Project Background |
Project Members | Contributors
This virtual exhibition is a collaborative project of the following
partners:
The Canadian Museum of Civilization gratefully acknowledges the financial
investment by the Department of Canadian Heritage in
the creation of this on-line presentation for the
Virtual Museum of Canada.
Project Background
Mail order is a subject of natural interest to the Canadian Postal
Museum.
The museum has published on the topic in the past, and in 2002 opened an
exhibition
on this very theme called "Satisfaction Guaranteed." In the fall
of
2000 I met with Léon Robichaud, historian and professor at the
Université
de Sherbrooke. He agreed to feature the mail-order catalogue as the main
theme
of his graduate history course in multimedia. The course took place in the
winter
of 2001. I attended the student presentations, and, following that,
determined
that something of a virtual nature had to be done with this theme.
Two of the students conducted further research on mail order here at
CPM.
Eventually, students in Professor Bryan Young's undergraduate course
at
McGill University were brought on board to do research as well. Meanwhile,
in
the summer of 2001, I approached Catherine C. Cole, consultant and curator
with
a strong interest in material culture and mail order. She agreed to manage
the
project.
We set about looking for partners and found them at the National
Library,
the digitization task force working with Susan Haigh, and at the Culture
Division
of the City of Toronto, where Elisabeth Joy works. They worked with us to
prepare
the joint proposal for the Virtual Museum of Canada and have been with us
since
the project got underway in the spring of 2002.
A host of authors was recruited to collaborate on the project. Their
work
forms the basis of this virtual exhibition as does the insight and
enthusiasm
of the high school students surveyed for this project. It is hoped that
for them
and for all Canadians this exhibition will provide a window on the past
that
will help them, and us, better understand the logic underlying the
maddening
pace of modern life.
- J. Willis
Project Members
Core Team
Stephen Alsford, Web Site Manager, Canadian
Museum
of Civilization
Catherine C. Cole, Historian and Principal Consultant, Catherine C. Cole
&
Associates, Heritage Consultants
Tania Costanzo, Project Officer, Library and Archives Canada
Elisabeth Joy, Supervisor, Collections and Conservation, Museums and
Heritage
Services, Culture Division, City of Toronto
Jennifer Quincey, Project Officer, Library and Archives Canada
Diane Schreiner, Interpretive Planner, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Dale Simmons, Writer, Library and Archives Canada
John Willis, Historian, Canadian Postal Museum
Project Management
Catherine C. Cole
Web design and development
Imatics
Inc. (www.imatics.com)
Digital Creations
Peter Crane Applications Developer, Library and Archives Canada
Mike Mitchell, Manager, Digitization Bureau, Library and Archives
Canada
Bob Patterson, Canadian Museum of Civilization
John Staunton, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Research Collaboration
Chantal Amyot
Shirley Lavertu
Christa Middlemiss
Marguerite Sauriol
Alain Turgeon
Liz Turcotte
Evaluation
Betsy Mann
Diane Schreiner
Tamara Tarasoff
English Editor
Wendy McPeake
French Editor
Pierre Cantin
English Translation
Paula Sousa
French Translation
Françoise Charron, le mot juste
Jérôme Demers
Maurice Isabelle, Qualitexte Enr.
Photographers:
Steven Darby, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Harry Foster, Canadian Museum of Civilization
David Knox, Photographer, Library and Archives Canada
Contributors
Carol Anderson
is
a Toronto-based researcher, writer, and editor. Since completing her MA in
Canadian
history at York University, Carol has explored the history of working
people,
ethnic communities, and public and private institutions.
Christina Bates
is
the curator for Ontario history at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
She has
published widely on social history, women's history, and the history
of
dress.
Emmanuel
Béland
is currently finishing his MA thesis on the making of a hero, Jacques
Marquette,
famed explorer of the Mississippi. He is a historian and specialist in
multi-media
communication. As contributing author, he collaborated in the CD-ROM
project
commemorating the bicentennial of Sherbrooke in 2002.
Gaëtanne
Blais
is the Coordinator of Curatorial Services for the Canadian
Children's Museum.
She holds MAs in classical archaeology and Museum Studies. Prior to
joining the
Children's Museum, Gaëtanne worked as a research consultant in
material
culture and interpretation and was Assistant Curator at the Canadian
Postal Museum
for two years.
Neil Brochu
studied
fine art and literature at the University of Guelph and, more recently,
museum
studies at the University of Toronto. His interest in decorative arts and
oriental
rugs in the Toronto context was encouraged through work on the Spadina
Collection
in Toronto.
Nicole Cloutier
has
a PhD in History. An art historian and museologist, she has published
numerous
articles and catalogues on Canadian art history, and is one of the
founders of
the Musée des ondes Emile Berliner in Montreal.
Catherine C.
Cole
(MA) is an Edmonton-based heritage consultant with a longstanding research
interest
in Canadian retail and mail-order history and Western Canadian social and
business
history.
Jennifer
Cook-Bobrovitz
is a librarian, local historian, and writer in Calgary.
Louise Duguay
is currently
writing a book about artist-painter Pauline Le Goff Boutal
(1894-1992),
to be published by Éditions du Blé in 2005. She has a BA in
Education
and an MA from the University of Manitoba, as well as a diploma in Fashion
Design
from Sheridan College. She teaches plastic arts and the history of
Canadian art.
Bianca Gendreau
holds
MAs in History and Museology from the Université de
Montréal. She
joined the Canadian Postal Museum in 1991, where she has been curator of
collection
development since 1995. She has developed several major exhibitions both
physical
and virtual, and has published and lectured on the history of the post.
Les Henry is
the author
and publisher of Catalogue Houses: Eaton's and Others. He is also
professor
emeritus of soil science, University of Saskatchewan, farmer, farm
newspaper
columnist, and agricultural and environmental consultant
Elisabeth Joy is
the Supervisor, Collections and Conservation for the City of Toronto's
Culture Division. She manages Registration, Conservation, Exhibit Design,
and Textile Reproduction Services for the City's museums and Historic
Collection. She holds an M.A. in Conservation of Cultural Heritage from
the Université de Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne and an M.A.
in Public Administration from l'ENAP.
Shirley Lavertu
has
an MA (History) from the Université Sherbrooke, multimedia stream.
She
is a cultural development agent, specialized in local and regional
heritage.
Charles Long is
an
Ottawa writer and frequent contributor to Cottage Life.
Sylvie Marier
obtained
a BA in Education from McGill University in 2003. She is undertaking an MA
in
the history of high-school education at the Université du
Québec
à Montréal.
Eileen
O'Connor
completed her PhD in History from the University of Ottawa in 2002. Her
dissertation,
"Regulating Healthy Bodies: Health, Medicine and Dress Reform in
Victorian
Canada," examines the social and cultural authority of medicine in
problematizing
women's dress. Eileen teaches courses in Women's History as a
part-time
professor at the University of Ottawa.
Lorraine
O'Donnell
is a historian living in Quebec. She completed her McGill University
doctoral
thesis on the history of the visualization of women at Eaton's in 2003.
Hélène
Plourde
has a BA in History (with a minor in political science) from the
University of
Ottawa, where she is working on her MA. She is currently an employee with
the
Canadian Children's Museum in Gatineau.
Paul Robertson,
Canadian
Museum of Civilization historian, curated the permanent exhibit,
"Many
Voices: Language and Culture in Manitoba," which includes a
recreation
of Frank Dojacek's Ukrainian Booksellers and Publishers Winnipeg
store.
Scott Robson
has worked
with the historical collection of the Nova Scotia Museum since the 1960s.
He
maintains a special interest in photographs and other historical images,
and
in textiles, especially quilts and hooked mats. His work with Sharon
MacDonald
on quiltmaking has been published as Old Nova Scotian Quilts and
Courtepointes
anciennes de la Nouvelle-Écosse by the Nova Scotia Museum and
Nimbus
Publishing Ltd., Halifax, 1995.
Marguerite Sauriol
has
an MA in History from the University of Ottawa and works as a consultant
with
the Canadian Postal Museum/Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Alan Stewart is
a
historian specializing in the social history and urban development of
Montréal
from its founding to the 20th century.
Evelyn
Strahlendorf
was the guest curator of "Timeless Treasures," an exhibition of
dolls
at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. She is the editor of The
Canadian
Doll Journal and the author of Dolls of Canada: A Reference
Guide.
Tamara Tarasoff
has
an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto, and specializes in
developing
interpretive exhibitions, programs, and multimedia products.
John Willis has
been
a historian with the Canadian Postal Museum/Canadian Museum of
Civilization since
1991. He has published articles and books on postal communication and
social
history. He is a historian by trade and persuasion.
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