Asian Heritage Month: Mah Yoke Tong and the Smithers Bakery
This blog post marks the close of Asian Heritage Month, which celebrates and commemorates Canadians of Asian descent. We have chosen to focus on the Smithers Bakery, which was run by Mah Yoke Tong from 1919 until his death in 1955. His great-nephew Mah Wing Shek then took over the business until its sale in […]
Newspaper Supplements: A Peek into the (Recent) Past
Although our doors are currently closed to the public, the staff of the Bulkley Valley Museum are still hard at work preserving our community’s heritage. Recently, we rediscovered a collection of over 125 newspapers from Smithers and the Bulkley Valley area. Many of these were supplements to the Interior News, while others were independent […]
Accusations of Arson: The Curious Case of E.C. Dawson
From January to May of 1933 a sensational story captured the headlines of the Smithers Interior News. “Fire Probe Conducted,” proclaimed a prominent title on January 25th. “Dawson to Face Charge of Arson” was the update on February 22nd. Three of the four pages of the April 5th edition were taken up by an account […]
The Dave Havard Story in World War II
The following story was written by Smithers historian Harry Kruisselbrink and is republished here with permission from the author. The year 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The BC/Yukon Command of the Royal Canadian Legion has decided that this year it will “focus on the 75th Anniversary of […]
Hands-On History: Become a Curator at Home
Become a Curator: Create an Exhibit About You In this activity, you will become a Curator. Curators work in museums, and one of their jobs is to create exhibits for visitors like you. You can participate in this activity by reading the instructions below, or, watch this short video on our Youtube channel. What is […]
Featured Artifact: “Easter Fantasia”, Amberol Blue Cylinder #3691
One of the items selected for our upcoming “From the Back Room” exhibition is an Edison Blue Amberol. These wax cylinders were one of the earliest types of sound recordings. The original phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, played recordings impressed on tin foil-wrapped cylinders. A person would speak into a mouthpiece and the […]
BV Museum temporarily closed to the public
The BV Museum is closed to the public for at least the next two weeks, effective March 17th. We will reassess on March 30th and provide an update then. We will reopen with a brand new exhibit that we can’t wait to show you! The office will remain open for phone calls (250-847-5322) and emails […]
Family Day at Creation Station
100 Years of the Fall Fair
2019 marked the 100th anniversary of the first Fall Fair in Smithers, which was held on September 30th 1919. To mark the occasion the Bulkley Valley Museum and Smithers Art Gallery came together to produce a joint exhibition of art and history that was displayed in both spaces. The exhibit featured the full history of […]
Call for Art for Community Exhibition
The Bulkley Valley Museum and Smithers Art Gallery are presenting a joint exhibit marking the 100th anniversary of the first Smithers Fall Fair in 1919 – and we want you to participate! This exhibit will combine community memory with community creativity in the form of artifacts, photographs, and art. Everyone in the community, from beginner […]