Our interpretation re-creates a girl’s bedroom of the era. Why just one bed? It was not uncommon for children to share a room, even a bed, when the family was large and the house was small. Also, two in a bed kept each other warm! As the family grew, a toddler’s crib might be moved into an older girl’s bedroom while the newest baby slept in the parent’s room.
The Roedde family had its share of tragedy in that their first born, Anna Henrietta, died at age four after eating poisoned berries and a later born namesake, Anna Catherine, was killed at age 28, after her shift as a student nurse at Vancouver General Hospital in 1925.
During WW1, while her husband served overseas, eldest daughter Emma Roedde Cather moved back to her parents home with her two young daughters, Gwen and Kay. A great deal of family history was provided to the Preservation Society by these granddaughters
Slide 1: Circa 1917 photo over the bed showing Roedde granddaughters Gwen and Kay at the family summer home at Horseshoe Bay. Gustav and Matilda fell in love with the area in 1911/1912 after Gustav was cruising around Howe Sound in his boat “The Adoraim”, and immediately made plans to buy land.
Slide 2: Girls clothing – these outfits with original price tags were found in a dry goods shop in Keremeos, where they lay in boxes for nearly 80 years.
Slide 3: Bisque and composition dolls and other toys of the era.
Slide 4: These German-made dolls have real human hair wigs.
Slide 5: Children’s books from the era.
Slide 1: 1920’s nurse’s cap and nursing school diploma – similar to those owned by Anna Catherine.
Slide 2: A photo portrait of Anna Catherine (1897-1925) who was a second year nursing student at Vancouver General Hospital until an ill-fated encounter with a previously discharged patient, after her overnight shift, led to her murder. News made the front page locally but also made the papers across Canada. Vancouver mayor LD Taylor had flags flown at half-mast on the day of her burial. The outpouring of public support also stemmed from wishes to support the nursing profession, which had become an accepted career path for women. After her death, the family donated money to finance Vancouver’s first hospital orderly training program.
Slide 3: The wallpapers in the upstairs rooms: these were carefully chosen to resemble fragments of original papers found during restoration.