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DRESS

https://collections.galtmuseum.com/link/artifact10031
Material Type
Artifact
Other Name
CHILD'S KNIT DRESS
Date Range From
1935
Date Range To
1942
Materials
WOOL, COTTON
Catalogue Number
P19970041756
More detail
Material Type
Artifact
Other Name
CHILD'S KNIT DRESS
Date Range From
1935
Date Range To
1942
Materials
WOOL, COTTON
No. Pieces
1
Height
2.5
Length
49.5
Width
62
Description
BLUE WOOL KNIT DRESS WITH LONG SLEEVES, BELL SHAPED SKIRT AND WHITE WOOL STITCHED FLOWERS ON SKIRT. BUTTON TABS AT BACK OF SHOULDERS ARE MISSING. DRESS HAS TIGHT KNIT WAIST AND CUFFS. ALSO HAS SMALL PATCH KNIT POCKET AT FRONT RIGHT SIDE. NUMEROUS HOLES IN FRONT OF DRESS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED WITH DIFFERENT SHADE OF BLUE THREAD.
Subjects
CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR
Historical Association
PERSONAL CARE
History
DRESS BELONGED TO DONOR AS A CHILD. DONOR RELATES THAT THIS WAS ONE OF HER FAVORITE DRESSES A SMALL GIRL. DRESS IS MENTIONED IN DONOR'S NOVEL "OBASAN". THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER BUT MOVED TO COALDALE FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THEY WERE INTERNED AT SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. THE DONOR'S FATHER, REV. CANON G.G. NAKAYAMA, WAS AN ANGLICAN MINISTER IN VANCOUVER, AND THEN ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION IN COALDALE IN 1945 WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL 1970. ON MAY 03, 2007 JOY KOGAWA STATED “IT WAS MY MOTHER'S FAVOURITE DRESS FOR ME AND BLUE WAS HER FAVOURITE COLOUR. THAT'S WHY SHE KEPT IT. I BELIEVE THAT SHE KNITTED IT, ALTHOUGH I'M NOT SURE. I REMEMBER IT WELL. I DESCRIBED IT IN THE FAREWELL SCENE WHEN NAOMI'S MOTHER WAS GOING TO JAPAN, IN BOTH "OBASAN" AND "NAOMI'S ROAD", I THINK. FICTIONALLY, ONE OF THE FLOWERS CAME OFF. THIS NEVER HAPPENED IN FACT.” FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF THIS ARTIFACT, KOGAWA SAID: “THIS WAS MY MOM’S FAVOURITE DRESS FOR ME… [HER] FAVOURITE COLOUR WAS BLUE… IT WAS A VANCOUVER DRESS, A LITTLE GIRL DRESS, AND BY THE TIME THAT I GOT TO SLOCAN I WAS TOO BIG [FOR IT]… SHE KEPT IT JUST BECAUSE SHE LOVED IT, AMONGST THE OTHER [BABY] THINGS THAT SHE KEPT OF MINE.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.
Catalogue Number
P19970041756
Acquisition Date
1997-01
Collection
Museum
Less detail
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