Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1950

Materials

RUBBER, BAKELITE

No. Pieces

1

Length

125.5

Width

49.5

Description

LONG, BLACK RUBBER RAINCOAT. THERE ARE FOUR LARGE, BLACK BUTTONS DOWN FRONT OPENING (ONE IS MISSING). THERE IS ALSO A SMALL BLACK BUTTON ON LAPEL. THERE IS A THIN LINE OF RED PIPING AROUND COLLAR. THERE ARE ALSO 2 SMALL BLACK BUTTONS ON EACH CUFF; ONE ON LEFT CUFF IS BROKEN IN HALF. INSIDE OF COAT IS A DARK YELLOW COLOUR. STAMPED ON INSIDE BACK OF COAT IS "40". ABOVE THIS IS "G. MASSON" (FADING). STAMPED INSIDE RIGHT SIDE CUFF IS "260434". THERE ARE TWO FLAPPED HIP POCKETS. RUBBER IS CRACKED AND WORN, PARTICULARLY ON RIGHT ARM.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PROFESSIONS

History

BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER, GEORGE MASSON, WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SIX POSTAL WORKERS IN LETHBRIDGE. GEORGE'S NUMBER, ISSUED TO ALL POSTMEN, IS STAMPED INSIDE COAT. HE CAME TO CANADA FROM SCOTLAND IN 1910 (HIS PARENTS HAD SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE SHORTLY BEFORE). HE WORKED FOR THE C.P.R. AND IN CONSTRUCTION; WHEN MAIL JOB CAME UP HE GOT IT. HE WORKED FOR HIGINBOTHAM BEGINNING 1913, AND DELIVERED MAIL UNTIL THE OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. GEORGE WAS AMONG FOUR POSTMEN WHO WENT OVERSEAS (OTHER THREE WERE HIS BROTHER ALEC, BILLY BRENNAN, AND ANOTHER UNKNOWN MAN). GEORGE SERVED WITH THE 39TH FIELD BATTERY, RCA (AS DID BROTHER ALEC). HE SERVED WITH THE MILITIA BETWEEN THE WARS, AND WENT BACK TO THE POST OFFICE. IN WWII HE JOINED UP WITH THE 20TH ANTI-TANK BATTERY, BUT HAD TO GIVE IT UP DUE TO AGE; HE COULDN'T GO OVERSEAS, SO WENT INTO ADMINISTRATION AND INSTRUCTION. AFTER THE WAR, HE WENT BACK TO THE POST OFFICE UNTIL 1952, WHEN HE WAS TOLD BY DOCTORS HE SHOULD TAKE EARLY RETIREMENT (AT AGE 62). THE MILITARY AND THE POSTAL SERVICE, ACCORDING TO DONOR, WERE GEORGE'S TWO GREAT LOVES IN LIFE. DONOR WAS BORN AND RAISED IN LETHBRIDGE; WENT TO FLEETWOOD-BAWDEN SCHOOL, BEGINNING IN 1934. HAS LIVED & WORKED IN CITY UNTIL RECENT MOVE TO COALDALE. DONOR ALSO HAS A LOT OF FAMILY IN CITY. *UPDATE* IN 2017 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A RAINCOAT DONATED BY DON MASSON. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. GEORGE “GEORDIE” MASSON WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY 13, 1889 IN EASTERTON, PETERHEAD, SCOTLAND AND MOVED TO CANADA IN 1910. ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON JANUARY 8, 1952, GEORGE’S BROTHER WAS ALREADY LIVING IN LETHBRIDGE: “A BROTHER, WILLIAM, NOW BAGGAGE-MASTER FOR THE C.P.R. HERE, WAS IN THE CITY AT THE TIME AND INVITED HIS BROTHER TO COME OUT. ‘GEORDIE’ FIRST WORKED IN THE FREIGHT SHEDS FOR A WHILE AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR JOINED THE POST OFFICE.” DETAILS OF GEORGE’S CAREER APPEARED IN AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON JULY 28, 1965: “HE BEGAN HIS 41-YEAR CAREER AS A MAILMAN APRIL 1, 1911. AT THAT TIME HE WAS PAID 75 CENTS A DAY PLUS $15 A MONTH ‘WESTERN ALLOWANCE’ GRANTED TO POSTMEN WEST OF THE GREAT LEAKS.” IN THE JANUARY 8, 1952 ARTICLE, THE ORIGINAL SIX POSTAL CARRIERS ARE NAMED: GEORGE MASSON, HIS BROTHER ALEX MASSON, ALEX LOTHIAN, WILLIAM GILSON, WILLIAM “BILLY” BRENNAN, AND E.C. COOPER. THIS ARTICLE ALSO INDICATES THAT THE FOUR POSTMEN WHO SERVED OVERSEAS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR WERE GEORGE, HIS BROTHER ALEX, BILLY BRENNAN, AND WILLIAM GILSON. ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE, BOTH BRENNAN AND GILSON WERE KILLED OVERSEAS. DETAILS OF GEORGE’S WORK AS A POSTMAN ARE FOUND IN THE JANUARY 1952 ARTICLE: “FROM SIX LETTER CARRIERS AND 12 ‘INSIDE’ MEN IN 1911, THE POST OFFICE STAFF HERE HAS GROWN TO 20 CARRIERS AND 35 OTHER EMPLOYEES. THE CITY’S POPULATION HAS NEARLY TREBLED FROM THE 8,000-ODD WHO LIVED HERE WHEN ‘GEORDIE’ MASSON, AS HE IS KNOWN TO HIS NUMEROUS FRIENDS, BEGAN DELIVERING MAIL. … OFTEN HE HAD TO CARRY UP TO 100 POUNDS OF MAIL TO BE DELIVERED IN A SINGLE DAY. HE USED TO START FOR NORTH LETHBRIDGE, OR THE NORTH WARD AS IT WAS THEN KNOWN, WITH PACKAGES STRAPPED TO HIS BACK AND MORE PARCELS ON HIS CHEST.” AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD ON JULY 3, 1962 PROVIDES MORE DETAILS ABOUT HIS WORK: “WHEN THE SERVICE BEGAN, STREETS WERE NAMED AND HOUSES HAD NO NUMBERS. A LETTER CARRIER HAD TO ASK HIS WAY THROUGH UNTIL HE KNEW BY HEART WHERE HIS ‘CLIENTS’ WERE RESIDING. IT TOOK MR. MASSON 11 HOURS, FROM 8 A.M. TO 7 P.M. TO DELIVER HIS FIRST BAG OF MAIL. … MR. MASSON’S ROUTE WAS NOT SMALL BY ANY MEANS. HE COVERED THE NORTH SIDE FROM 1ST AVE TO 7TH AVE N BETWEEN 12TH AND 20TH ST. AND THE SOUTH SIDE BETWEEN 1ST AVE. AND 4TH AVE. IN THE 1300 BLOCK. IN THE AFTERNOON MR. MASSON DELIVERED MAIL TO STORES ON 13TH ST. N.” IN NOVEMBER 1914 GEORGE WAS MARRIED TO LILLIAN “LILY” KEITH MACKIE. LILY PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 91 ON NOVEMBER 15, 1985. GEORGE MASSON PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 76 IN JULY 1965. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD.

Catalogue Number

P19990055002

Acquisition Date

2000-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail