history, awnings have had great appeal. Along with drapes, curtains, shutters, and blinds, they provided natural climate control in an age before air conditioning. By blocking out the sun’s rays while admitting daylight and allowing air to circulate between interior and exterior, they were efficient and cost effective.

King Street, Downtown Oshawa, 1910; Oshawa Museum archival collection (AX995.194.1)

Covered porches, such as the one pictured below, helped reduce the amount of direct sunlight hitting the outside walls and downstairs windows. A covered porch also allowed people to sit outside during the evening and early in the night when it was cooler.  The porch eventually turned into a place to socialize with friends and family while cooling off after a long hot day.

Members of the Lick family on the front steps of their home, Stone Lodge. Note the large covered porch; Oshawa Museum archival collection (A001.1.3)

Summer kitchens during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries in Ontario had a number of practical applications.  They were usually a wing constructed on the rear of the home. Often, the wood stove in the home would be disassembled and moved into the summer kitchen.²  At Henry House, the summer kitchen is located at the back of the house, off the main kitchen.  This extension of the home was used during the hot summer months to separate hot kitchen activities from the rest of the house during the warmer months – a key way to survive the summer before the advent of the modern air conditioning.       

Fresh Fashions

Fans, hats, and parasols are not just fashion accessories.  They were useful tools used to beat the heat of the summer months. Since the sun heats the earth through radiation, one of the best defences against the summer heat for a Victorian woman was protection from the sun’s rays.  Wide-brimmed hats and parasols not only protected but were essential fashion accessories. After a stroll in the sun, what better way to cool down than to let nature protect—with its cooling canopy of shade.

Parasol, Oshawa Museum collection (984.1.1)

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1. Von Baeyer, Edwinna. “City Park.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, March 4, 2015. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/city-parks
2. Bates, Christina. Out of the Old Ontario Kitchens. 18

An Evening Tea at Henry House, 1867

When reading through old newspapers, mentions of familiar places and names are always exciting. The following appeared in the Oshawa Vindicator, 22 May 1867:

Social – On the afternoon of the 24th inst., a social in connection with the Ladies’ Aid Society, of the Christian Church, will be held at Elder Henry’s, Port Oshawa. Tea will be served at six p.m. A programme has been prepared for the occasion, one item of which is an essay from the pen of Mrs. P.A. Henry.

An evening spent by the lake listening to the writings of Polly Henry sounds like a lovely way to have spent and evening, almost 156 years ago.

Henry House, Summer 2016

Polly Ann Henry

Ozzie Williams and his Orchestra

By Kes Murray, Registrar

One of my current projects here in the archives is re-organizing our oversize photograph and document boxes. This will make finding photographs and documents much easier. Of course, going through these boxes sometimes brings about mysteries or excitement, especially when I find something that hasn’t been seen in some time.

One such document that made many of us here at the museum stop and look was a poster from the Jubilee Pavilion, advertising Ozzie Williams and his Orchestra. No one had seen the poster in some time, which led to the question, who was Ozzie Williams and his Orchestra, and what was his connection to the Jubilee Pavilion?

Ozzie Williams and his Orchestra poster, Jubilee Pavilion; Oshawa Museum archival collection (AX991.18.1)

Ozzie Williams, writes the website The Toronto Historical Jukebox, started his career all the way back in the early 1930s. Williams made his name as a band leader leading orchestras at popular dance halls in Toronto, like the Kingsway Club and the Embassy.

The 1930s were the time of the “Big Band,” large orchestra-type bands that played jazz music. Big Bands enjoyed wide success through their radio work and public appearances, like in dance halls.

Advertisement from the Jubilee Pavilion for Ozzie Williams; Oshawa Museum archival A999.17.1

Thinking of dance halls, the Jubilee Pavilion has a special place amongst many residents of Oshawa. Built in 1927, it has served as the venue for many bands over their almost 100 years in service. Thanks to some sleuthing in the Toronto Star Archives through the Toronto Public Library, I learned that Williams played at the Jube in 1936. In his book, Let’s Dance: A Celebration of Ontario’s Dance Halls and Summer Dance Pavilions, Peter Young writes, “Big Bands were usually hired [at the Jube] for the whole summer, performing six nights per week, and would often stay in cottages very nearby… Some of the popular bands to perform at the Jube included Ozzie Williams, Stan Williams and His Blue Marines, Boyd Valleau, Jack Denton and Pat Riccio.”

Toronto Star, July 30, 1936, 37.

From Young’s excerpt, we learn more of Williams’s time here in Oshawa. The fact that bands were hired for an entire summer explains why the poster has June, July, and August on the bottom. Also, that many bands stayed in cottages in Lakeview Park explains why we have a photograph of Williams in our Lowry Collection. The Lowry Lakeview Park Collection contains hundreds of photographs of Lakeview Park, mostly from the 1930s. In this photograph, Williams sitting with an individual named Georgie Robinson. We can assume that this photograph was taken when Williams lived in the Park

Ozzie Williams on right, Georgie Robinson on left, in Lakeview Park. From the Lowry Lakeview Park Collection, Oshawa Museum archival collection (A996.20.128)

Although Williams’s entire life is still a mystery, his time here in Oshawa seemed rather busy, with many nights played at the Jube. I absolutely loved looking in Williams’s time here in Oshawa. All of this really gives us a snapshot at what nights were like at the Jube and the bands that played there.

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Sources consulted:

http://torontohistoricaljukebox.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-toronto-subway-song-by-ozzie.html

McNamara, Helen. “Dance bands”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 13 June 2014, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dance-bands-emc. Accessed 11 May 2023.

Young, Peter. Let’s Dance: A Celebration of Ontario’s Dance Halls and Summer Dance Pavilions. Toronto, National Heritage, 2002.