Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1945

Date Range To

1955

Materials

BAKELITE, WOOD, STEEL

No. Pieces

2

Height

8.5

Length

16.2

Width

11.3

Description

.1) BOX. RECTANGULAR WOOD BOX COVERED WITH BLACK LEATHERETTE. HAS HINGED LID AND BRASS CLASP CLOSURE. INSIDE OF LID HAS GOLD COLORED EMBOSSED LETTERING WHICH READS "CHIRO PRACTIC & MASSAGE 'IONY'". WHITE CLOTH STRAP HOLDS LID FROM FALLING BACK. .2) MASSAGE MACHINE. MACHINE HAS BLACK BAKELITE BODY WITH FOUR RED BAKELITE FEET ATTACHED TO STEEL PLATE ON BOTTOM. ALUMINUM PLATE SCREWED TO TOP OF DEVICE READS "'IONY' CHIRO PRACTIC & MASSAGE FOR MEDICAL" WITH PATENT NUMBER 233832. DEVICE HAS BLACK CLOTH COVERED ELECTRICAL CORD THAT HAS BEEN REPAIRED WITH TAPE AT BASE OF DEVICE.

Subjects

TOILET ARTICLE

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

MASSAGE DEVICE WAS DONOR'S FATHER'S WHO WAS VERY INTERESTED IN ALL MATTER OF HEALTH THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE. THIS IS ONE OF MANY PIECES OF HEALTH ORIENTED EQUIPMENT WHICH REV. NAKAYAMA ACQUIRED THROUGH HIS LIFE. HE ALSO PRACTICED ACUPUNCTURE. NAKAYAMA, AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO COALDALE IN 1945 AFTER BEING RELOCATED FROM VANCOUVER IN 1942 TO SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. AT COALDALE HE FOUNDED THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION WHERE HE WAS RECTOR FROM 1945 TO 1970. FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF THIS ARTIFACT, KOGAWA SAID: “MY DAD WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR… WHAT HE SAID WAS THAT WHEN HIS FIRST CHILD WAS STILLBORN, THAT CHILD WAS, RIGHT UP UNTIL THE BIRTH, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY, FAT, BUT WHEN HE WAS BORN, THE CORD GOT AROUND THE NECK AND HE STOPPED BREATHING. TRAGIC, AND [MY FATHER] WAS SO HEARTBROKEN, AND SOME MINISTER COMFORTED HIM AND HE FELT THAT THE WOUNDING OF THE HEART IS WHAT HE WANTED TO FOCUS ON. SO HE DECIDED TO BECOME A MINISTER [INSTEAD OF A DOCTOR]. PLUS MY MOM WAS SO DEVOUT, AND HE WAS A METHODIST AND SHE WAS AN ANGLICAN, AND SO, FOR THE SAKE OF THE FAMILY, I GUESS, HE BECAME AN ANGLICAN… [BUT] HE HAD A LOT OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, THINGS FOR HEALING AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE THINGS, [FOR] PRESSURE POINTS.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041170

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail