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In the early years of Cumberland's Victoria Day holiday, sports played a huge part of the celebrations. Attendants were invited not just to watch, but also to be active participants, in a whole host of races, games, football matches and a tug-of-war, with prizes given to the victors. In 1918 there were 31 separate events with prizes ranging from silver cups to cash. The 100-yard Single Ladies' Race had a first prize of $4 and a second prize of $2. While it boasted the same amount for prizes, the Married Ladies' Race was only 75 yards long. First Aid competitions were held with [...]

This spring, celebrate the 50th anniversary of a valuable service that many Comox Valley residents use every day without much thought or effort: door-to-door mail delivery.A survey held in January 1971 revealed that there were 2,475 residences in Courtenay and 1,076 residences in Comox, pushing the region over the required minimum of 2,000 homes and qualifying them for the service.Preparations began in February. Circulars were hand-delivered to inform households that they must display their house number clearly and install proper mailboxes or slots for receiving their mail.The shift in delivery required sweeping changes in the post office's operations and handling of mail. All [...]

Coke ovens at Union Bay, ca. 1905. CDM 979.3.31. Union Bay's Chinese Community For almost sixty years, a Chinese community thrived at the edge of Union Bay. Many of the men who lived there had originally come from Guangdong province to Canada to work on railway construction and later located to Union Bay to work for the Dunsmuir’s Union Coal Company. Some men were trimmers, who would climb into a ship's hold to spread the coal evenly as it fell through chutes from the coal cars. Others worked as rakers, pulling coke from the sulfurous, searing-hot coke ovens with heavy rakes. These jobs were tedious, grueling and dangerous. Over one hundred men lived in this community in the 1890s. By the 1950s, only a few remained. [...]

Local historian Isabelle Stubbs sometimes reminisced about bridge closures and detours in the "Coffee Cup Chatter" column she wrote for the newspapers. Isabelle and family were relatively new to the Valley in 1923 when the bridge crossing the Courtenay River was closed. Folks could either detour miles out of their way over the Condensory Bridge or try a shorter but more labour-intensive route. Isabelle recalled that "...a footbridge was built just north of the condemned structure while repairs and a new bridge was completed. During construction, farmers brought milk, eggs and farm produce to the Courtenay Hotel, then used wheelbarrows or carried the [...]

An item from the museum collection you don't see much anymore… a wall hanging with a match striking surface on a genial fellow's shoe. CDM 990.17.88