My Town Monday - Going in Style - Part 3

Browns’ Limited Catalogue of 1906 covered all the usual items any settler or towns person wished to purchase:ladies’ and mens’ clothing, furniture, wall paper, floor oilcloth and linoleum, carpets and various sundry goods.



I particularly liked the different styles of rugs which are quite similar to those today. There were different types: runners of 27” and 36” wide included Axminister, Wilton and velvet, Brussels and English Tapestry, Wool and Union, Japanese Straw Matting, Cocoa Matting; parlor rugs with or without fringes, lining, reversible wool Smyrna rugs (with attestation of the wearing quality of two rungs, never curl an dlie perfectly flat on the floor), hearth rugs.











Other floor coverings popular at the time were oilcloth and linoleum used in kitchens.













Wallpaper all had upper borders illustrating a different design or pastoral scene. One particular listing states: “High class, gold tinted wall paper, the colorings are not loud but have a character that cannot but be appreciated,” and “Baronial wall paper is a high grade paper in a rich ground color of red, cannot fail to embellish libraries, dining rooms and halls.”

Window shades came in coloured cloth often with lace trim or fringe.






















Many accoutrements necessary for running the household included: piano drapes, pillow cords, cushion girdles, linen collars, foundation collars, dress shields, black valenciennes and net lace, torchon laces and insertions, elastic, hari brushes, dressing combs, hose supporters, notions, shirt waist sets, ruchings and frillings, various styles of gloves, steels, spools and feather bone,corset clasps, table oilcloths and American leathers, flannelettes.

These particular furnishings and those in the earlier sections were the main stay of households throughout Canada.

Other participants to My Town Monday can be found here.

Click to enlarge any of the photos.

My Town Monday - Going In Style - Part 2

Last week Part 1 focused on ladies clothing in 1906, available through Browns' Limited catalogue in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Today’s post covers sturdy oak furniture in styles that might suit some tastes to differ from modern contemporary styles .The furniture was touted as being stylish, best quality, well made while some pieces were massive others sported a more dainty appearance as not to appear cumbersome. Most were solid pieces of furniture. My grandfather had purchased six dining room chairs, a round oak table that had two leaves to extend it and a buffet cabinet from a similar company which he used as “settler’s effects”. These items he took by rail from Toronto to central Alberta in 1904.




1906 Hall Furniture






















This furniture was more suited for a house in town or a larger municipality, or a large prosperous land holder. Most farmers or settlers in western parts of Canada had more modest living arrangements, often a two room house which additions were added later.




Parlor Furniture with Morris Chairs






















The Parlor furniture consisted of a settee or loveseat with four variables in armchairs and chairs, some with rockers and couches. The Morris Chairs were obviously meant for the “man of the household”—nothing dainty about those massive chairs.


I have always liked the “couches” of this era: quaint pieces of furniture with embroidered velvet coverings on neat little legs with roller feet.


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Parlor Cabinets






















Intriguing pieces of furniture to display one’s collectibles with “British plate mirror”.


Book Cases and Musi Cabinets






















Most of the music cabinets were made from mahogany.






Parlor and Dining Room Chairs




















The better chairs were sturdy made from oak while kitchen chairs tended to be from another hardwood or pine.






Parlor Tables




















Those necessities in every home for plants or tea services.

I really liked some of the designs of the cabinets and hall furniture while wondering if there were manufacturers today who were able to make replicas or fashion their stock after these.

Next week is Part 3.

For other participants of My Town Monday go here.

My Town Monday - Going In Style

Raincoat for Ladies. This coat is made of rubberized Covert Cloth;…double stiched seams velvet collar, half belt; colors, grey and fawn. Sizes 32 to 42 5.00

As most of my past posts for My Town Monday have been in various historical periods of Canada, today I am covering the fashions and furniture of 1906 from the Browns’ Limited Spring Catalogue, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Unfortunately I do not have the men’s portion of the catalogue, however, I’m certain the ladies section will suffice. This portion of catalogue is from my Grandmother Edith who immigrated to Canada in 1906, picking this up in Winnpeg en route to Alberta. I scanned what pages remain in the hopes of salvaging the contents before it disintegrates. Thus, here are some excepts accompanied by illustrations.



Ladies – “How to Dress Well

“This is a matter of considerable importance to women. If you want to be well dressed you must select those garments which combine all that is new and up-to-date in Style, Fit and Workmanship; you want all this in a moderate cost. In this catalogue you will find a number of Northway Garments that are designed to meet this demand.

“They are always in the forefront with the new styles for each season. They are honestly made, shape-keeping garments. The fit is everthing that can be desired. The value you can judge from the garment here displayed. The materials are always the best quality possible, consistent with the price of each garment…”




















Ladies and Misses’ Jackets and Cravenette Coats

An example of a listing: “618. LADIES’ CRAVENTTE RAINCOAT. 45 inches long, fly front, two clusters of pleats on each side, tacked down in centre, surmounted by strappings of self, collarless style, pleated back, pleats surmounted by self-strappings. Made in Fawns and Greys, and also similar styles in Fawn Covert Cloths. 15.00, 17.50 and 20.00”


Ladies’ Wrappers, made of strong print, 8-in flounce on skirt, tight-fitting back, with fullness from waist line; frill around yoke; large sleeves made to button at cuff; colors, navy and white, black and white, red and white. Sizes 32 to 44 1.50















Child’s Dress






















Ladies' High Grade Style Skirts






















These wool skirts come with pleats, some trimmed with tabs and buttons; in various colours of black, fawn, tweeds. Prices: 5.50, 7.75, 8.50


And those fashionable undergarments ladies wore: the underskirts made in black staeen with various rows of gathered flounce trimmed in ruffles.






















Luckily togay women don't have to wear those form fitting, cinched up corsets made with whale bone staves.

Part Two next week. Click to enlarge any of the photos.


For other participants in My Town Monday please go here.

Solemn Vows by Don Gutteridge (Book Review)

From the back page:

“It’s a steamy June in Toronto, 1836, Lieutenant Marc Edwards has again found himself sitting atop a lit powder keg in more ways than one. A prominent politician has been assassinated, and in their haste to catch the killer, Marc, and his troops are responsible for the death of an innocent local man. Making matters even worse, Marc may have accidentally gotten himself engaged to the wrong woman, while the right woman still won’t answer his letters.

“In order to track down the real assassin, Edwards joins forces with Constable Cobb of the newly created Toronto police force. Cobb’s methods are somewhat different from Marc’s; and investigations always end up in the local tavern, where it seems everyone knows far too much about Marc’s romantic entanglements.

“Between keeping track of Cobb, solving the murder, and extricating himself from his accidental engagement, Marc Edwards will be pushed to his limit once more.”


Solemn Vows is the second novel in the Marc Edwards Mystery series set in a historical era that I’ve posted about. Despite not having read the first book, Turncoat, the story had enough detail from the previous one to carry forward. The background of the plot covers the conflicts between the British government and the population, namely farmers and merchants, seeking to resolve grievances over taxes, roads and schools.

Sir Francis Bond Head, the new Lieutenant-Governor, takes some underhanded methods to keep the British government as the ruling force by disbanding the Assembly prior to calling elections. Marc Edwards as his camp-de-aide has concerns over his ethics while trying to be honest. Edwards is assigned to find the murderer of the politician as well as the writer behind anti-government sentiments in the local paper run by William Lyon Mackenzie.

As the story unfolded I began to like this character, Marc Edwards, despite being upstaged by the Toronto cop “Horatio Cobb”. Through Cobb’s investigative talents via frequenting the local taverns for gossip, it is determined that the assassin of the politician was hired.

Edwards feeling spurned by Beth Smallman’s failure to respond to his letters, he accepts the affections of Eliza Dwight-Smythe, niece to a prosperous wine entrepreneur. Despite the new feelings towards Eliza, Edwards discovers the old ones for Beth haven’t quite disappeared.

There were a few areas of concern when Edwards didn’t take back up when he responded to urgent messages, but that allowed the author to set him up. However, despite this there were many comedic romantic and social events to lighten the story and made for excellent reading. The ending came action packed with a satisfying conclusion and a good chuckle.

I hope Don Gutteridge continues to write more about Horatio Cobb in future books in the series, and I look forward to reading the next novel Vital Secrets.

Don Gutteridge taught English at the Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, before starting the Marc Edwards mystery series.

Review copy provided by Anneliese Grosfeld.

Book format: Trade paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
Available: January 2011
Also available in eBook

Chapters.Indigo.ca

Amazon.ca

Heartsone by C J Sansom (Book Review)

From inside cover flap:

“Summer, 1545.

“England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis.

“Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr, which will lead him into the corrupt labyrinth of the King’s Court of Wards. Asked to investigate claims of ‘monstrous wrongs’ committed against his young ward Hugh Curteys by Sir Nicholas Hobbey, a Hampshire landowner, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant, Barak, journey to Portsmouth. Shardlake has taken the case, despite the imminent threat of invasion, as it also gives him the opportunity to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam whom he has befriended and whose family once lived nearby.

“Arrived in Portsmouth, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing to become a battle zone. The mysteries surrounding the seemingly normal Hobbey family nineteen years before, involved Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Events will converge on board one of the king’s great warships, gathered in Portsmouth harbour, waiting to sail out and confront the approaching French fleet…”


This is C.J. Sansom’s fifth novel in the Shardlake series, two of which I have already read: Dissolution and Dark Fire I have the fourth: Revelation, waiting in the bookcase. What is nice about each of the books in this series is they are completely stand alone stories with little portions carried over from the previous ones. True to nature, Shardlake continues to have sympathy towards orphans and widows in poor circumstances. A stalwart defender of defenseless women: young or old; and the poor.

There is detailed historical fact woven to provide a rich tapestry behind the major plot and several subplots. The author goes into splendid descriptions of the countryside enroute to Portsmouth, the conditions of the soldiers preparing for battle with the French, the warships Great Harry and Mary Rose engaged in battle, the relationship Shardlake has with Queen Catherine Parr, including the politics of 1545.

There are secondary characters carried over from the previous novels: Jack Barak, Shardlake’s clerk, who helps with investigations of the legal cases taken on. To add domesticity, Barak’s wife, Tasamin, is expecting; and Guy, a foreign physician. New secondary characters, William Coldiron, Shardlake’s steward, with an interesting past; his daughter, Josephine; provide a look into the difficulties of having servants.

Bits of short recollections from previous books to keep the storyline cohesive are provided, such as a mention of Shardlake visiting “…Hampton Court, to see Archbishop Cranmer after having been falsely imprisoned in the Tower.” Each of these provides a link within to other characters who tend to have nefarious motives. Such as Sir Richard Rich, and defense lawyer, Vincent Dyrick.

While at Hoyland Priory investigating the allegations about Nicholas Hobbey’s ward, Hugh Curteys, Shardlake and Barak participate in a staged hunt in a deer park. An exciting thread with a stand off by a ten-point stag (though I wished the stag had done a bit more damage to the hunters before his demise).

Apart from the deer hunt, bodies start turning up resulting in new questions to be answered. With new investigating to be done, Shardlake lands in inevitable trouble, of one sort or another. He follows the twists and turns, coming up with a few red herrings, but all the questions are resolved with a satisfactory conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this superb book though it took some time to get through the 600 plus pages as I tend to read slowly while savouring the moods the wording presents. I look forward to another in this splendid series.

C. J. SANSOM was educated at Birmingham University, where he took a BA and then a Ph.D. in history. After working in a variety of jobs, he retrained as a solicitor and practised in Sussex, until becoming a full-time writer. C. J. Sansom also wrote the bestselling novel Winter in Madrid. He lives in Sussex.

The review copy was provided by Cassandra Sadek.

Genre: Mystery and Detective, Historical
Book format: hardcover, 640 pages
Publisher: Random House Canada

Available: Sep 28 2010

Chapters.Indigo.ca

Amazon.com

This is a view of the Rockies in southern Alberta from highway 22.

I've had difficulty with my internet provider resulting in getting a new connection. And it seemed today that it took far longer than necessary to even get on, but here I am.

Currently I'm in the last quarter of reading "Heartsone" by C. J. Sansom with the review following in the next couple of days.

I've been working on changes to one of my manuscripts in hopes of getting it out there to be looked at.


Photo Credit: Gord McKenna CC=nc-nd-flickr.

Sounds of the Universe

This amazing photo is of the Milky Way Galaxy, taken by NASA which I obtained through the Wikimedia Commons. Seeing these clusters of stars set in their spiral shapes gives one pause to ponder: what if....


I came upon the following video and while listening to it my lovebirds perked up, responding to the sounds. Admittedly I do not possess the technical knowledge of astronomers, there is much to be learned from those sounds. I do not believe that our planet with all its life forms is the only one in the unnumbered vast galaxies out there. It is inevitable that those intergalactic travelers are out there, and in time will make their way here. Or will they come from another reality or dimension? Thus comes the theories and ideas of various creators: scientists, writers: those who write fiction and those who write screenplays for movies.