Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BREAD MAKING BOWL

Date Range From

1913

Date Range To

2007

Materials

ENAMEL, IRON

No. Pieces

1

Height

14

Diameter

32.3

Description

BOWL, ROUND PALE GREEN ENAMEL COATED IRON. DARK GREEN ENAMEL RING AROUND RIM WHICH HAS FOLDED LIP. VARIOUS CHIPS CONCENTRATED AROUND RIM, BOTTOM INSIDE AND BOTTOM OUTSIDE. CHIPPED AREAS INSIDE HAVE RUST. BOWL IS DISCOLOURED INSIDE.

Subjects

FOOD PROCESSING T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

AT THE TIME OF DONATION, GALT STAFF CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH IRMA DOGTEROM REGARDING ITEMS IN HER DONATION. RESPONDING TO A QUESTION REGARDING THE PROVENANCE OF THE BOWL, DOGTEROM REPLIED, “IT CAME FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM IN ABOUT 1915 AND IT WAS GIVEN TO EMILY DOGTEROM NEE CHARISS BY THE LADY WHO WAS THE HEAD OF THE FARM'S BOARDING HOUSE AND SHE WAS WORKING OUT THERE. HER FAMILY HAD LEFT HER HERE IN LETHBRIDGE WHEN SHE WAS THIRTEEN AND SHE GOT A JOB OUT AT THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM AS A KITCHEN MAID AND THAT’S HOW SHE KEPT HERSELF ALIVE FOR THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS UNTIL SHE GOT MARRIED. AND THEY, THAT COUPLE THAT HAD THE BOARDING HOUSE, THEY ALMOST GREW LIKE THEY HAD ADOPTED HER BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED AFTER EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. WHEN THEY DISCOVERED SHE WENT TO SEE WHAT TIME IT WAS ON THE CLOCK ONE DAY SHE HAD TO STAND RIGHT UNDERNEATH IT, THEY TOOK HER THE NEXT DAY TO HAVE HER EYES CHECKED. SHE NEEDED GLASSES.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT WHEN THE BOWL CAME INTO HER POSSESSION, DOGTEROM RESPONDED BY SAYING, “1950 WHEN I GOT MARRIED. JAKE’S MOTHER GAVE IT TO ME SO I COULD MAKE BREAD, SHE HAD TWO. [I DIDN’T HAVE ONE AT THE TIME], NOT ANYTHING LIKE THAT. [I DIDN’T MAKE BREAD A LOT] BECAUSE THE LITTLE KIDS DIDN’T EAT A LOT OF BREAD AND JAKE AND I WERE NOT GREAT BREAD EATERS, MAYBE ONCE A WEEK.” DOGTEROM’S RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION REGARDING HER ENJOYMENT OF BREAD MAKING WAS, “OH YEAH, MY MOTHER HAD MADE BREAD FOR SEVEN CHILDREN TWICE A WEEK, SEVEN OR EIGHT LOAVES. [I USED IT] RIGHT UP UNTIL FIVE YEARS AGO ‘CAUSE WHEN YOU GOT A MIX MASTER, THEN THIS BOWL WOULDN’T WORK WITH THE MIXER, OR YOU WERE MAKING CHRISTMAS CAKES, THIS BOWL WOULD WORK FINE FOR DOING THE FRUIT SO IT WAS IN USE FOR MOST OF THOSE YEARS. [MY HUSBAND’S MOTHER EMILY DOGTEROM NEE CHARISS RECEIVED IT] FROM MRS. MALONEY. MRS. MALONEY AND HER HUSBAND WERE THE HOUSEKEEPERS OR RUNNERS, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM OF THE BOARDING HOUSE, THERE WAS A LOT OF SINGLE MEN THAT STAYED THERE. WHEN JAKE’S MOTHER ACCEPTED A RING FROM HIS DAD ALL THE MEN IN THE BOARDING HOUSE CAME DOWN WITH A CHICKEN RING ON THEIR FINGERS. SO…’CAUSE I DON’T THINK IT’S USED THE SAME WAY NOW AT THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM. I DON’T THINK THEY HAVE THE BOARDING HOUSE AT ALL, BUT AT THAT TIME THERE WERE LOTS OF SINGLE MEN AND THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER PLACE TO STAY SO THEY WOULD STAY AT THE BOARDING HOUSE. THAT IS WHERE SHE MET JAKE’S DAD. JAKE’S MOTHER WAS A KITCHEN MAID OUT THERE. [MRS. MALONEY GAVE IT TO HER] BECAUSE SHE KNEW SHE DIDN’T HAVE ONE. AT THAT TIME SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING; SHE HAD GONE THERE AS A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD. SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING EXCEPT THE CLOTHES ON HER BACK. HER PARENTS HAD BEEN LIVING IN LETHBRIDGE BUT HER FATHER DIED IN 1913 AND HER MOTHER REMARRIED, AND SHE DID NOT CARE FOR THE NEW HUSBAND. IT TURNED OUT, IN LATER YEARS, THAT SHE PROVED TO BE QUITE RIGHT BUT ANY RATE SHE LEFT THE HOUSE AND WENT AND GOT THE JOB AT THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM. AND WHEN HOYLE,(WAS THE OTHER GUY’S NAME), FOUND OUT WHERE SHE WAS HE WENT OUT THERE AND TOLD MRS. MALONEY THAT SHE COULD KEEP WORKING THERE BUT HE WANTED THEM TO PAY HER WAGES TO HIM. THEY DIDN’T DO IT, THANK GOODNESS. THERE WAS ANOTHER CASE OF, AROUND THAT TIME, THEY WERE LIVING IN A SMALL HOUSE ON THE NORTH SIDE AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT THE HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE AND THE FAMILY JUST BARELY ESCAPED WITH THEIR LIVES AND THEY WERE REALLY QUITE CONVINCED THAT HOYLE SET THAT FIRE BECAUSE HER MOTHER AT THAT TIME HAD THE HOUSE THEY WERE LIVING IN AND TWO OTHER HOUSES SO, FOR A WOMAN TO HAVE ALL THAT IN THAT DAY AND AGE, IT MADE HER FAIRLY WEALTHY SO I THINK HE MARRIED HER FOR HER MONEY AND HE SET OUT TO GET HER , BUT IN THE END THEY.. AFTER THAT HAPPENED THEY MOVED DOWN TO THE STATES AND JUST LEFT JAKE’S MOTHER BEHIND. SHE DIDN’T HAVE MUCH CONTACT WITH THEM AFTER THAT. [MY MOTHER-IN-LAW WAS WORKING AT THE EXPERIMENTAL STATION] FROM 1913 TO 1918. I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER VERY MUCH ABOUT MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, PERIOD, BECAUSE IT WASN’T SOMETHING WE DID, TO GO OUT TO HIS HOME AND SPEND MUCH TIME WITH HER , UNTIL WE WERE MARRIED; THEN I FOUND SHE WAS VERY NICE AND RIGHT IN THE SAME YARD. WHENEVER I HAD A QUESTION SHE HELPED ME WITH MANAGING THE COAL STOVE AND SHOWED ME WHERE TO GET THE BUCKETS OF WATER. SHE WAS AN EXCELLENT COOK, AND SHE USED TO BE ABLE TO START TO BAKE SOMETHING IN THAT COAL STOVE, AND ON A HOT SUMMER DAY, BY NOON, THAT STOVE WAS COLD. SHE HAD FINISHED HER BAKING AND THE STOVE WAS NO LONGER HOT. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HER PERSONAL HISTORY, IRMA DOGTEROM RESPONDED BY SAYING, “I WAS BORN IN RAYMOND BUT CAME TO LETHBRIDGE BEFORE I WAS ONE BECAUSE MY FATHER HAD BEEN HIRED TO BUILD THE GREAT BIG ELEVATOR AT THE EAST END OF TOWN. SO THEN, I STAYED IN LETHBRIDGE AND WENT TO SCHOOL AT WESTMINSTER SCHOOL AND THE LCI. AND THEN AFTER I GRADUATED, NOT REALLY QUITE GRADUATED, GRADE ELEVEN, I GOT A JOB WORKING FOR A PHOTO FINISHING PLACE. WHEN I LEFT HIGH SCHOOL, I COULD TAKE SHORTHAND AND TYPE AT 100 WORDS A MINUTE. I NEVER USED IT; EXCEPT WHAT YOU USE FOR THE COMPUTER NOW. ANYWAY, I GOT A JOB FINISHING THE AMATEUR FILM AT A.E. CROSS STUDIO AND I DID THAT UNTIL I GOT MARRIED IN 1950. THEN MY HUSBAND TOOK ME AWAY FROM ALL THOSE CONVENIENCES, WE HAD HAD HOT AND COLD RUNNING WATER, INDOOR PLUMBING, A FURNACE IN THE BASEMENT. I WENT OUT TO A LITTLE THREE-ROOM HOUSE WITH A PATH, A COAL STOVE AND BUCKETS OF WATER. BUT IT WORKED ALRIGHT. AND THERE I STAYED HAVING CHILDREN UNTIL THEY WERE ALL IN, AT LEAST, GRADE FOUR. [I HAD FOUR CHILDREN], THREE GIRLS AND A BOY. AND THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THAT IS THE OLDEST GIRL WAS BORN ON THE 17TH OF JULY AND THE YOUNGEST GIRL WAS BORN ON THE 17TH OF JULY. THERE WERE A COUPLE OF OTHER ONES IN BETWEEN BUT THEY START AND END THE SAME WAY. AFTER THEY GOT INTO SCHOOL, I WAS VOLUNTEERING TO HELP IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY WHERE THEY WERE IN SCHOOL WHICH WAS MCNALLY AND ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER. I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT LIBRARY BOOKS AND LIBRARY SERVICES AND I FINALLY WENT AND TOOK A UNIVERSITY COURSE AT UNIVERSITY ON HANDLING LIBRARIES AND BOOKS. [THIS] WAS PROBABLY AROUND ’65 BECAUSE IN ’68, I WENT TO WORK AT GALBRAITH SCHOOL.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION WITH IRMA DOGTEROM, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20120004004

Acquisition Date

2012-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail