In the News!

William Walker, President of the Canadian Costume Society

A story about the Museum's 40th anniversary is featured on the Burnaby Newsleader website at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/news/123565004.html


My monthly column has also been published on the Burnaby Newsleader website, and will appear in the print edition of the newspaper on Friday, June 17. The story features the Canadiana Costume Society display at Elworth. You can see the online version at:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/entertainment/123575784.html

Ask Mabel!

Blank postcards are now available in the General Store, where visitors can write a note to "Mabel", our imaginery 1920s gal about town. Two young visitors recently wrote to Mabel, and received replies. One was curious about the history of Old Curly, and the other wanted to know more about life for women in the 1920s. Copies of the postcards, and replies from Mabel, are posted in the staff lounge behind the Royal Bank.

Lantern Slide article in Burnaby Newsleader

An article about the Museum's Stride Studio exhibit was published in the Burnaby Newsleader this past Wednesday. You can see it at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/entertainment/122747074.html

1971 video captures the beginning of Burnaby's Heritage Village

Burnaby Village Museum began its life as "Heritage Village," a project initiated by Burnaby's Centennial Committee, who were looking for ways to commerate the 100th anniversary of British Columbia joining Confederation.

The official sod-turning for the village project took place on Easter Sunday, 1971. The event was broadcast on CBC Television. The original footage has been digitized and posted on Youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWm8CYrIjpo&feature=channel_video_title

Welcome Leanne!

Please welcome our newest Exhibit Preparator, Leanne, to the staff team. She is a professional photographer, and will be helping us to document exhibits and events, and take photographs for marketing and publicity. You can see examples of Leanne's work at http://www.lsphotography.ca/.  Everyone will get a chance to meet her at the all staff training on May 6th - she will be in attendance, and will be taking our group photo.

Curator's column in Burnaby Newsleader

Lisa Codd is now writing a monthly column in the Burnaby Newsleader about the Burnaby Village Museum and heritage-related events in Burnaby. You can check out her first column at the link below.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/community/116847113.html

Canadiana Costume Society website

The Canadiana Costume Society has launched a new website. They have done a great job of creating a very attractive and professional site. Check it out at http://www.canadianacostumesociety.ca/

McGeachie donation

We were honoured to receive a cash donation from the estate of Pixie McGeachie, which Tom passed on to me when I returned to work after my maternity leave. She was such a generous woman -- we will be spending some time thinking of a suitable project to honour her legacy.

Public Scale Gone

The Public Scale is down and ready for removal. The pit left by the scale platform will be filled with gravel and the hole in the lawn will be filled with soil. The pit will be resurfaced with blacktop later this year when the drainage work around stride studio in done.

We're almost outta there!

Tom and Alison have been working all this week in the upstairs rooms of the Mathers House (near Shadbolt Art Centre).  For years we have had an assortment of objects, artifacts and display items in that space.  So it is a relief to be finally going through it all! 

With lab coats, gloves and masks Tom and Alison have found everything from four poster beds to bags of miscellaneous items that have been plundered by rats for bedding to a beautifully made Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire medal complete with the date 1914 depicted.  The inventory is now complete,  and Alison is now going through the accession register to cross reference the numbered items.  Some objects will be moved to the warehouse while others will be deaccessioned for auction or movement to other heritage institutions.

OOPS I forgot the paste

No, not really. Liz is dry fitting the wall paper strip that will cover the inside of the archway in Elworth foyer. Liz, Alison and Penny have just about finished stripping and hanging fresh wallpaper in Elworth front hallway. No pre-pasted wallpaper here. liz made the paste for the wallpaper from scratch. The wallpaper is then coated with the paste, left to rest for five minutes then hung. Alison's accurate measurements and Penny's careful trimming have paid off.

Resource Manual Updates

Additions have been made to the new resource binders in the Tram Barn, Seaforth School, General Store, and Love farmhouse. In the 1920s section of all four binders, there are now materials about women's history (with a focus on Burnaby in the 1920s) and a list of important events that happened in Vancouver in 1925. At the tram barn, a print-out of the latest "Buzzer Blog" article has been added. The article is about the Central Park interurban line.

The Buzzer

Another story about Burnaby's interurbans has been published in the Buzzer Blog. This time, it's a story about the Central Park Line. Check out the story at:

http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php/2009/07/the-central-park-line-the-very-first-interurban-in-greater-vancouver/

Burnaby History Resource Manual

The staff in Curatorial have put together four binders of resource material for the MI's. There is one for the tram barn, one for the General Store, one for Love farmhouse, and one for Seaforth.

The binders feature copies of articles that have been published since the original resource binders were put together in the early 1990s, including material from Burnaby's more recent past. The tram barn binder includes a copy of the Tram Memories book, and postings from the Buzzer Blog about transportation history in the region, with information provided by the BVM. Suggestions of additional articles are appreciated - please let Lisa Codd know if there is something you would like to see added.

Canada Day planning in progress

Planning for this year's Canada Day celebrations is underway. New this year: event lists, maps, text for photo stops, and some signage is being translated and will be available in nine languages, including: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Filipino, French, Korean, Persian, Punjabi and Spanish. The "Milestones" exhibit that was developed for BC Day last year is also being re-developed and translated. This year, it will feature milestones from Burnaby's past.

Photograph: BC Milestones display on Broofield Lane, 2008

Glory Days - at Stride Studios

The local sports community made this exhibit possible, with loans from Burnaby Metro Club, Cliff Avenue Soccer, Burnaby Minor Hockey, Burnaby Winterclub, Kaija Kalevala, Debbie Brill, Digney Speedway to mention just a few.

Electric Car Buffs Examine Tram

The Burnaby NewsLeader visited the museum to record a meeting between museum staff, restoration volunteers, and the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association to learn more about how the tram's electric system worked, and how they compare to the systems used on today's electric vehicles. Use this link to view the video.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/community/39817198.html

The Buzzer Blog

Curatorial provided historical information about the opening of the Pattullo bridge in 1937 for "The Buzzer Blog" -- the on-line version of Translink's newsletter -- just in time for the re-opening of the bridge on January 27. Check out the story:

http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php/2009/01/from-the-opening-of-the-pattullo-bridge-1937/#more-2066

Reference Library: New Additions

Several historical and design books have been purchased for the Museum's reference library, including:

History:
Derek Hayes, Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Fraser Valley
Derek Hayes, Historical Atlas of Canada
Derek Hayes, Canada: An Illustrated History
Eve Drobot, Money, Money, Money: Wheret it Comes From
Donald Luxton (Ed), Building the West, The Early Architects of British Columbia
Donald Luxton and Lilia D'Acres, Lions Gate
Patricia Roy, The Triumph of Citizenship
Patricia Roy, The Oriental Question
Patricia Roy and John Herd Thompson, British Columbia: Land of Promises
Heather Conn and Henry Ewert, Vancouver's Glory Years
Sue Bennett, Women & Gardens
Jim Wolf and Patricia Owen, Yi Fao: Speaking Through Memory
John Atkin, SkyTrain Explorer
Jean Barman, The West Beyond the West
Jean Barman, British Columbia: Spirit of the People
Jean Barman et al, Children, Teachers & Schools in the History of British Columbia
Warren Sommer, The Ambitious City: A History of the City of North Vancouver
Eric Jamieson, Tragedy at Second Narrows: The Story of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge


The DVD "City Reflections" with 1907 footage taken from a BCER streetcar in Vancouver shot by filmmaker William Harbeck


Design:
Scene Design and Stage Lighting
Decorative Art 1950s (Taschen)
1000 Lights Volume II (Taschen)
Fabrics for Historic Buildings
Twentieth-Century Pattern Design
Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey
Drawing and Rendering for Theatre

A VP Within our Midst

Lisa Codd, our curator, was elected Vice President of the BC Museums Association at their annual conference this November. The BC Museums Association provides a unified voice for the institutions, trustees, staff and volunteers of the BC museum and gallery community, and delivers a number of programs to the benefit of its members and the cultural community.