Sunday, August 21, 2011

Burnaby Village Museum - Part II

1922 home of the Bateman family


Display of decorations in dining room from a 1924 wedding





Master bedroom – note the village quilt is made of 1920s style fabrics, all of the hexagonal pieces were sewn by hand by staff and volunteers.



The above house was more like a home of wealthy family. The one below was a home of middle-class family - Jesse Love Farmhouse built in 1893.




Antique wooden wall telephone - any idea how it works and how to dial? Based on my research, the two brass bells would ring when receiving a call. How about dialing??? No touch tone, no rotary dial ... just turn the crank handle on the right! Cranking the magneto can produce a high voltage alternating signal to ring the bells of another phone and to alert the operator.


I'm pretty sure this is an old fashioned washing machine. I saw a similar one in BC Hydro Power Smart Village during Winter Olympics last year. It looks very different from today's washing machines!

Here's a photo of an old Singer sewing machine. In 1851, the first Singer sewing machine released in the market. Singer also built the first sewing machine where the needle moved up and down rather than sideways and the needle was powered by a foot treadle rather than a hand crank. These old sewing machines can be very stylish with decals like rose and cornflower, La Vincendora, Ottoman, Persian ... (http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Singer_Model_27_and_127::sub::Finish_And_Decals)
Backyard (sideyard?) of the house where the fruit trees and crops were grown.

Seaforth School was opened in Burnaby in 1922 with 20 students. It was located on the north side of Burnaby Lake at Government Street and Piper Avenue. Grades 1 through 7 were taught in one room by a single teacher.



Grade 3 was reading the Rainbow Bridge ... what is the story about? I don't know neither.
Grade 4 was reading the story of Aladdin ... this one I know ... a very famous folk tale from One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)! But I don't know the answers to the questions on the board, all I can remember is a young boy and the magic lamp.
Grade 5 was reading Pandora's Box ... any idea what it is? Now I don't think I know too many fairy tales.

Demonstration of writing with fountain pen. The staff dipped the nib into the ink bottle before he wrote. That was the way people performed writing until 1960s when the use of ballpoint pens gained dominance over the use of fountain pens.



This is the original building of dry-goods business of Flora and William Bell from 1922 to 1937. The store was fresh, tidy and comfortable in my opinion.




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