BLOUSE

Description: RED SEMI-TRANSPARENT RAYON BLOUSE WITH WHITE RANDOM SIZED POLKA DOTS. BLOUSE HAS CAP SLEEVES AND NOTCHED COLLAR THAT HAS ROUNDED TIP. BLUE COTTON LABEL SEWN INTO SIDE SEAM HAS "JUNE GALE MONTREAL" ON IT. BOTTOM BUTTON IS MISSING.

History: BLOUSE BELONGED TO DONOR AS A TEENAGER WHILE HER FAMILY LIVED AT COALDALE. 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. 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: “GOOD OLD RED BLOUSE… I WORE THIS IN COALDALE [DURING] HIGH SCHOOL AND THEN BEYOND, INTO ADULTHOOD… IT WAS KIND OF STIFF, WITH LITTLE WHITE RAISED DOTS ALL OVER IT… IT WAS WORN A LOT… I WORE IT WITH ANYTHING IT WOULD GO WITH.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.