Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BAPTISE BLOUSE

Date

1879

Materials

COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Length

46.1

Width

36

Description

CREAM COLORED COTTON "BAPTISE" BLOUSE. BUTTON FRONT, LACE TRIM ON SLEEVES & DOWN LAPEL. FLORAL EMBROIDERED FRONT. SAILOR'S SQUARE CUT COLLAR, LACE TRIM. 2 RIBBON TIES AT SMALL OF BACK, 2 BUTTONS ON BACK. 4 BUTTONS DOWN FRONT.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

GIVEN TO DONOR BY FRIEND FROM ROLLING HILLS WHOSE GRANDMOTHER MADE & USED THE BLOUSE AS A YOUNG WOMAN & APPARENTLY DATE TO 1879. DONOR ACQUIRED FROM FRIEND BECAUSE OF HER INTEREST IN ANTIQUE FASHIONS & TEXTILES. *UPDATE* IN 2017 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A BLOUSE AND CAMISOLE DONATED BY ANN POHL. RUTHANN SPOKE WITH THE DONOR'S DAUGHTER, MONIKA, BUT SHE WAS UNABLE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND THE LOCAL HISTORY BOOK “ROLLING HILLS IN RETROSPECT 1939-1989”. ANNELIESE “ANN” POHL (MAIDEN NAME UNKNOWN) WAS RAISED IN HAMBURG, GERMANY AND MOVED TO THE BROOKS, AB AREA WITH HER HUSBAND HARRY AUGUST WILHELM POHL IN 1951. SHE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 85 ON NOVEMBER 17, 2007. HARRY AUGUST WILHELM POHL WAS BORN ON MAY 18, 1920 IN HAMBURG, GERMANY. HE WAS INTERNED AS A PRISONER OF WAR DURING WORLD WAR TWO IN SEVERAL CAMPS, INCLUDING CAMPS IN RED ROCK, ON, KANANASKIS, AB, BROOKS, AB, AND LETHBRIDGE, AB. HARRY PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 82 ON AUGUST 21, 2002. HE WAS THE SON OF AUGUST AND ELLA POHL (NEE JENSEN). AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD ON DECEMBER 10, 1996 HAD THE FOLLOWING TO SAY ABOUT HARRY: “POHL, 76, SURROUNDS HIMSELF WITH PICTURES AND MEMENTOS FROM PRISON. HE RECALLS, WITH SOMETHING ALMOST LIKE FONDNESS, THE 6.5 YEARS HE SPENT IN CANADIAN POW CAMPS FOR NEARLY THE DURATION OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. POHL WAS RELEASED FROM THE LETHBRIDGE CAMP WITH ABOUT 4,000 OTHER GERMAN PRISONERS IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS 1946 … POHL SPENT HIS LAST THREE WEEKS OF IMPRISONMENT IN THE LETHBRIDGE NO. 113 POW CAMP, THE LARGEST CAMP OF ITS KIND IN CANADA. … POHL, A MERCHANT SEAMAN, DID NOT SERVE FOR LONG BEFORE BEING CAPTURED BY THE ALLIES. ASSIGNED TO THE S.S. MAIN WHEN HE WAS 19, THE SUPPLY SHIP WAS SUNK ONLY DAYS AFTER IT LEFT A GERMAN PORT TO SUPPORT THE INVASION OF NORWAY.” IT CONTINUES, GIVING DETAILS OF HARRY’S TIME IN THE BROOKS AREA: “POHL WORKED IN THE FIELDS FOR A LOCAL FARMER NEAR ROLLING HILLS WHILE A PRISONER IN THE BROOKS INTERNMENT CAMP. ‘(THE FARMERS) WANTED PRISONERS INSTEAD OF LOCAL PEOPLE … (LOCALS) DIDN’T WANT TO WORK ON SUNDAY. THEY LEFT SATURDAY AT NOON AND CAME BACK MONDAY AND WE WERE THERE SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.’ POHL RETURNED TO THE BROOKS AREA IN 1951 WITH HIS GERMAN BRIDE, ANN. HE HAD KNOWN HER AS A YOUNG GIRL AND ASKED HER TO MARRY HIM SOON AFTER HE ARRIVED BACK IN HIS HOME TOWN OF HAMBURG. ‘I TOLD HER I’M GOING BACK TO CANADA AND SHE AGREED,’ SAYS POHL. … UPON HIS RETURN, HE WENT TO WORK FOR FREDDY DANIELS, THE MAN WHO EMPLOYED HIM ON HIS FARM DURING HIS POW DAYS. ‘WE WERE FRIENDS,’ SAYS POHL, WHO SERVED AS A PALLBEARER AT DANIELS’ WIFE’S FUNERAL.” WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED, THE FRIEND FROM ROLLING HILLS WHO GAVE THE CLOTHING PIECES TO ANN MAY HAVE BEEN FROM THE FREDDY DANIELS FAMILY. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE DANIELS FAMILY COMES FROM THE LOCAL HISTORY BOOK “ROLLING HILLS IN RETROSPECT 1939-1989”: “THE DANIELS FAMILY CAME TO ROLLING HILLS FROM ROBSART, SASK. IN 1939. THE DECISION TO MOVE WAS MADE AFTER MY FATHER F.W. DANIELS, MY UNCLE BOB, MY COUSIN FREDDIE AND JACK MICKELSON HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO ROLLING HILLS IN THE FALL OF 1938, TO LOOK THE LAND OVER … FREDDIE WHO DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR HIS UNTIL 1940, CHOSE THE NORTH HALF 29-14-13. IT HAD ONLY 120 ACRES IRRIGABLE.” MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARRY AND THE DANIELS FAMILY ARE FOUND IN THE ENTRY FOR HARRY AND ANN POHL IN “ROLLING HILLS IN RETROSPECT 1939-1989”: “AND HERE IS HARRY POHL, THE PRISONER WHO CAME TO FREDDIE AND IDA DANIELS’ PLACE IN 1944. WHAT A SUMMER THAT WAS! THE WHOLE DANIELS FAMILY WORKED TOGETHER AT HAYING AND HARVEST TIME. … I WILL NEVER FORGET THE GOOD TIMES WE HAD, WHEN WE WERE IN QUARANTINE FOR EIGHT WEEKS AT FREDDIE’S PLACE, WITH SCARLET FEVER. ALL THE SINGING WE DID EVERY NIGHT, WITH IDA AT THE PIANO … IN 1946 WE PRISONERS HAD TO LEAVE THE FARMS AND GO BACK TO GERMANY, EVEN THOUGH MANY OF US WISHED TO STAY IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. IN 1951 FREDDIE MANAGED TO GET US BACK TO ROLLING HILLS. ME, MY WIFE ANN AND OUR DAUGHTER, MONIKA, WHO WAS THREE YEARS OLD BY THEN. … IN 1957 WE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE, WHERE I WORKED IN CONSTRUCTION AND THEN 21 YEARS AS A PAINTER AND DECORATOR FOR THE LETHBRIDGE SCHOOL DISTRICT. ANN WORKED AS A SALESCLERK IN LADIES WEAR STORES UNTIL 1985 WHEN WE BOTH RETIRED.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND THE LOCAL HISTORY BOOK “ROLLING HILLS IN RETROSPECT 1939-1989”.

Catalogue Number

P19900002001

Acquisition Date

1990-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail