Postcard collecting or deltiology was at its peak between 1907 to 1910. Many early cards were printed in Great Britain or Germany, but even Moncton had a major producer doing some of the more elaborate designs. This Christmas postcard is part of a collection of postcards sent by Miss Ella Beatty in 1915.
While we now enjoy them as a decoration in our homes, candles were a necessity in the days before electricity was a common feature of the home. Prior to the development of kerosene, most lighting was provided by candles. When the supply of candles dwindled, tin moulds like this one would be used to make a new batch.
This Regina disc music box was developed in the late 19th century, following the cylinder music box. A similar Regina music box to the one seen here appears in the 1898 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog, selling for $78.95 and extra "tune sheets" selling for 76 cents each. Considering inflation, this would be equivalent to almost $2000 today!
Demand for timber grew to the point that the 1851 census for Albert County recorded 97 sawmills operating in the County. Accurate conversion and measurement was important for these mills, so lumber conversion charts, such as this one, and measuring sticks are common remnants of the once burgeoning lumber industry in Albert County.
Many tools were used to manage the foxes, with particular focus on the care of their furs. For example, these clinching tongs from 1923 would have been used to hold the fox for inspection of the fur and during deworming, and since wild foxes tend to eat whole prey animals, food for farm foxes often consisted of raw meat, livers, and tripe (stomach).
Arrowheads such as these are shaped using a technique called flint snapping, which has been used to created tools as early as the neolithic era and more recently in flintlock firearms. Microscopic research into damage along the edges of found tools has shown that some of the stone tools that look like projectile points may have been hafted cutting tools, rather than for propelling into animals.
This British war medal was awarded to all ranks of Canadian overseas military forces between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. This particular one was awarded to Clifford Robinson Oulton from Bridgedale, New Brunswick, who in 1916 joined the 145th Battalion out of Moncton, at just 14 years old. Sadly, he would become one of hundreds of underage boys killed in the First World War.
In 1906, a gruesome murder took place in Albert County, which would lead to the contentious hanging of a young man named Tom Collins. Tom Collins would be tried three times for the murder of Mary Ann McAuley, and is thought to be the first man in Canada ever to be tried for the same crime in three separate trials.
