Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1930

Materials

LEATHER, FUR

No. Pieces

1

Length

33.0

Width

28.0

Description

GREEN LEATHER BOOT SHAPED FOOT WARMER, BOTH FEET FIT TOGETHER INSIDE. BLACK FUR LINING. LABEL INSIDE "HARRODS LTD. LONDON". FRAYED ON BOTTOM OF TOE. BOTTOM LINING IS CRACKING SLIGHTLY.

Subjects

HOUSEHOLD ACCESSORY

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

*UPDATE* IN 2017, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF BOXED TEXTILES AND ARTIFACTS IN RELATED LOCATIONS, INCLUDING THIS FOOT WARMER. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY PUNDYK AT ST. THERESE VILLA ON 23 NOVEMBER 2017 WITH DONOR JOYCE LYCKMAN AND HER DAUGHTER, VIRGINIA BIRSS. JOYCE DOREEN LYCKMAN (NEE EELY) WAS BORN IN BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND IN 1922. SHE LIVED WITH HER FAMILY ABOVE A BUTCHER’S HOUSE IN BOURNEMOUTH. SHE ATTENDED SECRETARIAL COLLEGE, AFTER WHICH – DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR – SHE WENT TO LONDON FOR SECRETARIAL DUTIES RELATED TO THE WAR EFFORT. THE WOMEN IN LONDON WOULD HOST DANCES FOR SOLDIERS, AND AT ONE OF THESE DANCES, LYCKMAN MET A CANADIAN SOLDIER BY THE NAME OF EDGAR VERDEN LANGFORD. BIRSS EXPLAINED TO HER MOTHER, “FROM WHAT I RECALL, YOU [JOYCE AND EDGAR] MET AT A DANCE. YOU WERE ENTERTAINING THE SOLDIERS AT THE DANCE, WHEN THEY WERE STATIONED IN THE LONDON AREA, RIGHT? AND THEY WERE DOING THEIR DRILLS AND ALL THE STUFF THAT THEY NEEDED TO DO, TO PREPARE TO GO INTO WAR, AND YOU JUST DID SOME ENTERTAINMENT FOR THEM, HELPING THEM TO BE HAPPY, RIGHT? AND THAT’S HOW YOU MET DAD.” THE COUPLE MARRIED ON MAY 6, 1944 IN SOUTH BOURNE, ENGLAND. THOUGH LYCKMAN COULD NOT RECALL FOR CERTAIN, SHE AND HER DAUGHTER (BIRSS) BELIEVE THIS FOOT WARMER WAS BROUGHT IN A LARGE TRUNK WITH LYCKMAN WHEN SHE MADE THE MOVE FROM ENGLAND TO CANADA. BIRSS EXPLAINS, “[SHE] BROUGHT ONE TRUNK WITH [HER] POSSESSIONS - LIKE CLOTHES AND THINGS THAT [SHE] THOUGHT THAT [SHE] MIGHT NEED IN CANADA… [SHE] PROBABLY BROUGHT ONE TRUNK AND ONE SUITCASE, BECAUSE I REMEMBER [HER] HAVING A BIG SORT OF LEATHER, WOOD-BRACED TRUNK, AND A LEATHER SUITCASE, AS WELL. I DON’T KNOW WHAT ALL [SHE] BROUGHT, BUT I REMEMBER THOSE TWO ARTICLES BEING IN THE HOME, AND THEY WERE VERY OLD, AND I BELIEVE THEY WERE FROM ENGLAND. [SHE] CAME ON THE SHIP.” BIRSS BELIEVES HER MOTHER WOULD HAVE PACKED THE FOOT WARMER ANTICIPATING THE COLD IN CANADA – AND LYCKMAN DOES, IN FACT, REMEMBER IT BEING VERY COLD WHEN SHE FIRST MOVED TO THE NEW COUNTRY. IT IS SPECULATED THAT A HOT WATER BOTTLE WOULD HAVE BEEN INSERTED INTO THE FOOT WARMER TO KEEP FEET WARM. BIRSS SUSPECTS THAT THIS ITEM WOULD HAVE BEEN ESPECIALLY USEFUL IN ENGLAND, WHERE MOST HOMES DID NOT HAVE CENTRALIZED HEATING. BIRSS DOES NOT BELIEVE TO HAVE EVER SEEN THIS FOOT WARMER, SO SHE GUESSES THAT BECAUSE THERE WAS CENTRALIZED HEATING IN CANADA, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO USE FOR THE FOOT WARMER. IT IS BELIEVED THE ARTIFACT WAS IN STORAGE UP UNTIL THE TIME OF DONATION TO THE MUSEUM. IT IS SUPPOSED THAT THIS ARTIFACT WAS PURCHASED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, BECAUSE THE INSIDE TAG OF THE FOOT WARMER READS “HARRODS.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT GOING INTO THE ICONIC LONDON STORE TO POSSIBLY PURCHASE THE ITEM, LYCKMAN STATED THE STORE “WAS A BIT BEYOND ME.” CONTINUING ON THE SUBJECT OF LYCKMAN’S IMMIGRATION TO CANADA, BIRSS SPOKE TO HER MOTHER, “BUT IT MUST’VE BEEN A VERY LONG JOURNEY AND SORT OF SCARY, HEY? LANDING IN HALIFAX AND THEN BEING TRANSPORTED BY TRAIN TO TORONTO, THEN BEING MET IN TORONTO AND TAKEN TO THE FARM. ALL VERY NEW AND VERY DIFFERENT. AND YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING INTO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. THE GREAT FOREST AND THE GREAT WILDERNESS AND THE GREAT UNKNOWN.” LYCKMAN AGREED. LYCKMAN FIRST LANDED IN HALIFAX AND THEN TOOK A TRAIN TO HER AND EDGAR’S NEW HOME IN ONTARIO. BIRSS REMEMBERS THAT HER MOTHER FOUND THIS FIRST CANADIAN HOME TO BE “VERY, VERY COLD, AND IT WAS VERY PRIMITIVE. IT WAS VERY PRIMITIVE COMPARED TO ENGLAND.” THE COUPLE SETTLED THERE WHILE EDGAR LANGFORD FINISHED HIS STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ONTARIO VETERINARY COLLEGE (GUELPH). HE GRADUATED IN 1949 WITH A DEGREE IN VETERINARY MEDICINE AND IN 1950 HE RECEIVED HIS DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC HEALTH. THIS EDUCATION ENABLED HIM TO OBTAIN A JOB AS A VETERINARY SCIENTIST AT THE ANIMAL DISEASE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN LETHBRIDGE, WHICH LED TO THE FAMILY RELOCATING THERE IN 1950. SPEAKING TO HER MOTHER, BIRSS SAID, “REMEMBER WHEN WE FIRST CAME, YOU LIVED ON THE ANIMAL DISEASES RESEARCH INSTITUTE, IN THE VALLEY, IN A TINY LITTLE TWO-BEDROOM HOUSE. I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF IT EXISTS ANYMORE, BUT WE LIVED ON THE RESEARCH STATION IN A LITTLE HOUSE PROVIDED FOR US, AND THERE WAS A FIRE AND A FLOOD IN THE TIME I REMEMBER, WHEN WE WERE THERE. AND, WE HAD TO LEAVE THE HOUSE BECAUSE OF A FLOOD. ACTUALLY THE WATER DIDN’T QUITE REACH OUR HOUSE, BUT IT CAME VERY CLOSE. AND THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THERE WAS A GRASS FIRE, AND WE HAD TO ALL GET OUT THERE, AND HIT THE GRASS WITH WET RAGS, AND WET POTATO SACKS, AND STUFF TO TRY TO KEEP THE FIRE AWAY FROM THE HOUSES, AND THE STATION. THAT WAS AWAY BACK IN THE 1950’S. AND THEN WE MOVED FROM THE RESEARCH STATION TO NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. IN, I THINK, AROUND 1956 OR 7, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT WAS AFTER THE FLOOD AND FIRE, ANYWAY, AND I WAS IN GRADE THREE, I THINK, WHEN WE MOVED TO NEW WESTMINSTER. AND, THAT WAS A VERY CIVILIZED PLACE BECAUSE IT HAS AN ENGLISH BACKGROUND. NEW WESTMINSTER HAS A LOT OF ENGLISH HERITAGE THERE, AND YOU REALLY LIKED IT THERE BECAUSE OF THE ENGLISH HERITAGE. IT’S LIKE A ‘LITTLE’ VICTORIA, AT THE TIME. AND WE LIVED IN NEW WESTMINSTER FOR SEVERAL YEARS. DAD WORKED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, IN PATHOLOGY, AND ALSO WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PATHOLOGY IN A STATION AT ABBOTSFORD, AND THEN YOU MOVED BACK HERE IN 1968 FOR DAD TO WORK ON THE ANIMAL DISEASES RESEARCH INSTITUTE AGAIN, BUT WHEN YOU MOVED BACK HERE, YOU LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE, NOT ON THE RESEARCH STATION. THAT WAS IN ’68. AND YOU’VE LIVED HERE IN LETHBRIDGE EVER SINCE, SO THIS IS REALLY YOUR HOME, BECAUSE YOU’VE LIVED HERE MORE THAN YOU LIVED IN ONTARIO; MORE THAN YOU LIVED IN B.C. MOST YEARS HERE IN LETHBRIDGE.” TOGETHER THE COUPLE HAD FOUR CHILDREN: GEOFFREY LANGFORD, VIRGINIA BIRSS, CAROLYN LANGFORD, AND KATHRYN KOENIG. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM EDGAR LANGFORD’S LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY: LANGFORD WAS BORN IN ONTARIO AND JOINED THE 16TH\43RD BATTERY R.C.A. C.A.S.F. IN 1940 AND SAW ACTIVE DUTY AS A GUNNER IN CANADA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND CONTINENTAL EUROPE. HE RECEIVED HIS DISCHARGE ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1945. AFTER MOVING TO LETHBRIDGE, HE WORKED AS A VETERINARY SCIENTIST AT THE ANIMAL DISEASES RESEARCH INSTITUTE (A.D.R.I.). FOLLOWING HIS RETURN TO THE CITY AFTER HIS EMPLOYMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, HE ASSUMED THE POSITION OF HEAD OF THE BACTERIOLOGY SECTION, A.D.R.I. LETHBRIDGE. HE RETIRED IN 1980. EDGAR PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 4, 1992 AT 70 YEARS OF AGE. NOTE: UPON REVIEW OF THE ABOVE OBITUARY INFORMATION, DAUGHTER VIRGINIA BIRSS STATES THAT HER FATHER DIED AT THE AGE OF 69 – SIX WEEKS BEFORE HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY. IN 1980, JOYCE WAS REMARRIED TO RAYMOND LYCKMAN AFTER MEETING HIM AT A SENIOR DANCE. TOGETHER THEY DANCED WITH THE GOLDEN MILE DANCERS. RAYMOND PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON OCTOBER 13, 2017 AT THE AGE OF 104 YEARS. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES.

Catalogue Number

P19760041000

Acquisition Date

1971-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail