Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1948

Materials

WOOD, BRASS, METAL

No. Pieces

8

Height

5.8

Length

20.7

Width

7.2

Description

A. BOX, 5.8 CM H X 20.7 CM L X 7.2 CM W. BROWN WOODEN BOX WITH ELEVEN HOLES CARVED INTO TOP OF VARIOUS SIZES TO HOLD WEIGHTS; BOX HAS CARVED GROOVE RUNNING AROUND SIDES 1 CM BELOW TOP. BOX IS STAINED WITH WHITE PAINT; BOX IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON TOP AND SIDES; TOP OF BOX IS WORN AROUND THE HOLES; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. B. WEIGHT, 2LBS, 5.1 CM DIAMETER X 7.8 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “2 LBS S 19”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “GR/X, 10”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. C. WEIGHT, 1LB, 4 CM DIAMETER X 6.4 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “1 LB S 19”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “GR/X 10”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. D. WEIGHT, 8 OZ, 3.2 CM DIAMETER X 4.9 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “8 OZ AV S 19”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “GR/X 10”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. E. WEIGHT, 4 OZ, 2.9 CM DIAMETER X 4 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “4 OZ AV”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “GR/X 10”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. F. WEIGHT, 2 OZ 2 CM DIAMETER X 3.2 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “2 OZ AV”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON SIDE “8 GR/W”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. G. WEIGHT, 1 OZ, 1.6 CM DIAMETER X 2.9CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “1 OZ AV”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “1”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. H. WEIGHT, ½ OZ, 1.3 CM DIAMETER X 1.8 CM TALL. BRASS WEIGHT WITH ROUND HANDLE AT TOP; WEIGHT HAS TEXT ENGRAVED ON TOP “1/2 OZ AV”; WEIGHT HAS ENGRAVED TEXT ON BOTTOM “10 3”. WEIGHT IS HEAVILY SCRATCHED ON SIDES AND BOTTOM; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

WEIGHTS & MEASURES T&E

Historical Association

BUSINESS

HEALTH SERVICES

History

ON MARCH 13, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED BARB CAVERS REGARDING HER DONATION OF OBJECTS RELATED TO HER FATHER’S DRUG STORE. GEORGE WILLOUGBY’S PHARMACY WAS LOCATED IN THE LETHBRIDGE MARQUIS HOTEL. ON THE WEIGHTS SET, CAVERS RECALLED, “[THE SCALE SET] WAS IN MY DAD’S [GEORGE WILLOUGHBY’S] DRUG STORE, WHICH WAS IN THE MARQUIS HOTEL. WHEN HE TOOK IT OVER, IT HADN’T BEEN RENOVATED…IT WAS QUITE A SMALL STORE, EVEN FOR THAT TIME, BECAUSE IT WAS JUST RIGHT ON THE CORNER, OF THE HOTEL…TOWARDS THE BACK, THERE WAS THE DISPENSARY, AND IT WAS RAISED. IT WAS A STEP-UP, AND THERE WAS DARK WOOD…IT HAD A LITTLE GATE…[THERE WAS] A COUNTER WHERE A LOT OF THE TRADITIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL TOOLS WOULD HAVE BEEN…IN THE CORNER, THERE WAS…[THE] TINIEST SINK I’VE EVER SEEN…PROBABLY ONLY ABOUT TEN INCHES WIDE…[THERE WAS] AN L-SHAPED LITTLE STORAGE AREA BEHIND, AND EVENTUALLY DAD HAD IT RE-DONE, AND MODERNIZED. IT WASN’T HALF AS PRETTY, BUT HE LIKED IT BECAUSE IT WAS MORE MODERN. THIS [SCALE SET] WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS ON THE COUNTER. THERE WERE TWO SEPARATE SETS OF BALANCE SCALES. ONE WAS SMALLER, AND IT WAS USED FOR MUCH SMALLER QUANTITIES. THIS WAS USED FOR LARGER QUANTITIES, AND, IN THE BASEMENT OF THE STORE, THERE WAS A LONG COUNTER, PROBABLY THIRTY INCHES WIDE, AND SIX OR SEVEN FEET LONG, AND IT HAD BINS ON BOTH SIDES. AND, IN THOSE BINS WERE THE POWDERS THAT THEY USED. THE ONLY ONE THAT I REALLY LIKED WAS THE ONE THAT HAD LEMON SQUASH IN IT (WHICH WAS THE FORERUNNER TO LEMONADE), BECAUSE IT SMELLED GOOD. ALL THE OTHERS SMELLED DRUG-STORE-Y…WHEN I WAS LITTLE, [THE PHARMACISTS] WOULD STILL MAKE MANY OF THEIR OWN OINTMENTS, AND LIQUIDS…REMEMBER, AT ONE TIME, THEY EVEN HAD EMPTY CAPSULES THAT THEY WOULD FILL. SO, IT WAS A DIFFERENT ERA ALTOGETHER.” “THIS [SET] WAS UPSTAIRS…THERE WERE TWO…THE OTHER ONE HAD SMALLER WEIGHTS…IT HAD A LITTLE DRAWER IN IT. IT HAD A LITTLE BOX LIKE THIS, TOO, AND IT HAD JUST LITTLE PIECES OF METAL WITH 1 GRAM…SO THAT YOU COULD WEIGH VERY SMALL QUANTITIES…THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF OTHER MEASURING THINGS. THERE WERE THE GRADUATED CYLINDERS, AND MORTAR-AND-PESTLE…” “[DAD] WAS OF THE GENERATION THAT VALUED NEW THINGS. WHEN THE STORE WAS CLOSING, HE JUST WANTED TO GET RID OF EVERYTHING, AND WE HAD TO KIND OF PUT OUR FOOT DOWN AND SAY, ‘NO, THERE ARE THINGS IN THERE THAT WE WANT’…I THINK HE WAS PLEASED TO HAVE THEM, BUT HE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SENTIMENTAL. HE WOULD NEVER HAVE ADMITTED TO THAT SENTIMENTALITY, EVEN IF HE HAD FELT IT…THERE WERE CERTAIN THINGS, AND PROBABLY MORE THINGS, THAT WE SHOULD HAVE KEPT.” “I CAN’T RECALL [AT WHAT POINT IT WOULD HAVE COME TO THEIR HOME]. WHEN I’M SEEING THE PICTURE IN MY HEAD OF THE NEW RE-BUILT DISPENSARY, I DON’T RECALL SEEING THIS ON THE COUNTER, BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE WAY. HE COULD HAVE JUST TAKEN IT DOWNSTAIRS, OR SOMETHING, AT THAT POINT, BECAUSE IT WAS A BIG BASEMENT, THE SAME CONFIGURATION AS THE STORE ITSELF…IT WAS JUST PUT DOWN THERE, BECAUSE THERE WAS LOTS OF ROOM.” “[I DIDN’T ACQUIRE THIS] UNTIL MY MOTHER MOVED. DAD WENT INTO CARE IN THE FALL OF 1991, AND MOM MOVED OUT OF THEIR CONDO THE FOLLOWING SPRING, AND SHE LIVED IN THE PEMMICAN FOR A YEAR…MY SISTER TOOK ONE, AND I TOOK THE OTHER.” “[I WAS INTERESTED IN IT BECAUSE] I THINK IT’S COOL TO LOOK AT, AND BECAUSE I REMEMBER PLAYING ON IT…IT’S A PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE CITY, SO I’M GLAD IT’S BEEN PRESERVED.” CAVERS ELABORATED ON HER FATHER’S TIME OWNING AND OPERATING THE PHARMACY, NOTING, “WE WENT TO CHURCH AT SOUTHMINSTER, AND MY DAD ALWAYS WENT TO THE STORE. HE NEVER WENT TO CHURCH, AND SOMETIMES I WOULD WALK…BY MYSELF FROM SOUTHMINSTER CHURCH DOWN TO THE HOTEL, WHICH WAS ACROSS FROM THE POST OFFICE, AND MY DAD WOULD BE THERE. AND, THEN I WOULD GET TO PLAY…I WOULD WEIGH THINGS, AND USE THESE WEIGHTS. BUT, I COULD PLAY WITH IT BECAUSE IT WAS BIG, AND NOT VERY DESTRUCTIBLE. SO, I HAVE LOTS OF GOOD ASSOCIATIONS. I CAN SMELL WHAT THE BASEMENT SMELLED LIKE.” “JOHN HIGGINBOTHAM IS REGARDED AS THE FIRST PHARMACIST IN LETHBRIDGE, AND HE OPENED HIS STORE IN 1885, AND IT WAS ON FIFTH STREET. THEN SUTHERLAND BOUGHT THAT BUSINESS (HE WAS THE MANAGER), AND IN 1915 IT WAS CALLED THE REXALL STORE…HIGGINBOTHAM AND COMPANY OPENED A PHARMACY IN THE NEW MARQUIS HOTEL IN 1928. IN 1948, MY FATHER CAME TO TOWN, AND WITH HIS PARTNER MCDERMIAD, BOUGHT THE BUSINESS, AND ANYTHING THAT WAS IN IT. SO, THIS CERTAINLY IS MUCH OLDER THAN 1948…FIRST OF ALL [MY FATHER’S PHARMACY] WAS CALLED WILLOUGHBY MCDERMIAD, AND THEN HE CHANGED IT TO WILLOUGHBY DRUG; THEN MARQUIS PHARMACY WAS HOW IT ENDED UP.” “DAD WAS A PLANNER, AND HE HAD ALWAYS SAID THAT WHEN HE TURNED 65, HE WAS GOING TO RETIRE…AS IT GOT CLOSER TO 1980, HE KNEW THAT HE WASN’T GOING TO BE ABLE TO SELL THE STORE, BECAUSE IT WAS JUST TOO SMALL FOR WHAT DRUG STORES WERE TURNING INTO, SO THAT LOCATION ACTUALLY BECAME THE MARQUIS SMOKE SHOP…THEN WHEN THE HOTEL WAS TORN DOWN [IF I HAD TO GUESS I’D SAY IN 1986]…THEY APPARENTLY HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE BOILER, AND THE OWNERS OF THE HOTEL DETERMINED THAT IT WAS TOO MUCH MONEY TO INVEST IN A BUILDING OF THAT AGE, SO THEY WERE JUST GOING TO TEAR IT DOWN…[MY PARENTS] WERE VERY SAD TO SEE IT GO DOWN, AT LEAST MY MOTHER WAS. BUT, [DAD] WAS GOING TO RETIRE IN 1980, WHEN HE TURNED 65. HE PUT UP SIGNS…IN THE FALL, AND WENT TO WORK EVERY DAY. THERE WAS ALMOST NOTHING LEFT IN THE STORE. HIS BIRTHDAY WAS FEBRUARY 13, BUT I BELIEVE THAT HE CLOSED THE STORE JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT, REALLY, IN IT. ALL OF THE PRESCRIPTIONS WENT TO STOKE’S PHARMACY, TO FRANCES STOKE, AND A LOT OF THE CABINETS…HAD BEEN REMOVED BY THEN.” “HE WAS QUITE A SHREWD BUSINESS MAN. HE WAS QUITE A PRIVATE PERSON. HE DIDN’T TAKE HOLIDAYS, BECAUSE, IF YOU TOOK A HOLIDAY, YOU’D HAVE TO GET A PHARMACIST TO COME IN, AND LOOK AFTER THE STORE. HE DIDN’T LIKE THE THOUGHT OF ANYBODY LOOKING THROUGH HIS RECORDS, AND KNOWING HIS BUSINESS, SO HE RARELY TOOK HOLIDAYS. HE TOOK A FEW, BUT MOST OFTEN, MY MOTHER, AND SISTER, AND I WOULD GO ON HOLIDAYS SOMEWHERE. IN 1967, HE HAD AN APPENDICITIS ATTACK, AND HE DIDN’T WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. THAT WAS AT NIGHT, SO, IN THE MORNING HE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL, AND STILL DIDN’T WANT TO COMPLAIN A WHOLE LOT, AND THEY KEPT PUTTING OFF HIS SURGERY. FINALLY, BY SUPPERTIME, THEY REMOVED HIS APPENDIX AND IT FELL APART. THERE WAS INFECTION THROUGHOUT HIS BODY, AND HE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FROM EARLY JULY UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER, ALMOST DIED. MY MOTHER WAS RUNNING THE STORE, BECAUSE SHE WAS A PHARMACIST, AND SHE WAS NEW TO THE BUSINESS. I KNOW SHE WAS VERY STRESSED AT THE BEGINNING PARTICULARLY. THE DRUG TRAVELERS WOULD COME IN TO REPLENISH THE STOCKS, AND THEY SAID, ‘IT’S OK. HE ALWAYS ORDERED THIS MUCH. IN HIS BUSINESS, HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE NEEDED, AND SO, WE KNOW. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE WOULD ORDER.’ THEN SHE GOT MORE COMFORTABLE AS THE MONTHS WENT ON, AND COULD DO THAT ON HER OWN. HE DID, AT ONE POINT, WANT TO EXPAND. WHEN THE HAIG CLINIC DECIDED THEY WOULD PUT A PHARMACY IN, THEY TOOK BIDS, AND I REMEMBER THEM SITTING AT THE TABLE TALKING ABOUT IT, WHETHER HE SHOULD DO THIS. IT WAS REALLY RISKY FOR HIM TO KIND OF PUT HIMSELF OUT THERE, AND HAVE ALL HIS CONTEMPORARIES KNOW THAT THIS WAS WHAT HE WAS DOING, BUT DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD DO IT. AND, HE WAS QUITE DEVASTATED NOT TO GET IT. DRAFFIN’S GOT IT, AND HIS ASSESSMENT WAS THAT THEY HAD DONE THE ‘SCHMOOZING’ NECESSARY TO GET IT, WHICH WASN’T IN HIS ‘TOOL KIT’. HE DIDN’T DO THAT.” “[DAD WAS] VERY POPULAR WITH HIS CUSTOMERS, BECAUSE HE LOOKED AFTER THEM VERY WELL. HE WAS VERY FRIENDLY—TALKED TO THEM; KNEW THE FARMERS THAT CAME IN FROM MILK RIVER…HE HAD VERY LOYAL CUSTOMERS. HE NEVER QUESTIONED A DOCTOR, OR VERY, VERY RARELY. IF THE DOCTOR SAID THIS WAS WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO, THEN THAT’S WHAT YOU DID. PHARMACY NOW IS VERY DIFFERENT, AND PHARMACISTS GIVE A LOT OF ADVICE. IF HIS CUSTOMERS WOULD ASK HIM FOR ADVICE, ABOUT A PRESCRIPTION OR SOMETHING, HIS NORMAL ANSWER WAS, ‘YOU NEED TO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT THAT’, BECAUSE THAT WAS OVER-STEPPING HIS BOUNDARIES. HE WAS VERY PARTICULAR. NEVER LET A PRESCRIPTION GO OUT WITHOUT CHECKING IT WITH ANOTHER PERSON, AT LEAST TWICE. DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE A MISTAKE. REALLY TOOK THAT PART OF THE JOB SERIOUSLY. HE WAS INNOVATIVE WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF HIS BUSINESS. I KNOW HE GOT THE ELIZABETH ARDEN CONTRACT, WHICH THEY USUALLY DIDN’T PUT INTO DRUG STORES (THEY WOULD USUALLY JUST PUT IT IN DEPARTMENT STORES), AND HE GOT THAT IN THE ‘50S, AND HE WAS JUST THRILLED. IT WAS VERY PRESTIGIOUS AT THAT POINT, AND HE WAS THRILLED WITH THAT.” “WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON USED TO BE BUSINESS CLOSING IN LETHBRIDGE, AND STORES WOULD BE CLOSED ON SUNDAY, BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS A DRUG STORE OPEN. SO, THEY WOULD TAKE TURNS, AND EVERYBODY HAD A LITTLE SIGN IN THEIR DOORWAY, WHICH SHOWED WHICH STORE WOULD BE OPEN…[WHEN I WAS YOUNGER] HE’D PAY US $.25 AN HOUR TO DUST, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO AIR-CONDITIONING AT THAT TIME, AND THE DOOR WAS ALWAYS OPEN, SO DUST WOULD BLOW IN, SO YOU WERE ALWAYS DUSTING ALL THESE THOUSANDS OF LITTLE BOXES AND BOTTLES AND THINGS…HE WOULD SEND ME OVER TO ANOTHER DRUG STORE TO GET SOMETHING THAT HE NEEDED. I BELIEVE IT WAS HIS IDEA THEY KIND OF FORMED A COOPERATIVE, NOT A FORMAL ONE, BUT THEY WOULD ORDER TOGETHER, HE AND A NUMBER OF OTHER [SHOPS] WHO WOULD ORDER TOGETHER TO GET A BETTER PRICE, AND I THINK THAT WAS PROBABLY IN THE LATE ‘50S…HE WAS AS INNOVATIVE AS HE COULD BE, GIVEN THE SIZE OF HIS STORE…VERY PROUD OF WHAT HE HAD ACCOMPLISHED, THOUGH HE NEVER WANTED TO BE A PHARMACIST. HE WANTED TO BE A FARMER. COULDN’T DO THAT, BECAUSE HE HAD NO MONEY…IT WAS DURING THE ‘30S, AND THERE WAS NOBODY THAT HE COULD ARTICLE WITH [TO BE AN ACCOUNTANT]…HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WAS A PHARMACIST IN CALGARY, AND HE SAID, ‘I’LL LOAN YOU THE MONEY IF YOU TAKE PHARMACY’…SO THAT’S WHAT HE DID.” “MY MOTHER THOUGHT IT WAS WONDERFUL [THAT THE PHARMACY WAS IN THE HOTEL] BECAUSE…ANYBODY WHO WAS ANYBODY WOULD STAY AT THE MARQUIS HOTEL…MY MOTHER LOVED THE BALLET, SO SHE WAS ALWAYS THRILLED WHEN THE WINNIPEG BALLET MEMBERS WOULD COME INTO THE DRUG STORE, AND SHE WOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO TALK WITH THEM…SVEN ERICKSON WAS A BIG DRAW FOR THE HOTEL…HE AND DAD WERE FRIENDS…THE MARQUIS HOTEL WAS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PLACE TO BE, AND IT WAS ON A REALLY GOOD CORNER, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM TWO BANKS, AND THE POST OFFICE, SO THERE WAS A LOT OF TRAFFIC AROUND THERE, SO IT WAS A GOOD BUSINESS. STUBBS WAS THE FIRST STORE, I BELIEVE, OUT OF DOWNTOWN, AND THEY BECAME SOME COMPETITION, JUST BECAUSE IT WAS A NEW KIND OF STORE.” “I DID WRITE A SECTION IN MY FAMILY HISTORY BOOK, THE WILLOUGHBY FAMILY, ABOUT BEING IN THE DRUG STORE, AND A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT MY SISTER AND I BOTH REMEMBER. THERE WAS ONE—I’M PRETTY SURE IT WAS JOHNSON PEANUTS, AND IT WAS A WHITE METAL, FREE-STANDING PEANUT STAND, AND IT HAD A LIGHT BULB IN IT. UNDERNEATH IT WAS A STORAGE, AND THERE’D BE…OPEN BOXES OF NUTS…AT THE TOP WAS A SLANTED GLASS FRONT, WITH METAL OPENING AT THE BACK. IT HAD LIKE A ‘LAZY SUSAN’, WITH BINS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ‘LAZY SUSAN’, WITH THE LIGHT BULB ABOVE, AND THE LIGHT BULB WAS JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP THE NUTS WARM. WHEN YOU OPENED THE CASE, THERE WERE BOXES, IF SOMEBODY WAS BUYING A LOT OF NUTS, BUT THERE WERE BAGS OF DIFFERENT SIZES. THERE WAS ONE THAT WAS JUST PROBABLY 3X5, AND IF WE WERE DEEMED WORTHY, AT THE MOMENT, WE COULD GET ONE OF THOSE 3X5 BAGS OF CASHEWS. THAT WAS ALWAYS A TREAT, AND JUST THE SMELL OF IT WAS SO GOOD! THE OTHER THING THAT WAS REALLY DIFFERENT, WAS…THIS CARD STAND, FOR GREETING CARDS, AND IT WAS WOODEN, AND IT HAD RACKS, BUT THERE WAS JUST ONE CARD IN EACH RACK, AND IT WAS IN A PLASTIC HOLDER, AND IT HAD A NUMBER ON IT, LIKE A5. IF YOU LIKED THIS CARD, YOU COULD OPEN IT…YOU WOULD GET SOMEBODY TO HELP YOU OPEN THE DRAWER, AND FIND THE CARD, A5. ONE OF MY JOBS, WHEN I WAS THERE, WAS TO REFILL THE DRAWERS WHEN THE NEW CARDS CAME IN, AND TAKE THE OLD ONE OUT OF THE PLASTIC, AND PUT THE NEW ONE IN. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS KIND OF A COOL JOB. I REMEMBER WHEN THE NEW CARDS CAME IN, THAT WERE THE LONG, NARROW ONES (AND THEY WERE USUALLY FUNNY), BECAUSE THEY WOULDN’T FIT INTO THIS THING, SO THERE HAD TO BE A SPECIAL STAND. THINGS LIKE THAT—THEY JUST HAD ‘PERSONALITY’.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190005001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190005002

Acquisition Date

2019-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail