Object Record
Images
Metadata
Accession # |
2019.1.1 |
Item Name |
Pin, Membership Pin, Commemorative |
Description |
A commemorative Canadian Red Cross Society pin awarded to Isabella Wright (Sandilands) Bruce during WWI. It is a circular pin. On the front of the pin, along the edge is "Canadian Red Cross Society" engraved in gold on a blue background. In the centre is the red cross emblem (red coloured cross) on a gold background. Within the gold background is "Blood Donor Service" engraved in gold. |
Date |
1914-1918 CIRCA |
Provenance |
This pin was awarded to Isabella Wright Sandilands born in Paisley, Scotland in 1898, daughter of James (b. 1866) and Agnes (Caldwell) Sandilands (b. 1868) who immigrated to Guelph in 1909 to 108 King Street. James was a shoemaker. According to family lore, this pin was awarded to Isabella after WWI for her participation in the construction of greatcoats for soldiers. These long greatcoats were to keep soldiers warm when they fought in the trenches. Isabella was a dressmaker and milliner by trade and it was said that she orchestrated the construction of the coats. One volunteer would sew the sleeves, and another the front of the coat, etc. They would then meet and put the coats together. She married Stewart Gilbert Bruce (b. January 20, 1892) on August 2, 1922. Stewart and Isabella had their first home at 171 Eramosa Road in Guelph. According to family, in the 1950s, they moved to 266 Eramosa Road in Guelph. During WWI, Stewart was a Private in the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC), an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. According to the museum's research, greatcoats were only produced on government "khaki contracts" by various textile factories and civilian tailoring firms, not by volunteer civilians. |
Person \ Organization |
Bruce, Stewart Gilbert Bruce, Isabella Wright (Sandilands) Red Cross Society World War I |
Place |
Guelph |
Year Range from |
1914 |
Year Range to |
1918 |
Subjects |
World War I |