Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1985

Materials

METAL, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

7

Height

36

Width

32.3

Diameter

29.5

Description

RED PLAID, 4-GALLON, CLYINDRICAL COOLER WITH RED HANDLE, REMOVABLE LID, PLASTIC SHELF INSERT, AND ICE PACKS. A: COOLER BODY. RED, BLACK, AND YELLOW PLAID. AROUND THE BOTTOM AND TOP OF COOLER IS A TAN SECTION, WITH A DOUBLE YELLOW DOTTED LINE, TO GIVE THE EFFECT OF STITCHES IN FABRIC. RED PLASTIC HANDLE ATTACHED ON ONE SIDE WITH A BLACK SCREW (MISSING ON OTHER SIDE). INSIDE OF COOLER IS SILVER COLOURED AND HAS A SMALL LIP 4.2CM DOWN FROM EDGE FOR THE SHELF (C) TO SIT ON. OVERALL GOOD CONDITION. BLACK SCREW FOR ONE SIDE OF HANDLE MISSING. LARGE DENT IN CENTRE OF COOLER ON ONE SIDE. DENT DOES NOT EXTEND TO THE INSIDE OF THE COOLER. LOTS OF SCUFF MARKS AND SCRATCHES IN THE PLAID SURFACE ALL OVER BODY OF COOLER. SILVER COLOURED LINING SCUFFED AND SCRATCHED. RUST MARKS ON THE BOTTOM OF COOLER FROM ICE PACKS. B: COOLER LID. CIRCULAR. RED, BLACK, AND YELLOW PLAID. AROUND THE OUTSIDE IS A TAN SECTION, WITH A DOUBLE YELLOW DOTTED LINE, TO GIVE THE EFFECT OF STITCHES IN FABRIC. SLIGHT INDENDATIONS OPPOSITE EACH OTHER MAKE HAND GRIPS TO REMOVE LID. INSIDE OF LID IS SILVER COLOURED. STAMPED ONTO INSIDE OF LID: "HAMILTON - THE SKOTCH KOOLER* - A PETRA CABOT DESIGN - THE HAMILTON METAL PRODUCTS CO. HAMILTON, OHIO, PAT. APP. FOR" OVERALL GOOD CONDITION. SURFACE HAS SOME SMALL SCRATCHES. A FEW WATER MARKS ON THE SURFACE. A FEW VERY SMALL DENTS ON THE INSIDE SURFACE. C: SHELF. CLEAR PLASTIC, CIRCULAR, REMOVABLE SHELF. HAS TWO INDENTED SECTIONS, OPPOSITE EACH OTHER, TO FACILITATE THE REMOVAL OF THE SHELF. GOOD CONDITION. PLASTIC IS SLIGHTLY OPAQUE FROM SCRATCHES. SMALL CRACK (5.5CM LONG) IN PLASTIC. SOME CIRCULAR RUST SPOTS ON SHELF. D-G: ICE PACKS. SMALL METAL CANS, RED, BLACK, AND YELLOW PLAID. AT JOINT OF CAN, THERE IS A 2.1CM STRIPE OF UNFINISHED METAL. TOPS AND BOTTOMS ARE TAN AND HAVE A YELLOW DOTTED LINE AROUND THE OUTSIDE. IN THE CENTRE READS: "HAMILTON - SKOTCH ICE - FREEZE AGAIN AND AGAIN - DO NOT OPEN". OTHER END READS: "HAMILTON - SKOTCH ICE - THE HAMILTON METAL PRODUCTS CO. HAMILTON, OHIO" OVERALL GOOD CONDITION. SOME SMALL SCRATCHES IN PLAID FINISH. EVIDENCE OF RUST ON TOPS AND BOTTOMS AND ALONG EXPOSED METAL SURFACE OF CAN.

Subjects

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

LEISURE

History

THIS COOLER SET WAS ACQUIRED SOMETIME IN THE LATE 1950s. IN AN ORAL INTERVIEW WITH THE DONOR, BARB CAVERS, AND HER SISTER, KIT MCRAE, CONDUCTED BY KEVIN MACLEAN IN JULY 2015, BARB AND KIT BELIEVE THAT THE COOLER CAME FROM A WHOLESALE STORE LOCATED ON 5TH STREET, AND THAT THE STOREFRONT IS NOW OCCUPIED BY BREAD, MILK, AND HONEY (FORMERLY THE ROUND STREET CAFÉ). BARB RECALLED THAT “BECAUSE DAD HAD A RETAIL STORE HE COULD GO AND BUY THINGS THERE … AND THIS MAY HAVE COME FROM THERE OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN A PROMOTION THAT IF YOU BOUGHT SO MANY ITEMS FROM A PARTICULAR WHOLESALER, THAT THEY WOULD GIVE YOU STUFF … I DON’T THINK WE EVER ASKED WHERE IT CAME FROM. BUT IT WOULD BE IN THE LATE ‘50s THAT WE STARTED USING IT.” IN A NARRATIVE HISTORY, SUMITTED AT THE TIME OF DONATION, BARB SPECULATED THAT THE COOLER WAS “A PROMOTIONAL GIFT RECEIVED THROUGH THE DRUG STORE (LOCATED IN THE MARQUIS HOLTEL), BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN PURCHASED IN THE LATE 50s.” THIS COOLER SET IS PART OF A LARGER SET OF PICNIC ITEMS THAT WERE USED BY THE WILLOUGHBY FAMILY, BEGINNING IN THE 1950s UNTIL THE 1980s. GEORGE AND JEAN WOULD TAKE THEIR DAUGHTERS, BARB AND KIT (CATHERINE), FOR PICNICS IN THE SUMMER, ON SUNDAYS. THE FAMILY OUTINGS WERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GEORGE TO RELAX FOLLOWING A LONG WORK WEEK. THE PICNICS WERE A CHANCE FOR GEORGE TO “GET OUT IN HIS NICE CAR AND GO FOR A DRIVE”, ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE PASTTIMES. PICNICS WERE HELD IN VARIOUS PLACES, INCLUDING LITTLE BOW, CHAIN LAKES, WILLOW CREEK CAMPGROUND, PARK LAKE, WATERTON NATIONAL PARK, AND THE ST. MARY’S DAM. IN HER NARRATIVE HISTORY, SUBMITTED AT THE TIME OF DONATION, BARB CONTINUED, SAYING: “OUR SUNDAY DRIVES TOOK US TO MANY PLACES IN THE SURROUNDING AREA. EARLY TRIPS WERE TO THE ST. MARY RIVER. WE WOULD PUT ON OUR SNEAKERS AND WADE ACROSS THE RIVER TO THE HUGE SAND BAR, WHERE WE WOULD PLAY IN THE SAND FOR HOURS.” IN HER NARRATIVE HISTORY, BARB EXPLAINED THAT “OUR PICNIC MEALS WERE OFTEN QUITE ELABORATE. MUM WOULD BE UP EARLY MAKING FRIED CHICKEN, WHICH SHE WOULD PACK IN A SMALL ROUND ROASTER AND WRAP IT IN NEWSPAPER BEFORE PACKING IT INTO A CARDBOARD BOX, WHERE IT WOULD STAY WARM FOR SEVERAL HOURS. OTHER PICNICS MIGHT BE JUST SANDWICHES INSTEAD OF THE CHICKEN. I REMEMBER SLICED CHICKEN, TUNA SALAD, AND CHEESE IN DOUBLE DECKER SANDWICHES, AND OF COURSE, PEANUT BUTTER AND CRABAPPLE JELLY WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER." ACCORDING TO JEAN’S OBITUARY, GEORGE AND JEAN WERE CLASSMATES IN THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA. FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF THEIR DEGREES, THEY WERE MARRIED IN EDMONTON IN SEPTEMBER 1941. THEY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1948 WITH THEIR TWO DAUGHTERS AND OPERATED WILLOUGHBY DRUGS (LATER KNOWN AS THE MARQUIS DRUGSTORE), LOCATED IN THE MARQUIS HOTEL. JEAN RENEWED HER PHARMACIST LICENSE IN 1961 AND SHE AND GEORGE WORKED TOGETHER UNTIL 1980, WHEN THEY RETIRED. GEORGE PASSED AWAY IN 2005 AT THE AGE OF 90 AND JEAN IN 2009 AT THE AGE OF 93. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE WILLOUGHBY FAMILY.

Catalogue Number

P20100049002

Acquisition Date

2010-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail