Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1972

Date Range To

1973

Materials

COTTON, WOOL, FELT

No. Pieces

1

Length

16

Width

9

Description

FABRIC ORNAMENT PADDED AND SEWN INTO A BELL; FABRIC IS MULTI-COLOURED GREEN, RED, PURPLE, PINK, AND YELLOW WITH A RED WAVY STRIPE GOING AROUND BELL; BOTTOM OF BELL HAS ROUND RED FELT RINGER SEWN ON; TOP OF BELL HAD GREEN YARN HANGING-LOOP ATTACHED. YARN HANGING-LOOP IS FRAYED; FELT RINGER HAS MINOR RESIDUE; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

LEISURE

History

ON FEBRUARY 5, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED BARB CAVERS REGARDING HER DONATION OF ITEMS FROM HER HOME AND TEACHING CAREER. ON THE HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS, CAVERS RECALLED, “MY SON WAS BORN IN 1972, AND I TAUGHT HALF-TIME FOR THREE YEARS, AND THEN HAD MY DAUGHTER. I WAS OFF FOR A YEAR, AFTER HE WAS BORN…I WAS WORKING HALF-TIME, AND HAD THE TIME TO DO CRAFTS…THIS WAS A REALLY CRAFTY TIME, IN THE ‘70S. PEOPLE WERE DOING A LOT OF MACRAMÉ AND KNITTING, AND SEWING…IT WAS IN A MCCALL’S BOOK, THAT I SAW THESE MACRAMÉ SNOWFLAKES, AND I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE COOL TO MAKE, SO THAT’S WHAT I WOULD DO IN THE AFTERNOONS. I WOULD TEACH IN THE MORNING, AND HAD A WONDERFUL BABYSITTER WHO CAME INTO THE HOUSE. SHE WAS AN OLDER LADY. SHE WAS LOVELY…SHE WOULD DO THE HOUSEWORK, AS WELL AS LOOK AFTER MY SON…I’D COME HOME FROM WORK, AND SHE’D SAY, ‘OK. I’VE MADE YOU SOME SOUP…AND SOME COOKIES, ENJOY THE AFTERNOON’…I HAD A CHILD WHO WAS ALMOST THREE, AT THAT POINT, BUT I DON’T RECALL HIM BEING VERY DIFFICULT TO LOOK AFTER. HE WAS VERY HAPPY TO PLAY…SO I HAD TIME…[I] MADE A VARIETY OF THESE ORNAMENTS…THERE WERE BOOKS—‘MCCALL’S NEEDLEWORK’ AND ‘MCCALL’S CRAFTS’…‘WOMAN’S DAY’ ALWAYS HAD CRAFT IDEAS. I GOT THE IDEA TO MAKE THE STUFFED FABRIC ORNAMENTS, AND GOT BITS OF FABRIC FROM MY MOM…THIS BELL WAS MADE FROM A MATERIAL THAT MY SISTER HAD AS A DRESS, SO THEY’D ALL BE MADE FROM JUST LITTLE BITS AND PIECES…THE COOKIE DOUGH WAS JUST A…FLOUR AND WATER WITH SALT IN IT, AND I USED COOKIE CUTTERS TO MAKE THEM, AND THEN PAINTED THEM, SO I HAD SEVERAL SETS OF COOKIE CUTTERS, AND ENJOYED PAINTING THEM…OUR WHOLE TREE, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, WAS JUST THINGS THAT I HAD MADE. WE DID THAT FOR A WHILE, AND THEN I FIGURED IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON, AND THEY GOT PUT IN A BOX, BUT I COULDN’T THROW THEM OUT, BECAUSE I HAD SPENT HOURS MAKING THEM…MAKING LOTS OF MEMORIES THAT IT BRINGS BACK, OF THE TIME WHEN THE KIDS WERE LITTLE, BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN ABOUT 6 MONTHS LATER…TIMES WHEN THE KIDS WERE LITTLE, AND THEY COULD TOUCH THINGS ON THE TREE WITHOUT HURTING THEM.” “[WE LIVED AT] 648 14TH STREET SOUTH, AND IT WAS AN OLDER HOME. IT WAS OUR FIRST HOME. WE HAD LIVED IN AN APARTMENT FOR THREE YEARS, AND THEN MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE.” “I HAD A BOX [OF THE ORNAMENTS]. I THINK I HAVE A FEW LEFT AT HOME. MY GRANDDAUGHTERS EACH CHOSE ONE OF EACH THAT THEY WANTED, AND I’LL PROBABLY PUT A COUPLE AWAY FOR MY GRANDSON. THE OLDER GRANDKIDS DIDN’T GET THAT OPPORTUNITY, BUT THEY WOULDN’T HAVE SHARED THEM IN THE SAME WAY.” “[I SAVED THE ORNAMENTS] PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE TIME I INVESTED IN MAKING THEM, AND PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE PERIOD OF MY LIFE WHEN THE KIDS WERE LITTLE, AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. WHEN I LOOK AT THEM, THEN I THINK OF CHRISTMAS’S-PAST, WHEN THEY WERE LITTLE, AND SO EXCITED ABOUT CHRISTMAS. THAT’S THE BEST PART OF CHRISTMAS WHEN YOU’VE GOT LITTLE KIDS AROUND. NOT SO MUCH FUN WHEN IT’S JUST GROWN-UPS!” “I THINK [THE CRAFTING CRAZE WAS] PART OF THE LATE ‘60S-EARLY ‘70S WAS KIND OF THE ‘RETURN TO THE EARTH’…THE HIPPIE KINDS OF THINGS, SO PEOPLE WANTED MORE NATURAL THINGS; THEY WANTED THINGS THAT YOU HAD MADE YOURSELF, THINGS THAT WEREN’T MASS-PRODUCED…FOR US, AS I SAY, MY MOTHER SEWED. WE DID ALL THESE CRAFTS AT HOME. I KNOW WE DID COPPER AT ONE POINT…IF THERE WAS SOMETHING FUN TO DO, THAT WE FIGURED WE COULD DO, SHE’D BE ALL FOR THAT. THERE WAS NEVER ANYTHING THAT I THOUGHT I COULDN’T DO. ‘I KNOW I CAN DO THAT. HOW HARD COULD IT BE?’ SOMETIMES HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190005001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190005010

Acquisition Date

2019-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail