Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

AUGER BIT

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1940

Materials

STEEL

No. Pieces

1

Length

22

Diameter

1.4

Description

STEEL AUGER STYLE BIT WITH SCREW TIP AND TAPERED BASE THAT HAS "9/16" AND "GERMANY" STAMPED INTO IT.

Subjects

WOODWORKING T&E

Historical Association

TRADES

History

DRILL BIT BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER, REV. G.G. NAKAYAMA, WHO WOULD OFTEN BUILD OR REPAIR ITEMS NEEDED FOR THE HOME. DONOR RELATES WITH AMUSEMENT THAT HER FATHER WAS NOT VERY GOOD AT BUILDING THINGS AND MANY OF THE THINGS HE MADE WERE "SLAPPED TOGETHER HAPHAZARDLY". THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER BUT MOVED TO COALDALE FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THEY WERE INTERNED AT SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. THE DONOR'S FATHER, REV. CANON G.G. NAKAYAMA, WAS AN ANGLICAN MINISTER IN VANCOUVER, AND THEN ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION IN COALDALE IN 1945 WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL 1970. SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY. THE FOLLOWING MEMORIES WERE PROVIDED BY REVEREND TIM NAKAYAMA IN A LETTER TO THE GALT ON 16 AUGUST, 2007. HE WROTE: “OUR FAMILY MOVED INTO THE HOUSE AT 1664 W. 64TH AVE., IN THE MARPOLE DISTRICT OF SOUTH VANCOUVER IN THE MID-1930’S. (MY SISTER, JOY NOZOMI, WAS BORN ON JUNE 6, 1935. I BELIEVE HER CHILDHOOD MEMORIES BEGIN IN THIS HOUSE). AFTER WE MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE I BEGAN TO DISCOVER THAT MY FATHER LIKED TO DO SOME CARPENTRY. I REMEMBER HIM MAKING WALLS WITH CEDAR “V-JOINT” WOOD PIECES WHICH HE FITTED TOGETHER VERTICALLY, NAILING THEM IN PLACE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE FINISHING NAILS WERE NOT VISIBLE. THE WALLS OF THE STAIRWELL WERE COVERED WITH THIS WOOD, AND THE WALLS DEFINED THE DIMENSIONS OF SOME ROOMS. I PERCEIVED THAT HE HAD SOME SKILLS WITH VARIOUS TOOLS, ESPECIALLY JAPANESE ONES, SUCH AS AN AUGER-LIKE DRILL WHICH HE TWIRLED BETWEEN HIS PALMS. HE LIKED TO DO GARDENING. HE SHOWED ME HOW TO HANDLE A PICK, SHOVE, AND HOE, TURNING THE SOD, AND BREAKING UP AND SEPARATING CLODS OF EARTH FROM CRAB GRASS AND WEEDS LIKE DANDELIONS, PREPARING VIRGIN LAND SO THAT POTATOES, FOR EXAMPLE, COULD BE PLANTED AS THE CROP TO PREPARE THE SOIL FOR OTHER USES. THE PLACES WE MOVED TO: SLOCAN CITY, AND COALDALE, HAD RICH SOILS THAT HAD BEEN EITHER LEFT FALLOW FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, OR WERE VIRGIN AREAS. IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREA OF SLOCAN, POTENTIAL AREAS FOR GARDENING WERE VERY ROCKY. COALDALE HAD SMOOTH GUMBO SOIL WHICH TURNED INTO A STICKY CLAY-LIKE CONDITION WHEN IT RAINED, OR IRRIGATION WATER WAS ALLOWED TO POUR OVER THE LAND.”

Catalogue Number

P19970041544

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail