The Muse Blog

The first World War had already been raging for three years when this poppy was picked in 1917 by Harold Machin in a field in France.

Today (May 21st) is International Tea Day! Here is a case from the Lake of the Woods Museum collection full of Rat Portage souvenir china.

In Swedish tradition, thin bread has been a simple and tasty recipe for families to enjoy for centuries.

April 9th is Cherish an Antique Day. Here’s the story of one of our most prominent antiques: the Lake of the Woods Museum boardroom table!

It’s Archives Awareness Week! This is the plan of the original Rat Portage Water Works prepared by the design engineer John Chalmers in 1899.

April 5th to 9th is Archives Awareness Week! This map is one of the oldest in our collection and shows downtown Kenora in 1880-81.

In Swedish tradition, thin bread has been a simple and tasty recipe for families to enjoy for centuries.

Saltpetre (also spelled saltpeter) or potassium nitrate has had many different uses over the course of many years including curing meats.

Before the invention of the egg carton, eggs were carried in baskets.  Joseph Coyle of British Columbia invented the first egg carton.

Starting in the 1880s, one of the most popular items for any women to have was a pair of buttoned boots.

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Muse! Check out this valentine from the Lake of the Woods Museum collection from around the 1930s.

Keen’s Oxford Blue was once a popular brand of laundry detergent, known for its bright blue colour that kept whites bright in the wash.

Fels-Naptha soap has been used for over a century to treat stains in clothing,and as a home remedy for poison ivy and poison oak.  

These snowshoes, commonly referred to as bearpaw snowshoes, are much wider, bigger, and more circular than normal snowshoes.  

On this day (October 10th) 100 years ago Kenora officially welcomed the first plane to make a trans Canada flight.

The Hilliard House Hotel was considered one of the biggest and best hotels in western Canada.  In January 1902, a disastrous fire took place.

Milk rolls, French Rolls, Milk Biscuits, and Muffins… Delicious! Some delicious roll recipes from Matilda Lees Dods Handbook of Practical Cookery, 1901.

In this 1901 copy of Isabelle Beeton’s Cookery Book there is an authentic Victorian crumpet recipe— time for a tea party!

The Five Roses Cookbook was a staple in Canadian kitchens for most of the 20th century. This edition was published in 1915.

While we’re all spending time at home it’s a great chance to do some baking! This cookbook was put together by the ladies of the Women’s Auxiliary of St Joseph’s Hospital in the 1930s.

Lately, we have seen a tonne of thoughtful, creative, and sometimes downright funny ways to keep occupied while at home. Today, anyone with a mobile phone, tablet, or notebook computer can turn their kitchen table into a film studio. In the 1930s and 1940s, handheld 8mm movie cameras like this one from UniveX were the tool of choice.