Material Type

Artifact

Date

1926

Materials

RAYON

No. Pieces

1

Height

0.5

Length

118.5

Width

55

Description

PEACH COLORED RAYON NIGHTGOWN HAS V-NECK AND THICK SHOULDER STRAPS. LABELS AT BACK OF NECK READ "14" AND "MADE IN FRANCE". BODY OF NIGHT GOWN IS STRAIGH CUT. OPEN STITCH DECORATIONS ARE ON FRONT AROUND V-NECK, ONE BIT IS TORN.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

BLOUSE BELONGED TO DONOR'S MOTHER, LOIS NAKAYAMA. IT WAS GIVEN TO HER AS A WEDDING GIFT WHEN SHE MARRIED G.G. NAKAYAMA IN 1926. 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: “ 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

P19970041719

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail