Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

FUR COAT

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1930

Materials

WOOL, COTTON, RAYON

No. Pieces

1

Length

102.0

Width

41.5

Description

LAMB'S WOOL OR "MUTTON" FUR COAT, RAYON LINING AND COTTON BATTING. NO LABELS COAT IS WORN, LINING FRAYED AND FUR IS LIFTING FROM SKIN.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

OWNED ORIGINALLY BY ESTER ELFORD, DONOR'S AUNT WHO HOMESTEADED WITH HER PARENTS IN BURDETT AREA CA 1910. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING ARTICLES, INCLUDING FRED ELFORD’S WEDDING COAT (P19870048006). THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION COMES FROM ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND “BURDETT PRAIRIE TRAILES: A HISTORY OF BURDETT AND AREA” PUBLISHED IN 1981 BY THE BURDETT HISTORY BOOK COMMITTEE. FRED R. ELFORD WAS BORN IN MITCHELL, ON ON OCTOBER 8, 1871 TO JONATHAN AND MARIA (NEE TILLEY) ELFORD. THE ELFORD FAMILY MOVED TO ROCHESTER, MN IN 1873. LATER, FRED AND HIS WIFE ADA (NEE KOELSCH) MOVED TO A FARM NEAR COGSWELL, ND. IN 1910 MANY MEMBERS OF THE ELFORD FAMILY, INCLUDING FRED, JOINED THE LONG LINES OF HOMESTEADERS AT THE LAND OFFICE BUILDING IN LETHBRIDGE. BY MARCH 1910, FRED WAS ABLE TO MOVE HIS FAMILY TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA. FRED AND ADA HAD 5 CHILDREN, RUTH (DIED 1917), ESTHER (BORN 1905; DIED 2002), WESLEY (BORN 1909), DAVID (BORN MARCH 7, 1918; DIED JUNE 2, 1998), AND DORIS (BORN 1920). ESTHER CAROLINE ELFORD WAS BORN NEAR ROCHESTER, MN ON MARCH 31, 1905 AND PASSED AWAY MAY 9, 2002, AT THE AGE OF 97. SHE WAS THE SECOND OLDEST CHILD OF FRED AND ADA (NEE KOELSCH) ELFORD. ESTHER ATTENDED CALGARY NORMAL SCHOOL, THEN THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, AND WORKED AS A SCHOOL TEACHER. SHE SERVED IN THE W.R.C.N.S. FROM 1942-1945. SHE RETIRED FROM TEACHING IN 1970. ELAINE MARTIN, THE DONOR, IS ESTHER’S NIECE (ELAINE’S FATHER IS DAVID ELFORD). SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARD COPIES OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND PHOTOCOPIES FROM THE BURDETT HISTORY BOOK. *UPDATE* IN 2018, GALT COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A RELEVANCY AUDIT OF THE MUSEUM’S BOXED TEXTILE COLLECTION WHICH INCLUDED THE EXAMINATION OF A RECORD FOR A WEDDING GOWN DONATED BY ELAINE MARTIN IN 1994. PUNDYK RE-CONNECTED WITH MARTIN ON APRIL 18TH 2018 TO SOLICIT NEW COMMENTS ON THE GOWN AS WELL AS NEW INFO ON OTHER EXISTING DONATIONS. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE ARTIFACT, ELAINE MARTIN SAID “IT WAS I ASSUME IT’S A MOUTON FUR COAT, WHICH NOBODY KNOWS WHAT MOUTON IS ANYMORE BUT THAT, I THINK, IS LAMB. AND THAT WAS BECAUSE ESTHER [MY AUNT] TAUGHT AT SOME OF THE SMALL SCHOOLS BEFORE SHE WAS ABLE, YOU KNOW, COMING TO LETHBRIDGE TO SCHOOL. I CAN’T REMEMBER ALL THE SCHOOLS SHE WAS AT BUT I KNOW MCNALLY, WHERE SHE LIVED IN A TEACHERAGE AND OFTEN HAD TO WALK FROM THE TEACHERAGE TO THE SCHOOL, WHICH COULD BE ANY DISTANCE AND THE WINTERS WERE VERY COLD IN THOSE DAYS, SO WOMEN WORE FUR COATS WAY, WAY MORE THAN THEY DO NOW AND THAT THE STYLE OF THAT, THE MOUTON FUR, JUST THE FACT THAT FUR COATS WERE COMMON, IS THE REASON THAT I DONATED THAT. BECAUSE NOW THEY ARE TOTALLY OUT OF STYLE. AND IN THE OLD DAYS EVERYBODY HAD ONE. EVEN WHEN I WAS YOUNG I HAD ONE, BUT YOU DON’T DARE WEAR THEM ANYMORE. NOW WINTERS AREN’T AS COLD EITHER. … WHEN WE STILL LIVED ON THE FARM AND SHE WAS AWAY THEN, VARIOUS PLACES. SHE WOULD OFTEN WEAR IT. WHILE IN THE WINTER, IF SHE CAME, SHE WORE IT. YES. EVERYDAY. YES THAT WAS FOR WARMTH.” ON HER AUNT ESTHER, “ESTHER BECAUSE SHE WAS THE OLDER SISTER, AND HAD A GOOD JOB TEACHING SCHOOL, SHE WAS THE ONE THAT SENT THE OTHER KIDS, PAID FOR THEM TO GO TO UNIVERSITY. SHE WAS PAYING FOR - SHE PAID FOR [HER BROTHER] WESLEY TO BECOME AN ENGINEER, AND SHE PAID FOR DADDY TO GO TO UNIVERSITY A COUPLE OF YEARS TOO. YOU KNOW, JUST PASSING IT ON, SORT OF THING. … I WENT TO LIVE-IN SCHOOL FOR TWO YEARS OF GRADE 12 AND SHE PAID FOR THAT TOO. EDUCATION WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO HER AND SHE HAD, SHE WASN’T MARRIED, HAD NO KIDS OF HER OWN, SO SHE LOOKED AFTER EVERYBODY.” ON HER DECISION TO DONATE THE ARTIFACTS, “WHEN MY MOTHER DIED WE CLEANED OUT HER HOUSE. IN HER HOUSE WAS ALL HER STUFF PLUS SEVERAL GRANDMOTHER’S STUFF AND WE JUST TRIED TO FIND A PLACE WHERE IT WOULD BE BEST UTILIZED AND WE COULDN’T THROW IT OUT. …IT IS CERTAINLY NOTHING SENTIMENTAL. IT’S JUST PURELY PRACTICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ERA BECAUSE TIMES HAVE CHANGED SO MUCH SO RAPIDLY, THAT I THINK WE NEED TO REMEMBER HOW THINGS WERE. WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A THOUSAND KIDS IN MAY AND JUNE COME THROUGH THE MUSEUM WITH THE TRACTOR CLUB IN PICTURE BUTTE ON FIELD TRIPS AND THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE USED TO LIVE IN TWO ROOM HOUSES WITH SEVERAL CHILDREN. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT SCHOOLS USED TO HAVE A WATER PAIL AND A DIPPER, AND EVERYBODY DRANK OUT OF THE SAME DIPPER, SO KIDS NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE IT PRETTY DARN LUCKY.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, INCLUDING INTERVIEW AND INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P19870048001

Acquisition Date

1987-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail