File pertains to 62 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from January 3 to June 22, 1941. Topics include New Years Eve activities and parties, day to day life, weather, painting/sketching [particularly Pete working on a piece to be auctioned in a fundraiser for th…
1.4 cm of textual records (84 pages ; 21.4 x 27.5 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File pertains to 62 letters written by Catharine Robb Whyte to her mother, Edith Morse Robb from January 3 to June 22, 1941. Topics include New Years Eve activities and parties, day to day life, weather, painting/sketching [particularly Pete working on a piece to be auctioned in a fundraiser for the construction of a new Spitfire plane], books Catharine and Edith are reading, visits from friends and visitors, radio programs [mostly operas and the news], kitchen appliances and descriptions of meals, news pertaining to the war, updates on the construction of the new Lake Minnewanka dam, photography and cameras [including colour photography], Pete participating in drills as a reservist in the RCAF, ski trips to Mount Temple Lodge throughout February and March [includes helping improve ski runs and getting a sleigh for the tractor, guests at the lodge, evening conversations, clothing, and food], the Winter Carnival [including swim races by Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Air Force members at the Cave and Basin], errand trips to Calgary, events and people in Concord, Edith's involvement with the Red Cross, wildlife, going on a road trip to Victoria in April [staying in Calgary, Creston, Grand Forks, and Vancouver on the way there and Lytton and Revelstoke on the way back], cleaning and household chores, and preparing for Edith and Mildred Owen to arrive for a visit at the end of June.
Notes
Please note: language pertaining to Indigenous Peoplesand Japanese people used throughout is outdated and may be offensive.
Letters are typed and hand-written. Many typed letters have hand-written notes and post scripts added throughout. Some are written on hotel/lodge letterhead.
Some letters are marked with a small x in pencil, indicating where Jon Whyte made notes for use in his project "Catharine Robb Whyte, Peter Whyte: Commemorative Portfolio," originally published in 1981.
110 - 39 contains sketches of the 2-storey privy at a hotel in Cowley [?] and a corner decoration in their hotel room in Grand Forks.