Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CAP BADGE

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1950

Materials

NICKEL, GOLD, LEATHER

No. Pieces

4

Description

1. "EX" BADGE: 4.1CM (D). ROUND BADGE HAS COPPER BODY AND GOLD PLATING. HAS RIDGED SURFACE AND DIAGONALLY GROOVED LIP. STAMPED ABOVE SURFACE ARE FIVE HORNS ALL INTERSECTING IN THE MIDDLE. IN THE CENTRE IS A BLUE PAINTED CIRCLE WHICH READS "EX" IN GOLD. REVERSE IS HOLLOW AND SHOWS THE REVERSE VERSION OF THE FRONT. HAS A THREADED SCREW IN THE MIDDLE WITH A WASHER ON IT. AT TOP IS A SHORT SOLDERED OFF PIN THAT REACHES TOWARDS THE MIDDLE AT ABOUT 60 DEGREES. STAMPED ON BACK OVER ONE HORN IS "SHREESE NEW YORK" WITH A PICTURE OF CRESCENT MOON AND STAR IN THE MIDDLE. ON ANOTHER HORN IS STAMPED "...-10K GOLD FILLED". HAS PATINA ON FRONT, PLATING IS WEARING OFF. HAS SOME CORROSION ON BACK AROUND TOP PIN AND SCREW. 2. BADGE: 3.8CM (L) X 3.1CM (W). NICKEL BODY BADGE HAS GOLD FINISH. IS A ROUNDED RECTANGLE WITH A RIDGE SURFACE AND DIAGONAL GROOVE PERIMETER. RIDGES MEET IN THE CENTRE. ON EITHER SIDE OF CENTRE ARE TWO UPRIGHT HORNS. BACK IS HOLLOW AND SHOWS THE STAMPED DESIGNS OF THE FRONT. HAS A THREADED SCREW IN MIDDLE ON BACK WITH A ROUNDED WASHER, AND RED LEATHER SPACER UNDERNEATH. HAS BLACK STAIN ON BACK, AND SOME CORROSION. ON FRONT PLATING IS WEARING OFF AND WHITE RESIDUE OF CORROSION IS PRESENT. SPACER IS DRY.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

DONATED IN MEMORY OF MRS. AGNES SHORT, WHO WAS A NURSE IN LETHBRIDGE UNTIL C. 1970. HELPED WITH FIRST POLIO VACCINATION HERE, AND WAS PART OF THE HEALTH CLINIC FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS. FATHER WAS WILLIAM H. SHORT, WHO WAS THE LAST FIRE CHIEF OF THE OLD NO.1 FIREHALL IN LETHBRIDGE. APPEARS THESE ARE SYMBOLS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A BELT DONATED BY SHARON DEREK. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. THE DONOR, SHARON DERRICK, IS THE NIECE OF AGNES SHORT. AGNES CHRISTINA SHORT WAS BORN ON APRIL 20, 1916 TO WILLIAM H. AND BERTHA SHORT (MAIDEN NAME UNKNOWN). SHE GRADUATED FROM LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE AND THEN ATTDNED THE CALGARY GENERAL HOSPITAL FOR NURSING TRAINING, WHICH SHE GRADUATED FROM IN 1939. AGNES WAS THE SUPERVISOR AT THE GALT HOSPITAL FROM 1939-1945. SHE WAS IN CHARGE OF THE NURSING STAFF OF LETHBRIDGE SCHOOL DISTRICT #51 FROM 1947 UNTIL 1958. SHE WAS ALSO THE DIRECTOR OF NURSING AT THE LETHBRIDGE HEALTH UNIT FROM 1964 UNTIL HER RETIREMENT. SHE RETIRED IN 1980 AFTER 42 YEARS OF NURSING. AGNES PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 78 ON OCTOBER 20, 1994. WILLIAM HENRY SHORT WAS AGNES’S FATHER. HE WAS BORN IN LONDON, ENGLAND IN 1889 AND MOVED TO CANADA IN 1909. HE INITIALLY WORKED FOR THE CITY WATERWORKS DEPARTMENT IN LETHBRIDGE FOR TWO YEARS, BEFORE SPENDING 51 YEARS IN SERVICE OF THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT. HE OVERSAW THE INTRODUCTION OF MOTORIZED FIRE ENGINES, SWITCHING FROM HORSE POWERED WAGONS, IN 1913. HE ALSO SAW THE DEPARTMENT GROW IN SIZE FROM ONLY 13 TO 49 MEN. HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 84 ON NOVEMBER 18, 1974. WILLIAM’S WIFE BERTHA L. SHORT PASSED AWAY ON JULY 28, 1989. ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE ABOUT AGNES’S LIFE, THE SHORT FAMILY LIVED IN NUMBER 1 FIRE HALL, WHERE WILLIAM WAS FIRE CHIEF. WILLIAM H. AND BERTHA ALSO HAD ANOTHER CHILD, WILLIAM D. SHORT. HE WAS BORN ON AUGUST 16, 1916 AND PASSED AWAY ON AUGUST 5, 1990. HE WAS MARRIED TO MYRTLE (NEE NELSON) SHORT AND THEIR CHILDREN INCLUDE THE DONOR, SHARON DERRICK. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR COPIES OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD. *UPDATE* IN 2018 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF BOXED TEXTILES AND ACCESSORIES INCLUDING A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS DONATED BY SHARON DERRICK. ON 1 MARCH 2018, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED DERRICK REGARDING HER DONATION. THE INFORMATION BELOW HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW: A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS DONATED WERE CONNECTED TO THE DONOR’S GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM H. SHORT AND HIS CAREER AS FIRE CHIEF IN THE NUMBER 1 FIRE HALL IN LETHBRIDGE. “YOU SEE, DURING THE YEARS THAT HE WAS THE FIRE CHIEF,” DERRICK BEGAN, “THEIR QUARTERS ACTUALLY WERE IN THE BACK OF THE FIRE HALL. SO STUFF KIND OF GOT ACCUMULATED THERE. THE WHOLE FAMILY [LIVED IN THE FIRE HALL]. WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I WAS THERE ALL THE TIME. MY FATHER [WILLIAM D. SHORT] WAS A CAPTAIN IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, BUT MY GRANDFATHER WAS THE FIRE CHIEF.” WHEN ASKED IF SHE HAD ANY MEMORY OF SEEING HER GRANDFATHER WEARING ANY OF THE ARTIFACTS, SUCH AS THE HELMET (P19950037014) OR THE FIRE PANTS (P19950037008), DERRICK RECALLED, “YES, BECAUSE LETHBRIDGE WAS SMALL AT THE TIME AND WHEN WE LIVED IN THE FIRE HALL AND THE BELLS WENT OFF, WE WOULD OFTEN WALK OVER TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE FIRE. I WOULD SEE MY GRANDFATHER OUT THERE, AND I’D SEE MY FATHER WHEN HE WAS ON SHIFT. THERE WERE SOME HUGE FIRES RIGHT DOWNTOWN. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT DATES – PROBABLY BACK IN THE LATE ‘40’S, EARLY ‘50’S. [IN ONE INSTANCE], MY DAD WAS ALSO ON THE BACK OF A FIRE TRUCK, SPEEDING TO A FIRE, AND ANOTHER TRUCK CAME ALONG AND HIT HIM IN THE BACK. HE SUFFERED VERY SEVERE INJURIES FROM THAT. AND I SAW THAT TOO. I WAS JUST ON MY WAY BACK TO SCHOOL.” “WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I WAS ALWAYS IN AND OUT [OF THE FIRE HALL],” DERRICK WENT ON, “THERE WAS A BELL TOWER THERE, WHERE THEY HUNG THE WET HOSES UP TO DRY. THERE WERE RICKETY OLD WOODEN STAIRS GOING ROUND AND ROUND ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP OF THE FIRE HALL TO WHERE THE BELL USED TO BE. I USED TO GO UP AND DOWN THOSE STAIRS, AND HOP AND PLAY. AND IN THE BASEMENT THERE WAS PRISON CELLS, BECAUSE IT USED [TO BE] THE POLICE STATION MANY, MANY YEARS BEFORE. IT WAS A COMBINATION OF FIRE AND POLICE. AND, THERE WAS A BIG FURNACE DOWN THERE. I USED TO GO DOWN AND WATCH THE FIREMEN PUSH COAL INTO THE FURNACE TO KEEP IT GOING. IT WAS AN INTERESTING PLACE TO BE AROUND.” “MY GRANDFATHER WAS ON THE INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF FIRE CHIEFS,” DERRICK CONTINUED, “HE WAS VICE-PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK. THEY HAD ASKED HIM TO COME UP AND TAKE THE PRESIDENCY, BUT AFTER MUCH CONSIDERATION, HE DECIDED HE DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE THE FAMILY FOR THE TWO YEAR TERM IN NEW YORK, SO HE TURNED THAT ONE DOWN. THOUGH HE DID REMAIN ON THE BOARD FOR MANY YEARS.” AN ARTICLE IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2000 READS, “WILLIAM SHORT RETIRED AS LETHBRIDGE FIRE CHIEF IN 1962, ENDING A CAREER AS CHIEF WHICH BEGAN IN JANUARY 1945.” A HERALD ARTICLE FROM 1974 ADDITIONALLY STATES THAT SHORT “JOINED THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN 1911. HE WAS PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT IN 1919 AND CAPTAIN IN 1922.” AN ADDITIONAL ARTICLE TITLED, “LETHBRIDGE WELL PROTECTED BY MODERN FIRE DEPARTMENT,” PUBLISHED IN 1967 IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD READS, “[IN 1910] THE FIRST FIREHALL THAT [WAS] LOCATED AT 4TH STREET AND 2ND AVENUE SOUTH WAS TORN DOWN. IT WAS A TWO-STOREY BUILDING. A THREE-STOREY FIREHALL WAS BUILT IN ITS PLACE ON THE SAME SITE. THAT EARLY BUILDING HOUSED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EQUIPMENT, SERVED AS CITY HALL AND THE POLICE STATION…” WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE REASON FOR THE DONATION OF HER FAMILY’S ARTIFACTS DURING THE 2018 INTERVIEW, DERRICK EXPLAINED, “I WAS THE EXECUTOR FOR MY AUNT’S WILL AND WHEN SHE PASSED AWAY SHE [WAS LIVING IN] MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER’S HOME. ALL THIS STUFF HAD BEEN LEFT IN THE HOUSE, SO WHEN WE WERE CLEANING IT OUT FOLLOWING HER DEATH, WE CAME ACROSS ALL THESE THINGS. WHILE I KEPT SOME AS MEMENTOS, MY SISTER AND I [DECIDED TO DONATE OTHER ITEMS TO THE MUSEUM].” PLEASE PERMANENT FILE P19950037001, FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND COPIES OF ARTICLES REGARDING THE FAMILY HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19950038014

Acquisition Date

1995-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail