From the Archives

This is a photograph of a mining lamp found during the investigation into the No. 3 Coal Creek Colliery explosion in Fernie, BC. The colliery, owned and operated by the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company, exploded on April 5, 1917, and all 34 men working at the mine were killed.

This promotional photo for the Smith family’s Victoria bakery (1858–1909) shows a model wearing a dress delightfully decorated with biscuits. I would look unimpressed too if I had to gingerly pose in a cookie dress without so much as a snack!

There are a lot of photos of horses in the BC Archives, and this isn’t even the best of them. What I like here has nothing to do with the image, but of the work of a previous staff member. Breaking with archival standards, the scope and content note for this portrait details only the most important information— that this is a horse. The title, date and access points provide the useful information, but the scope is simple, elegant and straightforward: Horse.

This photograph was taken on the Ingram estate in Grande Prairie, BC, now known as Westwold. The man holding the rope is W. H. Smith. The man on the camel is either A. McPhail or Adam Heffley. Camels were introduced into the Cariboo in May 1862, with the last camel dying around 1905. I grew up in this area and I recall the Kamloops Museum had a copy of the same photograph.

I discovered this photo in the Hamilton Laing fonds a couple of years ago and thought it was amazing. Sadly, the date, location and names are not identified. Laing (1883–1982) was a prolific hunter, amateur ornithologist and writer who contributed greatly to the knowledge of the natural history of British Columbia.