Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"LANDMARK"

Date

1941

Materials

PAPER, GLASS, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Length

47.9

Width

56.2

Description

WATERCOLOUR PAINTING IN MATTE AND FRAME; PAINTING DEPICTS A BARRACKS BUILDING AND FENCE ON THE LEFT AMIDST GREEN TREES ON THE RIGHT, WITH A PINK/PURPLE/BLUE ROAD IN FOREGROUND AND TWO FIGURES WALKING ON ROAD IN KHAKI UNIFORMS; BACKGROUND OF PAINTING FEATURES A BLUE SKY WITH GREY CLOUDS. PAINTING IS CONTAINED IN A YELLOWED MATTE-BOARD WITH BROWN TEXT IN LOWER LEFT CORNER “LANDMARK” AND BROWN TEXT IN LOWER RIGHT CORNER “P.J. COLLINS”. LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF PAINTING HAS RED INITIALS “P.J” IN A RED CIRCLE BESIDE BLACK TEXT “ ‘41”. MATTE-BOARD AND PAINTING ARE ENCLOSED IN BROWN WOODEN FRAME. BACK OF FRAME IS BROWN PAPER WITH SILVER METAL HANGING WIRE ACROSS BACKING; WIRE IS SECURED TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT EDGES OF FRAME WITH SILVER HOOKS. BACK OF FRAME HAS A PINK PAPER LABEL ALONG LOWER EDGE WITH BLACK PRINTED TEXT, “FROM ALEX WOOD, COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND PICTURE FRAMER, 840 – 12TH STREET SOUTH LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA”. WOODEN FRAME IS CHIPPED AND SCRATCHED ON FRONT ALONG EDGES; BACK OF FRAME HAS MINOR TEARS AND STAINING IN PAPER; FRONT OF PAINTING AND MATTE-BOARD INSIDE OF FRAME HAVE MINOR STAINING; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED KAY WHEELER AND GAYLE KRAMPL REGARDING WHEELER’S DONATION OF A P.J. COLLINS PAINTING. ON HER ACQUISITION OF THE PAINTING, WHEELER RECALLED, “I GOT IT DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AND THERE WAS A LITTLE HUT DOWN THE CORNER OF FOURTH AVENUE AND [FIFTH] STREET I…THAT’S WHERE THE HOME PEOPLE [SOLD WAR BONDS]…THEY [ALL] WANT TO HELP…YOU BUY THE BOND AND AT DIFFERENT PRICES…THEY’D BE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS FOR MAYBE TEN TICKETS, AND THEN THEY [WOULD] HAVE THE DRAW. THAT’S HOW I WENT ABOUT ASKING PEOPLE TO DONATE [TO THE WAR EFFORT] AND WE LIKED TO THINK THAT THAT’S HELPING. I WOULD BUY…JUST THE LITTLE SMALL PIECES OF INFORMATION DURING THE WAR. MY FATHER [ERNEST CRADDOCK] BOUGHT A TICKET [FOR] THIS LOVELY PICTURE AND WHEN IT CAME TIME TO DRAW, HE WON THE DRAW AND HE IN TURN GAVE ME THAT PICTURE…THE SCHOOLS WERE REALLY INTO THIS [TYPE] OF THING…AT RECESS, ESPECIALLY AROUND CENTRAL SCHOOL OR BOWMAN SCHOOL, THAT THEY WOULD BE MADE AWARE THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A PARADE AND TO TRY TO RAISE MONEY [FOR THE WAR EFFORT].” “I WOULD SAY I WAS ABOUT TWELVE [WHEN THE SECOND WORLD WAR WAS HAPPENING]…I LIVED JUST RIGHT NEXT TO CONYBEARE HILL…281 7TH AVENUE SOUTH…[WE KNEW P.J. COLLINS] HE EVEN USED TO HAVE SIGNED THINGS…HE WAS WELL KNOWN.” WHEELER ELABORATED ON HER MEMORIES OF THE WAR SAVINGS STAMPS HUT, SHARING, “[BUYING THE WAR BONDS] WAS JUST SOMETHING YOU DID NATURALLY, YOU WOULD MAYBE NOT EVEN THINK WHEN YOU WALK DOWN FOURTH AVENUE OR FIFTH STREET, AND YOU WOULDN’T EVEN THINK MAYBE YOU WERE GOING TO SPEND A LITTLE MONEY ON [WAR BONDS]—BUT EVERYBODY JUST ENDED UP DOING THAT. THIS IS THE DAY WE’RE GOING TO RAISE A BOND—“A BOND’S GOING TO BE ABOUT A HUNDRED DOLLARS TODAY”…WHERE THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN, DRAWN, WAS THE BARRACKS FOR THE ARMY…THEY ALL WORKED OUT THERE EVERY DAY…SO THERE WERE PEOPLE LIKE TO JOIN IN AND PARADE TOO, RIGHT WHERE THE YATES WAS.” “YOU PAID [FOR WAR BONDS] DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU WANT TO PAY OUT ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY…YOU GIVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE MAYBE JUST TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS AND THEY PUT THAT…AT CERTAIN TIMES MAYBE YOU NEED THAT DOWN THE ROAD, THE MONEY FROM THAT, SELLING IT…ALL KINDS OF THINGS WERE SOLD AT THAT LITTLE SHED.” “[THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE WAR STAMPS HUT WERE] BOND HERRING MOSTLY…EVERYBODY TOOK A TURN…ONE OTHER PERSON THAT DID A LOT IS MR. SHACKLEFORD, I CAN REMEMBER HIM…I REMEMBER A LOT OF THEM THAT I DON’T KNOW—THE SOLDIERS WOULD JUST BE MARCHING AND THERE WOULD BE MUSIC SOMETIMES AND GETTING PEOPLE HEPPED UP SO THEY WOULD GIVE AS MUCH AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN.” ON HER MEMORIES OF LETHBRIDGE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, WHEELER NOTED, “[PEOPLE IN LETHBRIDGE] WERE VERY INTO [THE WAR BONDS]…YOU COULDN’T GET SUGAR OR YOU COULD ONLY GET CERTAIN THINGS AT CERTAIN TIMES OF THE MONTHS. AND NO CANDY AT ALL, AND THEY WERE JUST ALL HEPPED UP AND THEN OF COURSE THEY HAD THE [POW CAMP].” “WHEN WE WOULD GO TO LCI [LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE], THEY WOULD LINK TRUCKS OF [POWS]…THEY WOULD GO BY AND WAVE AT US…WE THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST TERRIBLE AND WE’D BOO THEM AND STICK OUR TONGUE OUT AT THEM, AND THE ONE THAT REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW WE ACTED WAS THE JAPANESE DOING THAT MORE. AND AFTER PEARL HARBOUR…THEY REACTED TO A LOT OF THINGS.” “[MY BROTHER] WAS A LIEUTENANT COLONEL…THE FIRST ONE TO GO TO THE WAR WAS MY BROTHER, AND THERE WERE SEVERAL…HE TRAINED IN SHILO [MANITOBA]…[HE] WENT TO ENGLAND AND THEN FROM ENGLAND HE WENT TO NORTH AFRICA AND THEN THEY WENT ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN, HE WENT UP ITALY AND ENDED UP IN HOLLAND…HE KIND OF CAME HOME QUITE BITTER.” “THE YMCA THAT WAS RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE BARRACKS, AND THEY USED TO HAVE A DANCE EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT AND AT MY AGE, THAT WAS VERY DANGEROUS TO GO AT NIGHT, BUT THE PEOPLE ALWAYS WERE REALLY GOOD AT DEVELOPING THINGS FOR THE SOLDIERS, SOMETHING FOR THEM TO DO. BUT THEY HAD TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT THEY WERE DOING…[I WAS AFRAID OF THE SOLDIERS BECAUSE] THEY WERE A LONG WAY FROM HOME AND THEY WANT SOMETHING TO DO AND…MAYBE BEING NATURAL, GET INTO A LITTLE TROUBLE.” WHEELER SHARED HER THOUGHTS ON GROWING UP DURING THE WAR, RECALLING, “[I HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS WHEN I THINK OF GROWING UP DURING THE WAR] I JUST FIND IT REALLY STRONG, THAT IT WAS FRIGHTENING…WHEN YOU CAME DOWN, THEY HAD HAD LITTLE PARADES AND THEY CAME DOWN FIFTH STREET AND TURN THE CORNER TO FOURTH AVENUE, AND PEOPLE WERE JUST HEPPED…IT’S REALLY SPECIAL…” “THERE WOULD BE SOMEONE TO TELEGRAPH [NEWS ABOUT THE WAR]…DURING THE WAR, THERE WAS A REALLY LOVELY FAMILY, GERMAN FAMILY. THAT WAS NOT A GOOD THING TO BE IN THAT AGE AND THAT TIME…THIS GERMAN FAMILY, ONE DAY IN CENTRAL SCHOOL, I WAS THERE AND THIS LOVELY YOUNG GIRL SAID, ‘WE HAVE TO LEAVE, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO GERMANY.’ THAT WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS OF ALL…WE WERE ALL HUGGING THIS FAMILY, AND ONE DAY SHE WASN’T THERE AND WE NEVER HEARD FROM HER AGAIN…IT WAS FRIGHTENING, BECAUSE THAT’S HOW THEY INFORMED PEOPLE [ABOUT] WHAT HAPPENED.” “[MY COUSIN] WAS KILLED BUT IT WASN’T IN THE WAR, HE WAS A SOLDIER IN REGINA AND THAT MIGHT NOT BE QUITE RIGHT, BUT IT WAS IN SASKATCHEWAN AND HE GOT HIT BY A MOTORCYCLE, AND HIT THE CURB…THEY CALLED MY AUNT AND UNCLE, FLEETWOODS…SOMEBODY CAME TO THE DOOR TO SAY, ‘KEN HAD BEEN KILLED’…[EVERY TIME SOMEONE CAME TO THE DOOR WE WERE SCARED].” ON THE PAINTING AND HER MOTIVATIONS FOR DONATING IT, WHEELER NOTED, “I THINK [THE PAINTING] MADE ME FEEL THAT IT’S VERY IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE REALIZE WHAT WE ALL WENT THROUGH, SOME MORE THAN OTHERS…I JUST LOOK AT IT…IT BRINGS BACK SO MANY MEMORIES.” “[THE PAINTING] BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF ALL THOSE SOLDIERS AND THAT…SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET IT THAT NIGHT…YOU THINK WHEN YOU GO TO BED, YOU JUST WONDER WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. I THINK THIS PICTURE IS JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS—IT’S GOT TO BE REMEMBERED. THOSE PEOPLE GAVE THEIR LIVES.” “IT’S JUST MY AGE…I DON’T KNOW WHY JUST RIGHT NOW, BUT I THINK THAT IT’S ONLY FAIR THAT THE CHILDREN KNOW WHAT PEOPLE WENT THROUGH IN THOSE DAYS.” AN EMAIL FROM GAYLE KRAMPL ON JULY 22, 2019 NOTES, ON THE HISTORY OF THE PAINTING, “THERE WAS CONTINUOUS FUND RAISING FOR THE SOLDIERS DONE AT THAT TIME. MY MOTHER BELIEVES THIS LOTTERY WAS IN 1942…THE SCENE IS OF THE 20TH FIELD BATTERY AT CIVIC CENTER BETWEEN THE CURRENT CITY HALL AND THE YMCA. SOLDIERS WOULD DRILL AND LIVE IN THE AREA THAT IS CURRENTLY THE CITY HALL, RCMP OFFICE, TENNIS COURTS, THE YATES AND PARTS OF THE PRESENT CIVIC CENTRE FIELD. AFTER TRAINING HERE, THE SOLDIERS WOULD GO OVERSEAS...” THE WAR SAVINGS STAMPS HUT WAS REPORTED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON OCTOBER 23, 1940 AS BEING BUILT BY CHAIRMAN J.H. WALKER AND COMMITTEE. A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE FROM NOVEMBER 2, 1940 NOTES THAT THE HUT WAS OPERATED BY WOMEN FROM LOCAL IMPERIAL ORDER DAUGHTERS OF THE EMPIRE (IODE). IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE COMPILED THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON P.J. COLLINS FROM RECORD P20120016001: THE ARTIST, PHILIP JEROME COLLINS, WAS BORN NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND ON AUGUST 14, 1884. HE WAS THE SON OF CHARLES JEROME COLLINS, WHO WAS ALSO AN ARTIST. THERE WERE TEN CHILDREN IN COLLINS FAMILY, NINE BOYS AND ONE GIRL. COLLINS IMMIGRATED WITH HIS BROTHER TO CANADA IN 1911 AT THE AGE OF 27. HE WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER FOR 30 YEARS, BEGINNING HIS CAREER IN 1919 IN RURAL SCHOOLS, AND LATER TEACHING AT CENTRAL WESTMINSTER SCHOOLS. COLLINS WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE LETHBRIDGE SKETCH CLUB ALONG WITH ARTIST ANNABELLE MCKENZIE, DORA TREW AND JESSIE URSENBACH. COLLINS ATTENDED THE FIRST SKETCH CLUB MEETING THAT WAS HELD ON OCTOBER 7, 1932, AT THE HOME OF MCKENZIE, AND WAS APPOINTED SECRETARY OF THE CLUB. UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM TEACHING IN JUNE 1949, HE BEGAN PRODUCING PAINTINGS AT THE RATE OF 8 TO 10 PER A YEAR. HIS MEDIUM OF CHOICE WAS OIL ON MASONITE. IN 1966 HE HAD A ONE MAN SHOW AT BOWMAN ARTS CENTRE. COLLINS PASSED AWAY IN 1975. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES ON THE WAR SAVINGS STAMPS HUT AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190024000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190024000

Acquisition Date

2019-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail