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Due to our other various commitments, this will page will be updated and finalized as the time to work on it becomes available, we apologize for not having the background information on the Argyle Ribbon Project fully completed at this time.
Please bear with us as we bring this document up to our preferred standard of quality and refinement.
The Three Sisters
– Corn, Beans, Squash
– An example of Indigenous ways of agriculture and community.
– They are grown together and work in harmony. They were viewed as life supporting plants integral to communities.
Four Sacred Medicines
– Tobacco, cedar, sage, and sweetgrass.
– Tobacco is the first plant that creation gave to the Anishinaabe. With the three other plants, they are referred to as the four sacred medicines. All of them can be used in everyday life, to smudge with, and in ceremonies.
– It is said that tobacco sits in the eastern door, sweetgrass in the southern door, sage in the west, and cedar in the north.
Turtle
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Echinacea
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Strawberry Teaching – Heart Berry
– Known as the Heart of the Earth or heart berry.
– The heart berry helps us understand the connection between the mind, body, spirit, and emotions. We need our heart to guide us in order to maintain personal balance.
– Strawberries are an important food and medicine to many nations
– The strawberry, the only fruit with its seeds on the surface, is to remind us that humans are the seeds of Mother Earth as we walk upon her. The strawberry symbolically represents Mother Earth, as a part of our ‘Original Instructions’ to honour our sacred food. This serves as a reminder of the connection between Sacred Earth and Sacred Self.
Rainbow Darter
– One of the 23 species located in Pottersburg Creek in Argyle.
– Pottersburg Creek is 44km long, 58% deciduous forest, 9% plantation/coniferous forest, and 25% meadow.
Pottersberg Creek Crustaceans
– Crayfish were rampant in Pottersburg Creek until the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) killed them all.
– PCBs belong to a broad family of man-made organic chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons and have a range of toxicity.
-The symbol for PCBs are painted into the creek on panels 40-44, as pictured below.
Wampum Belt
– Beadwork example of the treaty between the Haudenashanee and the Dutch people in the area.
Sir Charles Saunders
– Sir Charles Saunders (featured on pictured stamp) established Canada’s reputation as a leading producer of quality wheat.
– Creek Farm, located on the south side of Dundas at First Avenue and originally the homestead of Dr. Bucke (who ran the London Psychiatric Hospital), was acquired by William Saunders, Charles’ father. This farm was one of the first experimental farms used for developing a wheat called ‘Marquis Wheat’ which revolutionized large scale wheat farming in the west.
Marquis Wheat
– This wheat was crossbred using 2 other strains, Hard Red Calcutta and Red Fife. The result was a strain that matured early, produced a higher yield, and had superior milling and baking qualities.
– The taste of the bread from Canadian “Marquis” wheat was in high demand across the world, giving Canada the namesake ‘Canada’s Breadbasket’ internationally for a time.
The Historic Clark House
– Please follow this link to read a historical report on the Clark House written by Sam Cox, the current owner of this heritage property.
Historic Items Found in the Clark House
– This horse shoe and key are just a few of the interesting objects that have been recovered from the Clark House over the years.
London Asylum
– It was a progressive self-sustaining village with a train station and its own farm run by the 1000+ patients being treated there. – The facility was run by Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke, who grew up on Creek Farm along Pottersburg Creek at Dundas. He’s known for his book, Cosmic Consciousness, a seminal work on new age psychiatry.
War-time Bungalow Houses
– These houses give a visual understanding of the residential area of Argyle.
– Two of the three houses are located on Avalon Street.
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Glass Bros & Co.
– This was a factory located around where Russel Metals is currently (Hale St and Dundas). During the late 1800s this area was still not considered a part of the township of London.
– The factory, which started as the London Crockery Mfg and then Glass Brothers & Co. once it was bought by Samuel Glass in 1888, spearheaded the settlement of the area. The quality of the goods produced by the pottery company was “highly praised by experts and dealers.” The hamlet that sprung up around the factory was named “Pottersburg,” in turn. Unfortunately, the factory was taken by a significant fire in 1897.
– Pictured in pink, red, and yellow to the left is one of their most popular items: a “Self-sealing Preserve Jar.” The company also held the patent for this design.
– Pottersburg was annexed by the city of London in 1912.
If you’d like to see more interesting primary documents and information about this factory, please check out this website.
Pottersburg Post Office
– This painting is of the post office in Pottersburg, specifically from the 1936 photo, located on the North-East side of Dundas and Hale Street.
Read & Logan, Coal and Wood
– From 1922 until 1927, Robert Read and Charles Logan sold and delivered wood and coal from their yards at 1462 Dundas Street.
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Hugh Burnett
– Hugh called the Argyle area his home after he relocated from Dresden, Ontario to Beatrice St. He was a carpenter by trade but is known for waging a campaign for racial equality and social justice. Their efforts led to the passage of Ontario’s Fair Employment Practices Act (1951) and Fair Accommodation Practices Act (1954), and laid the groundwork for subsequent human rights legislation in Ontario and across Canada.
Pay Equity Act
– The purpose of this Act is to achieve pay equity by addressing the systemic gender-based discrimination that is experienced by employees who occupy positions in predominantly female job classes so that they receive equal compensation for work of equal value. This is done while taking into account the diverse needs of employers, as well as maintaining pay equity through proactive means.
First Phone Call in London
– The first call in London occurred between Dr. Bucke’s office at the London Asylum and downtown London. Previously, the telegraph was used and generally the telephone was not considered as important by businesses until it was realized that music could be transmitted.
Club Shangri-La
– This club was opened in 1947 and it was Black owned and operated. The owner was from the Caribbean.
-It featured live entertainment. Joey Hollingsworth, a London singer, tap dancer, and conga player made notable appearances.
-The Club was located near the East side of Clarke Rd., where they attracted less attention from law enforcement.
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London-to-London Flight
– The first London to London flight happened in response to a contest held by the Carling Brewery that would award $25K to anyone who could fly from London Ontario to London England in a Stinson plane the brewery would provide.
– A temporary runway was set up along the South side of Dundas between Clarke and Crumlin.
– The pilots who attempted the flight were James Metcalf and Terrence Tully and they made two attempts at the flight. The first attempt stopped in Newfoundland due to storms and the second attempt, on September 7th, 1927, they disappeared and were never seen or heard from again.
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How Argyle got its Name
The name Argyle came from the land developer, Argyle Land Company, from Western Canada. This is why many of our streets are named from western cities and provinces such as Winnipeg, Calgary, and Manitoba
Argyle Land Company Advertisement
– This is an advertisement from 1913 for plots of land in Argyle being sold by the Argyle Land Company
Argyle Business Improvement Association (BIA)
– The Argyle BIA was founded in 2011.
– The logo has had a few different designs but has always incorporated the argyle pattern. The teal used here is the colour used in the current logo’s design.
Married Couple
– The couple depicted are Sam Cox’s parents.
– Sam’s mother hosted two of the artists’ for the week they worked on this project. The recreation and inclusion of her wedding photo was the artists’ way of showing their appreciation for her generosity.
– It also represents all the new married couples in that era, since the Cox family has lived in their house since 1969.
Skyway Drive-In
– Located where Argyle Mall is currently, the Skyway Drive-In Theatre was opened in 1947 by Doc Manley. He had another drive-in in Hamilton, Ontario as well as a chain of them in Ohio, his hometown.
– The theatre was closed in 1955 to make way for the construction of Argyle Mall as the price of the land was going up and commerce would be more profitable for the land owners.
GM Factory and their World Class Locomotive
– Dubbed the diesel-electric locomotive that doomed the steam engine.
– The GM Diesel Plant located east of Clarke Road on Oxford was world renowned.
– The plant had over 1000 employees and built locomotives, buses, and large off-highway haulers.
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McCormicks Candy Factory
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The Working Class
– The residential demographic of the Argyle area began, and remains, blue collar and working class people from many walks of life.
Oscar “Leftie” Judd
– An inductee into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, who played in the National League, lived in the former village of Rebecca before it was taken over by the London Airport expansion.
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Wing 427
– located on Crumlin Side Road, this was the training ground for the Royal Canadian Air Force for World War II.
– It is now a heritage building and an aviation museum. Believed to be one of the last buildings of its kind still in use.
Clarke Road Secondary School (CRSS)
– CRSS’s mascot is a Trojan. This particular image references a metalwork piece made by Mr. Van Hooydonk’s senior welding class in the late 2010’s. It is on display at the high school presently.
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Special Thanks to:
For their generosity and support
Index
- Argyle
- Pattern
- Namesake
- Mall
- Buildings
- Asylum
- Clark House
- Mildred Baron’s School
- Post Office
- Residential Home
- Factories
- GM (General Motors)
- Glass Bros and Co.
- London Crockery MFG
- Fauna
- Bees
- Crayfish
- Crustaceans
- Fish
- Horse
- Sheep
- Turtle
- Flora
- Apples
- Beans
- Cedar
- Corn
- Echinacea
- Squash
- Strawberries
- Strawberry Flowers
- Sweetgrass
- Tobacco
- Wheat
- Indigenous Beliefs
- Three Sisters
- Four Sacred Medicines
- Heart berry
- Items
- Barrels
- Horse shoe
- Key
- Pottery
- Telephone
- Military
- 427 Wing
- Valour Memorial
- Molecular Drawing
- People
- Baseball player
- Charles Saunders
- Married Couple
- Mechanic
- Oscar “Leftie” Judd
- Pottersburg
- Pottersburg namesake
- Pottersburg Creek
- Railway(s)
- Signs
- Glass Bros and Co.
- Read & Logan Coal – Wood
- Skyway
- Wilson’s Dairy
- Skyway Drive-In
- Stamps
- Charles Saunders, Marquis Wheat
- London-to-London Flight
- Trojan
- Vehicles
- Bus
- Car
- Train
- Wampum Belt