Photograph shows a harvest scene in the Assiniboine Valley. Stacks of wheat are in the process of being loaded into horse-drawn wagon carts. A threashing machine is set-up in the field next to an empty wagon. A woman in 1920s-era clothing is walking in the field.
Notes
Writing on back of photograph reads: 3 prints [20-2009.153 to 20-2009.155]. Threshing at Blight's farm Willow Creek at Chater. Lance Blight of front his father on the rack. 1925.
Photograph is stained and water damaged. A newspaper clipping about William (Billy) Muir is glued to the top left hand corner of the mat. The image is exfoliated in the right hand corner. The negative has been reverse printed.
History / Biographical
Coombs & Stewart opened the first general store in Brandon in 1881, which was located on 6th Street and Pacific Avenue. According to G.F. Barker (Brandon: A City, 1977, 291), William (Billy) Muir worked at the store until he opened his own grocery store in 1888.
Custodial History
Donated to Fred McGuinness by Allena Strath (nee Coombs).
Scope and Content
Photograph shows the Coombs & Stewart general store located on the corner of Pacific Avenue and 6th Street. A group of men pose in front of the wood-framed store.
Notes
Back of photograph reads: One of first stores in Brandon, Coombs...[?]
Very poor. Item has been broken in half on a diagonal from top to botton. Upper right corner is missing. Various tape stains and some tape residue on the bottom left.
History / Biographical
Lottie Louisa Currie was born on September 9, 1876 in St. Mary's, Perth, ON, to William and Eleanor Currie. She came to the Brandon area with her family in the 1880s. Currie worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer for Smith & Burton, from at least 1906 until the business ceased operations in 1917.
Currie continued working in bookkeeping and accounts, first for Brandon Gas & Power Co., then for the Manitoba Power Commission. She appears to have retired around 1942. She is not listed as living in Brandon between 1943-1945, but was once again a resident by 1947. Currie was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, a charter member of the Brandon Business and Professional Women's Club and in 1916, she passed her examinations for the St. John's Ambulance Association.
Lottie Louisa Currie died on November 25, 1972 in Brandon, MB.
Smith & Burton, a grocery store that also had mail order and china departments, was founded by E.B. Smith and John Burton in the 1886. It was housed at a few locations in downtown Brandon; their location at 829 Rosser Avenue is the one that mostly likely appears in the photograph.
Scope and Content
Item is a portrait of office employees at Smith & Burton, grocers. Lottie Currie, daughter of William Currie, is shown standing on the left.
Photograph was in possession of Mrs. Ruby Miles, who passed the image on to Fred McGuinness. McGuinness makes reference to Mrs. Miles and this photograph in his Sunbeams column (Source: F.A. Rosser, "Another interesting chat with a daughter of the plains," Brandon Sun 18 Aug 1981).
Scope and Content
Photograph allegedly shows the Wheat City Business College graduating class standing outside a woodframed building in the winter. Affixed to the building are posters/advertisements that read: Happyland, Monday July 30 [1906?]. A banner spelling Happyland in large block letters hangs above the building's door that is numbered 209. Surrounding the banner are the red ensign/Dominion of Canada flags.
The students are wearing long wintercoats with fur collars, some are wearing fur hats. The men appear to have ribbons pinned to their lapels. On the left of the photograph, a group of three female students are sitting in a horse-drawn sleigh and have fur robes on their laps. On the right, a number of students are standing on a horse-drawn sled. Two individuals can be seen holding megaphones, another student is holding a basketball.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: 1909, Tenth Street and Princess. Two yellow labels are affixed to the back of the photograph. one reads: graduating class, Wheat City Business College. The other reads Mrs. K.L. McGregor, 157-4th St.
Photographs have been glued to a backing board that has warped over time
Scope and Content
Photograph shows parade floats travelling on 100 block of 8th Street (Brandon). Horse-drawn floats appear to belong to the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, Murdock/Murdoch Brothers (furniture dealers), and F.W. Durst (cement contractor). Businesses visible in the background include the Sylvester Brothers Manufacturing Company and McDiarmid and Clarke lumber and fuel yard. Spectators in the foreground are leaning on a wooden fence likely belonging to the Old City Hall.
Notes
Writing on the front of the photograph matting reads: 315 July 1906. Two photographs (20-2009.7, 20-2009.6) are glued on the reverse side. Page appears to be from a photo album.
Located on the east side of the 100 block 6th Street, Trotter & Trotter Livery Stable is not listed in the 1894 edition of the Henderson's Directory. It is noted in the 1897 edition.
Custodial History
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.