Toronto Metropolitan University Archives & Special Collections is open Monday to Friday from 9-5. See our Hours page for more information or make an appointment .
March 24, 2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of Astronaut and Photographer Roberta Bondar’s visit to Ryerson to present then President Terry Grier with space mission patches – including one bearing the school’s coat of arms, that had been to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Space Shuttle Discovery mission patches and Ryerson crest patch (RG 12.85)
Why would these be presented to our school? Because Roberta Bondar had been studying and researching the effect of blood flow under weightless conditions and its effect on space adaptation (dizziness, nausea etc) with the help of Ryerson’s Centre for Advanced Technology Education (CATE). Under contract with the Canadian Space Agency, researchers at CATE were working on experiment methodology, modeling, evaluation, data collection and analysis. You can read more about relationship in the following articles from the Forum Newsletter:
Spring came in on March 20 this year and on campus this means the budding of the trees and the blooming of the wonderful smelling trees in the Kerr Hall Quad.
Many of us won’t get the chance to take in the campus green spaces in person this Spring, so at Archives and Special Collections, we thought it would be nice to look back at Spring on campus from years past.
The staff in Archives and Special Collections bring you some of our favourite things. Objects and photographs from the collections that hold a special place in our hearts. Each week will highlight a different item, along with an explanation of why it stands out.
With such an amazing collection of materials – sometimes it is hard to pick just one…
This week’s post is Curatorial Specialist Olivia Wong’s choice:
Expo Watch Camera (2005.006.06.02)
Some of my favourite objects in the collection are specialized film and photography equipment. The Expo Watch Camera is part of our selection of detective or disguise cameras. As the name suggests, this novelty camera is the shape and size of a pocket watch. It uses a miniature daylight film cartridge that can hold up to twenty-five 16 x 22 mm exposures. The camera has a detachable external viewfinder, and the exposures are captured through the watch’s winding stem (the knob serves as a lens cap!)
This nifty gadget was manufactured by the Expo Camera Company in New York City between the early 1900s until 1939. An advertisement for the camera in a 1917 Photoplay Magazine stated: “Photography made a pleasure instead of a burden. You can carry the EXPO about in your pocket, and take a picture without any one being the wiser.” To see the full ad, click here
To learn more about the Expo Watch Camera, click here
To see what else is in the Heritage Camera Collection, click here
The staff in Archives and Special Collections brings you some of our favourite things. Objects and photographs from the collections that hold a special place in our hearts. Each post will highlight a different item, along with an explanation of why it stands out.
With such an amazing collection of materials – sometimes it is hard to pick just one…
This post is Archival Technician Cathy McMaster’s choice:
“The Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan, a religious allegory, first published in 1678. This edition was published ca. 1900 (F 404.2.733)
I chose this wonderful little book, the story of which is the oldest religious allegory in English literature still in print. This edition is over 100 years old, in good condition, and with a personal inscription to “Lily” from her teacher, “N.M. Robb” (no date). But, it is what I discovered between pages 144 and 145 that makes this book much more special – a pressed four-leaf clover. Who found this rare plant? Jack Layton perhaps? Or, if it was Lily (or even N.M. Robb) who placed it in the book, that little plant is old. Not only a wondrous find back in the day, but also amazing it is still in this book, possibly for 120 years. Good luck or no, it was a special find for that person and for me.
An elusive four leaf clover
To see other book titles in the Jack Layton library – click here
To see what else is in the Jack Layton fonds – click here
The staff in Archives and Special Collections brings you some of our favourite things. Objects and photographs from the collections that hold a special place in our hearts. Each post will highlight a different item, along with an explanation of why it stands out.
With such an amazing collection of materials – sometimes it is hard to pick just one…
This post is Special Collections Librarian Alison Skyrme’s choice:
In 2017, Special Collections received a generous donation of magic lantern slide projectors and slides from collector John Tysall. Magic Lantern Slides were projected in private homes, educational institutions, and public forums, and covered topics from amusing anecdotes, moral tales, world tours, and scientific or other educational topics. In addition to foretelling later 35mm slides and, eventually, digital presentation tools such as PowerPoint and Google Slides, the format of 19th century magic lantern slides were also a precursor to motion pictures. Motion was incorporated into magic lantern presentations in a variety of ways, including multiple lens projectors, movable hand-held projectors, and individual slides with moveable, hand painted scenes. A variety of techniques were used to create movement, including a glass overlay with selective blackout that was moved to conceal and reveal portions of the drawing to give the impression of movement (these were called slip slides). Other mechanical techniques included levers, pulleys, and rackwork. These motion slides are some of my favorite items in the collection because of their ingenuity and whimsy.
To learn more about the John Tysall collection – click here
The staff in Archives and Special Collections brings you some of our favourite things. Objects and photographs from the collections that hold a special place in our hearts. Each post will highlight a different item, along with an explanation of why it stands out.
With such an amazing collection of materials – sometimes it is hard to pick just one…
This post is Archivist Curtis Sassur’s choice:
Photograph taken on set during the filming of the television series “Fraggle Rock” (2012.005.02.86)
I love this photo because I was a big fan of the show Fraggle Rock as a kid, but also because this image, like many others within the Hackborn Fonds, highlights Robert Hackborn’s casually keen photographic eye. At first glance, it seems like the shot could be a still from the show, but then the subtle production elements at the bottom of the image tease a little notion of the creative process entailed in producing a principally puppet-powered program such as this.
To see what other photographs are in this series – click here
To see what else is in the Robert Hackborn fonds – click here
The staff in Archives and Special Collections brings you some of our favourite things. Objects and photographs from the collections that hold a special place in our hearts. Each post will highlight a different item, along with an explanation of why it stands out.
With such an amazing collection of materials – sometimes it is hard to pick just one…
This post is Archival Technician Rosalynn MacKenzie’s choice:
Excavation of the north end of the property, ca.1961
This is one of hundreds of photographs taken by late Ryerson Professor Charles Roy Horney. They are especially poignant as they document the “birth” of Ryerson’s campus with the construction of Kerr Hall and the demolition of the old Normal School buildings. Ryerson started out essentially as an experiment, but by the 1960’s it was really coming into its own and the construction of Kerr Hall represents this to me.
I picked this specific photograph because it shows how Kerr Hall was constructed. This shows the end of Unit I (which runs along Church Street from the corner of Gould to the corner of Gerrard) and the excavation for the Unit II.
To see a listing of the other photographs in this file – click here
To see what else is in the C. Roy Horney fonds – click here
This month marks the 70th anniversary of two important Ryerson and Canadian milestones – The opening of CJRT – Canada’s first educational radio station on the FM band, and the broadcast of “This is the Fashion – marking Canada’s first live television show produced for a general audience.
CJRT FM is on Air
On November 1, 1949 Canada’s first educational radio station on the FM band went on the air. The station was licensed as a completely non-commercial enterprise and operated in conjunction with Ryerson’s Schools of Broadcasting and Electronics. The University of Toronto, the Ontario Department of Education and other Boards of Education in and around Toronto would also take part in programming. The first night of broadcasting was 3 hours in length and included a half hour of recorded music, followed by “CJRT Testing” a documentary on FM broadcasting and CJRT, and finally a concerto of works by a variety of composers.
(RG 159.2)
The station was officially opened on November 22, 1949 by Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Ontario Minister of Education Dana Porter
“CJRT Finest in the World – Frost” Ryerson Institute of Technology The Little Daily
This is the Fashion
On November 14, 1949 Staff and students from Ryerson’s Schools of Fashion Design, Electronics, and Broadcasting combined their talents for “This is the Fashion”, a 20 minute live fashion/comedy broadcast. Using equipment loaned from Famous Players, the show was performed in the School’s boardroom and broadcast to an audience of 200 Radio Industry professionals in the school’s auditorium. The purpose of the night was to promote FM radio and FM radio tuners.
Control room during TV Broadcast of “This is the Fashion” (RG 102.18)
The Archives and Special Collections (A&SC) windows feature a series of seemingly random numbers worked into the window’s graphic pattern. The numbers are actually dates, chosen by A&SC staff, that are significant to the City of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Archives and Special Collections. Over the course of the next year our blog will feature some of the window dates and explain their significance.
1899
Canadian Kodak Co., Ltd. Headquarters (1899-1901), 41 Colborne Street, Toronto (2005.001.3.259)
In 1899, after successfully operating on the American market for over a decade, George Eastman dispatched Kodak employee John G. Palmer to Toronto to determine the viability of establishing a subsidiary in Canada. Palmer discovered a robust market for photographic products and, on November 8, 1899, Canadian Kodak Co., Limited was incorporated under the Ontario Company’s act. The nascent company established headquarters in downtown Toronto, embarking on a relationship with the city that would last more than a century and would constitute the heart of the company’s manufacturing operations in Canada.
For more information on Kodak Canada, please read our earlier blog – “Kodak in Toronto”
The Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association fonds came to the Ryerson Archives and Special Collections in 2011. In it are several notebooks filled with course notes, and practical knowledge for the student nurse.
One of the notebooks dates to the 1920’s and belonged to Wellesley School of Nursing class of 1925 graduate Elsie Kathleen Jones. Elsie K. returned to The Wellesley in 1928 and became the Director of Nursing in 1937, the role she held until her retirement in 1964.
In the notebook there are notations regarding everything from making a proper hospital bed and caring for the sheets, to recognizing and treating a hemorrhage in a patient. The following are some excerpts from the notebook.
To Make a Closed Bed
Loosen all the covers, removing one article at a time. Fold and place on a chair
Brush mattress well and turn from end to end
Place mattress protector on mattress
Put on lower sheet, wide hem at top, tucking in nine (9”) at top of mattress drawing tightly and turning straight corners.
Place the draw rubber, pulling on tightly, so there are no wrinkles
Place draw sheet, folding about 1/3 under at the top and tucking in tightly on each side
Place top sheet with the hem wrong side up, first coming to top of bed. Tuck in at the foot and make straight corners
Place blanket about 9” from top of the bed. Tuck in at the foot and make straight corners.
Then fold top sheet over the blanket and tuck in on both sides
Place the spread, reaching to the top of the bed, making straight corner at the bottom.
Place two pillows in bed. See that the pillows are well on the corners of the slips. Fold and place with closed end toward the door
The notebook also included instructions on how to make an “Ether” or surgical bed. The following are instructions for making up a surgical tray:
Surgical dressing tray
Six packages of absorbent wipes
Two large and two small dressings
One package of sterile towels
Set of instruments (forceps, scissors, probe)
Adhesive straps
Adhesive tape
Antiseptic powder (Borace or Bismuth Formic Iodide)
Bandages 2” x 3”
Bandage scissors
Curved basin
Sterile doctor’s gloves
Sterile bowl or basin of warm boracic solution
Packing
The nurses were also responsible to pre-treating the bedding if stained before sending them out to be washed:
Blood stains are soaked in cold water, then washed with soap and tepid water. For tea, coffee, and fruit stains use boiling water. If stains are still very persistent, use a solution of oxalic acid and rinse well afterwards in cold water.
Cocoa or anything containing milk use cold water
Grease stains, use hot water and soap or benzene
Iron Rust – spread over boiling water cover with salt and lemon juice, place in sun, if possible, and rinse thoroughly before sending to laundry
Ink stains – cover with salt and lemon juice and rinse thoroughly
Iodine – use ammonia or alcohol
When it came to treating their patients there were basic instructions such as recognizing sings of and type of fevers and proper care of thermometers:
Care of thermometer
Keep thermometer in bichloride of mercury solution 1-1000. Wash in cold water and dry before giving to patient
Types of Fever
Continuous fever which remains high with slight variations
Remittent, which remain above normal with considerable variations between highest and lowest temperature
Intermittent – alternately rises to high fever and falls to or below normal
Keep thermometer in bichloride of mercury solution 1-1000. Wash in cold water and dry before giving to patient
The notebook also has a number of recipes for poultices, enemas, purgatives, and various medical solutions used by nurses to treat a variety of medical conditions. The Linseed poultice was used for treating chest congestion and pneumonia:
Linseed Poultice
Is made from linseed or ground flax seed meal. It is most effectual because it can be used at higher temperatures with blistering, as the linseed contains considerable oil.
Preparation
For a small poultice, use about 2/3 cup of linseed to 1 cup boiling water. Add the linseed slowly to the boiling water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula. Turn the gas low and just let come to a boil. Remove from gas and beat vigorously. Spread the linseed about 3/4” thick on poultice gauze leaving a good margin for folding in. Carry to the patient between heated plates. Have ready oiled muslin flannel protector binder and pins
*Note – Linseed poultice must be hot, light and smooth.
To view the notebook in its entirety or look through other items in this fonds – please contact Ryerson Archives and Special Collections at asc@ryerson.ca
