The hands-off observation of a museum exhibition of old gadgets obviously designed to do something is likely to leave the curious on-looker with an unfulfilled urge to set moving parts in motion. However, visitors to the “Gadgets & Gizmos” exhibition at the Elgin County Museum can satisfy that inclination. They are invited to touch and operate several of the artifacts in this show of “labour-saving, time-saving and just plain inventive machines and contraptions of the 19th century”. |
A favourite with kids is the corn sheller which strips each cob with a pleasing clatter of golden kernels into a bin and ejects the empty ear, ready for the next cob. Children have been known to attack this task with focused enthusiasm, rapidly depleting generous supplies of cobs. Even in this digital age, sturdily built gadgets which can be understood through operation and observation offer a certain appeal.
Museum Curator Mike Baker explains that the show focuses on gear-driven and hand-cranked tools and devices, of which there are many examples in the permanent collection. In the 19th century many contraptions were invented to make simple tasks easier. “Treadles for example,” says Mike, “were incorporated into a number of tools such as sewing machines, butter churns or printing presses to improve the operation of the machine and to free up one’s hands for other parts of the job.”
Museum Curator Mike Baker explains that the show focuses on gear-driven and hand-cranked tools and devices, of which there are many examples in the permanent collection. In the 19th century many contraptions were invented to make simple tasks easier. “Treadles for example,” says Mike, “were incorporated into a number of tools such as sewing machines, butter churns or printing presses to improve the operation of the machine and to free up one’s hands for other parts of the job.”
Some of the gadgets are not just useful. Mike says, “Great ingenuity and fine craftsmanship is evident in many of the pieces, especially the apple corers and parers. There, early examples all beautifully jointed and carved give way to very utilitarian metal devices composed of gears and a crank.”
“Some of the most interesting gizmos of the 19th century are those created by people out of a specific need. The show includes, for example, a ‘horse fiddle’, a noise maker used at shivarees, a loud celebration of a wedding usually held late at night outside of the bride and groom's home. Parts from four pieces of machinery were used in its creation.” The centrepiece of the exhibit, a new interactive work by London artist Ron Milton, follows that tradition of combining gadgets to create something new. Mike says, “It is composed of several hand-powered antique devices mounted on a seed box. Visitors are welcome to turn cranks and handles and push lights on to see small vignettes.” The resulting piece invites engagement and thought about both past and present. Some of the artifacts were made in St. Thomas and are accompanied by related archival photos of local factories and workers. Washboards were made at Canadian Woodenware, founded in 1916 and occupying the same factory on New Street until it closed in 2013. In the early years it turned out 1800 washboards every day. The Easy Clothes Washer, c.1915 was made by Thomas Brothers who came to St. Thomas in 1902. William F. Thomas also started Canada Wood Products in Rodney. |
The invention of the Brownie camera on display has an interesting Elgin County connection. Frank Brownell (1859-1939) was born in Vienna in the municipality of Bayham where he learned woodworking and mechanical skills from his father. At seventeen, he set off to find work in Rochester. A plate camera he built came to the attention of George Eastman who hired him. Together, the two created the Kodak camera and then started working on a cheaper version. In 1900 affordable, accessible photography was born as the first of millions of Brownie cameras appeared. (The Brownie was named for a series of imps and fairy characters created in 1890 by a Canadian Palmer Cox and later used to sell the camera.)
As you snap or get snapped in photos taken this holiday season with a cell phone, you can appreciate its compact ease of operation, just as those in the early 20th century enjoyed the new benefits of the revolutionary Brownie camera. (As for ease of understanding the inner workings … that may be another story.)
“Gadgets & Gizmos” continues until December 23rd at the Elgin County Museum, 450 Sunset Dr, St. Thomas. For more information visit www.elgincounty.ca or call 519-631-1460 ext. 160.
“Gadgets & Gizmos” continues until December 23rd at the Elgin County Museum, 450 Sunset Dr, St. Thomas. For more information visit www.elgincounty.ca or call 519-631-1460 ext. 160.
Early Elgin County Inventiveness
In 1981 the Elgin County Library Board published an index to Canadian Patents of Elgin County 1824 to 1872. It was extracted from the Canadian “blue book” of patents to honour the ingenuity of early residents of Elgin County. Naturally, many of the patents were related to agriculture, but there were also improvements to churns, boot trees, bee hives, carriage springs and more. |