Tag Archives: exhibits

Exhibits

Cabinets Upgrade Phase I Completed

1 Comment

The majority of our exhibit cases are beautiful oak department store counter style. While these look great, it means that many of the objects and labels are only a six inches from the floor, and you don’t have to be 6’3″ and have trifocals to find these awkward to view. So in 2022, we engaged a museum exhibit consultant to assist us in considering options (within our limited budget.)

The solution was to create 18″ ‘risers’ which would raise the cabinets enough to make the objects and labels more visible while still meeting accessibility requirements. We contracted with Holman Inc. to build four risers in 2022 and were extremely happy with the construction and their matching of colour to the existing cabinets. They also have nylon sliders which will make them easier to access for cleaning or changing exhibits without the risk of scratching the floors.

This year we ordered seven more risers to complete the upgrade for our remaining oak cabinets. These were all installed by our museum team last Thursday evening which involved removing objects and labels from each cabinet, lifting them up onto their new riser,  giving them a good clean, returning the objects and labels, and moving them back into their position. “Teamwork makes the dream work” as they say! Thanks to Curator Shaun Kelly for managing the project and to all our volunteers for pitching in.

We’ve also been installing LED lighting on timers inside each cabinet to further improve the visibility of the objects. This has been completed on several cabinets but we’re still sorting out power for some others. Despite Sir Henry bringing hydroelectricity to Toronto, Casa Loma doesn’t have many outlets – I guess there just weren’t many things to plug-in in 1911!

Thanks also to the Casa Loma staff for their help in getting the risers to the third floor!

Phase II will be determining the best option for our aluminum-framed cabinets used for the more modern era’s.

If you would like to help offset the cost of these upgrades and support all the work of the Regimental Museum and Archive, we invite you to donate to The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Trust Fund and apply your donation to the Museum Fund.

Donate Now Through CanadaHelps.org!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Exhibits, Fenian Raid

McEachren tunic gets new exhibit case

Leave a comment
Ensign Malcolm McEachern, first QOR soldier to fall at the Battle of Ridgeway, June 2, 1866

As every member of the Regiment knows, the first soldier of The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada to fall in combat was newly commissioned Ensign Malcolm McEachren of No. 5 Company.  He was taking part in the Battle of Ridgeway on 2 June 1866 and died shortly after being mortally wounded in the abdomen by the American Fenian invaders.

One hundred years after that battle, the tunic he wore that fateful day was presented to The Queen’s Own Rifles by Old Fort Erie of the Niagara Parks Commission having been handed down by McEachren’s daughter.

Former tunic case

After 152 years, it has obviously suffered its share of insect and light damage although without any condition reports surviving, its impossible to know when this damage occurred. We do know that it has faded from rifle green to almost olive drab – although not under the arms or at the back – and the light damage has also made the material brittle. And museum staff have often joked that the exhibit case it was stored in, was old enough to qualify as an artifact itself!

We can’t reverse the deterioration that’s taken place, but my goal from day 1 of becoming Curator in 2012, has been to find a way to preserve THE most valuable object in our collection for the future.

And now after 6 years it has finally become a reality! Thanks to a very generous bequest from the estate of the late Chief Warrant Officer Scott Patterson, we were finally able to place an order with Zone Display Cases for a custom-made museum quality case with frameless UV filtering glass, Abloy security locks, and an airtight exhibit compartment with desiccant tray to ensure a constant humidity level.

This week it arrived at the museum and last night our museum team set up the new case and moved the tunic into its new home which we hope will help to preserve this extremely important object for many years to come.  In the new year, we will be redesigning the complete Battle of Ridgeway exhibit and of course this tunic and its new case will continue to have pride of place.

The Patterson bequest covered about 75% of the costs for this project and we are still hoping to raise the remainder before the end of our 2018 fiscal year. Thank you to all those who have contributed to date, and to those who would still like to help, you can make a donation online to the QOR Trust fund via CanadaHelps.

Exhibits

Exhibits Update

1 Comment

We’ve been working hard to re-do most of our exhibits in our new locations on the third floor of Casa Loma. In addition we’ve been working hard to create an exhibit room that provides the history of the QOR since WWII. This room is still a work in progress but we hope to have ready for an official opening in the Fall.

We thought we share these photos to give you a taste of what you can see if you come to visit:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Exhibits

Portraits Exhibit Launch

Leave a comment

On Tuesday April 21st the Regimental Museum was pleased to host a private reception to launch our new “QOR Portraits Exhibit”. About 70 donors, members of the Regimental Senate and Trust, and other special guests joined the museum team for this event. Guests were received at the museum’s home, Casa Loma, by a detachment of Regimental Skirmishers, and a brass quintet from the regimental band provided entertainment throughout the evening.

Casa Loma very kindly provided the catering and refreshments and we were also joined by Liberty Entertainment Group (operators of Casa Loma) Vice President Pat Di Donato and Casa Loma President Lynda Washkau.

The exhibit which was originally conceived as a temporary exhibit, will now be a permanent addition to our Museum’s collection. The regiment is very fortunate to have 20 large portraits of our first 17 Commanding Officers, our first Honorary Colonel, and our last two Colonels-in-Chief.

The artist include some of Canada’s and the United Kingdom’s leading portrait painters:

Thanks to the generous donations of members of the regimental family, we able to reproduce high-resolution photographs taken by Christopher Lawson in 2010 (and one by Larry Hicks in 2015), onto high quality canvas working through Elevator Digital. An exhibit catalogue was also produced.

In the weeks prior to the exhibit, members of the museum’s volunteer team worked hard to ensure all the works were properly hung and labels mounted in  time for this reception.

I would certainly encourage you to visit the regimental museum to see this new exhibit. Casa Loma hours of operation and entrance fees can be found on their website: http://www.casaloma.org

You can also check out more photos of the event on our Facebook page.

Guests mingle at the QOR Portraits Exhibit launch reception.
Guests mingle at the QOR Portraits Exhibit launch reception.

Note: An earlier version of this post indicated an incorrect date for the event which has now been corrected.