Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

GURNEY'S MUSEUM

Date Range From

1944

Date Range To

1961

Materials

PAPER, ANTLER, BRASS

No. Pieces

2

Height

46.8

Diameter

25.7

Description

1) LAMP - BASE IS WOODEN WITH DARK AND LIGHT COLOURED TRIANGLES THAT ALTERNATE TO MAKE A STAR PATTERN. FRONT OF BASE HAS A PAINTED LOGO THAT HAS TEXT ON A RUSTIC BOARD IN FRONT OF TREES AND CLOUDS. DECAL READS, “GURNEY’S MUSEUM, LETHBRIDGE, CANADA”. SHAFT OF LAMP IS ANTLER THAT HAS BEEN STAINED BROWN. ANTLER HAS TWO SHORTENED POINTS THAT COME OFF LEFT SIDE. SITTING ON POINTS ARE TWO OWL FIGURINES ALSO MADE FROM ANTLER. GLASS EYES HAVE BEEN ATTACHED AND SURFACE HAS BEEN ENGRAVED TO SUGGEST FEATHERS. BRASS SHAFT COMES UP CENTRE WITH LIGHT SOCKET. SOCKET HAS A PUSH SWITCH WITH ONE RED END AND ONE BLACK. SIDE OF SOCKET SAYS, “EAGLE, 660W 250V” ON BACK SIDE AND, “PRESS” ON FRONT SIDE NEAR THE BLACK PUSH SWITCH. BLACK RUBBER CORD EXITS FROM THE WOODEN BASE AT THE REVERSE OF THE LAMP. (H-35.9 D-15.6) 2) LAMP SHADE - SHADE IS MADE FROM ONE PIECE OF STARCHED PAPER WITH ENDS FIXED BY ADHESIVE AND A PRESS THAT HAS INDENTED THE PAPER. EACH EDGE IS ATTACHED TO A SILVER COLOURED RING WRAPPED TO THE PAPER WITH PLASTICIZED GOLD THREAD. TOP RING HAS BAR THAT GOES ACROSS DIAMETER WITH TWO LOOPS DESCENDING IN THE MIDDLE THAT WOULD ATTACH TO A LIGHT BULB USING PRESSURE. PATTERN ON THE SHADE IS AN ABSTRACTED GOLDEN SWIRL PATTERN. (H-16.7 D-25.7)

Subjects

LIGHTING DEVICE

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

FURNISHINGS

History

THE FOLLOWING IS A COMPOSITE PARAGRAPH DRAWN FROM VARIOUS E-MAILS EXCHANGED WITH DONOR TRUDY CAREY DURING THE DONATION PROCESS. ACCORDING TO CAREY, “MY GRANDFATHER WALTER GURNEY STARTED THE GURNEY MUSEUM IN 1944. MY GRANDPARENTS SOLD THE MUSEUM TO MR. SCHULTZ WHO MOVED IT TO ALTAMONT AT COUTTS WHEN I WAS ABOUT FIVE, BUT I WAS AN ONLY GRANDCHILD, SO I WAS LIKE THE LITTLE PRINCESS OF THE MUSEUM WHENEVER I VISITED. MY MOTHER, EUGENIE, WAS THE ONLY CHILD OF WALTER AND EDITH GURNEY AND I AM EUGENIE’S ONLY CHILD. I INHERITED EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE LAMP. I THINK THEY KEPT THE LAMP, WHICH IS A DESK LAMP, AS PART OF THEIR HOME FURNISHINGS. MY MOTHER ATTENDED HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL IN CALGARY, AND I HAVE PICTURES OF HER WITH DISPLAYS OF MOUNTED ANIMALS IN WHICH SHE IS WEARING A NURSE’S UNIFORM. MY GRANDFATHER STARTED TO COLLECT MOUNTED BIRDS WHEN HE WAS STILL QUITE YOUNG, AND THE COLLECTION JUST GREW FROM THERE. THEY HAD EVERYTHING FROM MOUNTED ANIMALS TO ROCKS AND FOREIGN CURRENCY IN THE MUSEUM. THE MUSEUM HAD THREE ROOMS, ONE OF WHICH WAS ROPED OFF. IT IS MY RECOLLECTION THAT EVERYTHING IN IT WAS MADE OF ANIMAL HIDE AND ANTLERS. THERE WAS A COUCH, CHAIR, COFFEE TABLE, AND I ASSUME THE LAMP. YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT BY THE TIME THEY SOLD THE MUSEUM, WHEN I WAS FOUR OR FIVE, I HAD DEVELOPED A FEAR OF MOUNTED ANIMALS AND WAS AFRAID TO GO IN THE MUSEUM. I’M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO CAUSE THE PHOBIA. THERE ARE A COUPLE THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONTRIBUTING FACTORS. I REMEMBER MY GRANDMOTHER POINTING OUT A SPOT ON A WALL AND TELLING ME THAT AN ELK HEAD HAD FALLEN FROM THAT SPOT AND BROKEN. I ALSO KNOW THAT I WAS ALLOWED INTO THE ROPED OFF ROOM, BUT WARNED NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. EITHER OF THOSE THINGS MIGHT HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF AN IMPACT ON A FOUR-YEAR-OLD TO CAUSE A PHOBIA WHICH I STILL HAVE. BELIEVE ME, IT’S AN INCONVENIENT PHOBIA TO HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN MONTANA!” ACCORDING TO ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN: LETHBRIDGE GALT GARDENS PARK, AND IRMA DOGTEROM IN: WHERE WAS IT? A GUIDE TO EARLY LETHBRIDGE BUILDINGS, “THE BUILDING THAT HOUSED GURNEY'S MUSEUM WAS BUILT AS A BANDSTAND, NO MORE THAN A PLATFORM WITH A RAILING. BY 1909 SEVERAL IMPROVEMENTS HAD BEEN MADE, AND THE BUILDING WAS NOW A TWO STOREY STRUCTURE WITH A BANDSTAND ON THE UPPER LEVEL, AND A GLASS FRONTED ROOM AT GROUND LEVEL. THE BANDSTAND WAS REACHED BY A SET OF STAIRS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING. THE GROUND FLOOR WAS NOW OCCUPIED BY THE BOARD OF TRADE, AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING. THE BUILDING WAS ORIGINALLY LOCATED ABOUT 30 METERS INSIDE THE WEST BOUNDARY OF GALT GARDENS, OPPOSITE 118 - 5 STREET SOUTH. IN 1911 THE BUILDING WAS MOVED TO A LOCATION HALFWAY ALONG THE NORTH BOUNDARY OF THE PARK. IN JUNE 1912 TWO WINGS WERE ADDED. IN FEBRUARY 1922 THE BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING SUFFERED A FIRE, BUT WAS REPAIRED AND WAS USED UNTIL 1944, WHEN THE BOARD OF TRADE MOVED TO THE MARQUIS HOTEL. WALTER GURNEY AND HIS WIFE THEN APPLIED TO LEASE THE BUILDING TO HOUSE THEIR MUSEUM, AND IT BECAME GURNEY'S MUSEUM UNTIL 1961. ON 28 AUGUST 1961 THE BUILDING WAS DEMOLISHED.” R.H. MACDONALD IN THE WESTERN PRODUCER MAGAZINE FROM NOVEMBER 30, 1950 SAYS, “IT TOOK ABOUT 40 YEARS TO COME ABOUT AND AT TIMES THERE WAS REAL DANGER THAT IT WOULDN’T – BUT FIVE YEARS AGO WALTER GURNEY’S DREAM REALLY CAME TRUE AND SINCE THAT TIME ABOUT 80,000 PEOPLE HAVE ENJOYED IT WITH HIM. YOUNG WALTER HAD TO START WORK EARLY AS A BOY OF NINE YEARS TO HELP HIS WIDOWED MOTHER. HE WORKED OUT AT 15$ A MONTH AND THEY MADE ENDS MEET. OUT OF HIS MEAGER EARNINGS HE STARTED TO COLLECT SMALL CANADIAN BIRDS AND ANIMALS AND WHEN HE COULD HE PAID TO HAVE THE STUFFED BY A TAXIDERMIST. SOON, HOWEVER, IT GOT BEYOND HIM AND HAD TO GIVE IT ALL UP… HE COULDN’T AFFORD TO GO ON COLLECTING AND HELPING AT HOME AT THE SAME TIME. IT WAS THEN HE THOUGHT HOW NICE IT WOULD BE IF THERE WERE COLLECTIONS OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE SUCH AS HE TO SEE AND STUDY. HE STARTED WITH MASSEY-HARRIS AND LATER SWITCHED TO OLIVER FARM EQUIPMENT AND FOR 14 YEARS WAS A BLOCKMAN IN AND AROUND SWIFT CURRENT. ROSETOWN AND REGINA, SASK. BUT THE COLLECTOR’S BUG NEVER LEFT HIM, THOUGH HE HAD CEASED TO COLLECT ACTIVELY. ONCE A COLLECTOR ALWAYS A COLLECTOR, YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM IT WAYS MR. GURNEY. IN 1935 HE TOOK A TRIP AROUND NORTH AMERICA WITH HIS WIFE. THEY STOPPED AT BALBOA IN THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE, WHERE THEY WENT TO SEE A COLLECTION OF WILD ANIMALS OWNED BY A YOUNG MAN WHO DISPLAYED IT FOR 25 CENTS A PERSON. THAT WAS IT. LOOKING AT THIS COLLECTION HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM HOME, WALTER GURNEY’S DREAM AS A BOY CAME BACK TO WALTER GURNEY THE MAN… FOR HE MUST BEGIN COLLECTING AGAIN AND BUILD UP A COLLECTION FOR ALL TO SEE, YOUNG AND OLD. HIS WIFE LIKED THE IDEA TOO. THAT WAS IN 1935. WHEN THEY GOT HOME TO SWIFT CURRENT SASK., THEY CLEARED THE ATTIC AND STARTED COLLECTING. WORD SOON GOT AROUND TOWN, IT EVEN GOT OUT OF TOWN THAT OVER AT GURNEY’S PLACE THERE WAS A LOT OF STUFFED ANIMALS AND THINGS TO SEE. IT ALSO GOT AROUND THAT WALTER WAS A SOFT TOUGH – THAT HE COULDN’T RESIST LETTING PEOPLE SEE THE COLLECTION NO MATTER WHAT THE HOUR, WHETHER HE KNEW THEM OR NOT, NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD TRACKED IN OVER MRS. GURNEY’S FLOORS THAT DAY. “EVERYBODY THAT CAME ALONG CAME IN,” SAID MR. GURNEY. IN THE SPRING OF 1938 HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. BY THAT TIME THE COLLECTION HAD GROWN. “WHEN WE MOVED IN PEOPLE THOUGHT BARNUM AND BAILEY HAD COME TO TOWN,” MR. GURNEY SAYS OF THEIR FIRST MOVE. AFTER THAT THERE WERE OTHER MOVES. IT WAS HARD TO FIND A HOUSE LARGE ENOUGH TO HOLD BOTH THE GURNEYS AND THE COLLECTION. THE GURNEYS MOVED FIVE TIMES IN TWO YEARS AND FINALLY ENDED UP WITH A BASEMENT ALMOST BIG ENOUGH TO HOUSE THE GROWING COLLECTION. AGAIN WORD GOT AROUND ABOUT THE GURNEY COLLECTION. MOST PEOPLE WHO HEARD ABOUT IT WENT OVER TO SEE IT IF THEY HAD A FRIEND IN TOWN OR VISITORS FROM DISTANT POINTS, WHY THEY WOULD LOAD THEM INTO THE FAR AND GO OVER TO SEE THIS MAN GURNEY’S COLLECTION. FROM MORNING TILL MIDNIGHT THEY WOULD BE CALLING. IT GOT SO BAD THAT EVEN MR. GURNEY BEGAN TO WORRY. SPACE WASN’T ADEQUATE; MORE PEOPLE SHOULD BE SEEING IT; IT SHOULD BE CLOSER TO THE