DOILY

Description: CROCHETED WHITE, RED AND BLUE COTTON DOILY IN A PATTERN WITH A TRI-COLOURED SQUARE PATCH IN THE CENTRE, SURROUNDED ON THE CORNERS BY WHITE SEMI-CIRCLES WITH BLUE THEN RED OUTSIDE EDGING. HAS BEEN STARCHED TO MAKE IT STIFF. IN VERY GOOD CONDITION EXCEPT ONE CORNER IS SLIGHTY YELLOWED.

History: ITEMS WERE CONTAINED IN A TRUNK BELONGING TO THE DONOR'S MOTHER, WHO WAS BORN IN 1902 AND WAS RAISED ON A DOUKHOBOR COMMUNE UNTIL SHE AND FRED EVDOKIMOFF LEFT WHEN THEY WERE 18 YEARS OLD TO GET MARRIED. MANY OF THE ITEMS DATE BACK TO THE EARLY 1900'S, WHILE OTHERS ARE MODERN AND DATE TO THE 1980'S. DONOR'S PARENTS MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1952. MRS. EVDOKIMOFF DIED IN 1986 AT THE AGE OF 84 YEARS OLD. *UPDATE* NICOLE HEMBROFF, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT, MET WITH DONOR WALLY EVDOKIMOFF IN 2010 TO DISCUSS HIS DONATION OF THE TRUNK AND ITS CONTENTS. SEE BELOW. ACCORDING TO EVDOKIMOFF, HIS MOTHER WOULD HAVE MADE THE DOILY. HE SAID, "I REMEMBER HER MAKING THEM... SHE WAS MAKING DOILIES ALL HER LIFE." HE SAID IT WAS LIKELY SHE WOULD HAVE LEARNED THE SKILL AS A YOUNG GIRL. ACCORDING TO EVDOKIMOFF, THE DOILY WOULD HAVE BEEN USED FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES,THEY WOULD PUT THEM ON SEWING MACHINES OR THEY WOULD PUT THEM ON A COUCH, IT WAS JUST, I THINK, SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKED... THEY WERE ALWAYS THERE." SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFO. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF BOXED TEXTILES AND ACCSSORIES, INCLUDING A TOILET SET AND JACKET DONATED BY WALLY EVDOKIMOFF. DURING A PHONE CONVERSATION WITH PUNDYK IN 2018, EVDOKIMOFF STATED HIS FAMILY LIVED IN YORKTON, SASKATCHEWAN AND BRILLIANT, BRITISH COLUMBIA. THEY WERE MOST LIKELY A PART OF THE DOUKHOBOR COMMUNITIES IN THOSE AREAS. HE CONFIRMED THAT HIS PARENTS FIRST ARRIVED IN ALBERTA IN 1952.