The Museum on Tower Hill's Wayback Machine

A relic is an object that was once connected with the body of a saint, martyr, or other holy person. The concept of relics began with the early Christians. They believed that the bodies of the dead, and by extension anything that they had touched or had touched them while alive or dead, had magical qualities or powers. Not only did these objects have innate special powers, they could be passed on to other people through what was called “beneficent contagion”, think of it like a lucky rabbit’s foot, or playoff beard. In fact relics were so contagious that one merely had to be in the presence of a relic to receive its benefits. Diehard fans have at least one or two relics. Exactly what type of relic do you have, read on to find out.

     Needless to say people took this whole business very seriously. The church created a ranking system for relics based on the items connection to the holy person in question. Relics were divided into 4 classes.

• First class relics were items that came directly from the body itself, either the whole thing, a large portion of it, or any other small piece of the whole such as bone fragments. These items were usually held by a church beneath the alter, or size permitting encased in a small box and worn around the neck of the devoted.
• Second class relics were items that were owned or used by the holy person, clothing or other items.
• The last two classes were dependent on the concept of “beneficent contagion”.
• Third class relics were items that had deliberately touched first class relics
• Fourth class relics were items that had deliberately touched second class relics. In short, anything could be or become a relic.

    Relics were used to justify the creation of many churches and cathedrals. They were also big business. Bought and sold like sports memorabilia for the pious. One glaringly obvious problem was that fakes were ridiculously easy to produce. Authenticity being something of a novelty in the Medieval period, people began taking junk and claiming that it was a relic and swindling some poor peasant out of their excess barley or whatever they had to barter with. Eventually people began to take umbrage with the selling of relics. It occurred to some people that there was only a finite amount of wood that could have actually been a part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified and it was unlikely that all of it had made its way to an isolated German town in the 16th century. Relics were one of the issues that early Protestants had with the Catholic Church. That anger helped fuel the reformation. While they persist to this day they have nowhere near the value they once had. They have been replaced, by sports memorabilia.

                Sports memorabilia are modern day relics. Their value is determined by the items’ relationship to the player (holy person) in question. Once again these relics are big business. One can find just about any kind of relic they desire for sale on the internet. Like religious relics sports memorabilia can be divided into classes. Famous Toronto Maple Leaf Ted Kennedy’s false teeth would qualify as a first class relic. Any game used item would qualify as a second class. Autographs would be considered third class relics. Jerseys that have been worn to games and ticket stubs, programs, or any other collectible item that brought someone luck would be would be forth class. These items are sought after because of their connection to the players and events that fans worship. We want them because they bring us closer to the team we love, and maybe just maybe if we have them they will bring us luck and our team will win a game.    

                This particular relic was made by the Sheriff Company in Canada during the 1960s. These hockey coins came in packages of Jell-O, pudding, and other Sheriff products. Like the toys in a cereal box these coins were sought after and collected by children.  Bob Nevin played Right Wing in the NHL for 18 seasons from 1957-1976. Nevin had an incredible rookie season scoring 21 goals with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1960–61. He finished second in the Calder Memorial Trophy voting, awarded annually to the best rookie in the NHL, to teammate Dave Keon. Nevin would help the Leafs to win two Stanley Cups in 1962 and 1963 playing on a line with Red Kelly and Frank Mahovlich. Nevin was traded to the New York Rangers in 1964. He went on to play for the Minnesota North Stars and the Los Angeles Kings. In total he played 1128 career NHL games, recording 307 goals and 419 assists for 726 points. This coin comes from his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It lists his NHL totals in both French and English and highlights his Stanley Cup win in 1962. Maybe some young fan clutched it in his hand during every game hoping it would bring a little luck to his team.  

The Panama Canal was under construction for so long that this game was patented before its completion. In fact the nation of Panama was also born during the construction making it younger than the canal that bears its name.  The canal was constructed between 1904 and 1914 to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The 77 km long water-way is the ultimate short-cut allowing ships to skip the long journey around South American and through Cape Horn to travel between the two oceans. The artifact pictured is a game/puzzle that incorporates the geography and structure of the canal.  The Atlantic Ocean is on the left side of the puzzle. The first of two sets of locks used to raise the ships are the Gatun Locks. Ships enter the locks at sea level from the Atlantic Ocean and are raised 85 feet by a series of 6 locks extending over 3 Kilometers. Each lock is filled with water raising the ship in stages. Water enters the chamber through culverts that are large enough to drive a train through! It takes approximately 8 minutes to fill each chamber with water. Once raised the ships travel West through Lake Gatun to the next set of locks pictured on the puzzle, the Miraflores Locks. This journey takes about 8 to 10 hours. Here the ships are lowered 54 feet down to the Pacific Ocean to continue their journey. The object of the puzzle is to move the three ball bearings from the one ocean to the other with two metal hinges acting as the locks on either end of the canal. The cities of Colon and Panama are also identified on the map inside the toy. Since it’s such an old artifact I didn’t try to get the ball bearings from one side to the other, but it looks like it would have been a challenge. Although not as much of a challenge as building a canal capable of raising and lowering giant ships. I probably could do it in less than 10 years. 

The Museum on Tower Hill is full of interesting and unique artifacts from the West Parry Sound District. We are open Tuesday to Friday 9-5 and 10-2 on Saturday. For more information visit our website. 

These roller skates were manufactured by the Sunshine Company in Waterloo Ontario sometime in the 1950s. The Sunshine Waterloo Company was created in 1930 as a partnership between the Waterloo Manufacturing Company and the Australian H.V. McKay Company to make combines. Demand for farming equipment declined during the depression and the partnership was dissolved.  Sunshine switched to manufacturing bed warmers, baby carriages, industrial steel shelving, and roller skates.

Remarkably roller skates were first patented in 1760 by a man named John Joseph Merlin; although they did not become popular until the late 19^th Century when James Plimpton invented the “rocking” skate. The skates shown here are an example of the rocking or quad skate. Quad skates allowed users to more easily turn corners by simply leaning and using their body weight. The next significant advancement was the use of axels and the addition of bearings to the wheels in 1876 by two Englishmen named William Brown and Joseph Henry Hughes. The use of bearings allows skaters to travel faster by reducing friction on the wheels as they spin around the axle. Plimpton’s easily maneuverable quad skate combined with Brown and Hughes’ axels and bearings created the modern roller skate.

Roller skating was a popular pastime throughout the 20^th Century. During the 1970s Disco and Bell-Bottom pants combined with Roller Rinks produced the fad of Roller Discos. The equipment has evolved significantly since these skates were manufactured with modern leather roller skates and inline skates replacing these skates produced by the Sunshine Company. In-line skates have become more popular than traditional roller skates in recent years thanks to events like the X-Games and In-line Hockey. However traditional roller skates have remained popular thanks to the resurgence of Roller Derby.

So the next time you strap on a pair of roller skates remember that there is more than two-hundred years of history and technology right under your feet.

The Museum on Tower Hill is full of interesting and unique artifacts from the West Parry Sound District. We are open Tuesday to Friday 9-5 and 10-2 on Saturday. For more information visit our website. 

 

  This badge was donated to the museum without a date attached to it. However it contains a clue that can help determine its approximate age. The clue is the company name Canadian Explosives Limited. This tells us that the badge comes from the Canadian Explosives Limited (CXL) plant that was located in Nobel. Without CXL Nobel wouldn’t exist today. In 1912 the company announced their intent to build a dynamite and gelatin production factory in the area of what is now called Nobel. At the time the area was named Ambo. By 1914 the plant was up and running with a company owned town growing around the factory. CXL re-named the town Nobel in honour of Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and the man after whom the Nobel Prize is named. The plant was an essential part of the Canadian contribution to the First World War. Despite its success the plant was closed in 1922. 

  In 1927 the plant was re-opened and producing dynamite under a new name: Canadian Industries Limited(CIL). The plant was expanded in response to the demand created by the Second World War. The CIL plant would continue to produce dynamite until 1984. 

  Given that the name Canadian Explosives Limited was not used after 1922 we can deduce that the badge is from sometime before that date. We also know that the plant was opened in 1914 so the badge must have been produced sometime between those two dates most likely a few years before 1922. Thus the badge is between 91 and 97 years old.  

  If you look carefully you can learn more about from where this badge came. Located on the back of the badge is the “hallmark” which is a mark struck onto pieces of metal to identify who made it. The hallmark on the badge reads “Tower & Lyon Co. New York”. Tower & Lyon was an American Company active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that produced hand tools as well as police equipment, most notably handcuffs. They also supplied tools to help in the construction of the Panama Canal. From a few key markings we can know that this badge was made in New York City sometime between 1914 and 1920.