Best Wishes for 1909

Saskatchewan Archives S-B4148

This holiday greeting card from 1909 features a number of female students from Yorkton Collegiate.  The young women shown in this image are identified as:

1. Jessie Cowan, 2. Jessie McPhee, 3. Josey Speers, 4. Mary Livingstone, 5. Effie Livingstone, 6. Elva Switzer, 7. Clara Ferguson, 8. Lucy Speers, 9. Helen Foster, 10. Hilda Richard, 11. Edith Patrick, 12. Jenny Young, 13. Margaret Livingstone, 14. Margaret Foster, 15. Hope Gowland, 16. Lily Kilborn, 17. Mary Fraser, 18. Ruby Gowland, 19. Norma Chrysler, and 20. Mary Thompson.

Christmas in Muenster

Saskatchewan Archives Board S-B4676

This photograph of an unidentified little girl was taken in the Muenster area in 1911.  Unlike the previous entry in this blog, a photograph of Nick Lazarowich of Hague, this little girl is dwarfed by the size of the massive Christmas tree in this image.  The girl is posed holding her doll and sitting on a small rocking chair, with some other toys shown under the tree.  Although the girl’s expression appears to be quite grim, considering the festive setting, this was typical of portraits taken at this time.

Christmas in Hague

Saskatchewan Archives Board S-B7285

This photograph of Nick Lazarowich of Hague ca. 1904 or 1905 was obviously taken during the holiday season.  Mr. Lazarowich is dressed quite nicely for the portrait and is posing next to an interesting little Christmas tree, set on a table in what appears to be a sitting room.  The small tree has been decorated, and has a toy lion and a tiger sitting at its base.  The setting is simple, yet festive – a reminder of the simplicity of Christmas celebrations in this era.

Dog Team From the North

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B11843)

This photograph of a dog team was taken by photographer T.H.J. Charmbury in the Prince Albert area, between 1900 and 1918.  Dog teams were an important method of transportation during the winter, and these dogs would have been treated as working animals.  In this image you can clearly see the decorative “standing irons” attached to  each of the dogs’ collars.  Standing irons were purely decorative pieces,  which were typically made of ribbons, pompoms and feathers.

Saskatchewan Archives in the Murray Building for 55 Years!

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B6511)

Fifty-five years ago, on August 27th, 1956, the Saskatoon office of the Saskatchewan Archives Board moved into its new quarters in the newly constructed Murray Memorial Library building on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

This photograph of Douglas H. Bocking and Evelyn Eager was taken in the reading room of the Saskatoon office in 1960, a few years after the move to the new building.  Evelyn Eager was the Assistant Provincial Archivist, and Douglas Bocking was an Archival Assistant.   They are looking at some of the pre-1930 homestead records that document the settlement of Saskatchewan under the Dominion Lands Act.

Louise Wilson Robson

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B722)

The above photograph of Louise Wilson Robson was taken at her parents farm near Tuberose in 1922, when she was three years old.  This image is typical of many prairie photographs where the kitchen chairs were brought outside to take advantage of the natural light, and the prairie landscape became the backdrop.   Although Louise shares her chair with her doll, the family dog has its own chair alongside the young girl.

Jack Hale and his Dog

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B4119)

This photograph of Jack Hale and his English Setter hunting dog was taken in the Yorkton area in 1910.  Much like the previous image of Dr. Scott, the relationship between the dog and his owner is clearly conveyed through their body language in this informal portrait.  It seems that this close relationship would have served Jack and his dog well in the hunt.

Dr. R.G. Scott and Friend

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B1190)

This undated portrait of Dr. Robert G. Scott is clearly all about his canine companion, who is not identified but obviously had a close relationship with Dr. Scott.  This photograph might have been taken in the Wakaw area, where Dr. Scott was a missionary doctor at the Geneva Mission from 1908 until 1945.

Dr. Scott had an excellent reputation in the region as a skilled doctor, and was often described as having an “imposing physique” because he was nearly six feet tall.  This portrait of the doctor and his dog appears to have been taken later in Dr. Scott’s life, and here it seems that the small dog has stolen the spotlight from the “imposing” Dr. Scott.

Lieutenant Governor Forget and Jocko

Saskatchewan Archives (R-A75931)

One of the most famous pets in Saskatchewan’s history has to be Jocko the monkey, who lived at Government House with Lieutenant Governor Amédée Forget and his wife Henriette.  Forget and his wife had no children, but they were both animal lovers, and in addition to Jocko they also had a pet parrot named Coquette.

Forget served as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories from 1898 to 1905, and as Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan from 1905 to 1910.  During this time Jocko had free reign of the Lieutenant Governor’s residence where he had his own rocking horse, and was known to be a bit of a troublemaker who loved to swing from the chandeliers.

R.N.W.M.P. Officers

Saskatchewan Archives (S-B11202)

In the next few months we are going to be highlighting some of the many photographs of people and animals in the Saskatchewan Archives Board photograph collections.

This photograph of a group of officers shows some of the members of the R.N.W.M.P. who formed part of the Canadian contingent at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910.  The officers identified in this photograph are:

Front row, left to right:  1) Unknown;  2) Whitchire;  3) Don Sullivan;  4) Cpl. Bavin;  5) Drysdale

Back row, left to right:  1) Darwin;  2) Marshall;  3) Unknown;  4) Phipps

Unfortunately the two dogs at the officer’s feet are not identified, but they certainly make this a memorable picture.