Posts Tagged museums

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

So is the buzz of last weekend’s Royal wedding still with you? Are you still in awe over the dresses worn by Kate or her show-stopping sister, Pippa? Well let me tell you about a new exhibit and upcoming fashion show happening at Baden, Ontario’s Castle Kilbride which will make the Royal wedding fashions an awful lot less spectacular! (more…)

So what are you doing May 8th? Do you live in Alberta and are looking to experience a fun day out? May I suggest heading down to one of my favourite museums, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta. Nanton is a beautiful town south of Calgary and just west of Vulcan. For many years, this town has been the site of a world class museum dedicated to Canada’s participation in Bomber Command from 1939 to 1945. There are many planes on display including the iconic Avro Lancaster, which was built here in Canada. The Bomber Command Museum of Canada is one of this country’s true gems in honouring the strong Air Force tradition that Canada has developed.

I was happy to have received the following press release from the folks at the Museum to let my Alberta readers know about this upcoming event. If you are available on May 8th, this Museum is putting on a special VE Day celebration and it will definitely be worth a visit. Once you have been, you’ll want to keep coming back again and again for their various events throughout the year. Below is the press release with more information including contacts. My thanks to Dayna at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. (more…)

I know many of you have sent comments and emails about the Historic Family Recipes series I started and how you have liked the recipes that have been posted so far. Don’t worry, I do plan to bring the series back and start posting some more recipes for your shortly. In the meantime, to get your fix of recipes and the history of food in Canada, please check out this lovely little site: The Culinary Historians of Canada.

 This group of Historians is based in Toronto and though the focus is mainly Ontario, they give a lot of great information about historic kitchens in Canadian museums, recipes, festivals and some resources for you to check out. If you have any links to culinary historians or groups in your province, do drop the CHC a line and I’m sure they will be happy post it on their website.

Anybody who points me in the direction of food gets a huge gold star beside their name in my book! So a special thanks to Deborah for sending me the information so I could pass it along to all of you.

Happy cooking!

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie, 2010

It’s been a busy month here at “History to the People” and I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about some seminars and workshops I have taken part in recently that have been both helpful and have given me further knowledge in this wonderful world of built heritage and cultural landscapes.

The first event was a four day workshop hosted by the University of Waterloo’s Heritage Resources Centre which took place at the beautiful Museum of Steam and Technology in Hamilton, Ontario from October 23-24 and November 6-7, 2010. Here, Professor Robert Shipley and his staff led a series of lectures, group discussions, and team exercises on the world of heritage planning. As someone who eventually wants to become a heritage planner, I had literally been waiting all year for this workshop to take place, and it was worth the wait!  (more…)

Photo Credit: Urban Toronto

We have come to the final chapter of our series on Canadian Castles and we end with the youngest of them all, Toronto’s Casa Loma. Since its construction, Casa Loma has been a tourist attraction and prominent landmark in the city of Toronto. It was built as a dream castle for wealthy financier and military man Sir Henry Pellatt and his wife, Lady Mary Pellatt. When construction began on the castle in 1911, Pellatt had amassed a vast fortune by investing in a number of Canadian businesses which included the Toronto Electric Light Company, the Home Bank of Canada and Cobalt Lake Mining. At the height of his financial success, Pellatt was the Chairman of 21 companies and through his own personal investments, he was in control of 25% of the Canadian economy. But before he even moved into his “dream home on the hill”, the seeds for his downfall were being sewn. Unlike his fellow Canadian Castle owners, Pellatt was forced to vacate his property less than a decade after he moved in.  (more…)

Photo Credit: Guelph Museums M968.346.1x

So, you know that Lt. Col John McCrae was a surgeon with the Canadian Army during the First World War who just happened to write the most famous war poem of all time which would create a global symbol of war remembrance still in use almost a century after his death. Yet, you may be asking yourself who was John McCrae the man? There are a lot of interesting little stories about the non-military side of John McCrae that a lot of people don’t know. For example, what was the one thing he did to ease the pain of a dying child, what special thing  did he do for his nieces and nephews back home in Guelph, and who was the young woman who captured his heart? Read on and I’ll fill you in on some stories not so well known outside of Guelph and I’ll show you some rarely seen pictures, courtesy of Guelph Museums, of John McCrae.  (more…)

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

Do you recognise this place? Well, if you are a World War One buff, or a regular reader to this site, then you know this is the Colonel John McCrae Birthplace and Memorial Gardens in Guelph, Ontario. Remembrance Day is probably the most perfect day to visit McCrae House as you will witness an array of festvities. And what better place to spend it than at the home of the man who wrote a poem that launched a global outpouring of remembrance for all those who have served their countries in war?

Photo Credit: Guelph Museums via McCord Museum M968.358.1x

The ceremonies kick off at 9am with the Flag Service at McCrae House, followed by the official Remembrance Day Service at 10:30am. Come on out and see the house, talk to the war veterans who will be there, and take part in the activities of the day.

Stay tuned to this site, and I will provide updates on how the day unfolded. It is sure to be a very moving day. These Remembrance Day services are brought to you by the Guelph Museums McCrae House, the City of Guelph, and the Royal Canadian Legion. We look forward to seeing you there!

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

A recent sojourn down Riverside Drive in Ottawa got me thinking about the pioneer families that contributed to the development of the National Capital Region. Long before Lieutenant-Colonel John By and his Rideau Canal and long before Canada was a united province let alone a confederated nation, there were some hearty families that settled the region, built homes, developed industries, and contributed to what would later become Ottawa. One such family were the Billings of Gloucester. Here, they built a magnificent home where the family would live for five generations. It is Ottawa’s oldest surviving framed home and has been a museum since 1975 celebrating their contributions to the development of Ottawa.  (more…)