BACKDROP

Description: PLAIN PIECE OF WHITE CANVAS. IN ONE END IS A SLEEVE THROUGH WHICH IS A STEEL ROD. ROD HAS SMALL ROUND KNOBS ON EACH END; ENDS OF ROD ARE RUSTING. OTHER END OF CANVAS IS ATTACHED TO A CYLINDRICAL WOOD PIECE, WITH STEEL ENDS. SIDES OF CANVAS ARE TORN, FRAYED, AND BRITTLE. CANVAS IS YELLOWED THROUGHOUT.

History: BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER, WILLIAM J. FRUET WHO OWNED A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO (FRUET STUDIO) IN LETHBRIDGE, ON 5TH STREET SOUTH FROM 1939 TO 1963. HE WAS A SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHER FOR ALL SOUTHERN ALBERTA FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS. WILLIAM WAS ALSO KNOWN FOR THE NUMEROUS LANDSCAPES HE PHOTOGRAPHED OF THE AREA. MANY OF THESE WERE SEEN IN EXHIBITIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. WILLIAM WAS BORN IN 1906 IN ZURICH SWITZERLAND, WHERE HE WAS ALSO RAISED. HE CAME TO CANADA IN 1924 TO SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN, AND CAME TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1926. HE REMAINED HERE THE REST OF HIS LIFE AS HE CONSIDERED IT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD. STORY GOES THAT PEOPLE IN THE CITY (IE. MAYOR SHACKLEFORD) SUPPORTED WILLIAM TO GET A START DURING THE DEPRESSION. WILLIAM BEGAN HIS STUDIO WORK IN HIS EARLY 30S, AND RETIRED IN 1972. WILLIAM WAS A MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN LEGION, MINER'S LIBRARY CLUB, AND LABOR CLUB. DONOR'S MOTHER'S FAMILY (SKRUKWA) SETTLED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA IN THE LATE 1800S. WILLIAM FRUET PASSED AWAY IN 1973 AND DONOR'S BROTHER (STANLEY) STORED HIS FATHER'S PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT WITH THE INTENTION OF USING IT. WHEN STANLEY PASSED AWAY IN MAY 2001, DONOR CAME INTO POSSESSION OF ARTIFACTS.