Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

STRAIGHT RAZOR C/W CASE

Date Range From

1890

Date Range To

1900

Materials

IVORY, STEEL, PAPER

No. Pieces

3

Length

24.1

Width

1.9

Description

.1 RAZOR ABOVE DIMENSIONS. IVORY, STEEL. "EACH BLADE FULLY FINEST ENGLISH CAST STEEL ON BLADE WARRANTED". "H. BOKER & CO." ON TANG. FRENCH IVORY HANDLE ENGRAVED WITH OVERLAPPING LEAF AND SCROLL DESIGN ON EACH HANDLE. .2 CASE 1.4 CM HT., 3.0 CM WTH., 16.3 CM LTH. LIGHT CARD, PAPER. 2 PIECES. "H. BOKER & CO. TRADE MARK" ON CASE FRONT. BLACK PAPER-COVERED BOX. SLIGHT CORROSION ON BLADE. PAPER ON BOX IS WEARING. BOTH TANG AND BOX HAVE 'TREE' COMPANY SYMBOL WITH NAME TRADE MARK.

Subjects

TOILET ARTICLE

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

PURCHASED BY DONOR'S FATHER-IN-LAW PRIOR TO 1900 IN ENGLAND, BEFORE COMING TO CANADA. SEE P19710173000-GA & P19738447000-GA. *UPDATE* IN 2019, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED AN ARTIFACT SURVEY, WHICH INCLUDED THIS STRAIGHT RAZOR AND A PIPE DONATED TO THE MUSEUM BY JEAN GALE IN 1973. AS PART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED THE DONOR’S DAUGHTER, PHYLLIS BERNICE VOTH IN HER LETHBRIDGE HOME ON NOVEMBER 21, 2018. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW: THE DONOR, JEAN GALE, REFERENCED HER FATHER-IN-LAW AS THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THIS STRAIGHT RAZOR AT THE TIME SHE CAME INTO THE MUSEUM FOR DONATION. VOTH CONFIRMED THAT HIS NAME IS ERNEST ALBERT GALE, HER FATHER ALBERT ERNEST GALE’S FATHER. HE WAS BORN IN SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND IN 1877. WHEN HE FIRST IMMIGRATED TO CANADA AT THE AGE OF NINE, HE LIVED IN GRAVENHURST, ONTARIO. ACCORDING TO VOTH, THE GALE FAMILY MOVED WEST TO HOMESTEAD JUST OUTSIDE OF LACOMBE. SHE SAID, “MY GRANDFATHER [THEN] WORKED FOR THE BREWING AND MALTING COMPANY IN CALGARY AS AN ENGINEER’S AIDE AND THEN THEY MOVED TO THE [CROWSNEST] PASS IN ’22… AND MY GRANDFATHER WAS AN ENGINEER AT WHAT THEY CALLED MCLAREN’S MILL IN BLAIRMORE UNTIL THE MILL CLOSED. THEN HE WORKED AT THE POWER PLANT AT CROWSNEST LAKE AND HE WAS THE CHIEF ENGINEER THERE. HE DIED UP IN THE PASS IN 1941. MY GRANDMOTHER PASSED AWAY IN BLAIRMORE IN 1935.” “I REMEMBER SEEING [THIS RAZOR] AFTER MY DAD DIED [IN 1977], WHEN MY MOTHER WAS CLEANING OUT [HIS] THINGS, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW WHOSE IT WAS,” VOTH EXPLAINED WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE RAZOR, “I NEVER SAW IT GROWING UP OR ANYTHING…[GROOMING] WAS ALL DONE PRIVATELY… BUT I THINK IT MUST HAVE JUST BEEN MY GRANDFATHER’S.” ACCORDING TO VOTH, HER FATHER “WAS BORN IN CALGARY IN 1904” AND WHEN ASKED ABOUT HOW HE CAME TO THE CROWSNEST PASS SHE SAID, “I THINK [MY FATHER] MUST HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH MCLAREN MILL [AS AN ENGINEER LIKE HIS FATHER], BECAUSE WHEN I WAS BORN THAT’S WHERE [MY PARENTS] LIVED... AND THEN AFTER [MY GRANDFATHER’S DEATH IN 1941, MY PARENTS] MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE… [OUR FAMILY CAME TO LETHBRIDGE BECAUSE] MY FATHER WAS A STATIONARY STEAM ENGINEER AND HE GOT A JOB AT THE LETHBRIDGE CORRECTIONAL CENTRE IN THE POWER HOUSE… MY PARENTS LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE] FROM 1942-1947. AND THEN THEY MOVED TO CALGARY... [WHERE] HE WORKED AT THE BA REFINERY… [THEN] MY FATHER HAD A STROKE AND HE HAD TO QUIT WORK… AND THEY CAME BACK [TO LETHBRIDGE] IN ’65. [THEY LIVED IN THE CITY] UNTIL MY MOTHER DIED [IN 1984]. WELL MY FATHER DIED BEFORE THAT [IN 1977].” OF HER LIFE IN LETHBRIDGE, VOTH DESCRIBED, “I WAS BORN IN KIMBERLY IN 1928, BUT LIVED IN THE PASS UNTIL 1942 [WHEN MY PARENTS MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE]… I WAS IN GRADE 8 WHEN WE MOVED [THERE], BECAUSE MY FATHER GOT THE JOB AT THE [LETHBRIDGE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE AS A STEAM ENGINEER]. WE LIVED OUT AT THE GAOL ALL THE TIME I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL. [I RECALL WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED IN LETHBRIDGE] MY APPENDIX BROKE AND I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL, SO I DIDN’T HAVE TO WRITE MY GRADE 8 EXAMS TO PASS… RIGHT OUT OF SCHOOL, I WORKED AT THE AMA (ALBERTA MOTOR ASSOCIATION) WHEN [EDGAR] FORSTER HAD FORSTER AGENCIES AND THE AMA WAS IN THE SAME OFFICE BECAUSE HE WAS HEAD OF IT. WHEN THEY DECIDED TO SPLIT AND MOVED UP TO 3RD AVENUE AND 9TH STREET, I WENT WITH THE AMA AND I WORKED THERE UNTIL 1950 WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN… I GOT MARRIED IN 1949 IN LETHBRIDGE [AND] I’VE BEEN IN THIS HOUSE [ON 12TH AVENUE SOUTH] SINCE 1954-55…I DIDN’T WORK AGAIN EXCEPT AT LICENSE TIME AND FILL IN UNTIL 1965. [WHEN] I WENT BACK TO WORK [AFTER RAISING MY FAMILY], I GOT A JOB WITH P. LAWSON TRAVEL, WHICH WAS VERY INTERESTING.” THE DONOR’S OBITUARY WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON APRIL 22, 1984. IT STATES, “MRS. M. JEAN GALE… [WAS] BORN IN STELLARTON, NOVA SCOTIA ON APRIL 23, 1905. SHE WAS RAISED, EDUCATED, AND MARRIED IN BLAIRMORE.” HER HUSBAND ALBERT ERNEST GALE’S OBITUARY STATES HE WAS “BORN IN CALGARY AND RAISED AND EDUCATED IN LACOMBE.” THE COUPLE HAD TWO CHILDREN, ONE DAUGHTER THAT PREDECEASED THEM AND PHYLLIS BERNICE VOTH. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR P19738447000 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SUCH AS THE FULL ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARIES.

Catalogue Number

P19739076000

Acquisition Date

1971-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail