Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SICKLE

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1940

Materials

STEEL, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Height

2.5

Length

57.5

Width

19.5

Description

CURVED STEEL BLADE MOUNTED AT RIGHT ANGLE ON CYLINDRICAL WOOD HANDLE. BLADE IS FASTENED TO HANDLE WITH COILED STEEL WIRE AND NAILS. BLADE IS HEAVILY CORRODED AND TIP IS WORN DOWN.

Subjects

AGRICULTURAL T&E

Historical Association

TRADES

AGRICULTURE

History

SICKLE WAS POSSIBLY REBUILT BY DONOR'S FATHER, REV. G.G. NAKAYAMA, WHO USED IT TO WORK IN BEET FIELDS AND LATER TO DO YARD WORK WHILE THE FAMILY LIVED AT COALDALE. 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. 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: “THIS ONE I CAN REMEMBER SEEING AROUND A LOT AND IT WAS USED TO CUT WEEDS, AND GRASS, AND HARVEST THINGS… I DOUBT THAT THIS WOULD BE USED IN THE BEET FIELDS, NO, I THINK IT WAS USED AROUND THE GARDEN, AND IN THE YARD… IN VANCOUVER, WE HAD FRUIT TREES, INITIALLY, [AND] WE HAD CHICKENS… THEN IN SLOCAN… I CAN REMEMBER VEGETABLES, RADISHES AND SPINACH [PLANTED] ALONGSIDE THE HOUSE. AND IN THE BACK THERE WAS A CHICKEN COOP… WE WOULD GO IN AND PICK THE EGGS OUT… [THEN] WE HAD A BIG YARD [IN COALDALE AND] IT WAS FULL OF VEGETABLES… [MY FATHER] DROVE AROUND [TO] HELP OUT IN THE FIELDS A BIT. AND TIM USED TO WORK IN THE SUMMER FOR TAMAGI’S BRIDGE BRAND PRODUCE… DIG POTATOES, THAT KIND OF THING… I REMEMBER DOING A LOT OF PICKING BEANS AND HELPING MY FRIENDS HOEING… DURING THE GROWING SEASON. I DIDN’T DO THE HARVESTING WHICH IS REALLY HEAVY HARD WORK… WHEN WE WOULD GO TO VAUXHALL, WE WOULD BE DOING ALL THE SORTING [AND] ALL THE POTATOES AS THEY CAME TUMBLING DOWN… SO I DIDN’T LIVE ON THE FARMS AND WORK IN THAT KIND OF WAY, BUT I KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE.” THE FOLLOWING MEMORIES WERE PROVIDED BY REVEREND TIM NAKAYAMA IN A LETTER TO THE GALT ON 16 AUGUST, 2007. HE WROTE: “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. I REMEMBER SEEING MY FATHER USING A SICKLE ON THE PROPERTY HE HAD IN THE MOUNTAINOUS WILDERNESS ON CAPILANO CREEK IN WEST VANCOUVER, BUT I AM SOMEWHAT MYSTIFIED AS TO HOW SUCH TOOLS CAME TO BE IN COALDALE, UNLESS HE BOUGHT MORE SUCH TOOLS, SAY, IN LETHBRIDGE. HE USED SUCH TOOLS TO CLEAR THE WILD GRASS ON THE ACREAGE IN PRE-WAR YEARS.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041550

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail