Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CUFFS, APRON, BIB, COLLAR

Date Range From

1956

Date Range To

1959

Materials

COTTON, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

9

Description

ALL ITEMS LABELED AS COMPONENT PARTS (DESIGNATED BY LETTERS). A. CUFFS, PAIR. COTTON, WHITE, HEAVY STARCH. ONE BUTTON HOLE ON EITHER SIDE OF EACH CUFF. MARKED “PEARSON, TOOKE – MADE IN ENGLAND, MGH 7 1/2.” BOTH ARE SOILED (MINOR) THROUGHOUT, ESP. ON EDGES. IDENTICAL EXCEPT PLACEMENT OF MARKING “PIER,” ONE STAMPED ON EDGE, OTHER STAMPED APPX. 2 CM BELOW EDGE. 23.7 CM LONG BY 8.2 CM WIDE. LOCATED IN PA U40 S01 B. APRON WITH FOUR IDENTICAL BUTTONS - FIVE PIECES APRON, COTTON, WHITE, HEAVY STARCH. HAND MARKED, “PEARSON” ON INSIDE OF WAISTBAND. LONG HALF APRON, WRAP STYLE, EIGHT BUTTON HOLES, THICK WAISTBAND AND HEMLINE. APRON MEASURES 82.0 CM LONG BY 82.5 CM WIDE. APRON FASENTED BY BUTTONS, FOUR. PLASTIC, WHITE SLIGHTLY OPALESCENT COLOR. ONE LARGER CIRCLE ATTACHED TO A SECOND SMALLER CIRCLE WITH A PLASTIC ROD. BUTTONS MEASURE 2.5 CM IN DIAMETER BY 0.8 CM DEEP. LOCATED IN PA U40 S03. C. BIB, COTTON, WHITE, HEAVY STARCH. HAND MARKED, “PEARSON” AT BOTTOM, FRONT, ALSO STAMPED, “PIER” THREE TIMES, UPSIDE DOWN AT BOTTOM FRONT. BOTTOM IS NARROW AND GETS WIDER AS IT REACHES CHEST LEVEL, AT NECKLINE, BIB SPLITS SO THERE ARE TWO WIDE STRAPS HANGING DOWN THE BACK. SMALL PIN HOLES, ESP. AT WAIST, BOTTOM OF STRAPS, NECKLINE AND CHEST AREA. 42.2 CM WIDE BY 97.5 CM LONG. LOCATED IN PA U40 S03. D. COLLAR, COTTON, WHITE, HEAVY STARCH. MARKED “TOOKE, MADE IN ENGLAND, PEARSON, R.V.H. – I – TAB” ALSO MARKED “PI(?)R” AND “PEARS.” ONE BUTTON HOLE IN CENTER. ROUNDED TAB AT CENTER HAS SMALL TEAR WHERE IT MEETS UP WITH THE COLLAR, YELLOWING ALONG NECKLINE AND AROUND EDGES OF COLLAR, SEVERAL PINHOLES ON TABS ON EITHER SIDE OF COLLAR. 59.8 CM LONG BY 12.6CM WIDE. LOCATED IN PA U40 S01

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

EDUCATION

HEALTH SERVICES

History

ACCORDING TO THE DONOR, AILEEN PATTON (NEE PEARSON), AT THE TIME OF DONATION, THE CUFFS, APRON, BIB AND COLLAR WERE WORN AS PART OF A GRADUATION UNIFORM. THEY WERE ISSUED TO HER BY THE "GALT SCHOOL OF NURSING" (GSN). THE APRON AND COLLAR WERE BOTH WORN AS PART OF THE BLUE DRESS WORN IN THE NURSE'S FIRST AND SECOND YEARS. THE BIB WAS ALSO WORN WITH THE BLUE DRESS BUT THE GIRLS DID NOT RECIEVE IT UNTIL AFTER THEY HAD PASSED THEIR PROBABTIONARY PERIOD. FINALLY, THE CUFFS WERE ONLY WORN WITH THE GRADUATION OUTFIT. THE GRAD CEREMONY WAS HELD IN THE "SOUTHMINISTER UNITED CHURCH" IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA. PATTON SAID, "I WAS VERY PROUD TO WEAR THE GRADUATION UNIFORM AS IT MEANT I HAD OBTAINTED THE TITLE OF REGISTERED NURSE. IT WAS A VERY HAPPY AND EMOTIONAL DAY." WHILE SOME OF THE GRADUATES WORE THIER GRAD UNIFORMS AFTER THEY HAD GRADUATED, PATTON NEVER USED THE BIB, CUFFS, COLLAR OR APRON AGAIN. INSTEAD, SHE STORED THEM IN A TRUNK, "IT MOVED WITH ME WHEREVER I WENT." OF THE GSN, PATTON SAID, "I FEEL SO PRIVILEGED TO HAVE LIVED IN RESIDENCE WITH MY CLASSMATES FOR THREE YEARS. WHAT A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE - WE SHARED SO MUCH OF OUR LIVES. WE LAUGHED AND WE CRIED TOGETHER. WE WERE NEVER LONELY. OUR INSTRUCTORS WERE EXCEPTIONAL AS WERE THE DOCTORS WHO TAUGHT US. WE OWED SO MUCH TO SENIOR NURSING STAFF WHO TAUGHT US SO MUCH AT THE BEDSIDE AND WERE OUR MENTORS." HAVING COMPLETED HER DEGREE, PATTON, "WORKED OBSTETRICS AT THE 'LETHBRIDGE MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL,' PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING AT THE 'CHINOOK HEALTH UNIT' IN FORT MACLEOD, ALSO WORKED IN BANFF, 'GRACE HOSPITAL' IN CALGARY, PEACE RIVER AND THEN FINALLY AT THE 'MISERICORDIA HOSPITAL' EDMONTON IN EMERGENCY AND BECAME NIGHT SUPERVISOR BEFORE RETIRING IN 1992 WHEN I BECAME SUBJECT OF HEALTH CUTS. MY NURSING TRAINING CERTAINLY PREPARED ME TO WORK IN ALL OF THESE HOSPITALS." SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CLASS OF 1959 SEE ARCHIVES 19705886000, 19752303429, 19941046008, AND 20001076001. PART OF A COMPOSITE UNIFORM DONATION FROM THE GSN GRADUATING CLASSES OF 1959 AND 1961. SEE P20090023001-15, P20090025000, AND P20090026000. ________________________________________ UPDATE: THE RESEARCH BELOW WAS GENERATED IN CONSULTATION WITH GALT DONOR AND G.S.N. NURSE PAT SASSA AS PART OF A RECENT ACQUISITIONS EXHIBIT IN 2011. LAMPS WERE GIVEN TO THE SCHOOL’S NURSING STUDENTS AS PART OF ITS ANNUAL CANDLE LIGHTING CEREMONY. THE EVENT WAS HELD TO COMMEMORATE THE COMPLETION OF ITS FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ PROBATIONARY PERIOD. IN ADDITION TO THE LAMP’S PRESENTATION, STUDENT NURSES EARNED THE RIGHT TO WEAR A CAP AND BIB AS PART OF THEIR UNIFORM UPON THE COMPLETION OF THEIR PROBATION. UPDATE 16 APRIL 2025: KEVIN MACLEAN, MUSEUM TECH, INTERVIEWED FORMER GALT SCHOOL OF NURSING (GSN) STUDENT SUE KYLLO (GRADUATING CLASS OF 1969) ON 2 MAY 2024 ON HER MEMORIES OF SNEAKING BACK INTO THE NURSES’ RESIDENCE, LOCATED AT THE FORMER LETHBRIDGE MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL, AFTER HOURS. “WELL, WE HAD TO BE IN AT CERTAIN TIMES. WE HAD HOUSE MOTHERS WHO KEPT TRACK OF US, AND I JUST DIDN’T THINK THE DOORS WERE LOCKED, BUT I GUESS THEY WERE. YOU KNOW, WE HAD A TUNNEL THAT WENT OVER TO THE HOSPITAL. IT WAS NEVER LOCKED, SO YOU JUST NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT…WHEN WE WERE IN TRAINING, WE HAD TO BE IN BY 10:30, AND WE HAD ONE 12:00 P.M., AND ONE 1:00 A.M. – I DON’T KNOW IF THAT WAS A WEEK, OR A MONTH. WE WERE RIGID BACK THEN. WE WERE THE LAST YEAR WHERE THEY HAD THAT [RESTRICTION]. THEN IT OPENED UP [AFTER I GRADUATED]…[NURSES] COULD LIVE OUT, AND THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO BE IN RESIDENCE, SO, YOU’LL FIND THAT YOUR 70S’ CLASSES ARE NOT AS CLOSE AS OUR CLASSES THAT SPENT EVERY DAY THERE.” KYLLO RECALLED KNOWLEDGE OF [MOSTLY] OTHERS AND HER OWN (RARE) FLAUNTING THE CURFEW AFTER 10:30 PM: “WE’D RUN THROUGH THE TUNNEL. THE HOSPITAL DOORS WERE DEFINITELY OPEN, SO YOU [ENTER THE HOSPITAL PROPER AND THEN] RUN DOWN THROUGH ITS TUNNEL, AND NOBODY KNOWS THAT YOU WERE EVER OUT…LOTS OF PEOPLE DID, YES. I DIDN’T DO IT VERY OFTEN…[AT THE RESIDENCE BUILDING] THE ‘HOUSE MOTHER’ IS SITTING THERE, AND SHE KNOWS WHEN YOU COME IN, AND THEN THEY TELL THE ‘BIG SHOTS’ [WHO VIOLATED CURFEW], AND THEN WE GET A REPRIMAND.” IN CONTRAST, THE TUNNEL BETWEEN THE RESIDENCE AND THE HOSPITAL WAS NOT MONITORED, AND, FURTHER, SOME HOSPITAL STAFF HELPED THE NURSES WITH THE CURFEW’S EVASION: “WE EVEN HAD ONE OF THE MAINTENANCE MEN THAT WOULD UNLOCK IT FOR US, IF IT HAPPENED TO BE LOCKED, THE TUNNEL…[OVERALL IT WAS UNLOCKED, HOWEVER, BECAUSE] WE’D GET CALLED TO WORK, AND SO WE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE TUNNEL. SO, THEY DIDN’T LOCK IT VERY OFTEN.” WHEN PROBED ON THE NURSES’ RESTRICTIONS, SHE SAID, “’IT WAS OK. I NEVER WAS [THE] ONE THAT WENT OUT A LOT, SO IT DIDN’T BOTHER ME THAT MUCH. IT DID BOTHER LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE. AND, I DON’T KNOW, WHEN YOU FIRST WENT INTO TRAINING, MISS TENNANT TOLD US THE WAY IT WAS GOING TO BE, AND IF YOU WANTED TO BE THERE, YOU HAD TO STICK TO THE RULES A LITTLE BIT. BUT THEY HAVE ALWAYS SAID IT’S VERY MILITARY.” FOR COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT AND AUDIO OF INTERVIEW, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR P20090023001.

Catalogue Number

P20090024000

Acquisition Date

2009-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail