Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1900

Date Range To

1910

Materials

CLOTH

No. Pieces

1

Length

43.5

Width

58.5

Description

BLACK COLLAR, SEMI-CIRCULAR WITH THREE TRIANGULAR EXTENSIONS ON FRONT. VELVET-COVERED BUTTONS ON LEFT-SIDE PROPER EDGE OF COLLAR, CORRESPONDING LOOPS ON RIGHT-SIDE PROPER EDGE. COLLAR CONSISTS OF ALENCON LACE, WITH SWIRLS AND FLORAL DESIGNS ATTACHED TO MESH BACKING.

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

DONATED MATERIALS CAME INTO THE DONOR’S (BILL NILES) POSSESSION IN THE EARLY 1980S VIA ZETA ROBERTA NIVEN (NICKNAMED BUNTY), THE DONOR’S AUNT. BUNTY’S PARENTS AND DONOR’S GRANDPARENTS WERE BILL AND LAURA (NEE DAVIES) NIVEN OF CALGARY, FORMERLY OF LETHBRIDGE. BILL AND LAURA WED AT LETHBRIDGE’S ST. AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH. IT IS PRESUMED THAT THE DONATED EFFECTS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DAVIES AND NIVEN FAMILIES. THE NIVENS WERE EARLY PIONEERS IN S. ALBERTA, COMING TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1885 FROM NOVA SCOTIA. THEY EMIGRATED FROM SCOTLAND TO PICTOU COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA IN 1866, LIVING IN STELLARTON AND WESTVILLE. BILL NIVEN WAS BORN IN NOVA SCOTIA IN 1876. HIS FATHER ROBERT NIVEN, A MASTER MECHANIC, WAS RECRUITED FROM THE ACADIA COAL COMPANY BY WILLIAM STAFFORD TO INSTALL THE MACHINERY IN LETHBRIDGE’S FIRST COAL MINE AND THE MACHINERY TO HANDLE THE COAL CARS ON THE INCLINE, WHICH BROUGHT THE COAL UP FROM THE MINE TO THE RAILROAD, WHERE IT WAS HAULED EAST TO DUNMORE. BILL AND LAURA RELOCATED TO CALGARY AFTER THEIR WEDDING ON ACCOUNT OF BILL’S EMPLOYMENT WITH THE CPR. IN LETHBRIDGE, HE WORKED ON THE RAILWAY (THE “TURKEY TRACK” – NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY, OPERATED BY THE A. R. & I) BETWEEN THE CITY AND GREAT FALLS. BILL NIVEN DIED AT AGE 91 IN 1967. LAURA DAVIES WAS BORN IN BOBCAYGEON, ONTARIO. AT SOME POINT AND TIME, SHE AND HER FAMILY MIGRATED WEST, SETTLING IN LETHBRIDGE. SHE PASSED AWAY IN CALGARY IN 1965. IT IS CLAIMED THAT LAURA WAS ONE OF LETHBRIDGE’S EARLIEST SCHOOL TEACHERS. LAURA’S BROTHER BRUCE WAS A VETERAN OF WORLD WAR ONE. HE WAS BADLY WOUNDED IN THE CONFLICT, LOSING/INJURING HIS LIMBS, AND RECOVERED FOR SOME TIME IN ENGLAND. FOLLOWING HIS RETURN TO CANADA, BRUCE LIVED WITH LAURA (SISTER AND DONOR’S GRANDMOTHER) AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW FOR THE BALANCE OF HIS LIFE. IT IS PRESUMED THAT THE PATRIOTIC TEXTILE AND THE ARABIC-THEMED TABLE CLOTH(?) WERE ORIGINALLY HIS POSSESSIONS. THE DONOR LOCATED THE ITEMS IN A BOX MARKED, “REMNANTS FROM VETERAN AFTER WORLD WAR ONE.” BILL NILES RECEIVED THE MATERIAL FROM ZETA ON ACCOUNT THAT HE REPRESENTS ONE OF TWO TOTAL GRANDCHILDREN (BILL’S AND LAURA’S) AND BECAUSE, IN HIS WORDS, HE WAS PERCEIVED AS THE “FAMILY CUSTODIAN”. NILES’ PARENTS WERE VIVA (NEE NIVEN) AND CAM NILES. CAM OPERATED CAM’S TUCK SHOP ACROSS FROM THE CURLING RINK ON 6TH AVENUE SOUTH (THE BUILDING IS STILL THERE). THE DONOR HAD NEVER SEEN NOR BEEN INFORMED OF THE DONATED MATERIALS EXISTENCE PRIOR TO HIS RECEIPT (POST ZETA PASSING) OF THE ITEMS IN THE EARLY 1980S. ZETA WAS BORN IN CALGARY IN 1919, NEVER MARRIED AND, EXCEPT FOR SHORT-TERM EMPLOYMENT IN LETHBRIDGE (HI-WAY SERVICE – THE CASE DEALERSHIP), LIVED HER ENTIRE ADULT LIFE IN CALGARY. SHE LIVED MUCH OF HER LIFE WITH HER PARENTS (EXCEPT IN LETHBRIDGE), RETURNING TO CALGARY AFTER BILL AND LAURA’S PASSING. ZETA DIED IN 1984 AND IS BURIED IN CALGARY. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE PERMANENT RECORD.

Catalogue Number

P20090007001

Acquisition Date

2009-05

Collection

Museum

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