The Great Nanton Train Robbery!

Dispatches from Southern Alberta
Dateline:Feb 5th 1907

GREAT NANTON TRAIN ROBBERY.  

The What?  Yes, The Great Nanton Train Robbery. 

The CPR line moved coal through the town of Nanton during the winter of 1907.  The problem was the ‘through’.  Nanton was running out of coal, and despite the promises of the CPR to make delivery, the coal cars kept rumbling through the town and further down the line.

That all changed on February 5th, when seven coal cars reached Nanton and the population there decided that they would go no further.  The coal was needed in Nanton, and they would have it.  J.P. Longpre, the CPR Station Agent at Nanton, contacted the district superintendent, who instructed J.P. To arrange for police protection for the train, and to get it moving down the tracks.

As J.P. And the local NWMP were discussing the matter, the train tried to leave the station.  A local resident, Ira Shoop, hopped on the caboose and ran along the box cars, dropping down between them to set the brakes.   Shoop was arrested. (He was later released as the jail had no heat - no coal, remember?)

Again, the train tried to pull out of the station.  This time all the citizens banded together and set the brakes on all the cars.  

J.P., the NWMP officer and train crew retired to a local eatery for lunch and to further discuss the situation.

While they were gone, the citizens remaining on the platform held a meeting chaired by the Baptist Minister (the Presbyterian Minister took the minutes!) and it was agreed that they would go ahead with the ‘robbery’.  The farmers would help themselves to one ton of coal each, and the townies to half a ton.  All agreed that they would pay the CPR $6.00 a ton.

Returning from lunch the train crew, NWMP and JP Longpre watched patiently as the residents lined up alphabetically to receive their coal.  The funds collected were then turned over to the CPR Agent.

A NWMP Inspector investigated and no charges were laid, in that the robbery was conducted in such a proper and honourable way.  It is said that the CPR were not all that pleased with this verdict!

 Check out the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton Alberta for lots more interesting stories!

Victorian Society of Alberta 

Happy Birthday to Princess Louise Caroline Alberta

 Happy Birthday to Princess Louise Caroline Alberta today! She is the wonderful princess whom the great province of Alberta is named after and aunt to Princess Patricia, the daughter of the Duke of Connaught who’s birthday was celebrated yesterday on St. Paddy’s Day, also known as Regimental Day by the proud Canadian regiment that is named after her. 

Princess Louise was born in Buckingham Palace on March 18th, 1848 and loved to skate, fish and above all she loved painting and creating sculptures. She was the first Princess to live in Rideau Hall in Ottawa, while her husband, John Campbell was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.

 

From: The History Wrangler

Victorian Society of Alberta

 

 

March Fashion Friday

 This month we are showcasing a fantastic webpage included at:

Fashion Era | A Fashion History Hub from Era to Era

Specifically this post covers the fashionable hostesses wardrobe.

Enjoy this detailed and informative look at Edwardian Fashions.

Victorian Society of Alberta

P.S. The links below are live and lead to the sections of the webpage directly!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Society Hostess

Edwardian Fashion History 3

An Edwardian Lady and her Fashion Wardrobe

By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com

The Society Hostess Fashion Wardrobe

• The S-Bend Figure
• The Cut of Edwardian Skirt Styles
• The Edwardian Carriage Class
• Medical Criticism of Unhygienic Trained Skirts
• Glamorous Edwardian Underwear
• Sexual Titillation through Edwardian Underwear
• Edwardian Lingerie
• Edwardian Tea Gowns
• Dressing for an Edwardian Society Dinner
• The Edwardian Lady's Maid
• Actresses as Edwardian Fashion Mannequins
• A Phenomenon of the Lost Golden Age

March Book Tuesday

 Welcome to the March edition of Book Tuesday.
 

Today we are featuring a biography of one of Western Canada's most famous Frontiersmen

Enjoy

Victorian Society of Alberta

Kootenai Brown
Canada's Unknown Frontiersmen.
by William Rodney

Brown’s remarkably adventurous life in Canada began in BC in 1862 during the Cariboo gold rush. He later became a BC policeman, Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, Head Scout for the Rocky Mountain Rangers during the 1885 Riel Rebellion and a conservationist who fought to establish Waterton Lakes National Park. Here he is buried, this region of lakes and mountains his magnificent memorial. Possibly BC’s greatest frontiersman, nevertheless, in Canada he is virtually unknown. By contrast, if Kootenai had lived in the US he would be as familiar as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.

February Fashion Friday

 Here is the next edition of our Monthly Fashion Friday

Today we are featuring a post from the inestimable Gail Carriger

Her post is from back in Oct 2019 entitled:
How to Thrift for Victorian & Steampunk Outfits (Miss Carriger Recommends)

Her introduction is included here below.
Definitely worth checking out for great information on turning Thrift Store finds in workable outfits when starting out.

Enjoy

Victorian Society of Alberta

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Gentle Reader,

This is not for the faint of heart.

This is an older blog post I did on Retro Rack, that I’ve consolidated and moved here. It contains basic guidelines on how to cobble together a pseudo Victorian or steampunk outfit via thrift stores.

I originally wrote this post many years ago for a different blog, before I was a paid authorbeast, when I used my online journal as a kind of information distribution center for friends. Back then it was all about thrifting for the Dickens Fair, an icon of the Christmas season up here in NorCal/. I worked there for a decade or so.

I adapted it to be a general Thrifting Victoriana post and it can also be used as a basis for steampunk.

 One of my beta readers at Dickens wearing a top (we thrifted) that she made, from a 1980s plaid vest + skirt set (she tailored in the vest and used the skirt for bell sleeves). 

 

I thought I would reboot it one last time for you, my most fashionable of readers. My hope is it will evolve and become a place I can point people too whenever they ask me the inevitable questions, how do I thift for a {fill in the blank} costume.

Outfit made of thrifted velvet bathrobe, white king sized sheet set, tailored 1970’s blouse, straw hat re-purposed to be a bonnet lined with a pleated handkerchief, lots of ribbon.

Anyway, Fashionable Reader, as you may well have guessed I am the shopping denizen for my particular group.

One of my few super powers (including the inexplicable ability to turn off street lights) is thrift store juju. I’ve used it to construct various outfits over the years. You see I have an eye trained to spot the possibilities. So this post was written to help others develop the “eye to what can be”.

 Kai modeling a dress I made out of thrifted items: bridesmaid’s cream satin dress, a crochet tablecloth, brown velvet bathrobe, recovered hat, and pheasant feathers from a mask.

Please note:

This is meant to be a basic tips instruction manual to help those just getting into costuming, not for those with more advanced techniques.  All rules are made to be broken so please keep in mind that this post is 101, not seminar level. Also I’m not using modifiers for the sake of brevity, all of the instructions bellow are meant as suggestions not commands.

Here we go!

Continued on Gail's Fascinating webpage.
How to Thrift for Victorian & Steampunk Outfits (Miss Carriger Recommends)

From the President of the Victorian Society of Alberta

 Greetings Gentle Reader,

It's difficult to believe we are already halfway through the second month of 2022!  We at the Victorian Society of Alberta are hoping that we will have a busy and productive year with events, educational opportunities and fun social times.

While the past two years have presented many challenges along the way, it has given our group time to work on projects, repair equipment and learn more about the era we represent in Alberta history. 

So far, our two main events this year will be Days of Yore in Didsbury, Alberta, scheduled for July 30 & 31, and Time Island, held in Millarville, scheduled for September. 

If you are interested in joining us on our adventures, please either request to join the Victorian Society of Alberta - participants group on Facebook or email victoriansocietyofalberta@gmail.com.  There are a few questions you'll need to answer, and we have instituted a $20 annual membership fee as well as a stipulation you attend one event per year to keep your membership current.

If you know of any events or interesting historical tid-bits pertaining to Alberta history from 1880-1914, please let us know and we'd be happy to share them!

In closing, we are wishing everyone a safe, healthy and exciting 2022.  

Hopefully we'll see you "out in the wild"!  

Please come up and say hello.

Sincerely,

Christie Thacker
President
The Victorian Society of Alberta

February Book Tuesday

 All trails once led to Edmonton.

A very interesting map produced by the awesome Billie Milholland.

She says:

"I made this map using information from this excellent book:

The Beaver Hills Country A History of Land and Life    

By Graham A. MacDonald

It is not as well-known as it should be."

 #furtrade #HistoricTrails

You can follow more great information from Billie and others on their FB group:

    Historical North Saskatchewan River Watershed