Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

C/W BELT

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1958

Materials

RAYON, COTTON, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

2

Height

3

Length

90

Width

44

Description

.1) DRESS. BURGUNDY RAYON DRESS WITH GREEN AND WHITE CLOVER PATTERN WHICH IS VERY TIGHT. DRESS IS STRAIGHT CUT WITH BUTTON DOWN FRONT AND LONG SLEEVES. NARROW SHAWL COLLAR. .2) BELT. 71.5CM X 2.5CM LONG BELT. SAME MATERIAL AS DRESS WITH AMBER COLOUR PLASTIC BUCKLE.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

DRESS BELONGED TO DONOR'S MOTHER, LOIS NAKAYAMA, AND WAS ONE OF HER FAVORITES. 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 HER MOTHER'S CLOTHES, KOGAWA SAID: “THIS IS ONE OF THE DRESSES THAT SHE GOT WHEN SHE, MY BROTHER AND I DROVE TO CRANBROOK, AND I THINK IT WAS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF HER LIFE. TIME HAD TO GO WRITE AN ENGLISH EXAM... SO HE DROVE AND I WAS ALLOWED TO GO WITH HIM AND MY MOM. I USED TO WANT TO GO SO BADLY TO EVERYTHING ANYTHING, BUT MY MOTHER WOULDN'T LET ME GO TO PLAY OR LET ME GO OUT. SHE KEPT ME VERY CONFINED. AND IT USED TO MAKE ME ILL, THIS LONGING TO GO OUT... ON THIS OCCASION, I WAS ILL AGAIN BECAUSE THERE WAS GOING TO BE A TRIP AND I COULDN'T GO. BUT THEN MY MOTHER ALLOWED ME TO COME... BECAUSE, I THINK, SHE HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO GO DO THESE THINGS, BUT HAD TO STAY HOME. SO HERE WE WERE, SHE WITH HER TWO KIDS... I THINK SHE WAS SO HAPPY... WHILE TIM WAS [WRITING HIS EXAM] MY MOM AND I WENT AROUND TO THE STORES AND SHE BOUGHT SOME CLOTHES... SHE WAS TRAVELLING, AND SHE WAS FREE, AND SHE BOUGHT SOMETHING FOR HERSELF... SHE SO MUCH LIKED CLOTHES,,, AND SHE HAD BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES, [BUT] SHE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT… SHE HAD ONE PAIR OF SHOES, WHICH SHE KEPT REPAIRING AND REPAIRING… [HER CLOTHING] BRINGS BACK A SADNESS FOR MY MOTHER, BECAUSE HER LIFE WAS SO HARD… TO GO FROM WHAT THEY HAD IN VANCOUVER, ALL THE DREAMS THAT THEY HAD THERE, INTO SOUTHERN ALBERTA, WHERE IT WAS SO HARSH… THAT WAS NOT A WAY TO BE TREATED IN THAT STAGE OF LIFE… MY MOTHER WAS A VERY SILENT WOMAN AND DID NOT COMPLAIN… I THINK SHE GAVE UP ON BEING PART OF THE WORLD, AND RETREATED FROM IT. AS LONG AS SHE HAD KIDS, SHE HAD TO BE IN THE WORLD, BUT I THINK THAT, BY INCLINATION, SHE WOULD HAVE JUST LEFT IT – IT WAS JUST TOO HARD FOR HER… I JUST WISH SO MUCH THAT I HAD KNOWN HER THEN THE WAY I KNOW HER NOW… I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE MADE HER HAPPY, BECAUSE SHE NEVER WAS… BUT IN SOME WAYS I THINK HER LIFE ENDED HAPPILY. I CERTAINLY DID THE BEST I COULD FOR [HER]; I TRIED REALLY HARD.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041698

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail