Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SOAKER

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1945

Materials

WOOL

No. Pieces

1

Length

20

Width

28.5

Description

OFF-WHITE KNITTED DIAPER COVER. ALL ONE PIECE, TWO LEG HOLES, WITH DRAWSTRING WAIST. DIAGONAL SEAMS ON THE FRONT MAKE AN INVERTED "V" POINTING UP TOWARDS THE WAIST BAND FROM THE LEG HOLES. YARN APPEARS TO HAVE YELLOWED OVER THE YEARS. SEVERAL HOLES IN THE STITCHING, INCLUDING ON THE DIAGONAL SEAM ABOVE THE RIGHT LEG HOLE, ON THE BACK RIGHT BACK (HOLES ON THE FRONT AND BACK ALMOST LINE UP), AND ON THE WAISTBAND, ESPECIALLY AT THE BACK. DRAWSTRING STILL IN WAISTBAND, BUT IS NOW IN TWO PIECES. DIAGONAL SEAMING ON THE FRONT SHOWS QUITE A LOT OF TENSION/STRESS.

Subjects

CLOTHING-UNDERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

THIS DIAPER COVER BELONGED TO ROBERT ALLAN SMITH (THE DONOR) AS A CHILD AND WAS SAVED FOR DONATION TO THE MUSEUM BY HIS MOTHER, PHYLLIS SMITH. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED FROM ROBERT SMITH IN AN ORAL INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY KEVIN MACLEAN ON 5 MARCH 2015. BEGINNING IN THE 1940S, THE SMITH FAMILY RESIDED AT 1254 7 AVENUE SOUTH. PHYLLIS REMAINED AT THE SAME ADDRESS UNTIL HER DEATH AT 104 YEARS OF AGE, ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2009. WHILE CLEANING UP HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE, THE DONOR CAME ACROSS SEVERAL BAGS MARKED ‘FOR MUSEUM’. THE ITEMS WERE USED COLLECTIVELY BY THE DONOR AS AN INFANT UNTIL THE AGE OF APPROXIMATELY 9 YEARS OLD. IN THE INTERVIEW, KEVIN ASKS IF ROBERT HE FELT HIS CHILDHOOD WAS IDYLLIC. ROBERT RESPONDS, SAYING: “I WAS BORN IN WARTIME STILL, AND MAYBE IT WASN’T IDYLLIC FOR MY PARENTS, BUT IT WAS FOR ME. AND THE NEIGHBOURHOODS WERE DIFFERENT THEN. YOU WERE JUST LET OUT THE DOOR AND YOU WENT OUT TO PLAY WITH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD KIDS AND THERE WERE NO CONCERNS THAT THE PARENTS HAVE TODAY. YES, A VERY HAPPY TIME, I WOULD SAY.” ROBERT WAS BORN IN OCTOBER 1940 TO PHYLLIS (NEE GROSS) AND ALLAN F. SMITH, AT ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL. PHYLLIS WAS IN HARVEY, ND AND MOVED INITIALLY WITH HER FAMILY TO A FARM IN THE GRASSY LAKE AREA. SHE MOVED INTO LETHBRIDGE AND ATTENDED ST. BASIL’S SCHOOL IN THE 1910S. ALLAN WAS BORN IN ECHO BAY, ON. HE WAS OFFERED A JOB AT WESTERN GROCERS IN LETHBRIDGE AND MET PHYLLIS WHILE IN THE CITY. THEY WERE MARRIED ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1939. ROBERT IS AN ONLY CHILD AND SUFFERED FROM RHEUMATIC FEVER AS A CHILD. HE BELIEVES THIS MAY BE PART OF THE REASON HIS MOTHER SAVED THESE ITEMS. HE EXPLAINS, SAYING: “I’M AN ONLY CHILD AND THEY WOULD BE MORE MEANINGFUL AND I WENT THROUGH A CHILDHOOD ILLNESS. I HAD RHEUMATIC FEVER. I MIGHT NOT HAVE SURVIVED. SOME OTHER KIDS DIDN’T SURVIVE, BUT I DID.” HE ALSO DESCRIBES HIS MOTHER AS BEING “A SAVER OF THINGS. HAVING GONE THROUGH THE DEPRESSION … THEY SAVED LOTS OF STUFF … ANYTHING THEY THINK THEY MIGHT USE IN THE FUTURE WAS SAVED.” PHYLLIS WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN THE 1970S AND WORKED AT THE GALT MUSEUM AS PART OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY”. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND COPIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES.

Catalogue Number

P20150013010

Acquisition Date

2015-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail