Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BED CAPE

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1960

Materials

NYLON, NETTING, LACE

No. Pieces

1

Length

56.0

Description

TOP HALF OF CAPE IS MADE OUT OF LIGHT BLUE NYLON. BOTTOM HALF AND COLLAR ARE MADE OUT OF A LIGHT BLUE NETTING WHICH HAS TINY ACCORDIAN FOLDS IN IT. THERE IS A BAND OF LIGHT BLUE LACE BETWEEN NYLON AND NETTING. THERE IS ALSO A BAND OF SAME LACE ON INSIDE OF COLLAR. FRONT OF CPAE HAS TWO TIES MADE FROM BLUE NYLON MATERIAL. A TAG UNDERNEATH COLLAR READS "VANITY FAIR", WHICH IS EMBROIDERED IN BLUE ON A WHITE BACKGROUND.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

COLLECTION OF LINGERIE, MOST OF WHICH BELONGED TO MRS. DAGMAR OLSEN DOYLE SIMPSON, WAS PURCHASED AROUND THE 1950S. ARTICLES ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT A WELL DRESSED WOMAN WOULD HAVE WORN IN THAT ERA. DAGMAR OLSEN WAS BORN DECEMBER 28, 1914, RAISED ON A FAMILY FARM, AND SCHOOLED IN STAVLEY, ALBERTA. HER PARENTS, HILDA AND JOHN OLSEN, WERE IMMIGRANT PIONEERS FROM NORWAY. HER MOTHER HILDA, GOT DAGMAR HER FIRST JOB AS A TELEPHONE OPERATOR WITH THE STAVELY AGENCY AT THE AGE OF 15 YEARS. AFTER LIVING AT HOME WORKING SEVEN YEARS IN STAVELY, DAGMAR MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE AND WORKED FOR AGT UNTIL SHE MARRIED LAWRENCE DOYLE, ALSO FROM STAVELY AND PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. DAGMAR AND LAWRENCE HAD ONE DAUGHTER, BARBARA. DAGMAR LATER RETURNED TO AGT AS AN OPERATOR UNTIL HER RETIREMENT AT AGE 60, WHEN SHE MARRIED CLARE SIMPSON. CLARE AND DAGMAR LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE, SOCIALIZED, AND TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1985. DAGMAR OLSEN DOYLE SIMPSON DIED MARCH 14, 2001. SHE WAS RUMORED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN LETHBRIDGE. DONOR, BARBARA DOYLE, WAS BORN AND SCHOOLED IN LETHBRIDGE. SHE TRAINED AT ST. MICHAEL'S HOSPITAL AS A LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST; GRADUATED 1962. SHE WORKED IN THE LAB AT ST. MICHAEL'S FOR 5 YEARS; MARRIED AND HAD 2 SONS. GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY WITH A BACHELOR OF ARTS, THEN A MASTERS OF ARTS IN ENGLISH, IN 1987. SHE TAUGHT AT UNIVERSITYS OF CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE, THEN MOVED TO MONTREAL FROM 1990-1996. SHE RETURNED TO LETHBRIDGE TO RETIRE. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING CLOTHING ITEMS DONATED BY BARBARA DOYLE. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. DAGMAR CHRISTINA SIMPSON (NEE OLSEN) PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 14, 2001 AT THE AGE OF 88. SHE MARRIED LAWRENCE PATRICK (LARRY) DOYLE ON DECEMBER 4, 1940. LAWRENCE WAS BORN IN PEI IN 1910. HE MOVED TO VULCAN IN 1920, STAVELY IN 1924, AND TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1937. HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 58 ON MARCH 28, 1969. LAWRENCE WAS THE SON OF GEORGE FRANKLIN AND MINNIE MAGDALEN DOYLE. DAGMAR WAS REMARRIED ON MARCH 29, 1975 TO CLARE C. SIMPSON. CLARE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN BELLEVILE, ON AND MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1930 TO WORK FOR AGT. HE ENLISTED IN 1939 AND WAS A POW FOR 3.5 YEARS FOLLOWING DIEPPE. HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 75 ON FEBRUARY 18, 1983. THE DONOR, BARBARA DOYLE, IS THE DAUGHTER OF DAGMAR AND LAWRENCE. IN 1969, BARBARA WAS MARRIED TO PAUL TURNER AND IN 1983, SHE WAS THE WIFE OF MR. B.F. MCFADDEN. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. *UPDATE* IN 2018 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF THE COLLECTION, INCLUDING A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS DONATED BY BARBARA DOYLE. ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2018, PUNDYK SAT DOWN WITH DOYLE FOR AN INTERVIEW REGARDING THAT DONATION. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW: DOYLE EXPLAINED THAT HER MOTHER DAGMAR OLSEN – THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE ARTIFACTS – WAS BORN IN STAVLEY AND WAS THE THIRD OF FOUR SISTERS. GROWING UP IN A HOUSE OF DAUGHTERS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN OLSEN’S LIFE. DOYLE DESCRIBED THE SISTERS BY SAYING, “BESSIE WAS THE OLDEST, AND NORAH WAS THE SECOND OLDEST, AND THEN MY MOTHER, AND THEN VICKI. AUNT VICKI WENT BIG [BY MOVING] TO TORONTO. SHE WANTED TO GET OUT OF TOWN. SHE WAS BORED. SHE WAS BORN IN STAVELY AND THERE WAS NO WAY SHE WAS GOING TO STAY THERE. SHE WAS THE YOUNGEST, SO SHE GOT THINGS THAT THE OTHERS DIDN’T GET IN THEIR LIFE. NORAH TOOK TO CALGARY. SHE WENT UP THERE AND SHE WORKED FOR A WHILE AT PACKING COOKIES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BESSIE WAS [WORKING] WITH MRS. JOURNEK AND THEN IN CALGARY THAT WAY TOO.” MOVING ON TO DESCRIBE HER MOTHER, DOYLE ILLUMINATED, “SHE WORKED [AS A TELEPHONE OPERATOR] FROM WHEN SHE WAS 15 IN STAVELY FOR ABOUT 7 YEARS. SHE WAS THERE FOR THE FIRST TELEPHONES COMING IN. THEN SHE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE. SHE KNEW MY DAD FROM STAVELY, AND THEN HE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE AS WELL AND THEY LIVED SEPARATELY IN A BOARDING HOUSE UNTIL THEY GOT MARRIED…SHE HAD BREAKS [IN BETWEEN WHEN SHE FIRST STARTED WORKING AND HER RETIREMENT] WHEN SHE COULDN’T WORK BECAUSE OF THE WAR. [ADDITIONALLY,] I WAS BORN IN ’42, AND ONCE YOU HAD A CHILD, YOU COULDN’T GO TO WORK. EVEN WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER, THE WOMEN COULD NOT GO TO WORK BECAUSE THEY WERE MAKING WAY FOR THE PEOPLE COMING BACK FROM THE WAR FOR THE JOBS. THAT WAS REALLY HARD ON MY MOTHER. SHE WAS SO INDEPENDENT AND TO NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE HER OWN MONEY AND EVERYTHING [WAS DIFFICULT].” “[THOUGH] SHE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT HER WORK,” DOYLE EXPLAINED, “I JUST KNOW THAT SHE JUST REALLY LOVED TO GO TO WORK. THAT WAS A REALLY, REALLY GOOD JOB [BECAUSE IT] WAS A GOVERNMENT JOB AT THAT TIME. SHE RETIRED WHEN SHE WAS 60, SO SHE WORKED A LOT.” “I WOULD SAY [HAVING A JOB INFLUENCED] MY MOTHER’S FASHION AND HOW SHE COULD AFFORD TO WEAR CLOTHES LIKE THAT, BECAUSE SHE BOUGHT REALLY GOOD CLOTHES, [SUCH AS] WOOL CLOTHES AND EVERYTHING BECAUSE SHE WORKED. MY MOTHER DRESSED TO THE NINES. SHE REALLY LIKED CLOTHES.” DOYLE EXPLAINED, “I THINK AUNT NORAH GAVE [THIS BED CAPE] TO [MY MOTHER] WHEN SHE WAS ILL. SHE WAS IN A NURSING HOME. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ‘90S.” OF THIS TYPE OF ARTIFACT, DOYLE SAID, “AT THAT TIME [LINGERIE WAS] WHAT YOU GAVE PEOPLE. YOUR DAUGHTER WOULD GET SOME PIECE OF LINGERIE FROM THEIR MOTHER, AND I WOULD GET LINGERIE FROM MY MUM, YOU KNOW AS A GIFT. IT WAS ALWAYS SPECIAL.” “I WAS BORN IN LETHBRIDGE,” DOYLE CONTINUED, “[I LEFT MY PARENTS’ HOUSE] WHEN I WAS 18 BECAUSE I WAS IN RESIDENCE WHEN I WAS DOING MY LABORATORY STUFF. I WAS A LAB TECHNICIAN FIRST. AFTER I GOT MARRIED IN ’64, WE LIVED FIVE YEARS HERE BEFORE WE STARTED MOVING AROUND. IT WAS ’71 [WHEN] WE LEFT AND WENT TO SASKATCHEWAN, REGINA.” “[I RECEIVED THESE ITEMS FROM MY MOTHER] AFTER SHE PASSED AWAY. [THEY WERE] IN THE HOUSE,” DOYLE STATED, "ALL OF THIS STUFF WAS IN THE HOUSE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. I FEEL LIKE MY MOTHER IS STILL IN THE HOUSE. I HAD REALLY GOOD PARENTS. WE WEREN’T POOR, BUT WE WEREN’T RICH EITHER, YOU KNOW. WE WERE JUST COMFORTABLE, BUT THEY WORKED VERY HARD FOR IT. THEY BOTH WORKED VERY HARD.” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P20010070001 FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT.

Catalogue Number

P20010070008

Acquisition Date

2001-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail