It's Day 4 of my 21 Day Family Connections Experiment
Today I'm showing the few shoes left from my Na's shoe collection. The collection was mostly broken up after she died.
When I was little, my Na had over a dozen or so shoes in her collection, displayed on a shelf of their own. She never said why shoes. And, no, I don't think I ever asked.
Sometimes collections are almost accidental, I think. Other times they do reflect an individual's interests or memories. It's fun to speculate on the whys. But often there's no answer.
Na did have quite a number of real shoes, I remember, for special occasions, for everyday, and good sturdy ones for walking or taking us out to Queen Elizabeth or Stanley Park which she did a lot. I know I wouldn't have questioned that part as mum loved shoes and had lots.
Na's ladies' groups all did fundraising and often she (and me) volunteered at rummage sales or the like. We'd always check to see if there were any decorative shoes for her collection.
Most of her collection shoes, as you might expect, were in pairs. Maybe that was one of her collecting criteria? The moccasins, I think, came from Manitoba, but she could have got them here in BC. Those very pretty flowered pumps say Five Towns China - England. (From 1910, the five towns, known for pottery, became Stoke-on-Trent, England.)
But the bigger single one is signed Chilliwack. Did she get that as a souvenir in Chilliwack area, or, did she snap it up later at a sale?
We had relatives in Chilliwack and I know from the 1910s on, when visiting the Coast from Manitoba, Na's family would go out to visit the Irwin family farm in Sardis. James was also a harness maker. The Chilliwack Archives has a photograph of him in his shop. [Interior view of James Irwin in his harness shop in Sardis. Photo Number PP501376; Other # 001388. Date [ca. 191-]]
James Irwin, Sardis, Harness Maker. Thu, Jun 8, 1922 – Page 7 · The Chilliwack Progress (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada) · The Chilliwack ProgressWe had other relatives there but I'm not sure if they visited them or not. I do wonder though as our Gilchrist cousin's husband, Roderick James McIntosh, had a shoe store in Chilliwack. Na was always one for (clean) puns and jokes. She'd have liked this worn out looking boot as a souvenir.
McIntosh Shoe Co., Chilliwack. Thursday, 13 April, 1922 – page 8. The Chilliwack Progress (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada) · The Chilliwack Progress. Accessed and clipped at Newspapers.com Both my parents had 'collections' of this and that. I'll try to add something about those next week.
For more about the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment, see my first Experiment article here.
2 comments:
Who knows why people collect what they collect except that the collection makes them happy. Your Na's shoes look like a sweet reminder of her, and hopefully, that makes YOU happy. :-)
Well said, Elizabeth. Happy memories are the best!
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