BLOUSE

Description: CREAM COLORED HANDWOVEN LINEN BLOUSE WITH A CROCHETED BEIGE EDGING AROUND COLLAR AND CUFFS. COLLAR HAS A LIGHT PINK BAND SEWN ONTO BLOUSE WITH BRIGHT BLUE STITCHING. BLOUSE FASTENS UP THE FRONT WITH 5 STEEL SNAPS THAT ARE SEWN TO FABRIC. FABRIC IS GATHERED SLIGHTLY ACROSS THE SHOULDERS, MAKING THE BLOUSE VERY FULL. BLOUSE IS IN GOOD CONDITION WITH NO STAINS OR DAMAGE.

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. EVDOKIMOFF GUESSED THIS TOP MIGHT HAVE COME FROM RUSSIA. HE THOUGHT IT WAS VERY OLD FASHIONED. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORN FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION. *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.