Continued Musings on a Museum Exhibit

Another installment of research for an exhibit on Lethbridge 1906-1913.

This time -- scandal!

In October 1908 people of Lethbridge were shocked to find that a baby was being raffled off. Or, maybe they weren't. The truth is, we just don't know what people in Lethbridge thought of this seemingly strange and scandalous occurrence.

While we do have 2 newspapers articles from October 1908 that state that a baby was raffled off and won by a single man (who was going to find a woman to help him raise the child), all we have been able to find are these 2 articles. We don't know whether or not it was a joke, a prank, a promotional gimmick or the real thing. This is one of the frustrating parts of historical research. We have this tantalizing information but, without more context, the danger is that we could read too much into this.

But, until we know more, it is interesting to think of what type of community Lethbridge may have been 100 years ago to allow a baby raffle? All I do know is that this and other stories are certainly spurring me on to do even more research into this fascinating time period.