Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MUSIC BOOK

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Height

0.4

Length

30.5

Width

22.8

Description

MUSIC BOOK WITH RED-ORANGE COLOR. ON FRONT IS "THE HAPPY GANG BOOK OF WAR SONGS COMPILED BY BERT PEARL" AND "CONTAINING 14 SONGS, WORDS AND MUSIC COMPLETE INCLUDING "CARRY ON" "THERE'LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND" "THE KING IS STILL IN LONDON" AND "MA I MISS YOUR APPLE PIE". ACROSS FRONT OF COVER ARE THE PORTRAITS OF FIVE MEN AND TWO WOMEN WHO COMPRISED THE HAPPY GANG. AT BOTTOM OF COVER IS BLACK SHADOW OUTLINE OF MARCHING SOLDIERS ON LEFT AND ONE STANDING SOLDIER TO THE RIGHT. AT BOTTOM RIGHT IN WHITE PRINTING IS "PUBLISHED BY GORDON V. THOMPSON LIMITED 193 YONGE STREET, TORONTO". ON INSIDE OF FRONT COVER IS WRITTEN MESSAGE FROM PUBLISHER. FIRST PAGE HAS PICTURES OF THE MUSIC SHEETS FOR EACH OF THE SONGS IN THE BOOK AND A TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE REST OF THE BOOK IS MUSIC SHEETS WITH WORDS. BOOK HAS NO BACK COVER AND SPINE OF BOOK IS HELD WITH MASKING TAPE. FRONT COVER IS WORN, CRACKED AND TORN AND PAGES OF BOOK ARE SLIGHTLY DOG-EARED.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

MUSICAL T&E

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

ARTIFACT WAS DISCOVERED IN CONSERVATION LAB WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION OR OTHER ASSOCIATIONS. IT HAS BEEN ACCEPTED INTO PERMANENT COLLECTION BY ACCESSION COMMITTEE WITHOUT HISTORY. *UPDATE* IN 2015 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT. SHE NOTED THAT OF THE 21 BOOKS/SHEET MUSIC THAT WERE ACQUIRED IN 1996 WITH UNKNOWN ASSOCIATIONS OR DONORS, FIVE HAD THE NAME "ESTHER SPONHOLZ" WRITTEN IN PENCIL ON THEIR COVERS. SEARCHING FOR THAT NAME IN THE DIGITIZED LETHBRIDGE HERALD LED TO THE OBITUARIES OF ESTHER GROSE (NEE SPONHOLZ), HER BROTHER EARL, AND HER HUSBAND HARRY. GIVEN THAT ALL 21 OF THE MUSIC BOOKS WERE ACQUIRED AT THE SAME TIME AND ARE OF SIMILAR VINTAGE, IT IS LIKELY THAT THEY ALL BELONGED TO ESTHER SPONHOLZ PRIOR TO HER MARRIAGE TO HARRY GROSE IN 1937. IT REMAINS UNKNOWN HOW THE BOOKS ARRIVED AT THE GALT MUSEUM, AND WHO DONATED THEM. THE FOLLOWING BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ESTHER SPONHOLZ GROSE WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED OBITUARIES. ESTHER DOROTHY SPONHOLZ WAS BORN IN 1917 NEAR MEDICINE HAT AND GREW UP IN THE AREA. SHE MET HARRY JAMES GROSE IN CALGARY AND THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1937. THEY LIVED IN MEDICINE HAT UNTIL 1949, WHEN THEY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE, WHERE HARRY WAS A PARTNER IN NORRIE AND FAWCETT FARM EQUIPMENT. ESTHER WAS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AND AN ACCOMPLISHED PIANIST. WHEN HARRY DIED IN 1990, ESTHER MOVED TO CALGARY TO BE NEAR THEIR SON GLEN. ESTHER GROSE DIED ON JANUARY 10, 1996. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF OBITUARIES.

Catalogue Number

P19960000016

Acquisition Date

1996-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail