| We wanted to find out more about Canadian history. As
such the McCord museum of Canadian History, despite being so highly rated,
was a bit of a disappointment being more of recent Montreal history than of
Canada. The French influence was strong, as was that of religion. Note the
nun doll in this collection of toys, and in the far left hand corner, a toy
altar for a child to hold his own services. A sign of the times and the
culture I suppose. |  |
 |
These two exquisite cast and painted figures of First Nation peoples was one
of the most beautiful items on display. |
| This quilt is one of the most unique pieces I have
seen featuring photographic faces of many of the races that constitute the
people of Canada. |  |
 |
On the left is a wedding dress from 1833 which represents the fashion of the
time (although the sleeves may have been altered later that decade). On
the right is a wedding dress from 1921 made in Paris. The orange blossoms at
the waist were fashionable throughout this decade. |
 |
| These models are of engines from the Grand Trunk
Railroad which linked Quebec and Montreal. |  |
 |
Alas I know little about the ship although it is a fine model and seems
typical of the 18th century cargo ships which plied the Atlantic. |
| The birch bark canoe is a very Canadian boat used by
both the native Canadians and the French trappers who came first to this
country. This one is beautifully made but is obviously not an original. |  |
 |
One of the stranger pieces of art is this automaton which has many wheels
and gears and opens various doors to reveal other scenes within. This style
of art was very popular in the 1930s. |
| This is one of the scenes depicting the delivery of
the finished goods from the automated factory.. |  |
 |
This is back to First Nations and depicts the type of construction of the
buildings before European settlers arrived. Its construction was quite
sophisticated but it must still have been a harsh existence given the winter
weather in these parts.. |
| An oddity is this comptometer which is in effect a
mechanical computer. Dating from between the wars, I remember using machines
like this when I first started university. Computers were still too
expensive then to use for mere numerical analysis. |  |
 |
The McCord is renowned for its collection of clothing. This fur coat would
most definitely not be politically correct in most of Europe today but in a
bygone age was a principal export of the country. |
| This is slightly newer (and more politically
acceptable) and was used to keep warm while skating, a common pastime here
since the rivers always freeze over in winter. |  |
 |
In the stairwell between the three floors was this 'totem' pole for which
the carved figures within it tell a story. If I can establish what the story
is then I will include it here. It was carved by the Haida from the
Northwest in Cedar. |
| The boots are a fine piece of art but I suspect were
for show rather than wear since they would surely have discoloured quickly
in the harsh environment. |  |
| These examples of snowshoes show that this was often
the only way to get around before the age of the snowmobile. |  |
|
| A photograph, true, but they did, and still do create
ice palaces in February and they can last over a month if the weather holds.
This shot is from the Notman photographic archives and dates from 1883 and
those are real people! Reminds me of the Rick Mercer sketch when he
convinced some minor US mayor that the Canadians had a problem with global
warming because their Parliament buildings were made of ice. It could have
been true once. |  |
|