The Month That Was – October 1956

Monday October 1, 1956

Theatre Guide

Plaza – “Edge of Hell” 1:05, 3:42, 6:19, and 9:01

“Day of Fury” 2:20, 4:57, 7:34 and 10:16.

Last complete show 9pm

Regent – “Great Day in the Morning” in Superscope and colour 3:15, 6:30 and 9:55

“Flying Leathernecks” 1:30, 4:50 and 8:15.

Last complete show at 8:05

Biltmore – “The Trouble with Harry” in VistaVision and colour 12:30, 3:45, 7:00, and 10:20

“View from Pompey’s Head” in CinemaScope and Colour 2:10, 5:25, 8:45

Last complete show at 8:45

Marks – “Bread, Love, and Dreams” 1:15, 4:10, 7:00 and 9:55

“Out of this World” 2:45, 5:40, and 8:40

Last complete show at 8:40

Drive –In – “Phantom from 10,000 Leagues” 7:30 and 10:35

“Day the World Ended” 9:00

Last complete show at 9:00pm

 

Tuesday October 2, 1956

Baby Lion Gets Mother

A dog named Fuzzy joined the circus Monday with the job of nursing a baby lion.

Fuzzy was grieving over the loss of a puppy, and the cub was trying to escape being killed by its mother when Huntington police got the two together. They hit it off fine.

The cub’s mother belongs to a travelling animal show. She killed cubs she had once before, owner Eddie Kuhn said.

Lion cubs will not feed on a bottle, and their mothers rarely raise their young in a circus because of the nearby humans, Kuhn said. SO Fuzzy will travel with the troupe, nursing the cub about 30 days before returning to her owner here.

 

Tuesday October 2, 1956

10-Year-Old Girl Steals Boy Baby

Four month old Danny Shaw and his carriage disappeared Monday.

Police, aided by taxi drivers and motorists, found the boy an hour later.

The “kidnapper?”  a 10 year old girl. She told the police she was lonesome and wanted a little brother. Police turned her over to juvenile and family court authorities.

 

Thursday October 11, 1956

Blind Mother Cares For Babe

Before her baby was born, Mrs. Joseph Kezac had many telephone calls- come callers saying she shouldn’t be having the baby at all, and others offering to adopt it.

The callers knew that pretty, blonde Mrs. Kezac was blind, but they needn’t worried. She took lessons on baby care from a member of the Victorian Order of Nurses, using a doll as a model, and her husband read books on baby care to her. Now she is successfully looking after her seven-weeks-old daughter, besides doing the housework.

Mrs. Kezac, 26 became blind from a head injury five years ago, before she was married.

 

Thursday October 11, 1956

Australian Swimmer, 17-Year-Old Boy, Sets New 400-Metre Mark

Murray Rose 17-year-old Sydney swimmer, was clocked in four minutes 29.2 seconds Tuesday in an unpaced 400-metre training swim on the long course at Brisbane pool.

This is the first time 4 ½ minutes has been bettered for the 400 metres over the long course.

 

Monday October 15, 1956

Lucky Find

A 20-year-old girl who had been engaged just three days lost her diamond ring in a busy London shopping centre. She found it an hour later where it had fallen on the sidewalk, unnoticed by thousands of shoppers.

 

Monday October 15, 1956

Monster Lobster

An 11-pound, 10 ounce lobster was caught on a rod and line by a fisherman here. The Brighton aquarium asked if they could exhibit the lobster, measuring four feet, four inches, but it had already been cooked and eaten.

 

Thursday October 23, 1956

Editorial Notes

One of the easiest ways to deflate the ego of parents is to ask them to help with the children’s homework – or even try it.

 

Thursday October 23, 1956

British Church has Ghost For Organist

TORQUAY, England – The vicar says that when Henry plays the organ in vine – covered St. John’s Church the music is something, but you can’t help noticing you can see right through him.

The vicar, Rev. Anthony Rouse, reported the matter last night to the Church of England’s fellowship for Psychical Study.

The ghost is supposed to be Henry Ditton Newman, a former church organist who died as a young man in 1883.

“I myself have heard the organ play twice at night. I can’t tell you the music. It is sweet, but sort of heavy.”

A former vicar, Rev. Sir Patrick Ferguson-Davie, thinks Henry will always be around.

“Unusual ghost in a way,” Sir Patrick said. “He is very happy. He doesn’t want to go away.”

Victorian Humour from the Oshawa Vindicator

These are a few jokes which were published in the Oshawa Vindicator during the year of 1867. They were found as a collection in a newspaper article published around the 1960s. The section was titled: “Victorian Wit: 1867 Humor Found in Paper.”

 

1.  “When I am in pecuniary difficulties,” said a pensive bankrupt, “my garden, my flowers, all fresh and sparkling in the morning, console my heart.”

“Indeed,” responded his sympathetic friend. “I should have thought they would remind you of your pecuniary troubles, for like your bills, they are all dew.”

 

2. “Now,” said the judge, “suppose you and I were turned into a horse and an ass, which would you prefer to be?”

“The ass, to be sure,” replied the lawyer. “Why?”, asked the judge.

“Because I have heard of an ass being a judge but a horse, never!”

 

3.  “A plain spoken women recently visited a married woman and asked her how she amused herself all day. ‘Amuse,’ said the other, starting. ‘Do you not know that I have my housework to do?’

‘Yes, I see you have it to do but as it is never done, I conclude you must have some other way of passing your time.’”

Month That Was – September 1948

Thursday September 2, 1948

Sun Skips Vancouver

Last month was the dullest August in Vancouver history, the Dominion Weather Bureau reported today. There were only 130 hours of sunshine compared with a 40 year average of 262. The previous “dull” was the August of 1944 when 180 sunlit hours were recorded.

 

Friday September 3, 1948

Knife Nicks Neck of Girl in Act

Alice Orton, target in a vaudeville knife-throwing act, narrowly escaped death Thursday night when her father missed his aim and nicked her neck.

The fourth of eight 13-inch knives which are supposed to outline Miss Orton’s sharply figure on a circular board, went a few inches wild and struck her neck, during a wild-west show at the open-air theatre.

Her father, “Tex” Orton, carried on with the act and threw the remaining four knives. She said it was the third close call she has had in the act’s 20 years.

 

Saturday September 4, 1948

Baby Brought Back To Life

A mother here now knows why May 13 spoke of her infant as a “miracle baby.”

Trudy was born to Mrs. Margaret Nystom with “RH” antibodies active in her blood. During postnatal surgery when the RH-laden blood was replaced by “replacement transfusions” the infant’s heart stopped for five minutes and her respiration for 30.

Trudy was delivered by caesarean operation her heart stopped and respiration ceased. To all appearances the child was dead.

Adrenalin brought the heart back into motion, the operation was completed and the child placed in an incubator. It was 30 minutes before respiration resumed.

 

Tuesday September 14, 1948

Known in 6,000 B.C.

Stockholm – (CP) – Hunters and fishermen roamed the forests of central Sweden 6,000 years before Christ, Sten Follorin, young Swedish scientist said in a paper published here recently. The first traces if peasant culture appeared about 3,000 B.C., he said.

 

Tuesday September 14, 1948

Scare for Fisherman

Folkestone, England – (CP) –  A naval mine disposal squad made harmless a 500-pound British sea mine caught in the nets of a Folkestone fishing boat in the English Channel.

 

Monday September 20, 1948

Find “Nudists”

Vancouver – (CP) – Police summoned by phone to a wharf here found two reported “nudists” fully dressed. The mother of the two girls, aged two and three, admitted they’d eluded her at bedtime earlier.

 

Monday September 20 1948

Drunk, Can’t Drive Again for 60 Years

Poole, Dorset, England – (CP) – It’ll be 60 years before Cyril Benham, 27 will be allowed to drive an automobile again.

That was the sentence he got for driving under the influence of liquor. It was alleged he collided with a wall twice, crashed into a closed railroad crossing and wound up against a porch.

 

Thursday September 23, 1948

Cheese Factory Burns

Brockville- Seot.23 – (CP) A Wednesday night fire virtually destroyed the 38-year-old cheese factory at the village of Philipsville, 29 miles northwest of here.  Volunteer firefighters from the village and the volunteer group from neighboring Delta, were able to do little to save the building because of lack of water. Origin of the blaze was unknown. Some equipment and all but the day’s make of cheese were removed.

