Postcard shows the grandstand and race track located at the Exhibition Grounds (now the site of the Keystone Centre/Westman Communications Place) in the south end of Brandon, Manitoba. The bleachers are filled with people and spectators also line the fence alongside the track. Five harness racers are making their way along the track. An observation tower and possible gazebo for dignitaries is located inside the track.
Notes
The back of the postcard is address to Mrs. Sharpe of Banff, Alberta. A green King George One Cent stamp has been postmarked Sault Ste. Maire, Ont., July 6, 1910. The message reads: Lake Superior, My dear. How are you? Glad you are charmed with B. don't get too fat. Tell Mrs. Coates my state room companion is Miss Rutherford of B. Coll: she got on at Port Arthur. Having a lovely trip. It was hard parting at B. .......Address 14 Deer Park, Toronto. Postcard manufactured by Stedman Bros. Ltd., Brantford, Canada. S.B. 2376. Made in Germany.
Photograph is looking northwest from approximately the south entrance of the driveway and shows the Citizens' Science Building, the Brandon College Building and part of Clark Hall, as well as the drive way and part of the front lawn.
View is north from approximately the Citizens' Science Building. Photograph shows the driveway running in front of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall, a number of cars and students along the driveway and the Education Building in the background.
View is southwest from the north side of Princess Avenue. Photograph shows the north driveway entrance on campus. The original Music Building, the A.E. McKenzie Building, Clark Hall and part of the Brandon College Building are visible.
Photograph shows the ornamental fair ground gates. Writing on the edifice reads: Provincial Exhibition Park Brandon's Big Fair. On the six flag poles are the American flag, Union Jacks, and Red Ensign. A number of pedestrians can be seen strolling near the gate.
Notes
Part of "Souvenir of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada [viewbook], Printed by Photogelatine Engraving Co. Limited, Ottawa." Dates obtained from the Burchill's Music Store Henderson's Brandon City Directory listings (1927-1929). Writing on the front of the photograph reads: Entrance to Fair Grounds, Brandon, Man.
This sketch ( blueprint) is comprehensive plan for the development of the College grounds. Current Kinsmen Stadium grounds referenced as "baseball grounds."
Storage Location
RG 6 Brandon University fonds
Series 2: Board of Governors
2.1 Documents
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.
Scope and Content
Unidentified
Notes
Mr. Stuckey originally placed 32 negatives in one envelope labeled “M – Presidents of Fair Boards 1882 – 1972”; We have separated and renumbered these negatives as M30(1) to M30(32) inclusively; Records of the Provincial Exhibition Association are held in the S.J. McKee Archives (RG2) including photos of board members.
Many of these records were donated to the Board by exhibitors and participants in the fairs. Some are advertisements sent to the Provincial Exhibition Board by businesses such as Conklin Shows. Professional photographers, who were likely hired by the Board, generated others. As well, Brandon Sun photographers took a large number of the photos throughout the century. In the 1980s, the Sun photos were reprinted and then the reprints were added to the Exhibition’s collection. Privately owned photos were also reprinted and added. Publishing houses generated some photographs, probably as services to participants and organizers of the fairs. Finally, the Canadian and Manitoba governments created a few of the photos.
Custodial History
Exhibitors and participants in activities at the summer fair donated many of these records to the Provincial Exhibition Board. The Manitoba Provincial Archives in Winnipeg housed other records, of which the McKee Archives acquired copies. Most of the records were stored in the offices of the Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba until they were brought to the McKee Archives ca. 1986.
Scope and Content
Series consists primarily of black and white photographs pertaining to the Provincial Exhibition. Subjects of the records vary over the century, but overall subjects included are buildings and grounds, horses, livestock, exhibits, youth activities, entertainment, and dignitaries. Almost all of the materials are in excellent condition.
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
The graphics that depict the buildings and grounds of the summer fair are both ground and aerial photos. From the records generated between 1900 and 1930, there are pictures of the Crystal Palace, the Wheat City Arena, the Experimental Farm, the horse barns, the racetrack, and the grandstand. The pictures dating from the forties through the sixties are of the racetrack, the grandstand, the Provincial Display Building, the Trade Fair Building, and the Main Gate. The records from the 1970s and the 1980s feature the Keystone Centre, cattle buildings, and horse stables.
HORSES
Graphics from the 1890s through the 1980s feature various light and heavy horses, from single horses to eight-horse teams. Pictures dating from the first fifty years of the fair are of stallion and purebred shows. Also depicted are racing events such as chuck wagon, bike, and single rider races. Graphics of equestrian events like jumping and hackney classes date from World War II until the 1980s. Dating from the fifties to the seventies are photos of children's events like costume classes and pony competitions. Finally, pictures of barrel racing and horse pulling competitions date from the 1970s and 1980s.
LIVESTOCK
Livestock photos, which date throughout the twentieth century, are mostly of cattle and swine, but there are a few pictures of buffalo and sheep. Cattle photos depict purebreds such as Holstein, Jersey, Hereford, and Angus. Swine pictures are of Yorkshire sows and boars, as well as of market hogs.
POULTRY AND EGGS
Graphics depicting poultry and egg shows date between 1950 and 1985.
EXHIBITS
Photos of exhibits taken throughout the century feature home-craft displays such as clothes and quilts. Tack rooms, farm implement shows, and club displays, like those of the Brandon Lion's Club, are also consistent throughout the period. Other graphics of exhibits are particular to certain years: in the late 1940s through the 1950s auto shows are featured; and from the fifties to the eighties commercial exhibits are prominent.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES
Graphics of children and teens' activities form a large part of MG 1. From the 1920s and 1930s, there are pictures of boys and teens who attended the Farm Boys' Camp. Photos taken at the Agricultural and Homemaking School in the late 1940s and early 1950s depict male teens learning about mechanics, welding, and electricity. Photos of female teens at the camp depict weaving, sewing, and cooking classes. In the records dating from 1957 to the 1980s, photos feature both pig and calf scrambles. As well, some pictures are of male teens participating in seed, poultry, and judging courses. Photos of female teens during these years show them participating in such activities as clothes-making, 4-H Queen contests, and fashion shows.
ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment pictures include graphics of the midway, the carnival and travelling acts, parades, and miscellaneous events. Pictures of the midway are both aerial and ground photos, and date from 1913 to the 1970s. Ferris wheels and carousels are the main rides featured until the 1960s, after which many motorized rides like the Wild Mouse and the Tidal Wave are prominent.
Carnival pictures throughout the century include shots of aisles along which several attractions are set up. Photos of clowns and other costumed people are numerous. Graphics of travelling acts depict parachutists (1920s), follies (1950s), exotic dancers (1950s), trained animals (1950s-1970s), singers and bands (1970s-1980s), and trapeze artists (1970s).
Parade photos date throughout the century, and feature pipers, horses pulling carriages, people riding horses, clowns, soldiers, floats, and members of various clubs.
Miscellaneous events graphics include pictures of horseshoe throwing competitions, square dancing shows (1950s), fiddling contests (1970s), smash-up derbies (1980s), and tractor pulls (1980s).
FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE
There are seven photos of First Nations people at the summer fair. In all but one of the pictures, they are in traditional costume. Depicted are pow-wows, parades, a female teen sewing a mukluk, and tee-pees. These records date from 1914 to 1969.
DIGNITARIES
Pictures of dignitaries are of members of the Provincial Exhibition committees and boards; federal, provincial, and municipal politicians who attended the summer fair; and various business, medical, and judicial representatives. Especially notable are the group photos of the Board of Directors for the years 1894, 1900, 1941, 1949, 1951, 1952, and 1968.
The graphic materials of RG2SF1 are useful for many purposes. For one, they offer a rich visual history of the fair. Agricultural historians will find poultry, horse, livestock, horticultural, and farm implement images informative. Such images describe how farming has changed through the last century. The records offer many clues into the cultural history of Brandon and surrounding area. The nature of the carnival, for instance, changes. At the turn of the century, attractions of various booths were not advertised overtly; one had to pay before they were given hints as to what they were going to view. By the Second World War, however, attractions’ exteriors were more garish. Because the carnival was more open in its advertisements, one can determine that the boundaries between the private and public shifted in the first forty years of the twentieth century.
The pictorial history of the exhibits at the fair reveals much about the city’s culture. The pictures from the post-World War II era, for example, are indicative of the period’s climate of consumerism: a commercial display building was built and commercial exhibits were added to the displays of the fair. Also signified in the postwar photos is the emphasis upon family values that pervaded the fifties; for instance displays of home-crafts became prominent in these years.
Social historians will find in these records a vibrant portrait of the social composition of twentieth-century Brandon. The community’s leaders, for example, are represented in the pictures of the Boards of Directors. From these photos, one can ascertain the social characteristics of Board members: white, male, and middle class. Parade photos are also indicative of social composition, as organizations from all classes of society participated in parades. Agricultural clubs, unions, women’s organizations, and church groups are just a few of the entries featured in the parade pictures.
Historians of gender will find that throughout the fairs’ years definitions of femininity changed. In the early fairs, women are shown in their booths at home shows, demonstrating their association with the private sphere. During the Second World War, some photos start to appear of women doing secretarial work. After World War II, however, gender norms constricted. Pictures of female teens taking classes at the Agricultural and Homemaking School depict them learning about how to run a well maintained home: they learn about sewing, cooking, and weaving. In the seventies, gender boundaries again shifted: for example, female teens began to participate in the previously male-only calf scramble events.
Finally, these records are useful for any historian of Brandon and area history. There are thousands of people from the region featured in these records. Different places and buildings in Brandon are also a prominent part of the collection. Together, the pictures of RG2SF1 offer a vivid history of both Brandon and the Provincial Exhibition.
Storage Location
RG 2 Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Association fonds
RG2SF1 Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba
Related Material
Pictures of the Provincial Exhibition may also be found on the National Archives of Canada website. The Western Canadian Pictorial Index in Winnipeg, Manitoba, houses additional graphic records of the summer fair.
Arrangement
Item-level descriptions of the graphics of RG2SF1 through RG2SF4 are located on a
searchable database. This database is entitled “Brandon Photographs” and can be read using Microsoft Access. “Brandon Photographs” is located on a 3½ floppy disk entitled “Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba fonds Series 9” included in this finding aid. The description of each photograph on this database includes the following information: accession number, title, date, place, physical description, scope and content, notes, creator, and copyright. By searching the database, individual photographs can be located easily. See the printed finding aid for instructions on how to use the photograph database.
Graphics for RG2SF1 through RG2SF4 are located in boxes. Graphics larger than 24 x 35 cm are located in the image mapcase, which is located in the reading room. The graphics are filed chronologically by accession number. The arrangement is as follows:
Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Association fonds; RG2SF1-RG2SF4, Series 9
Boxes 1 through 15, as follows:
Box 1 EX0001 to EX0125
Box 2 EX0157 to EX0263
Box 3 EX0265 to EX0399
Box 4 EX0400 to EX0499
Box 5 EX0500 to EX0599
Box 6 EX0600 to EX0699
Box 7 EX0700 to EX0799
Box 8 EX0800 to EX0899
Box 9 EX0900 to EX0921
Box 10 EX1000 to EX1099
Box 11 EX1100 to EX1199
Box 12 EX1200 to EX1299
Box 13 EX1300 to EX1399
Box 14 EX1400 to EX1499
Box 15 EX1549 to EX1859
[Display Building II, the last surviving building of those constructed for the Dominion Fair held in Brandon in 1913, has been named one of the 10 most endangered historic buildings in the country by the Heritage Canada Foundation. P.E. 09/07/09.]
Custodial History
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.
Scope and Content
Dominion Exhibition Display Building II
Notes
View from the northwest
[Mr. Stuckey put two negatives in same envelope. We have separated them and numbered them M11(1) and M11(2).]
[Display Building II, the last surviving building of those constructed for the Dominion Fair held in Brandon in 1913, has been named one of the 10 most endangered historic buildings in the country by the Heritage Canada Foundation. P.E. 09/07/09.]
Custodial History
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.
Scope and Content
Dominion Exhibition Display Building II
Notes
View from the northwest
[Mr. Stuckey put two negatives in same envelope. We have separated them and numbered them M11(1) and M11(2).]