presentation of Feb 09

Annual Bring and Brag

Presented by RTHS Members

Article by Lucy Martin

These belonged to my grandmother who purchased them at Gump's Department Store in Honolulu, Hawaii in the mid 1900's.

Brian Earl brought lead soldiers riding horses pulling a limber & gun at a full gallop, a depiction of an infamous encounter at Korn Spruit during the Boer War in late March of 1900. An interesting account of this can be read at:

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol122ms.html

Brian Sawyer brought an assortment of brass coach and fox-hound horns, and even played a blast or two. He also had some unique horns made of animal horn!

Brian Sawyer

Owen Cooke brought military insignia and officer shoulder boards as worn during the cold war, when the Soviet boasted that the west could be overrun and conquered to the Rhine River in just 72 hours. (The insignia were training aids, so NATO forces could recognize the foe should they arrive uninvited.) Owen commented on how remarkably "chintzy" the items seemed.

From her extensive home collection of over 1,000 lamps, Val Lister brought a cluster of petite oil lamps from the Middle East. Their simple charm was enhanced by their obvious antiquity.

Val Lister

Mark Jodoin brought a history of England (written in French in 1768) which proved to be a book hollowed out to conceal who-knows-what, from thieves or counter-spies. He also bought a handsome tin box with depictions of scenes common to the life and times of Sir William Johnson and his son John in New York's Mohawk Valley in the mid-to-late 1700's

Please forgive me if anyone, or the best part of what was shared, was inadvertently omitted. As always, the bring & brag was a very interesting meeting indeed!

RTHS meetings reflect diversity in their subject matter, but never more so than at the popular "Bring and Brag" sessions. This year, once again, members arrived with a wide array of treasure. With apologies if I missed you, or mischaracterized your presentation, here's a compressed summary.

Stu Rogers brought a trade ax from the time of Champlain. The handle had been replaced but the blade dated back to early years of European contact in Canada.

Susan McKellar described her collection of 200 family letters, dating back to 1832. She read from one sent to her great-great grandparents, describing a death that was followed by a swift home-based funeral, as would have been common at the time.

Melanie Hayes shared items left to her by the late Dora Stamp, including the 101 year-old wedding certificate of Stamp's parents and Dora's scrapbook of the centennial celebrations for Manotick in 1959.

Scott Cameron shared a beautiful 1915 portrait of his Great-Grandfather, Wilfred Carter, who served in WW I.

Jane Anderson brought in a large copy book in which her Great-Grandfather Robert Fulton practiced his (beautiful) penmanship. Fittingly, she read a poem he penned about being remembered by future readers after he was gone.

Katherine Killins brought bowls and photos that represented family, fun & good luck when hunting for treasures--wherever they are found.

Coral Lindsay brought an array of old dolls and other items illustrating the many uses of celluloid, a pre-curser to modern plastic. The dictionary explains celluloid is a "tough flammable thermoplastic composed essentially of cellulose nitrate and camphor". Wikipedia says its most common use today is in ping-pong balls and guitar picks.

Eric Field brought a portrait of Samuel Matthews, an adventurous sea captain from Maine who was a pensioner of the War of 1812 who died in 1884 at the age of 93.

Ellen Adamson began by explaining that before she was Coral Lindsay's neighbour for 30 years, she hailed from Alberta. She grew up on prairie farm land where Indians camped and vast herds of buffalo once roamed. Ellen had an array of artefacts, photos, books and even a published story recounting the profound connection people feel with their home territory.

Ellen Adamson

Yours truly (Lucy Martin) brought perfume bottles contained in carved tropical wood to suggest the flower or fragrance found within.