Museum – Page 8 – Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Amy’s Typewriter

October 21, 2023January 14, 2024 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Amy Rowswell (née Stephens) purchased this Remington Portable No. 5 typewriter in 1942. At the time, she was a student at the Normal School in Saskatoon studying to be a teacher. After receiving her certificate, she returned to Rockhaven to teach at Baldwinton, where she met Jack Rowswell. They married in 1952. Amy and Jack farmed south of Baldwinton, had three children, and eventually retired to the Town of Cut Knife.

Amy passed away in June 2023 and her family has kindly donated numerous items of historical value to the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum. Many personal stories will be attached to this machine. After all, it had been a part of the family for more than 80 years. However, this machine is also valuable in that Amy’s story points us to other stories, too.

THE TYPEWRITER

The idea of the typewriter first appears in 1714 as a Machine for Transcribing Letters, then again in 1830 as a typographer, but it’s not until the mid-1870s, that the typewriter appears on the market. Philo Remington, gun manufacturer, had purchased the production rights from Sholes, Soulé, and Glidden in 1873. In 1874, the Remington No. 1 was in production. By 1942, when Amy purchased her machine, typewriters were everywhere.

Typewriters became commonplace in office settings but also in people’s homes. They transformed the way people composed and produced written content and facilitate the process of manuscript preparation, typing letters and drafting professional documents.
The History of the Typewriter

THE NORMAL SCHOOL

Normal Schools were teacher training facilities created and funded by provincial governments. These institutions were designed to address the increased need for elementary school educators in the newly established public education systems.

The term “normal” derived from France’s École normale supérieure of the 1790s, and implied that teaching methods used therein would become the norm for all schools within the government’s jurisdiction.
The Canadian Encyclopedia

ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS

The school at Baldwinton, SD #4762, was one of many hundreds of one-room schoolhouses built in Saskatchewan in the early days of settlement. As both population and educational expectations increased, one-room schools were replaced with larger buildings appropriate for separate grade levels and multiple teachers. Baldwinton was in operation from 1929 – 1965.

These buildings were respected as centers of learning; they hosted community events; they were recognized as the framework within which the community grew – for the years they remained open.
Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

~ Debbie M.

The Friends of Tomahawk Park sign, newly installed.

Board, Fundraiser, Museum

Mission Accomplished!

October 15, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Last week, Rob Waldner (Rose City Memorials Ltd.) spent an afternoon working on the Friends of Tomahawk Park brick mosaic. He added 16 inscriptions!! The CMMM is very grateful to the individuals and families who participated in the fundraiser this year and – not to forget – the hundreds who have supported this project since 2012. Our sincere appreciation to all.

Here are a few photos of Rob working on site:

prep for added inscriptions — Beginning the set up for the work on 16 bricks. Pictured: the glue pot, 3 cut stencils with lettering painted for visibility, and marking tools.

set up continues with masking of surrounding bricks — Two areas of bricks to be blasted with masking of surrounding bricks in progress. Note that once the stencil is glued in place, the cut letters are pulled out for sandblasting.

unloading sand pot from truck — Rob bringing out the portable sand pot. The generator will remain in the truck.

Rob in protective equipment sand blasting bricks — Rob in protective equipment sand blasting.

highlighting the bricks after blasting — After the lettering is sandblasted, it’s highlighted. Then, the rubber and masking are removed.

For those who had bricks inscribed this year, expect to receive a photo of your brick(s) in the mail next week. Your charitable donation receipts will be mailed in the new year. Thank you!

~ Debbie M.

Board, Fundraiser, Museum

Last Call for Bricks This Year

September 19, 2023September 21, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

DEADLINE TO RESERVE YOUR 2023 BRICK IS FRIDAY, SEPT. 22, 2023
EMAIL CMMMCUTKNIFE@GMAIL.COM

To make arrangements for bricks to be inscribed this year, we need to contact Rose City Memorials in advance, so they can schedule the onsite work. The work needs to be done before temperatures drop, or snow arrives.

Four – five more reserved bricks are needed. Individuals will be contacted this weekend if inscriptions are to go ahead this fall. Inscription and payment info will be required within days of notification.

Reservations will carry over to next year, if insufficient numbers are reached by Friday.

Click here for more about the Friends of Tomahawk Park Brick Fundraiser.

~ Debbie M.

loads of top soil on the former ovenstown site

Museum, Summer

Finishing Touches for 2023

September 13, 2023September 13, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

UPDATE ON THE MUSUEM GROUNDS

The leaves in Tomahawk Park are falling fast and furious as we finish up this season’s To-Do List. We welcomed 300 visitors this year, about one third of whom, visited on Canada Day! In-between tours, cleaning the buildings, and the ongoing process of cataloguing artifacts, we completed a few new projects (photos below):

The original Ovenstown Gift Shop was hastily packed up and put away prior to the demolition of the building in 2020. This summer, we set up a mini-gift shop in the Duvall House with displays of local history books, crafts, and Tomahawk Park souvenirs.
The depression where the Ovenstown building had been located was filled with topsoil, harrowed, and grass seed was planted.
The Transportation Shed and the outdoor Machinery Display received new signage. The original artifact labels and descriptions had faded over time, and most had been lost to the weather.
Located on both sides of the Duvall House front steps, newly planted flower beds, with a small rock garden, welcome visitors.
The Elizabeth McLain Memorial Garden and the shrubbery bed at the beginning of the walking path each received a face lift with new mulch and a trim.
The Friends of Tomahawk Park brick fundraising project finally has its permanent sign. It’s been a long time coming, as the wood sign made in 2012, prior to the Town of Cut Knife Centennial, had been intended only as a temporary measure. For more info on how to purchase your brick in support of the CMMM, click here.