The Nicholas Morant fonds consists of Morant's freelance work from his early days with the Winnipeg Free Press to his retirement from the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1981. It is national in scope and also includes some international material. The fonds is comprised of three series: I. Photograp…
Nicholas Everard Morant, 1910-1999, was a professional photographer based at Banff, Alberta, Canada. He was a Canadian commercial photographer of international repute and Canada's premier railway photographer of the 20th century.
Morant was born at Kamloops, British Columbia, the son of Francis and Mollie Morant. After attending the University School at Victoria, Morant served as Special Photographer to the CPR from 1929 to 1935 and again from 1944 to 1981. From 1935 to 1939, he was a cameraman for the Winnipeg Free Press, and from 1940 to 1944 worked with the Wartime Information Branch of the federal government (later to be known as the National Film Board Stills Division).
Morant had a prolific career as a freelance commercial, portrait, magazine, landscape and documentary photographer. His work appeared in numerous books and magazines, including Time, Life, Liberty, Saturday Evening Post, (Toronto) Star Weekly, Northern Sportsman, Reader's Digest, Country Guide, The Standard, National Home Monthly, Canadian Photography, Outdoor Canada, National Geographic, the Globe & Mail, Winnipeg Tribune, New York Daily News, and the two Canadian Pacific Railway magazines, The Spanner and Rail News.
Two wartime images were featured on postage stamps, while three landscape views appeared on Canadian $10, $50 and $100 bills. His images were also used for corporate annual reports, postcards, brochures, calendars and advertisements. From the 1950s to 1980s Morant gave public slide shows of his work, two of the most popular being "A Talk Without Words" and "The World At Your Feet".
Morant married Ivy May "Willie" Young in 1936 when he was a photographer with the Winnipeg Free Press. Beginning in 1929, and until the end of her life, Morant's travelling and working companion was his wife, "Willie," 1910-1986.
Scope & Content
The Nicholas Morant fonds consists of Morant's freelance work from his early days with the Winnipeg Free Press to his retirement from the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1981. It is national in scope and also includes some international material. The fonds is comprised of three series: I. Photography; II. Professional records; III. Personal and family records.
I. Photography series consists of: A. Negatives and transparencies, B. Transparencies, C. Prints, D. Other photographs. II. Professional records series consists of: A. Working records, B. Career records, C. Topical files. III. Personal and family records series consists of: A. Nick and Willie Morant, B. Nick Morant funeral and memorial, C. Francis and Mollie Morant, D. Collected material
Notes
Full summary of sub-sub-series levels:
I / A : 1) Darkroom Files [ a) Negative Albums b) Black/White Series I and II c) Colour Series I and II
d) Leica Negs ]
2) GD Files
I / B : 1) Presentations [ a) Topical Files b) Thematic Files ]
2) General Files
3) Other
I / C : 1) Print Files
I / D : 1) Exhibition and Display Prints
2) Photographs used by John Garden
3) Other Photographs
II / A : 1) Log Books
2) Notebooks
II / B : 1) Career Binders [ a) Postcards b) Brochures and Advertising c) clippings and articles
d) Calendar Photographs ]
2) Scrapbooks [ a) Content 1933 - 1946 b) Content 1940 - 1980 ]
II / C : 1) Numbered / Titled Files [ a) Group A b) Group B c) Group C d) Group D e) Group H
f) Group P g) Group R ]
2) Other Topical Files [ a) Railway; i) Timetables ii) Publications iii) Other
b) Photography; i) Textual Records ii) Print Material
c) Travel d) Exhibitions and Galleries e)Personal f) Other ]
3) Postcards, Greeting Cards and Ephemera Collection
4) Published Images and Text
5) Professional Photography
6) Promotional Items, Awards and Correspondence
7) Presentation and Interview Materials
III / A : 1) Correspondence
2) Personal Papers [ a) Personal Records b) Notes and Notebooks c) Lists and Card Files
d) Awards and Retirement ]
3) Personal Photographs
4) House Records [ a) Construction b) Household Records ]
5) Business, Financial and Legal Papers
6) Interviews, Reminiscences Personal Recordings
7) Other Records (Signs, Cartoons, Drawings, etc.)
8) Personal Correspondence and Notes
9) Travel Documents and Maps
III / B : 1) Nick Morant Funeral, Memorial and Estate
III / C : 1) Mollie Morant Papers
2) Other Family Papers
III / D : 1) Sound Recordings
2) Biographical Material
3) Other Papers and Photographs [ a) Burton Wheatley Family b) Other ]
4) Personal and Family Photography
5) Personal Interest and Gifts
Scrapbook is titled "Science" on front cover, and consists of educational newspaper and magazine clippings pertaining to various subjects including astronomy, weather patterns, science and technology, food production, and human and marine biology. Scrapbook contains a loose Table of Contents inside…
Scrapbook is titled "Science" on front cover, and consists of educational newspaper and magazine clippings pertaining to various subjects including astronomy, weather patterns, science and technology, food production, and human and marine biology. Scrapbook contains a loose Table of Contents inside front cover listing subjects addressed in clippings [see "Content Details"].
[Table of Contents]
Contents 1939-1940
Other Planets: Artillery in the Skies
Other Suns: Uses of different Parts of the Head
Synthetic Products: Diamond Iron
Salt: Technicolor
Television: Man's conquest of the Air: Operations
Vitamins: Pasteurization of milk
The Five Senses and the Somatic Senses
Development of Science; guns etc.
Sugar Beets
Shortest Day of the Year
Sea Fish
Sub-series consists of textual and visual materials pertaining to the history of Southern Alberta. Includes personal accounts, day books and diaries, genealogical research, records of livestock and other trade, and portrait and group photographs depicting early settlers of Southern Alberta. Materia…
29 cm of textual records -- 29 photographs (28 b&w prints, 1 tintype) ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
Sub-series consists of textual and visual materials pertaining to the history of Southern Alberta. Includes personal accounts, day books and diaries, genealogical research, records of livestock and other trade, and portrait and group photographs depicting early settlers of Southern Alberta. Materials in sub-series believed to have been collected by Eleanor Luxton, possibly on behalf of the Southern Alberta Pioneers' and Old Timers' Association or as part of Eleanor's personal research.
File consists of one scrapbook containing ca. 200 attached postcard prints and commercial postcards, as well as two portrait photograph prints and two souvenir booklets. Content pertains to scenic views of the Canadian Rockies including Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Maligne Lake, Revelstoke and the At…
Some items produced by George S. Cladds [?], Byron Harmon, Gerta Christoffersen, Detroit Publishing Co., and A.C. Leighton
Date Range
[ca. 1925 - ca. 1940]
1932
Physical Description
1 scrapbook : ca. 200 b&w and col. postcards ; 14 x 21.5 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of one scrapbook containing ca. 200 attached postcard prints and commercial postcards, as well as two portrait photograph prints and two souvenir booklets. Content pertains to scenic views of the Canadian Rockies including Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Maligne Lake, Revelstoke and the Athabasca River; portrait paintings of unidentified Indigenous girls by artist Gerta Christoffersen; scenes from Australia, Brussels, Venice, Bermuda, Fiji, Portugal, London, Windsor Castle, California, Mexico, the Grand Canyon, Montana, Niagara Falls, Maine, Ohio and Pennsylvania; and sketched art by A.C. Leighton depicting horses and riders. Many postcards are colorized.
Scrapbook consists of typed sheets of information pasted onto construction paper, including coloured illustrations [n.d.] Scrapbook contains notes on numerous global cultures and nationalities, as well as several poems.
Scrapbook consists of typed sheets of information pasted onto construction paper, including coloured illustrations [n.d.] Scrapbook contains notes on numerous global cultures and nationalities, as well as several poems.
Notes
**Note:** Scrapbook includes subjective, inappropriate and culturally inaccurate textual and visual content pertaining to various global regions and cultures. Scrapbook contains language and illustrations which may be offensive to individuals accessing this content.
Scrapbook is handmade from coloured construction paper. Scrapbook consists of newspaper clippings dated between 1939 and 1940 pertaining to global and Canadian agriculture, commerce, mining, politics and military statistics. Scrapbook is annotated with title on front cover: "World Progress Finances…
Scrapbook is handmade from coloured construction paper. Scrapbook consists of newspaper clippings dated between 1939 and 1940 pertaining to global and Canadian agriculture, commerce, mining, politics and military statistics. Scrapbook is annotated with title on front cover: "World Progress Finances Agriculture Travel Protection". Scrapbook contains table of contents inside front cover [see "Content Details"].
[Table of Contents:]
Organized Man Power: Ireland and the War
Wheat: Britain and War Taxes
Food and the War
Wool, Cattle, Metal Markets; Bacteria in Milk
Oil, Butter, Sugar: Rayon, Bluestone, Radium
Chemical Production in the United States
New Methods of Transportation
The Soy Bean
Irrigation
Development of the Soviet Union
The Chain Store
Co-operatives: Frontier Opening
Montreal as a Market
Investments
Africa
Chile: Russia
Germany and Synthetic Goods
Bermuda: Gibraltar
The Great Lakes Project: Rice: Farm Moisture
London: The Panama and the Americas
Great Britain: Banff: Canada
Canada's Milk Production: Butter: Results of War on Sugar, etc.
U.S. Alaska Highway: Canada Facts and the Flag
Possible mines in Canada: U.S.A. and Latin America
Deserts and Snow: The Caribbean
Pacific Defences [sic] and the Panama Canal
Trans Canada Air Lines: Oil and the War
Canada and Japan area comparison: Transatlantic Airways
European Politics and Men at the Head of Governments
File consists of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and photocopied clippings pertaining mostly to skiing, skiers, ski hills, and generally winter sports throughout Banff National Park.
3 cm of textual records (26 pages ; 27.5 x 38.5 cm)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and photocopied clippings pertaining mostly to skiing, skiers, ski hills, and generally winter sports throughout Banff National Park.
File consists of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and photocopied clippings pertaining mostly to skiing, skiers, ski hills, heli skiing, and generally winter sports throughout Western Canada, with particular focus on Banff National Park.
2.5 cm of textual records (60 pages ; 27.5 x 38.5 cm)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and photocopied clippings pertaining mostly to skiing, skiers, ski hills, heli skiing, and generally winter sports throughout Western Canada, with particular focus on Banff National Park.
File consists of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings pertaining to the life and career of Andy Russell. Also includes an invitation presented to Russell from the Winnipeg Game and Fish Association and newspaper clippings pertaining to Cleo Mowers' career.
3 cm of textual records (28 pages ; 31.5 x 35.5 cm)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings pertaining to the life and career of Andy Russell. Also includes an invitation presented to Russell from the Winnipeg Game and Fish Association and newspaper clippings pertaining to Cleo Mowers' career.
File consists of one photograph album containing 9 b&w prints. Photographs pertain to animal caretaker Adam Dalgleish with moose and antelope during winter season at the Banff Paddock [ca. 1900-1910]. Front cover of album has personal letter written to Norman Luxton from Mary Schaffer Warren [ca. 1…
File consists of one photograph album containing 9 b&w prints. Photographs pertain to animal caretaker Adam Dalgleish with moose and antelope during winter season at the Banff Paddock [ca. 1900-1910]. Front cover of album has personal letter written to Norman Luxton from Mary Schaffer Warren [ca. 1930?].
Notes
Date provided is estimate by Processing Archivist based on format and context of file contents.
Material Details
Album pages bound with light purple ribbon tied in bow