PUBLIC, TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE. “IT GOT SO BAD THAT IF I DIDN’T GET AWAY FROM THE HOUSE BEFORE EIGHT O’CLOCK ON SUNDAY MORNINGS I WOULD BE TRAPPED THERE ALL DAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT SHOWING PEOPLE THE COLLECTION,” SAID MR. GURNEY. AS SOON AS THEY SAW HIS CAR PARKED OUTSIDE THE HOUSE THEY WOULD COME KNOCKING. IN NOVEMBER 1945, THE BREAK CAME. LETHBRIDGE CITY OFFICIALS DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE OLD BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING IN GALT PARK WAS TURNED OVER TO HOUSE THE GURNEY MUSEUM. THE CITY GAVE MR. GURNEY THE USE OF THE BUILDING AND LIGHT AND HEAT PROVIDED HE WOULD KEEP THE MUSEUM OPEN SATURDAY AFTERNOONS AND SUNDAYS. SINCE THAT TIME 83, 782 VISITORS HAVE REGISTERED AND THOUSANDS HAVE SEEN IT WHO HAVEN’T BOTHERED TO REGISTER. COSTS ARE QUITE HIGH AND A SILVER COLLECTION TAKEN AT THE DOOR HELPS CONTRIBUTE TO PURCHASE OF NEW PIECES, UPKEEP AND HOUSING OF OLD PIECES. AN IDEA OF THE COSTS MAY BE HAD FROM A COUGAR IN THE COLLECT9ION, TO GET IT AND HAVE IT STUFFED COST 125$. WHEN IT ARRIVED AT THE GURNEY MUSEUM IT WAS PLACED IN A GLASS CASE RUNNING AROUND 100$. OCCASIONALLY THE COLLECTOR GETS COLLECTED HIMSELF. RECENTLY AN AFRICAN PRINCE WROTE WANTING TO EXCHANGE PIECES FROM AFRICA FOR ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. HE LISTED THE CLOTHING AND GURNEY WENT OUT, BOUGHT IT (IT CAME OUT TO 75$), AND SHIPPED IT OFF. THEN HE WAITED FOR THE AFRICAN ARTICLES TO ARRIVE… HE’S STILL WAITING. PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD HAVE CALLED IN TO SEE THE MUSEUM AT LETHBRIDGE. ALL RANKS, ALL COLORS, FROM ALL NATIONS, HAVE SIGNED HIS REGISTER. BUT WHAT PLEASES WALTER GURNEY MOST ARE THE BUSLOADS OF SCHOOL KIDS WHO COME IN ON TRIPS FROM OUTLYING POINTS AND STAND FOR HOURS GAZING AT THE BIRDS, THE ANIMALS, THE INDIAN RELICS… AFTER ALL, 40 YEARS BACK THAT WAS THE DREAM OF YOUNG WALTER GURNEY…. “WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF THERE WERE COLLECTIONS FOR BOYS LIKE ME TO SEE…”. *UPDATE* IN 2015, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GURNEY MUSEUM AND THE OBJECTS FROM ITS COLLECTION WITH INFORMATION FOUND IN THE GALT ARCHIVES, GLENBOW ARCHIVES, ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, AND FIELD RESEARCH AT THE SODBUSTERS ARCHIVE & MUSEUM IN STROME, ALBERTA. WALTER AND EDITH GURNEY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE FROM SWIFT CURRENT, SASKATCHEWAN IN 1938, AND BROUGHT WITH THEM THEIR LARGE COLLECTION OF TAXIDERMY, COINS, FOSSILS, AND CULTURAL OBJECTS. THEY MOVED HOMES IN LETHBRIDGE FIVE TIMES IN TWO YEARS BEFORE FINDING A HOUSE WITH A BASEMENT LARGE ENOUGH TO DISPLAY MOST OF THE COLLECTION, AT 1602 6 AVE SOUTH. THE GURNEYS REGULARLY HAD PEOPLE COMING TO SEE THE COLLECTION, INCLUDING THE LETHBRIDGE SKETCH CLUB, AND WALTER OFTEN DISPLAYED PORTIONS OF THE COLLECTION AT LETHBRIDGE EXHIBITION EVENTS. IN 1945 THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE GAVE THE GURNEYS USE OF THE OLD BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING IN GALT GARDENS TO DISPLAY THE COLLECTION – THEY WERE PROVIDED HEAT AND ELECTRICITY FREE OF CHARGE AS LONG AS THEY HAD THE MUSEUM OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON WEEKENDS. IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF OPERATION, GURNEY’S MUSEUM (ALSO MARKETED AS GURNEY’S BIRD PARADISE, DUE TO THE LARGE VOLUME OF TAXIDERMIED BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION) HAD OVER 80,000 VISITORS, ONLY 10% OF WHICH WERE LOCAL. THE MUSEUM OPERATED CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH THE LATE 40S AND 50S, BUT BY 1958, THE BUILDING WAS FALLING INTO DISREPAIR, AND IN 1961 GURNEY SOLD HIS ENTIRE COLLECTION TO BELMORE SCHULTZ OF MILK RIVER. SCHULTZ’S PARENTS HAD ALSO BEEN COLLECTORS, AND AFTER ADDING GURNEY’S COLLECTION TO HIS OWN, HE HAD OVER 13,000 OBJECTS WHEN HE OPENED THE ALTAMONT MUSEUM AT COUTTS IN 1967. THE ALTAMONT OPERATED FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS, CLOSING IN 1986 DUE TO SCHULTZ’S FAILING HEALTH, AND IN AUGUST 1989 THE COLLECTION WAS SOLD OFF AT A LARGE PUBLIC AUCTION TO MANY PRIVATE BUYERS. GALT MUSEUM REPRESENTATIVES ATTENDED AND BOUGHT BACK THREE OBJECTS THAT WERE PURPORTED TO BE FROM THE GURNEY COLLECTION – TWO MODEL SHIPS BUILT BY GERMAN POWS IN CAMP 133 (P19890044001 AND P19890044002), AND AN INDUSTRIAL LIGHT FROM THE OPERATING ROOM OF THE GALT HOSPITAL (P19890044003). THE ONLY OBJECTS IN SCHULTZ’S POSSESSION THAT WERE NOT AUCTIONED OFF WERE THE TAXIDERMY SPECIMENS AND FIRST NATIONS-RELATED ARTIFACTS, WHICH BY LAW COULD NOT BE SOLD. MANY OF THESE OBJECTS WERE FROM THE GURNEY COLLECTION INITIALLY, AND WERE MOVED YET AGAIN, THIS TIME TO THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED SODBUSTERS MUSEUM IN STROME, ALBERTA. MUCH OF GURNEY’S TAXIDERMY AND FIRST NATIONS’ COLLECTION WAS STILL ON DISPLAY THERE IN 2014, POSED IN DIORAMA. ON NOVEMBER 18, 2014 JANE EDMUNDSON INTERVIEWED HER FATHER PHIL EDMUNDSON, A LIFELONG LETHBRIDGE RESIDENT, ABOUT HIS MEMORIES OF VISITING THE GURNEY MUSEUM AS A CHILD. HE SAID: “I [WAS] 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD MAYBE… WE WEREN’T SUPERVISED AS CLOSELY AS CHILDREN ARE NOWADAYS… SO WE’D WANDER ALL OVER TOWN. WE JUST HAD A GREAT TIME. WE WOULD SPEND TIME VISITING THINGS LIKE THE GURNEY MUSEUM OR DOWN IN THE RIVER VALLEY… WE WOULD JUST RIDE OUR BIKES DOWN THERE ON A SATURDAY. WE’D BE GONE ALL DAY… [WE WOULD] GO TO THE GURNEY MUSEUM AND CHECK THINGS OUT… WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THINGS LIKE THE TWO-HEADED CALF OR THE LAMPS MADE OUT OF DEER ANTLERS, AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WOULD IMPRESS YOUNG PEOPLE… WE WERE PRETTY LUCKY… WE’D HAVE A DIME OR A NICKEL TO DO THOSE KINDS OF THINGS… EVERYBODY THAT WENT INTO THE MUSEUM UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL AND YOU DIDN’T HANDLE THE OBJECTS OR RUN AROUND IN THERE… YOU COULDN’T RUN AROUND [BECAUSE] IT WAS SO JAMMED FULL OF STUFF! YOU COULD HARDLY GET THROUGH IT… I DON’T REMEMBER IT BEING SORTED OUT INTO TYPES, IT WAS JUST A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF… I DON’T REMEMBER EVERYTHING BEING LABELLED, BUT I CAN KIND OF RECALL THAT SOME THINGS HAD NAMES OR PLATES ON THEM TO TELL WHAT THEY WERE… EVERYBODY WAS REALLY RESPECTFUL [AND] I WAS JUST SO IMPRESSED WITH ALL THE NEAT THINGS IN THAT MUSEUM.” SEE PERMANENT FILE P19890044001 FOR HARDCOPIES OF RESEARCH MATERIAL AND FULL TRANSCRIPT OF EDMUNDSON INTERVIEW. SEE RECORD P20120003000 FOR GURNEY GRANDDAUGHTER TRUDY CAREY’S RECOLLECTIONS ON THE MUSEUM.

Catalogue Number

P20120003000

Acquisition Date

2011-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail