Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CHILD'S DRESS

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1963

Materials

VELVET, LACE, ELASTIC

No. Pieces

1

Length

43.0

Width

57.3

Description

PURPLE VELVET DRESS WITH WHITE LACE; SHORT-SLEEVED WITH A COLLAR. FLOWER PATTERNED LACE, WITH A STRIP ACROSS THE CHEST, AND ALL AROUND THE SKIRT, MID-WAY DOWN. ELASTIC SLEEVE CUFFS. OPEN AT THE BACK, FROM NECKLINE TO WAIST, WITH TWO WHITE BUTTONS. STRAPS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE WAIST, CONNECT BEHIND THE BACK WITH TWO WHITE BUTTONS. VG. BROWN STAIN ON PURPLE VELVET ABOVE SKIRT HEM, BACK RIGHT SIDE. SMALL 1 CM BROWN STAIN ON A LACE AROUND SKIRT, FRONT LEFT-CENTER. THE BOTTOM EDGES OF THE LACE ARE FUZZY, WITH LOOSE STRINGS AND FLUFF.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

ON NOVEMBER 25, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED BERNADINE STANG REGARDING HER DONATION OF EIGHT PIECES OF CHILDREN'S CLOTHING FORMERLY WORN BY HER. ON DECEMBER 3, 2019, KEVIN MACLEAN ALSO INTERVIEWED EILEEN GRAHAM, BERNADINE’S MOTHER, ON THE CLOTHES. ON THE PURPLE DRESS, EILEEN RECALLS, “WELL [THE DRESS] IS THE ONE MY MOTHER GAVE HER AGAIN AND, WHY SHE PURCHASED IT IN RED DEER AND IT WAS FOR A SPECIAL- LIKE SHE’D SEND A GIFT FOR LIKE SAY ST. PATRICK’S DAY OR VALENTINE’S DAY.” BERNADINE ADDS, “OF COURSE I LOVE PURPLE SO THE PURPLE DRESS…I RECALL WEARING IT. BUT I’VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY ABOUT PURPLE SO I’M NOT SURPRISED THAT I DO REMEMBER THAT DRESS AND FEELING PRETTY IN IT AND ITS GOT LACE ON IT. YEAH I DO LOVE THAT.” A PHOTO SHARED BY BERNADINE AT THE TIME OF DONATION SHOWS HER WEARING THE PURPLE DRESS. TAKEN AT HER GRANDPARENTS, GRANT AND ELIZABETH GRAHAM'S FARM AT COUTTS. UNKNOWN AGE. ON HOW SHE ACQUIRED THE CLOTHES, KEPT IN HER GREAT-GRANDPARENTS TRUNK, BERNADINE STATES, “I HAVE FOUR BROTHERS BUT... BECAUSE I’M THE ONLY GIRL, SHE HAD KEPT MY BABY CLOTHES, MAINLY DRESSES, YOU KNOW VERY GIRLY THINGS IN THE TRUNK AND…SHE THOUGHT MAYBE I WOULD WANT THOSE ITEMS…BECAUSE OF THE MEMORIES ATTACHED TO IT AND…I REMEMBER LOOKING AT MY PHOTOGRAPHS AND I REMEMBER SOME OF THE OBJECTS IN THERE.” EILEEN RECALLS, “I HAD PUT THE CLOTHES IN [THE TRUNK] BECAUSE SHE WAS THE ONLY DAUGHTER I HAD, AND I HAD FOUR SONS, AND SO I GAVE THEM TO HER IN HOPES THAT SHE WOULD HAVE A GIRL AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT SHE HAD THREE BOYS…LITTLE GIRLS YOU WORE A DRESS ON THEM FOR SUNDAY AND TOOK ‘EM OFF AGAIN BECAUSE WE LIVED ON THE FARM. SO, SHE ONLY WORE HER LITTLE COAT SETS AND STUFF TO CHURCH AND COME HOME YOU’D TAKE ‘EM OFF, SO THEY WERE JUST LIKE BRAND NEW." ON HOW SHE ACQUIRED THE CLOTHING, EILEEN STATES, “THESE WERE ALL LIKE GIFTS…MY HUSBAND [EUGENE "GENE” GRAHAM] IS THE OLDEST OF SEVEN, AND HIS MOTHER WAS FROM A FAMILY OF TEN, SO WE WERE THE FIRST ONES TO HAVE CHILDREN. SO, HIS MOTHER’S ONE OF THE OLDER ONES OF THE TEN, AND SO ALL THE SISTERS AND BROTHERS GAVE US A PILE OF GIFTS. AND THE NEIGHBOURS, WHEN THEIR CHILDREN OUTGREW CLOTHES, THEY HANDED THEM TO YOU. IT WAS A DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE BACK THEN THAN WHAT IT IS NOW, AND WHEN YOU LIVE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY THERE’S MORE GIVING AND SHARING THAN THERE IS IN THE CITY.” “[GENE’S] YOUNGEST SISTER WAS ONLY A YEAR AND A HALF OLD WHEN HE GOT MARRIED, SO YOU KNOW STUFF THAT [HIS SISTER WORE] WAS PASSED TO ME FOR BERNADINE. HIS MOTHER [ELIZABETH GRAHAM] WAS A BEAUTIFUL SEAMSTRESS SO, A LOT OF THE THINGS WE NEEDED SHE WOULD JUST BUY A PIECE OF MATERIAL AT SHELBY- WHICH WAS CLOSER FOR US, IT WAS THIRTY-FIVE MILES TO GO TO SHELBY…IN THEM DAYS WELL THINGS WERE QUITE A BIT CHEAPER DOWN THERE AND BETTER QUALITY, AND YOU COULD GET A SIZE THAT YOU NEEDED…SHELBY WE WENT TO A LOT OR CUTBANK, MONTANA.” REFERENCING PIECES THAT WERE NEWLY BOUGHT AT THE TIME, EILEEN RECALLS HER MOTHER, ANNA BAST, “SHE’D ALWAYS [HAVE] A PARCEL IN THE MAIL FOR THE TWO OLDEST KIDS AND SO. THERE WAS ONLY THREE IN MY FAMILY, I’M THE MIDDLE GIRL AND THERE [ARE] FOUR NEPHEWS, MY ONE SISTER IS OLDER AND MY YOUNGER ONE IS NINE YEARS YOUNGER. THERE WAS NO PASSING AROUND [OF GIRLS CLOTHES] TOO MUCH…SHE’D SEND US A CARE PACKAGE, I ALWAYS CALLED IT. THERE WAS ALWAYS CANDIES IN IT, AND AN OUTFIT FOR EACH OF THE KIDS…SHE’D GO SHOPPING AT THE BAY OR…EATON’S IN RED DEER.” EILEEN, REMEMBERING RAISING KIDS ON A MILK RIVER FARM, STATES, “DON’T DO IT WHEN YOU’RE YOUNG, AND IF YOU AREN’T A FARMER…I THINK I WAS ABOUT ONE OF THE ONLY OUTSIDERS THAT WAS DOWN THERE. GENE HAPPENED TO GO TO SCHOOL IN RED DEER AND HE LIVED WITH HIS COUSIN IN RED DEER…AND I HAPPENED TO MEET HIM JUST BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL WITH HIS COUSIN. SO THAT’S HOW I GOT DOWN IN THAT COUNTRY. ORIGINALLY I WAS BORN IN STETTLER, BUT LIVED IN RED DEER, VANCOUVER, CALGARY…I WAS BORN IN THE WAR YEARS SO WE MOVED AROUND QUITE A BIT.” “I WAS SEVENTEEN TEN DAYS WHEN WE GOT MARRIED…[GENE] WAS NINETEEN…WE GOT MARRIED IN RED DEER AND WE WENT DOWN [TO MILK RIVER]. WE HAD A TWENTY-ONE FOOT HOLIDAY TRAILER AND HE HAD A HALF SECTION OF LAND THAT HE HAD RENTED, AND HE INSISTED HE WAS GOING TO BE A FARMER. SO I WENT DOWN TO WHAT HE CALLS “GOD’S COUNTRY,” AND I SAID “WELL, GOD’S COUNTRY. HE’D BE THE ONLY ONE THAT WOULD WANT TO LIVE DOWN HERE” BECAUSE THEY’RE LOTS OF RATTLESNAKES BACK THERE AND SAGEBRUSH…SO, YOU KNOW YOU WERE SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. NOBODY AROUND, NOTHING AND IT’S QUITE A SHOCK.” “I DIDN’T HAVE ANY RELATIVES, I HAD NOTHING. JUST HIS SIDE OF THE FAMILY WERE ALL DOWN THERE...YOU HAD TO LEARN HOW TO PROVIDE WITH NOTHING FROM NOTHING BECAUSE WHEN YOU BUY LAND AND IT ISN’T BROKE AND YOU GET YOUR CROPS, YOU GET THREE AND FIVE BUSHELS TO THE ACRE AND STUFF LIKE THAT…YOU LEARNED TO LIVE OFF THE LAND. [WE] ATE A LOT OF DEER MEAT I’LL TELL YOU THAT.” ON GROWING UP, BERNADINE RECALLS, “I WAS BORN [IN 1960] AND RAISED ON A FARM IN MILK RIVER, ALBERTA CLOSE TO THE WRITING-ON-STONE PARK. MY BROTHER WAS BORN AND MY PARENTS LIVED ON MY GRANDPARENTS’ FARM THREE AND ONE HALF MILES AWAY BUT I BELIEVE WHEN I WAS BORN WE MOVED INTO A HOLIDAY TRAILER AND IT WAS ON THAT PROPERTY ON THE FARM…MY DAD BUILT LIKE A PORCH ON THE FRONT AND THEN HE BUILT THIS SQUARE BUILDING AND WE HAD OUR BUNK BEDS, ME AND MY OLDER BROTHER, AND WE HAD A CHESTERFIELD AND A FREE STANDING HEATER IN THE CORNER AND THERE WAS A FRIDGE WITH A SMALL TV ON TOP…I LIVED IN THERE UNTIL I WAS SIX.” GENE’S MOTHER, ELIZABETH GRAHAM, PASSED AWAY ON MAY 13, 2015, AT 97 YEARS. EILEEN’S MOTHER, ANNA BAST (MCLEAN), PASSED AWAY ON NOVEMBER 12, 1996, AT 82 YEARS. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PHOTOS REFERENCED AND COPIES OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190029001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190029006

Acquisition Date

2019-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail