Curling Sweaters - Spring 2013

The seasonal exhibit up now at the Kimberley Heritage Museum is all about curling sweaters, bonspiels, and curlers. Most curlers had hand-made sweaters crafted by themselves or other local knitters to wear during weekly club play. The heavy knit 'Cowichan Sweaters' are a trademark style developed in the 1860s by the Cowichan people of SE Vancouver Island. First done in solid colours, patterns were added in the 1890s:

 

Example of traditional motif - Cowichan Sweater - (M. Stang, donator)

By the 1940s, knitting pattern and yarn companies such as Mary Maxim were offering patterns for the so-called Curling Sweater as well as other themed patterns:

Mary Maxim graph-style knitting pattern - "Bonspiel Days" - for Men

Nordic Sportsman's youth's and ladies curling sweater pattern

Before long, commercial manufacturers such as White Ram of Calgary, AB and Indian Art Knitting were selling their versions of the sweater in finer wool: 

Fireman's League championship sweater: Seagrams Stone National Curling Championship 1972 - S. Jereb donor

The machine-made types of sweaters were mostly worn during tournaments when they first came out.


Bonspiels always had a lot of socializing off the rink. Below is the type of outfit worn to a more formal dinner associated with a bonspiel.

Late '50s ladies suit

Bonspiel Programme from February 1939

Up now and until about the end of April, 2013, be sure to come in and see our collection of curling memorabilia and curling sweaters, most of which were donated by Ina Hansen and Mae Shaw (see National Curling Champs 50th Anniversary blogpost)

Dianne Cooper, volunteer

Sports Memorabilia Spring 2012 - Starting January

In honour of the 80th Anniversary of the Kimberley Dynamiters hockey team, the Museum seasonal exhibit space is featuring memorabilia of some our citizens' significant sporting endeavors: hockey and curling, in particular.

Hockey

On display - Dick Vincent's Jersey

A little frayed around the edges, this jersey was worn by Dick "The Bear" Vincent, right winger for the Dynamiters for 14 years.  He started with the Dynamiters in the 1961-62 season, the teams first year in the 'new' Civic Centre Arena.

 Dick Vincent started playing hockey in high school in Otterbutne, near Pine Falls, Manitoba. Next he went to Flin Flon, MB and Portland, Oregon, USA before coming to Kimberley. He and his wife, Alma, settled and raised their family; Dick was employed as a millwright with Cominco here in Kimberley and Alma was a substitute teacher.

March 8th 1975 at the Civic Centre Arena was an "Appreciation Nite" for Dick Vincent. Below are some excerpts from the souvenir programme handed out that night:

     "the WIHL highest scorer ever ... 800 points with 340 of them goals"
  

     "The burly right winger build is the recommended brick out-house on skates"

The souvenir programme goes on for 16 pages with accolades and exploits, to and of a great local hockey player.

Links:

Photo: https://basininstitute.org/search/details.html?id=13339

Stats:  http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=12542

Curling

On display - Canadian "Diamond D" curling champ, Ina Hansen's sweater

This is the sweater worn by Ina Hansen when she, along with Ada Callas, Isabel Leith, and May Shaw, as representatives of British Columbia, won the Canadian Diamond D Curling Championship in 1964.

The sweater, made by the White Ram Knitting Company of Calgary, Alberta, is as it was when acquired by the Museum, with Mrs. Hansen's personally collected pins from her many bonspiels and tournaments.

Here is a photo of her in this sweater, when the team were runner's up in 1963 (Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History).

Also on display in the Museum, is Mrs. Hansen's sweater from her win as Canadian Seniors Champion in 1973, along with Ada Calles and May Shaw, again, and Barbara Weir.

.... AND many more artifacts!