Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
2017.064.019 |
Object Name |
Pillbox |
Other Name |
Souvenir, Grey County |
Title |
Souvenir Pillbox with Scene of Owen Sound Harbour |
Date |
pre-1891? |
Year Range from |
1887 |
Year Range to |
1909 |
Made |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Owen Sound, Grey County |
Description |
A circular, hinge-lidded pillbox souvenir, with a fancy Art Nouveau metal exterior, and a flat lid with a sepia photographic image of Owen Sound Harbour with ships and buildings in view. A dark speck in the middle is a man rowing a boat in between the large steamships. No maker's mark. The image is captioned "OWEN SOUND./ HARBOUR." In other reproductions of this image, the scene is known as "Fleet of Local Steamers South of Peel Street". |
Makers mark |
No maker's mark |
Provenance |
Unknown manufacturer and provenance. The image on the lid was photographed for the Canadian Pacific Railway, which established its fleet headquarters at Owen Sound in 1885 and had its steamships berth there until 1911, when the C.P.R. grain elevators burned, prompting the C.P.R. to relocate their headquarters to Port McNicholl. It is unknown if this was shipboard souvenir or a souvenir sold at a store in Owen Sound. It post-dates 1887, as it includes the 1887-built Seldon House hotel building. It pre-dates 1909, the year Peel Street's name changed. It might have been made before 1891, as the McKinley tariff act required manufacturers to add the country of origin. It was collected by Glen Stephens of Williamsford, Grey County, at an unknown date. His estate was auctioned in the fall of 2017. Grey Roots Museum purchased this piece from the second of his estate auctions on September 23, 2017. |
Collection |
Personal Gear |
Material |
Metal/Glass/Paper/Lead? |
Dimensions |
H-3.1 Dia-4.3 cm |
Found |
Williamsford, Township of Chatsworth, Grey County |
People |
Stephens, Glen |
Subjects |
Souvenir shops Souvenirs Pills Photographs Steamboats Harbors |
Search Terms |
Owen Sound Harbour Owen Sound Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Fleet Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R., later CP Rail) |
Function |
A souvenir item, that has a novelty miniature photographic image of Owen Sound harbour on the lid, but also a functional use as a pill holder or for storing other small items. |