Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SUIT JACKET

Date

1954

Materials

WOOL, COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Height

2.5

Length

77.5

Width

74.5

Description

BROWN WOOL SUIT JACKET. TAN STRIPED LINING. THREE FRONT POCKETS AND TWO INSIDE BREAST POCKETS. OUTER LEFT BREAST POCKET HAS CREST WITH UPSIDE DOWN RED TRIANGLE, MAPLE LEAF AND READS “GRADUATE LEADER 1954”. INSIDE RIGHT BREAST POCKET HAS LABEL WITH "IN THE TRADITION OF GOOD TASTE, LAURENTIDE CLOTHES". LEFT BREAST POCKET HAS LABEL WITH “TAILORED FOR STAN’S MEN’S WEAR, STAN PESZAT, LETHBRIDGE ALTA”. THREE BUTTONS AT FRONT CLOSURE; ONE BUTTON AT EACH CUFF. NOTCHED LAPELS; SINGLE-BREASTED.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

SPORTS

LEISURE

History

DONOR JACK LEE WAS BORN IN VANCOUVER IN 1924. HE RELOCATED WITH HIS PARENTS TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1928. IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED LEE’S DISCHARGE FROM OVERSEAS SERVICE DURING WORLD WAR TWO, HE DECIDED AT AGE 23/24 TO JOIN THE LETHBRIDGE YMCA BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO LEE IN 2010, “I NEEDED EXERCISE, I HAD NO HOBBY, NO OUTLET”. “IT WAS THE ONLY OUTLET THAT HAD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY” HE SAID, ADDING THAT THE Y’S WEIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM WAS WHAT ORIGINALLY ATTRACTED HIM TO BECOMING INVOLVED AT THE ‘Y’. LEE MAINTAINED HIS INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ‘Y’ “OFF AND ON FOR TWENTY YEARS”, PARTICIPATING IN CALISTHENICS, SWIMMING, BASKETBALL AND SCUBA DIVING LESSONS. INCREASING DEMANDS OF HIS TIME MADE BY THE LOCAL MILITIA ULTIMATELY LED TO HIS WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ‘Y’. THE JACKET, ACCORDING TO LEE, WAS NOT “OFFICIAL WEAR FOR THE SENIOR LEADER” NOR WAS THE JACKET’S CREST OFFICIAL. “AFTER I BECAME A GRADUATE LEADER, I WAS PROUD AND DECIDED TO GET A JACKET MADE.” ONCE IN POSSESSION OF THE JACKET, HOWEVER, HE FELT FOOLISH, SAYING, “I DIDN’T WEAR IT BECAUSE THE REST OF THE GROUP WOULD THINK I WAS A SHOW OFF – AND THAT’S WHY IT IS STILL BRAND NEW”. LEE ONLY WORE THE JACKET ONCE TO A NON-YMCA SOCIAL GATHERING. HE RECALLS THAT OF ALL THE SENIOR LEADERS, HE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO ACHIEVE GRADUATE LEADER STATUS STATING, HOWEVER, THAT FORMER MEMBERS LIKE BERT STRATTON HAD ACHIEVED THE TITLE PRECIOUS. THERE WAS NO PRIVILEGE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TITLE “JUST THE PERSONAL SATISFACTION THAT I DID IT”. TO BE CONSIDERED ELIGIBLE TO BECOME A GRADUATE LEADER, LEE WAS REQUIRED TO SERVE AS A SENIOR LEADER FOR FOUR. THEREAFTER, HE QUALIFIED PER SET CRITERIA IN BASKETBALL – HIS SPORT OF CHOICE AND ONE OF MANY ACTIVITIES OFFERED AT THE ‘Y’. THE CRITERIA INCLUDED: PLAY IN AN ORGANIZED LEAGUE, REFEREE IN AN ORGANIZED LEAGUE, COACH A TEAM IN AN ORGANIZED LEAGUE, AND DEVELOP AN ORGANIZED LEAGUE. LEE STATED THAT HE COACHED A ‘Y’ WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE, ORGANIZED A JUNIOR BASKETBALL LEAGUE INCLUDING TEAMS FROM THE ‘Y’ AND LOCAL CHURCHES AND PLAYED ON A SENIOR ‘Y’ MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM. THE BLAZER JACKET, HE RECALLED, WAS BOUGHT LOCALLY AT STAN’S MEN’S WEAR. THE DONATED, OFFICIAL GRADUATE LEADER CREST WAS WORN DAY-TO-DAY ON ATHLETIC SHIRTS BY MEANS OF SNAPS ON CREST’S REVERSE. THE CREST, LEE THINKS, WAS SENT DOWN EAST TO AN APPAREL COMPANY IN ORDER THAT AN UNOFFICIAL, BLAZER-APPROPRIATE FACSIMILE COULD BE MOUNTED ON HIS JACKET. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20100047001

Acquisition Date

2010-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail