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Teaching them to Drive

Last week I attended the OKANAGAN READS presentation by folk singers Rika Ruebsaat and Jon Bartlett, of Princeton, and was charmed by Jon’s reading of a poem from the newspaper, the Princeton Star (23rd of June 1927). I include it here. TEACHING THEM TO DRIVE...

A Tragic Event

“We are sorry to record the death by accident of Mr. A. [Arthur] Chatterton, of Alvaston [Winfield]. The accident occurred about noon on the 2nd. Mr. Chatterton was alone in the old Pearcie shack, which property he had lately bought, and was thawing out powder and...

Christmas memories

It was our first Christmas away from family. Joan and I had moved from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, on the far north end of B.C.’s coast. We didn’t have many decorations — we had usually celebrated Christmas with my parents – so we had to improvise. The kids and...

Local musician honours the Fallen

The song A Helmet and a Cross bears very special meaning for all those who have experienced a loss of a loved one, particularly as a result of conflict. It also has very special meaning to many who have resided in the Lake Country area for many years as it was written...

The Baby: How to Care for it.

Dan Bruce, our Curator, bought this little booklet to complement our patent medicine collection.  It doesn’t have a publication date but there’s a rudimentary ‘Baby Book’ with a place for a picture and some birth statistics.  Written in pencil is the notation that Our...

Montserrat Arrowroot

I have always liked arrowroot biscuits but I didn’t realize the history behind them until I started researching the museum’s can of Montserrat’s Arrowroot.  Arrowroot has a long history of cultivation in the Caribbean as a food staple. Arrowroot thickens at a lower...

Leonard Ear Oil

Leonard Ear Oil is the first patent medicine in the collection that I found that was condemned as useless by a medical authority.  In 1925, DR. ARTHUR J.CRAMP (Director of the Bureau of Investigation, American Medical Association) condemned Leonard Ear Oil and eardrum...

Mrs. Winslow’s Syrup

This small bottle contains 1.5 fluid ounces of syrup that contains senna, sodium citrate, fennel, sodium bicarbonate, rhubarb, oil of anise, glycerin, and sugar. We’ve seen these ingredients in other medications for gastrointestinal disorders. This one says that it’s...

Local Champions

I just finished putting up a display in the lobby of the District of Lake Country offices. It was inspired by the Heritage Week theme for 2010. In 2010 Heritage Week is February 15-21, and this year it coincides with the Olympics, hence the theme of athletic endeavor,...

McPhee’s 33

Looking this medication up was yet another adventure.  “McPhee’s 33″ led me to Katharine McPhee’s wallpaper site where you can download 33 different poses of the singer/songwriter.  I also found Adam McPhee, an Australian footballer whose player number is 33.  I...

Frese’s Hamburg Tea

I don’t have an insertion for this because the box is still sealed and I was reluctant to open it. The product is supposed to be a ‘True Herbal Medicine’ for disorders of the Digestive System.  Regulates the bowels for constipation, headache,...

Catarrhozone

This patent medicine, Catarrhozone, is very different from the last one—Uricones.  That one had no insertion; this one has a 32-page booklet! I could find nothing on the company—the box lists Laurentian Agencies Reg’d, Montreal—nor anything about what is in this...

Uricones

Uricones is the latest medication that I have investigated. I was disappointed that there was no inclusion in the box but I did find an ad on line, dated about 1939 for this stuff: “RHEUMATIC ACHES have been curbed by URICONES.  Sufferers who have taken a few...