November Fashion Friday

 This month a fascinating video from Nicole Rudolph on YouTube.

Travel clothes

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

 

Lest We Forget

 

 Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

From 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. In 1931, Alan Neill, Member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, introduced a bill to observe Armistice Day only on November 11. Passed by the House of Commons, the bill also changed the name to “Remembrance Day”. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931.

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 2,300,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Colour of Memory

Lest We Forget

by Kevin Jepson

When I was growing up history was something that permeated our house.

There were books and photos, and old records.

There were fossils, models, maps and artifacts.

I was always interested in military history, because the military and warfare runs like a horrible bloody thread through the history of civilization. Didn't matter if it was ancient history, Romans, Greeks, Persians, Celts, or Medieval sieges and battles, or 18th and 19th C wars, or the great upheavals of the 20th C. I was interested in them all. There was one thing that I remember very clearly though and that was the major difference in the way my Father treated the wars of the 20th C compared to those of history.

These wars were different, they were different because they were still MEMORY not just HISTORY. My Grandfather fought in the First World War and I had friends whose parents had fought in the Second.
The Ghosts of these wars were not ready to be history yet. They were real people still living, still working, still hugging their loved ones and trying to live with the MEMORY of chaos and destruction that they had been forced to live through. They also struggled with the memory of those they had lost.

As a kid my strongest impression of the difference between the Wars of History and the Wars of Memory was simply that History had colour whereas the modern wars of the 20th C were BLACK and WHITE.

We had photographs of these titanic struggles in all their gritty horror, you could see the face of war in its terror and its destruction, but there was no colour. That made them real in some senses but strangely unreal in others.

The Thin Red Line. 93rd Highlanders at Balaclava.
Illustration for Scotland for Ever (Hodder and Stoughton, c 1900).

The wars depicted in the history books were often illustrated in colour paintings, romanticized,
propagandized, draped with the colours of empire and the gloss of academic history. The Wars of living Memory were written of that way but they were illustrated with photographs that gave a glimpse of the true nature of war.

The first time I saw colour photos from the Second World War I was shocked, these were real people, they looked my age, they were not the Black and White ghosts that I had seen for so many years. Along with the colour came the realization that these great upheavals had been filled with REAL people who smelled the earth, the smoke the blood and the death just as I could.

Suddenly War changed from a historical event to a mass tragedy, necessary sometimes but never something to take lightly. Suddenly to stand with the dwindling numbers of veterans on November 11th became not only a duty, but an honour. These men and women had seen unimaginable horrors, they had lived through chaos and destruction and they were REAL people. People I could shake the hands of, people I could see standing with tears for their lost youth and their lost friends. The colour that is in their memories we can never see, we only have the black and white old photos.

There is now, no longer anyone alive who knows the colours of WWI, who remembers the smell of the mud of Flanders, the sound of artillery or the shrieks of dying companions. That war has become history.

Soon the same will happen for those who lived through WWII. And still, there are wars where young men and women fight because they are told to. There are still men and women now much younger than me who will have such memories. 

To stand beside them today is to stand beside all of those who are now history, to stand and remember is to make sure that History is not forgotten.

Tasty 19th c Sourdough Bread

 This fascinating video shows how Sourdough was made in the mid 1800's.

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

 

October Fashion Friday

This month we have an outstanding video from the Living History Demonstrations  playlist by Katelyn Kearns on YouTube.

"How to Lace Yourself in a Corset"

Lots of good info here.

Check out all the videos in this list at the link above.

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada.
Officially declared a national holiday in 1879 and celebrated on November 6th.
It was changed to the second Monday in October after the two World Wars so as not to coincide with Remembrance Day on November 11th..

Here is a great article from Canada History about Canadian Thanksgiving.

Enjoy your turkey!
The Victorian Society of Alberta

 The History of Thanksgiving in Canada

Where did the tradition come from?

Written by Alison Nagy — Posted October 4, 2018

 

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day the second Monday of October.
Library and Archives Canada / e010933381-v8

Thanksgiving weekend. For many, this long weekend really kicks off the autumn season. People across the country will spend it raking leaves, harvesting, shutting down the family cabin, and hopefully eating a delicious meal surrounded by friends and family. But where did this tradition come from?

In 1621, the pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, held what is thought to be the first Thanksgiving in North America, giving thanks for the end to a drought and a bountiful harvest. Without the help of the Wampanoag, who shared planting, hunting, and fishing knowledge and techniques, the pilgrims would have died. Some records say the first official Thanksgiving likely predates this event by around fourteen years.

But let’s try again — we’re thinking of our neighbours to the south.

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving in Canada, or at least the land that would become Canada, has its own history, separate from our American counterparts.

Traditions of giving thanks long predate the arrival of European settlers in North America. First Nations across Turtle Island have traditions of thanksgiving for surviving winter and for receiving crops and game as a reward for their hard work. These traditions may include feasting, prayer, dance, potlatch, and other ceremonies, depending on the peoples giving thanks.

When it comes to European thanksgivings in Canada, we have a few tales to tell.

As the story goes, in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland. This is now accepted as the first “Canadian” Thanksgiving, forty-three years before the first “American” Thanksgiving.

Forty-eight years later on November 14, 1606, inhabitants of New France under Samuel de Champlain held huge feasts of thanksgiving between local Mi’kmaq and the French. Though not known at the time by the settlers, cranberries, rich in vitamin C, are credited with helping avoid scurvy. The neighbouring Mi’kmaq likely introduced the French to cranberries, or as they called them, petites pommes rouges (little red apples).

Champlain’s feasts were more than an annual affair. To prevent the scurvy epidemic that had decimated the settlement at Île Sainte-Croix in past winters, the Ordre de Bon Temps (Order of Good Cheer) was founded, offering festive meals every few weeks. Medical treatises recommended better nutrition (more food) and entertainment to combat scurvy.

However, despite this history of uniquely Canadian thanksgivings, our modern concepts of Thanksgiving were influenced by our American neighbours. Foods that are associated with a “traditional” Thanksgiving, such as North American turkey, squash, and pumpkin, were introduced to Nova Scotians in the 1750s.  After the American War of Independence, the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists ensured the continuation of spreading this “traditional” fare to other parts of the country.

Today Canadian Thanksgiving is held on the second Monday of October every year, or at least it has been since Canadian Parliament declared it so on January 31, 1957. Before this, Thanksgiving in Canada had been held sporadically, often coinciding with other major events and anniversaries.

In 1879, Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday to be held on November 6th.

The most recent date change to the second Monday in October was largely a result of the first and second world wars, which we officially remember each year on November 11, Remembrance Day. This was so that the two holidays would not fall on the same weekend.

As Thanksgiving in Canada has historically been celebrated on several different dates, it is fitting that, even though it is observed on Monday, families are equally as likely to celebrate on Saturday or Sunday.

Most Canadians embraced the change of date to October, since that period better coincides with the actual completion of harvest in much of the country.

Parliament officially declares Thanksgiving as “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” While this mandate for Thanksgiving may not be observed by all Canadians in its entirety, the ideas of being thankful, of spending time with family, and sharing a delicious meal still remain.

 
 
 

2024 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

 

Orange Shirt Day

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation