There's No Business Like Show Business....

Every Canada Day weekend, my local library has a book sale and there is usually a large selection of books to choose from for my summer reading. The books I most enjoy finding (this often requires going through piles of books on tables and in boxes) are celebrity biographies and autobiographies. I'm not talking about the latest rag on Britney, Tom Cruise, and the cast of Gossip Girl, but those stars who had their hay day back in the golden age of the cinema. Films were black and white, dark handsome men wore trench coats, femme fatales had curves and long eye lashes, stars turned out a movie a week, musicals were popular, and there was no television to provide competition.
These biographies and autobiographies are not only chock full of gossip about on-set romances and drugs, but they also show the evolution of the movie industry. Mary Astor's autobiography, A Life on Film, discusses the evolution of movies, from silent films to Technicolor.
A Judy Garland biography by Gerold Frank entitled Judy describes the star's progression from vaudeville to The Wizard of Oz, and beyond. It also includes interesting tidbits about the Kennedy family and other notable historical figures.
Child Star by Shirley Temple Black is one of my favourite autobiographies because Ms. Temple Black does such an excellent job of describing how the movie business operated back in the day.
Last summer I picked up Norman Mailer's biography about Marilyn Monroe. It was a difficult read, but I did learn more about Marilyn; how she wanted more challenging roles, and that she enjoyed reading and agreed with Freud's theories. This summer at the library sale I found another Marilyn biography by Susan Strasberg called Marilyn and Me: Sisters, Rivals, Friends.
What compelled me to write this blog was the recent discovery of Marilyn Monroe's archive: all her personal papers and some belongings that she kept in two filing cabinets. A description of the archive is found in the October 2008 edition of Vanity Fair. Found in the archive were personal letters, receipts, pictures, telegrams, clothing, and accessories. Not found in the archive are love letters from Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn's second husband, or evidence of the rumoured correspondence between Ms. Monroe and the Kennedy clan, which could a whole new perspective to the Kennedy's historical legacy. The entire collection was photographed, cataloged, and the paper documents encapsulated in Mylar by photographer Mark Anderson and USC professor Lois Banner.
The plan is to turn these documents into some sort of book. After this process was finished the filing cabinets were sent to sit in a guarded bank vault, away from the public. While I am thankful that someone took the time to record and conserve the Marilyn Collection, would it not be beneficial to film and gender study historicans and those wishing to learn more about this iconic women for it to be made into a digital archive? It would especially add a new dimension and perspective to those who are writing Monroe, DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, and even Kennedy biographies.
One of Marilyn's greatest struggles in life was to prove to people that she was not like the dumb blonde characters she played in movies. She cared about current events, literature, her loved ones, and wanted to become known as a serious actor. If her collection was digitized, people would be able to see another part of Marilyn that does not come across in the sexy pictures found on t-shirts, mugs, and posters.

A Google search result without a link to Wikipedia?

Yes, it is possible. If only for a little while. Try Google 2001".

Just for kicks, I search the War of 1812. Here is what Google 2001 gave me. Not entirely surprising, it's mostly American sources that appear on the first page. In order to find an obviously Canadian source, you have to go to the second page. And out of the 232,000 results, how many of those present a Canadian perspective? What was a Canadian Historian to do? Wait until 2008, and use Google Canada and get 3,010,000 results with most web pages on the first page ending in .ca. [Note that Wikipedia gets the number one position].

Google may achieve world domination but at least they are starting to acknowledge the importance of Canadian websites and that the most important and pertinent information isn't found in a web page that ends in .com.

Have $15,000 lying around?

Anyone looking to purchase a Museum? You're guaranteed a job after graduation...

My door is always open... well not always

This weekend, instead of reading about history, I decided to go out and experience it (I still did some reading). I spent most of my Saturday experiencing what Doors Open London had to offer. My first stop was The Grand Theatre which had guided tours of the theatre. Our tour guide told us about the fascinating history of the theatre, including the tale of the Grand's original owner, Ambrose Small, who disappeared shortly after cashing a large cheque, which he received for selling his chain of theatres. The Grand was reportedly his favourite, and some believe his body was hidden here and that his ghost still haunts the property. It was interesting to see that after all the renovations the theatre has gone through, some original architecture still remains.


Plaque outside of The Grand Theatre


Next, I went to The Dominion Public Building. This building originally held the Post Office and a number of other governmental departments. I was impressed with the original marble, limestone, bronze and brass detailings. Although it is no longer used as a post office, the wickets still remain as decorations. During the tour I learned that the construction of the building, which started in 1935 and completed in 1936 was a make work project during the Depression. Some of the adults on the tour with me recalled their memories of London during the Depression. One older lady told me that families would line up for three hours just to get five potatoes. Could you imagine lining up for three hours for just five potatoes?


The main lobby of The Dominion Public Buliding

The place I was most looking forward to visiting was Eldon House. Being built in 1834, it claims to be the oldest remaining house in London. I was overwhelmed by the house's size and the variety of artefacts found within it. Built by John Harris, it has remained in the family until donated it was donated to the city in 1960. Some members of the Harris family have traveled all over the world, and brought back unique treasures. One of my favourite artefacts was the elephant leg used to hold walking sticks. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. The staff at the house were very helpful, explaining how the bells worked to summon the servants and unraveling the Harris family tree.


Eldon House

My very last stop was St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica. While I had been in the Cathedral before, the tour guides took the time to elaborate about the history and architecture of the church. I was able to see the corner stone of the church and the conservation steps taken to protect the outside. I also learned that there were suppose to spires added to the towers, to complete the Gothic look, but were deemed to heavy and nixed from the construction plans.


St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica


While I enjoyed seeing various buildings in London that I would normally not be allowed into, what made this experience special for me was the different people I encountered while touring the buildings. Everyone from the guides to other visitors were willing to share their personal experiences and expert knowledge. While it is great that museums and other historical sites are available on the Internet, in my opinion, it is harder to get inside, spontaneous, and personal stories from a website. And sometimes, it's in the often overlooked nooks and crannies where you find the most interesting things... like an elephant leg.

"Doctor Penfield! I smell burnt toast!"

I believe that there is one thing that units Canadians. It's not Tim Hortons, hockey, snow, or drinking beer. It is the Heritage Minutes that are produced by Historica. It is a very rare occurrence to smell burnt toast in Canada without having someone quote the Minute about Doctor Penfield. Other Heritage Minutes are often quoted by my friends and family. Before the Minutes could only be seen by chance on television, but now they are all available to watch online and there are even lesson plans to go along with each minute. I'm such a fan of these one minute documentaries that I even joined a group on Facebook to celebrate these Canadian masterpieces.

In an article I read for Public History, "2007 Presidential Address of the CHA: Public History and its Discontents or History in the Age of WIkipedia" by Margart Conrad, Hertiage Minutes were briefly mentioned as being a positive thing for Public and Canadian History and I could not agree more. The Minutes are short enough to remember and hold one's attention (unlike some other programs about Canadian history I could mention). These brief snippets dispel the myth that Canadian history is boring and encourage people to seek out more information about the Minute that caught their attention. I learned a lot about Canada's history from these commercials that I didn't learn about in school, for example: the Halifax Explosion, Nellie McClung, The Vikings, and John Cabot just to list a few of my personal favourites.

Recently, when I went to explore the Historica website again, I was surpirsed to find that they added more "Minute" features. Now there is Footprint which are one minute documentaries featuring archival footage of Canadian athletes and sporting traditions. There is also Radio Minutes that are like pictureless Heritage Minutes. And my new personal favourite "Minute" variation, which I cannot wait to peruse further, Screen Legends, which illustrates through archival footage and narrations by the dreamy Colm Feore, Canada's contribution to the film industry.

Heritage Minutes are an important part of Digital and Public History because they utilize technology and are made with the public in mind. They are not, at least in my opinion, unbearable cheesy, but manage to capture one's interest and imagination. It was Heritage Minutes that led me to study history because they showed a different, more relatable and interesting side to history that wasn't taught in elementary or high school. Heritage Minutes showed me that Canadian history was more than the Hudson's Bay Company, the War of 1812, and Confederation.

1066 and All That

It took me awhile to come up with a title for this blog. I wanted it to have multiple meanings, but more importantly, I wanted it to sound cool. I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with alliteration so I spent a few minutes looking through my dictionary for words that started with "H" that would sound good (and make sense) with the word "history". I made it to "hobgoblin" when I gave up and turned to the other books on my bookshelf. I passed over "Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?" and "A Child's History of the World" and picked up "1066 and All That" by Walter Carruthers Sellar and Robert Julian Yeatman, which was originally published in 1930.

The authors describe the novel as, "A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates". It begins with the Romans invading England and concludes with the First World War. In this satirical history of England names, dates, and events have been, in a sense, rewritten, encouraging you to question your knowledge of the past.

It is from the "Compulsory Preface" that I got my title. "History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember. All other history defeats itself." Originally history was transmitted orally, it took awhile before people began to write things down. Even then, usually it was only the biased history of the upper classes that was recorded. It is impossible to determine what information has been lost, or changed when a story is told from one person, to another, to another, and so on. With the advent of computers and the internet, history has been easier to record, allowing a greater extent of people from various backgrounds to do it and share it with the world, enabling us to remember more.