Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

WEDDING MATCHES

Date

1967

Materials

PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

4.8

Width

5.7

Description

WHITE PAPER MATCHBOOK MARKED ON THE COVER "MARG AND SAM JULY 8TH - 1967", WITH THE IMAGE OF A BRIDE AND GROOM ON THE BACK, BOTH IN SILVER. CONTAINED INSIDE ARE A SET OF UNUSED MATCHES.

Subjects

TEMPERATURE CONTROL DEVICE

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

History

CAKE TOPPER ON THE WEDDING CAKE OF MARG DRUMMOND AND SAM MATHESON ON JULY 7TH 1967. (DONOR TOLD US 7TH, BUT ARTIFACT MARKED 8TH?) *UPDATED* IN 2017 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING TWO WEDDING DRESSES DONATED BY SAM AND MARG MATHESON. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS COMPILED FROM AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED WITH THE DONORS. SAMUEL O. MATHESON AND MARGARET MATHESON (NEE DRUMMOND) WERE MARRIED IN JULY 1967 IN MARGARET’S HOME DOWN, MOOSOMIN, SK AT ST. ALBAN’S CHURCH. THEY HELD A SMALL RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH FOLLOWING THE CEREMONY, WITH 100 GUESTS. SAM SAID “THAT’S A SMALL TOWN. WHOEVER KNEW US CAME, I GUESS.” THE COUPLE HONEYMOONED AT EXPO ’67, DRIVING ALL THE WAY TO MONTREAL. MARGARET SAID THAT “IT WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN FUN, BECAUSE WE WERE GOING TO ALL OF THE PAVILIONS, SO IT WAS A LITTLE HECTIC – GETTING USED TO EACH OTHER, AND DOING THIS AT THE SAME TIME, BUT IT WAS GOOD.” MARGARET MET SAM, IN 1965, AFTER SHE LOCKED HERSELF OUT OF HER APARTMENT: “I LOCKED MYSELF OUT OF MY APARTMENT, WHICH WAS ON THE THIRD FLOOR. MY GIRLFRIEND LIVED NEXT TO ME, SO I THOUGHT THAT, IF WE COULD GET A MAN TO JUMP FROM HER BALCONY TO MINE, AND LET ME IN THROUGH THE DOORS – FRENCH DOORS ON OUR BALCONY.” SHE CONTINUED: “SO, I WENT UP TO THE FOURTH FLOOR AND HE ANSWERED THE DOOR AND SAID, SURE, HE WOULD DO IT.” SAM ADDED: “LIKE ONE OF THOSE MOVIES, YOU KNOW. CLIMB ON THE BALCONY, A HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR … I CRAWLED OVER, BUT THEN MARGARET HAD LOCKED THE DOOR/ THE WINDOWS, AND WE COULDN’T GET INTO HER APARTMENT. THEY HAD TO FIND SOMEBODY TO GET INTO THE APARTMENT THROUGH THE REGULAR DOOR.” SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, THE BUILDING MANAGER CAME HOME AND LET MARGARET INTO HER APARTMENT. NOT LONG AFTER, THE TWO STARTED TO DATE. SAM TOOK HER TO A BINGO GAME. MARGARET SAID: “HE THOUGHT HE COULDN’T TAKE A TEACHER TO THE BAR, SO HE TOOK ME TO A BINGO GAME.” SAM WAS RAISED IN LETHBRIDGE, THE SON OF SAMUEL AND FLORENCE ISABELLE MATHESON (NEE OSGOOD): “I WAS BORN HERE, AND RAISED HERE, AND SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE, EXCEPT ABOUT 10 YEARS. I WAS IN THE AIR FORCE, AND ON THE DEW LINE, AND CAME BACK HOME. IT’S A PERFECT TOWN.” MARGARET, MEANWHILE, WAS RAISED IN MOOSOMIN, SK, THE DAUGHTER OF THOMAS AND MURIEL DRUMMOND, AND MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE FOR WORK: “I WAS A BIOLOGIST, AND THERE WAS AN OPENING HERE FOR A BIOLOGY TEACHER, SO I CAME AND TAUGHT SCIENCE AT WINSTON CHURCHILL. I CAME IN ’63, I GUESS, AND MET SAM IN ’65.” MARGARET CONTINUED TO TEACH AFTER THEY WERE MARRIED, UNTIL THEIR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN IN 1969. A SECOND CHILD FOLLOWED IN 1971 AND BY 1978, MARGARET WAS BACK TO TEACHING. MARGARET HAD THE FOLLOWING TO SAY ABOUT HER DRESS: “ACTUALLY I WAS UP IN EDMONTON, AND MY SISTER-IN-LAW HELPED ME BUY IT; COST ME A WHOLE $100.00. IN 1967 THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY. I DON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT ABOUT – I LOVED THE DRESS. WE WERE ALL INTO CHASTE THEN. I REMEMBER IT HAD A LONG TRAIN WHICH GOT CAUGHT ON ONE OF THE PEWS, AS I WAS GOING DOWN THE AISLE, BUT SAM’S BROTHER WAS AN USHER, SO HE GRABBED IT [BEFORE IT TORE]. HE SAW IMMEDIATELY WHAT HAD HAPPENED, SO I DIDN’T EVEN FEEL A TUG, BUT BUD TOLD ME AFTERWARDS THAT HE HAD DONE THIS.” MARGARET SAID THAT SHE DIDN’T TRY ON MANY DRESSES BECAUSE “I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS ONE, ALMOST RIGHT AWAY.” ONE OF MARGARET’S SISTERS WAS HER BRIDESMAID AND SHE WORE A BLUE DRESS: “IT WAS KIND OF A SHOT-SILK BLUE. OUR WEDDING COLORS WERE BLUE AND WHITE. SHE MADE HER DRESS. IT WAS LOVELY. AND THEN, OUR NIECE’S DAUGHTER WAS OUR FLOWER GIRL. SHE WORE AN IDENTICAL DRESS TO THE BRIDESMAID.” AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW, SAM SAID: “WE’VE BEEN MARRIED MORE THAN WE’VE BEEN SINGLE. I DIDN’T GET MARRIED TILL I WAS 35, AND I FIGURED I’D NEVER GET MARRIED, BUT I MET MARG, AND WE GOT MARRIED, AND 50 YEARS LATER, HERE WE ARE.” MARGARET ADDED: “HERE WE ARE – BOTH IN OUR 80’S, AND LOVING IT.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR A COPY OF THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT.

Catalogue Number

P19980024006

Acquisition Date

1998-04

Collection

Museum

Less detail