Old stuff, collector's items and laughter

The Cloyne & District Historical Society | May 10, 2017

The third Monday of April just happened to coincide with Easter Monday this spring. Not being certain of how many members or guests might attend our monthly meeting,  we planned a program of general interest. "Bring an Item and Tell a Tale" was a hit.  Some of the more interesting items included the following:

A tiny safety razor in its own leather case that would have been issued to military. It was made small to fit into a soldier's breast pocket.

A Victory Bell said to be made from the metal of a downed WWII German fighter plane and embossed with the faces of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.

A five year diary from the early 1940's with writing ever so small and written in real ink! Each page was full to the edges with births, deaths, events and activities.

A wooden coffee grinder that was once used exclusively as a pepper mill.

A radiator cap from an old Buick, complete with it's own built in thermometer, dating to a time before automobiles were built with a heat gauge.

An original copy of "Mary Melville, Psychic" , a story about her sister, written by Flora MacDonald with a notation, in Flora's own hand.

Pioneer hair curlers(strips of rags). Women once used these to create curls or ringlets in their hair for special occasions.

A collector's issue of "Susannah, A Little Girl with the Mounties", written by Muriel Denison. We have a full collection of the Susannah books in the Pioneer Museum.

Another interesting book about the road building in this area and the homesteading it created, called "Footpaths to Freeways."

A fascinating pair of handmade snowshoe miniatures made exactly to scale from thread and preserved with layers of varnish, the only pair in existence.

A geologist's rock hammer, used locally in early mining sites to chip out rock samples. In today's terms, its weight and pointed end make it quite the weapon!

The most giggles of the presentations were generated by a complex unit of electrodes, from 1925, complete with instruction manual and professing to cure headaches, toothaches, intestinal issues, sore feet and every ailment you might imagine. Just change the attachment, plug it in and apply to affected area, with supposedly guaranteed results!

Our next meeting will be on Monday May 15 at 1:00p.m. at the Cloyne Hall. More information on our website www.cloynepioneermuseum.ca. Be sure to come and learn details of our annual gigantic yard sale. The Museum and Archives will be open for business for another season on June 24. That's also the date for a Sesquicentennial celebration at the park in Cloyne, right beside the museum. This is a special day, designed to celebrate Canada's birthday but also the revitalization of the park, complete with entertainment and food! There will be more information on posters and ads coming to you very soon!