Parting is such sweet sorrow. My official 125 hours at Casa Loma are complete, my reflection and feelings already well-documented in another blog post, so let me recap my last 25 ish hours. The longer I dwell on how this is my last post, the sadder it gets.
Casa Loma reopened to the public on Mondays at the beginning of March, which meant that it was no longer feasible to be doing cataloguing work in the library. So we relocated up three flights of servant's stairs to Alyssia's office and storage to do more work with the collections! This time, I got to work with objects the public doesn't get to see, and some objects newly added to the collection!
For some reason, I love paperwork. So when I was handed giant files of records and asked to go through them and make a list of object names and accession numbers before adding them to an even bigger binder, I was game. I went through records from 1995-1999 or so, making note of any missing files, jumps in accession numbers and ensuring it was all in order. This sounds simple enough. It would have been, if not for the large amounts of photo copies, unnecessary and poorly written records, and files that seemed to have been jumbled around just for fun. For some objects, records were completely missing. Others, like a candlestick bought from Winners in 1997 with an estimated value of $15, had an astounding thirteen page record, including typed condition reports and object records, and then copies of those records, and then handwritten versions. It was a valuable lesson in records management and a testament to Alyssia's never ending patience as she wades through just less than a century's worth of files. I also got to learn about the castle's history as a museum through these records. I discovered that some of the objects in the museum are actually props left behind from movie or television shoots! I also learned that museum guests love to steal photo frames, as many object records had a defeated "stolen" scrawled over them.
After spending lots of quality time with binders and narrowly avoiding paper cuts, I spent my last few hours of my internship with the objects themselves. I worked in the storage room all by my lonesome to take photos of the objects stored there, and made note of the object's accession numbers and descriptions. This is one of my favourite experiences and I'm glad I got to end my internship on this note. I felt a responsibility with there being no supervisor to watch me handle these objects and had to rely on the skills I had developed over the course on my time at Casa Loma. it was a bit nerve wracking carrying old glass bottles across the room to be photographed, but I'm happy to report there were no casualties.
I had the privilege to photograph some artifacts newly added to the collection. When construction work was done to clear land for a new potting shed, artifacts were found buried in the ground. Bottles of alcohol and ketchup bottles attest to the littering habits of some of Casa Loma's earlier construction workers.
One of my favourite objects I worked with was a bottle of orange crush, found in the walls of the castle. (What is with early 20th C builders and their littering tendencies?) It was wonderful to see real evidence of those who helped make the castle what it was. Often time the focus in on Henry Pellatt and his peers, but the orange crush bottle reminded me of all the labourers, servants, and gardeners who were at Casa Loma daily, building the castle up and keeping it running.
Another object I loved was a Player's Navy Cut Cigarette tin. When I opened it up, there were paper Christmas decorations, including two stamps dated 1949 and 1951. I have no clue why these tiny decorations were in there and how they ended up in the collection, but it was such a fun surprise when I opened up the tin!
My last 25 hours at Casa Loma were a wonderful balance between hands-on collection management and record management. These two factors cannot exist without each other, it is was interesting to see the work that needs to go into a single artifact: from acquisition, background research, accessioning, photographing, and condition reports. To wade through decades of these files gave me an appreciation for those who have been sitting where I have been, looking at the same soda bottle or clock. Though I may secretly curse them for not keeping those records organized, leaving me to have to deal with them, I felt a sort of kinship with all those interns before me, filing out condition reports and taking polaroids of artifacts.
The last 25 hours of my internship really forced me to rely on skills I had been building up over the course of the last few months. My object photographing skills have gotten better, my ability to succinctly describe an artifact a bit clearer, and my object handling skills always informed by the recurring nightmare of dropping a glass vase or a floral teapot.
My last little stint at Casa Loma was an excellent one, and I hope in 20 years time some intern won't be hating me for my own attempts at object photographing and condition reports!
Total hours worked to date: 125
Hours breakdown:
February 21st - Continuation of book cataloguing in library (5 hours)
February 28th- Remote research for final project (4 hours)
March 7th- Organizing object records (4.5 hours)
March 14th- Organizing object records (4.5 hours)
March 21st- Remote research for final project (5 hours)
March 28th- Photographing and cataloguing objects (4.5 hours)
April 4th- Photographing and cataloguing objects (4 hours)
Readings:
*note: not all of these sources are read in their entirety, mostly perused for pertinent content/topics
Primary source articles relating to Casa Loma for final research
FIVE DAYS' BIDDING FAILS TO DEPLETE CASA LOMA'S STORE: AUCTIONEERS FIND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SELL ALL ARTICLES ON TIME SOME LIVELY INCIDENTS. 1924. The Globe (1844-1936), Jun 28, 1924. https://ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/five-days-bidding-fails-deplete-casa-lomas-store/docview/1323761344/se-2?accountid=14369 (accessed April 3, 2022).
Persian rugs knocked down for price of good doormats: Plenly of spectators, but few bidders, when casa loma treasures go under auctioneer's hammer --ale glasses sell for $26 a dozen in "dry" ontario-- grandfather's clock goes for $155 and sir hemy's s bath scales for $10. 1924. The Globe (1844-1936), Jun 24, 1924. https://ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/persian-rugs-knocked-down-price-good-doormats/docview/1350608250/se-2?accountid=14369 (accessed April 3, 2022).
THE LOSS TO LITERATURE. 1918. The Globe (1844-1936), Aug 22, 1918. https://ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/loss-literature/docview/1412042924/se-2?accountid=14369 (accessed April 3, 2022).