 

Monday September 27, 1948

Giant Wasp’s Nest

An unusually large wasp’s nest was found by R.G. Saunders, 280 Celina Street, in a beech tree on Park Road North. The nest, mottled grey and brown in color, was pear shaped and measured 15 inches in diameter. It was turned over to Arthur Slyfield librarian of the O.C.V.I.

Around Henry House – Our Paintings in the Study

By Lisa Terech: Youth Engagement/Programs and Digitization Assistant

Throughout the summer, I have been slowly, but surely, working my way through Henry House, photographing and cataloging the artifacts on display in this heritage house.  The room being exhibited as Thomas Henry’s study was my second last room to complete, with some of my favourite artifacts on display; it is great to catalogue artifacts that you love and have great interest in.

The Henry House Study

Hanging on the walls are three pieces of artwork: portraits of Thomas Henry, Lurenda Henry, and Buena Vista.

A973.13.1 – Elder Thomas Henry

Thomas and Lurenda are on opposite walls, or, as I’ll joke on tour, staring into each other’s eyes!  I love the portrait of Thomas.  He looks so stately, dignified, and, dare I say, handsome!  The portrait of Lurenda always receives strong reactions from visitors on tour.  She looks to be a very formidable woman from the image.  It was painted in Toronto by HC Meyers, and it appears to have been created based on a photograph.  When our visitors react to Lurenda, I am always careful to remind them that, firstly, it is based from a photograph, and early photograph techniques made smiling rather labour intensive.  I also remind them that Lurenda was rather sick, especially as she was older, and, last but not least, this woman was step-mother to 5 boys, who had 6 boys and 4 girls of her own!  If you had 15 children, you would look formidable as well!

70-L-140 – Lurenda Henry

I removed the portrait of Lurenda from the wall to photograph it, and when I did, I was able to get a closer look at this image that I have seen almost daily for 3 years.  I couldn’t help but notice how striking her eyes are.  Maybe it’s the work of a skilled artist, but you cannot deny there is wisdom and warmth behind those eyes.

Buena Vista, the Conant Homestead, by ES Shrapnel

The final painting we have hanging on the wall is of Buena Vista, the homestead to the Conant family.  The home was built c. 1873 by Thomas Conant, best known as the author of Life in Canada and Upper Canada Sketches, detailing the history of his family and a history of the Oshawa area.  The home was located at 1050 Simcoe Street South, the southwest corner of Wentworth and Simcoe Streets.  Premier Gordon Conant was born in this home in 1885, and Thomas Conant housed over 6,000 books in his personal library.  The house, however, was demolished in 1985 to make way for a housing complex.  The complex today is known as Conant Place.

The painting was completed by ES Shrapnel in 1899, the same artists who illustrated Thomas Conant’s Upper Canada Sketches.  Shrapnel (1845 – 1920) was born in England, and eventually settled in Canada, teaching at the Ontario Ladies’ College (Trafalgar Castle) before moving to British Columbia in the late 1880s.   While the painting is, admittedly, outside of the interpretation period of Henry House (set in the 1860s/1870s), the image is one way of honouring another prestigious home, vestiges of Oshawa’s days gone by.

Information from the Oshawa Community Archives, and information on Shrapnel from http://www.shrapnell.org.uk and http://www.askart.com

Musing about our Student Musings

As summer is winding down, we will shortly be saying goodbye to this year’s summer students.  Some will continue to volunteer, and others will inevitably return to visit, so it’s not a true goodbye, but we want to take this moment and thank them for all of their work this summer and sharing their thoughts about the Museum and their projects!

Shawn, Emily, and Caitlan, thank you for all of your hard work! All the best for your upcoming school year!

Awesome Students of Summer 2013!

Read their past posts here:

Student Museum Musings – Caitlan

Student Museum Musings – Caitlan

Student Museum Musings – Emily

Student Museum Musings – Emily

Student Museum Musings – Shawn

Student Museum Musings – Shawn