Bedeque Area Historical Museum

The first item of the week is a cheese cutter originally from Callbeck’s Store. It was a part of Howard Clark’s collection that was donated to the museum in 2012. Callbeck’s General Store was established in 1899 in the community of Bedeque. Originally there was a general store and a tailor shop owned by the Callbeck’s. The buildings were later combined into one. After numerous renovations and expansions the store moved to Summerside in 1993 and is still in operation as Callbe...cks Home Hardware. The Callbeck family sold the store in 2001. Soon after it The original building became the William Callbeck Centre and the museum took over the space that was once the tailor shop. In the early 20th century it was very common for stores like Callbeck’s to cut their own cheese rather than selling pre-packaged cheese. Many stores still do this today. The cutter was simple to use. The cheese was placed on a rotating base and the knife was brought down where they wanted to cut the cheese. Nathan

This week’s item is a parlour stove which once belonged to Edna Jenkins of Bedeque. Edna resided in the Bedeque Village next to the United Church Manse. Edna’s brother was Dr. Henry Moyse who had an office in Bedeque. Edna married a man named Wally Jenkins who was a farmer in Lower Bedeque. Edna also taught piano lessons and Sunday School from her home. This stove would have likely sat in her home’s parlour as the sound of piano notes and conversations filled the air. Wood bu...rning stoves were first patented in 1557 which was about two centuries before the Industrial Revolution began. The industrial revolution would make iron a much cheaper and affordable material, but before this, a cast iron stove would have only been able to be purchased by more affluent households. For this reason, parlour stoves often feature elaborate designs and decor. After the Industrial Revolution, the price of iron declined and stoves became more common in many households. In the early 19th century, parlour stoves began to be used on Prince Edward Island. Written by Caleb Coyle

This week's second item is a civilian gas mask from the Second World War. The museum has four civilian masks and one military model. During the First World War chemical warfare had become fairly common after being initiated by the Germans. Although it was never used on a wide scale in the Second World War, the Germans did have a stockpile of chemical weapons at the start of the war and had targeted civilians in Holland, so it was decided that gas masks were to be distributed ...to all British civilians and soldiers. Canada, being further away from the fighting, did not distribute nearly as many masks as the UK, but they gave out some using the same model as the British. The masks are made out of a rubberized fabric with a cellophane vision plate and three fabric straps to keep the mask on. They were a very effective model but also extremely uncomfortable and prone to fogging up. In other words, while protecting the wearer from chemicals these masks greatly restricted the their senses. This caused many wearers to recall wearing them as a scary experience. Nathan

This week's first item is an early model of a phonograph manufactured by Victor Talking Machine Companies. This model was standard for its time and was given the nickname the outside because it was extremely portable compared to other phonographs. The machine was in good condition and after some work was done on it it works again. The original bell however was replaced by the one pictured below which is considerably bigger. The current needle is a modern metal needle common t...o vinyl and mono players but when the phonograph was in style the steel needles of the time would begin to break after only a couple of minutes. This resulted in steel needles being a far too expensive option for most families. To get around this people would create homemade needles out of various materials including thornbush needles, wood, cactus needles and even ivory when it was available. Unlike newer record players the phonograph must be cranked repeatedly to stop the disk from slowing down. The phonograph was part of Howard Clark’s collection donated in 2012. -Nathan

This week's second item is an electroshock therapy machine. Likely produced in between 1929 and 1941 by H.G. Fisher and Co, a company which had originally been a family business in Chicago, but after H.G. Fisher passed control to his son Robert Fisher the company expanded to California. Robert had a background in both engineering and physical therapy so he started manufacturing electroshock therapy machines. His business continued building such machines until the Second Worl...d War when factories started prioritizing military equipment. At that time Robert switched to producing aircraft parts. The electroshock therapy machine was a very common method for treating mental illness until the 1970s. It involves intentionally causing seizures which will affect brain chemistry. Electroshock therapy was first practiced in the 16th century and became increasingly common for treating asylum patients in 1938 when it was popularized by two Italian neuropsychiatrists named Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini. In the 1970s a backlash based on the ethics of treatment began and the method fell out of favour. However, it continues to be used today in extreme cases. This particular machine was donated by Dr. Lloyd Molyneaux, a physician who practices in the Bedeque area. Nathan