Cherish an Antique Day
April 9 is Cherish an Antique Day, a day to reflect on beautiful things made when craftsmanship was important, functional things used for everyday activities, and to think of those heirlooms you pass from generation to generation. It is also a day to celebrate those people who continue to keep this tradition alive by creating objects with artistry and quality.
For the “Treasures & Curiosities: The Sequel” exhibit this fall, various people will choose objects from the collection they wish to have displayed.
With each choice they must explain why they chose that object.
What would you pick? Maybe go for the gross factor and choose Dr. (General) Stewart’s dental chair (he was the highest-ranking officer from Lethbridge during WWI and our second permanent dentist). Don’t you wonder what happened in that chair?
There are two mayors’ chairs in the collection, one used by Mayor Hatch (he introduced the streetcar system, the start of LA Transit) and the other by Mayor Hardie (he changed our voting laws and was mayor when Staffordville was annexed). Each was an interesting character in his own right.
There are chairs from schools, a stenographer’s chair, one from the Warden’s office of the Lethbridge Provincial Jail, and another from the office of Galt No. 8 mine. Not as fancy as the mayor’s chairs but they may trigger a meaningful memory or emotion.
What will people pick? You’ll have to wait ‘til the fall to find out, but for now, on April 9, think about what you have tucked away for safe-keeping and think about sharing the objects and their stories with your children and grandchildren. Take a moment this week to think about what you buy – is it something you can imagine giving to your grandchildren?
For more information about donating items to the Galt Museum & Archives, contact Kevin MacLean in Collections or Andrew Chernevych in Archives. Additional details can be found at
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