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Souvenir pieces were popular items in days of yore. Travelling salesmen would go from town to town with their supply of plates and pitchers and other items that they turned into local memorabilia. Tavistock has its fair share of souvenir items like this one featuring the stores and the Arlington Hotel on Woodstock Street North.
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Things aren’t always what they seem. Ask 6 people to name what this heavy cast iron pan was used for and 5 will most likely immediately reply “baking fancy muffins”. Good guess but wrong. It’s a mould for maple sugar candy.
This particular mould was used at the Kaufmann Hotel in Sebastopol in the mid to late 1800s.
Check out the beautiful shapes in these deep moulds and salivate over the sweet sugary taste.
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Every postcard that has a picture tells a story. Sometimes, if we give our imagination free rein, we can see ourselves in the picture.
This image shows a bit of construction work underway in 1923 on the northeast side of the five corners in Tavistock. Can you see yourself as one of the crew, labouring long hours for perhaps a dollar day in wages?
Might you be the chap on the bicycle, most likely making deliveries for one of the local businesses?
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Every archives and museum has items that have more questions than answers. This picture is one of ours. It’s Scan # 1204 in the Lemp Studio Collection.
Amidst the hundreds of photos of individuals, families, businesses, sports teams, houses, animals and the list goes on, why would one of the photographers purposely take this shot?
What’s important about the hand? Speculation abounds.
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Most local historians can readily tell you that Tavistock was founded in 1848. Many can also attest to Tavistock's date of incorporation in 1909. Tavistock's Crest is not so well known. You might think that this story begins in 1848 or 1909. You would be wrong. This story starts in January of 1949 when the Gazette ran an article that read as follows:
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For 37 years, from 1892 to 1929, Moses Staebler was Tavistock's trusted jeweller and watch repairman. From his store at the five corners (NE corner of Woodstock and Hope Streets) he sold a wide variety of items ... music books, safety razors, phonographs, eyeglasses, canes, silverware, purses and violins along with the expected clocks and watches and jewellery. One wonders how many marriages in the community were sealed with a ring purchased at Staebler's Jewellery Store.
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These days people get the weather report on their smartphone or iPad or their TV. Years ago we all got it the old-fashioned way. We checked the thermometer usually hung by the kitchen window. One wonders how many homes in Tavistock used the Ben Weston's Bakery thermometer fashioned in the old key style.
Weston's Bakery was started by Fred Weston, a British homeboy. An ad in the Tavistock Gazette dated November 16, 1917 stated that "WESTON'S BREAD is made in the home-made way, with the best of materials and potato yeast".
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Do you remember the words that follow “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”?
Did you know there is a second verse to “Home On The Range”?
What colour ribbon is on the “Old Grey Bonnet”?
What happens “The More We Are Together?”
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Our archives has a treasure trove of Tavistock Fair Prize Lists from years gone by. One of the very best days of the year was (and still is!) the day the Prize List was published. Families poured over the pages with each person noting what he or she would show. Once those big decisions were made, it was time to read the advertising … everything from tombstones to Tip Top tailored suits.
Here are some fun things you may not know about the Tavistock Fall Fair.
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On June 26, 1982 the 14 permanent residents of Punkeydoodle’s Corner welcomed an estimated eight thousand visitors, including the Conservative Leader of the Opposition, Joe Clark and his colleague and friend, the Member of Parliament for Oxford, Dr. Bruce Halliday. Activities abounded on the 5 acres of land associated with Punkeydoodles and it was difficult to be everywhere at once. If you attended the dedication of the cairn then you likely missed the frog-jumping contest and the Little German Band and so much more.
