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Thursday 17 March 2016

More Boulton Dishes

I love the many things we have found in the Boulton house but also love researching the history of them from my living room using Google!  I am especially grateful for the notes that were written and saved with some which help to take the guesswork out of the owner.   Carole recently shared the stunning pickle dish below along with the note that has stayed with it.

 Note above says:


Pickle Dish at least 60 years old 
brought from Ontario 
by Mrs. Ann Boulton 
owner Mrs. T. Boulton

This note is written in the same style as some from this previous blog post and we think were displayed in Reston at a Museum Day to honour the community's 75th Birthday in 1958.

Online research seems to call this a Victorian Cranberry Glass Castor for Pickles or Olives.  When I wrote this blog, Ebay had a similar one here  and it is also similar in that there are two hooks for tongs but only one pair is with it.  In searching many Google images, I never did see two tongs hanging on one!  Etsy also had one listed that identified it as being from the 1800's and the glass was known as thumbprint glass.  Pinterest shows many examples but none exactly the same, making me realize how many varieties of glassware were made in the early days. I can not imagine bringing this precious and fragile jar all the way from New Dublin near Brockville and wonder if it was given by family or friends who knew they would never likely see Ann again.  
These salt and pepper shakers are known as a milk glass design.The holes on the one on the left are larger than the other which makes it the salt but this blogger  seems to suggest it doesn't matter.  There is an comprehensive website here about the topic but I couldn't find any salt and peppers on it or identify the pattern that these have.  

This cute square shaped teapot featuring a clipper ship looks like it was used by the gold colour worn off the handle.  Sudlow's was a pottery factory in Burslem, England and was famous for its teapots.  There were many beautiful teapots found in a Google search and one almost the same is currently offered for sale on Etsy from Singapore for $198.00 with this clipper ship design. It has a bird design on the back side though where this one has the same image on both sides. Would the number "01433" on the bottom indicate there were 1432 made before this one, I wonder? 

Finally, another teapot but the electric heater inside makes it unique.  Online research finds that it is a Royal Canadian Art Pottery product made in Hamilton, Ontario.  It is known as a Brown Betty and the company made teapots from 1946 to 1960 according to this website.  It doesn't look like it was ever used and is in perfect shape.
I'd be glad to hear from anyone with more information or memories of these items.  Their history belongs to all of us!

The Story Behind a Forester's Ribbon

I believe that the things left behind help us fill in and remember the life stories of those who have gone before.  This Canadian Order of Foresters ribbon badge and pin belonged to Russell Gerald Cassell, Randy's maternal grandfather.   That's him pictured in front of a healthy sunflower row with his wife Agnes.


This link shows the many charitable connections made by Foresters lodges in Canada and the US from 1870's to the present day.  A sense of community and belonging were encouraged by the group. The black reverse side of the ribbon was worn facing out at the funeral service of a member to show respect and solidarity.  

 



                             

Using the online history source, Manitobia, I found the picture above of a Foresters group in the book Elkhorn 1882-1967 by Marion Sipley.  About the lodge, she says it was organized on November 25,1879 and their charter was received June 10, 1889.  It is amazing to me that men who were busy carving out homesteads, building homes and adapting to life on the prairies had time for a fraternal social organization. I have also read these groups were vital to having some insurance for families whose breadwinners were seriously injured or killed in the times before Life Insurance was affordable for the average man.   The same book says the lodge was terminated in 1966.

As an aside, this same book filled me in on something I've often wondered about Elkhorn.  It says the village was named when a C.P.R. Crew man found a 3 foot long elk horn while working in the area and the name stuck.  That makes sense!

                                       

In between the two ribbons is sewed a tag that bears the name of the manufacturer, Dominion Regalia Co Ltd at 2 Elm Street (at Yonge) in Toronto.  What a surprise to discover that the company still exists and makes ribbons and more as it has been for over a century!  Dominion Regalia has been making the poppies for all of Canada since 1996 when they were awarded the contract after many years of having the work done by disabled veterans in workshops across the country.  


The picture below from a reunion in Elkhorn in 1990 is of Grandpa Cassell in the middle in a dark suit surrounded by his dozens of descendants and their spouses.  His life has made the world a better place and what a legacy he and Agnes have left behind!