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The Thumb's Christmas

  Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller. One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book . In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone. Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Ji...
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Rally Around the Team: A Fabulous Photo Find


My last post featured a newspaper clipping of the 1906 St. Catharines, Ontario, Factory Lacrosse League championship team, published about 1946. Edward “Eddie” Baker, my great-grandfather, was part of that team.1

I found a great clue to Edward’s early career in the iron molding trade in that clipping. The clue? The lacrosse team’s sponsor listed in the clipping was “McKinnons.” Using Google, Wikipedia, and city directories, I learned that McKinnons was a metal foundry operating in St. Catharines right around the time of the championship, and it appeared that both Edward Baker and his brother Joseph worked there.2

My search to identify when and where the original photo was published took my inquiries from Brock University’s Archives and Special Collections to the St. Catharines Public Library (SCPL), and finally to the St. Catharines Museum &  Welland Canals Centre.

The SCPL found an identical photo also ran in 1961 in the St. Catharine Standard but were unable to find the 1946 issue. I imagine the photo was published as a “this day in history” feature—much like our “Throwback Thursdays” or Facebook Memories. The library suggested I contact the St. Catharines Museum to see if they had the image in their large collection of the Standard’s original photographs.3

The St. Catharines Museum staff could not find the photo in their archives. On a whim—and knowing it was a “Hail Mary”—I sent the staff another 1906 newspaper clipping which stated that the “splendid” photo was currently on display at the Etherington poolroom.4

  


This clipping was the missing puzzle piece! Using it, the museum staff were then able to identify the photo in the museum’s collection! It had been donated to them in 1971 by Mr. William (George) Hope. Perhaps he was a descendant of the poolroom owners or inherited the photo in some other way. Regardless, the original 117-year-old image still exists. One form and a phone call later, I now have this amazing high-resolution copy.


McKinnons Championship team photo. Credit: St. Catharines Museum, George Hope Collection, N 1999.

Edward "Eddie" Baker, my great-grandfather.

I'm struck that this lacrosse championship must have meant something to the local community. Not only did the team have their photo taken, but it was proudly displayed for all to see, and the newspaper made a point to advertise its whereabouts so it could be viewed. People rally around their champions, don’t they? They did so then with the McKinnon’s team, much as I cheered on our Texas Rangers this week as they fought the Astros for a World Series berth.

And what a point of pride that this important piece of St. Catharines and our family’s history is preserved in a museum. You can bet that when I get to St. Catharines someday, I will be paying that photo a visit!

Until next time…

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My thanks to Charity Blaine, James A. Gibson Library, Brock University; Mari, St. Catharines Public Library; and William MacEachern, St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canal Centre, for help in locating the photo.

 

1 St. Catharines Factory Lacrosse League, likely St. Catharines Standard, published about 1946, clipping of 1906 league champions McKinnon's team; digital copy of image, private collection of N. Casey, Tioga, Texas, 2023.

2 St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Center, Museum Chat, 9 March 2016 (https://stcatharinesmuseumblog.com/2016/03/09/know-your-neighbours-lachlan-ebenezer-mckinnon/ : 24 October 2023), "Know Your Neighbors - Lachlan Ebenezer McKinnon"; citing Bill Stevens, Historical Society of St. Catharines. Also: Vernon's City of St. Catharines and Thorold, Ontario, Directory, 1906 (Hamilton, Ontario: Henry Vernon, 1906), p. 180, Baker, Jos. V., mldr, John; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/840803/?offset=&return=1#page=180&viewer=picture&o=search&n=0&q=baker : 10 October 2023); citing National Library.

3 Mari, CSA, St. Catharines Public Library [e-address for private use], to Nancy Casey, e-mail "SCPL Information," 16 October 2023; Baker Project email file, privately held by Nancy Casey, [e-address for private use], Tioga, Texas.

4 St. Catharines Standard (Ontario, Canada), 16 November 1906, p. 4, col. 4, "Local Items"; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-catherines-standard-mckinnons-champ/133569474/ : 17 October 2023). 


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