Thank You!!!
We at the Telephone Historical Centre would like to send out a big thank you to all of the people who volunteered for this year’s Casino from January 21-22, 2014 in support of our museum! Your time and effort towards keeping this museum going is greatly appreciated! Thank You!
Museum Update
The Telephone Historical Centre is in the process of updating and expanding the exhibit space within our museum. So stay tuned for more news on our ongoing project!
THC 25th ANNIVERSARY EVENT
The Telephone Historical Centre held a special dinner on December 5, 2012 in honour of our 25th Anniversary. The night included dinner, volunteer appreciation award presentations, and speeches from Mayor Stephen Mandel; Tim Marriott, Chairman of the Edmonton & District Historical Society; And David Ridley, Executive Director of the Edmonton Heritage Council. We would like to thank everybody who came out and those who have supported our museum for the past 25 years.
Laurel Awards
The Laurel Awards are organized annually by Duncan & Craig LLP of Edmonton to honor local non-profit organizations who have shown great innovation and creativity. This year the Telephone Historical Centre was honored to be nominated for this award. Although the museum did not win the award, we are still greatly honored by the nomination and enjoyed the ceremony that was hosted for the winners and nominees in September.
Glenrose Exhibit
A selection of telephones from the Telephone Historical Centre’s collection was exhibited at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital’s Rehabilitation Research and Technology Development Building in celebration of its 100 year anniversary. The building was formerly the North Stores building for the City Telephone System. In a special exhibit, the Glenrose showed changes in technology and telephones and how they have impacted health care. Photographs of the exhibit can be seen at the Telephone Museum.
Wildrose Antique Show
Over the Easter weekend, two of the Telephone Historical Centre’s volunteers set up a booth at the Wildrose Antique Show exhibiting some unique novelty phones including Spiderman, Ronald McDonald, and Tasmanian Devil telephones.
University Study
Recently, a group of communications students at the University of Alberta conducted a study of telephone communications and civic identity in Edmonton for the graduate course COMM 505: Using and Managing Communications Technologies. The Telephone Historical Centre was consulted during research of the paper and worked in cooperation with Judith Dyck to present a portion of the paper on our website.
The Telephone Historical Centre would like to recognize the writers of this paper (Judith Dyck, Crystal Carwin Lee, Melissa Myskiw, and Teresa Sturgess) for their exploration of Edmonton’s communication history and for allowing this fascinating study to be shared. Below is the abstract of the paper titled “The Role of the Telephone in Edmonton as an Expression of Civic Identity.” For more information about this interesting paper, please contact the museum.
“Post-war Edmonton experienced a surge in population and economic growth. Everywhere there was a palpable hunger for connectedness and respect from the world outside its boundaries. The telephone emerged as a symbol of civic desire to be recognized as a society with its face to the future and a respected player in the larger provincial, national and international milieu. Its role as a source of civic pride and enabler of economic and social growth had its roots in the introduction of the telegraph and, in quick succession, the telephone. Using secondary orality as a theoretical lens underscores the role of the telephone in engendering and fostering a civic self consciousness and programmatic group mindedness within an emerging community (Ong, 2011, p. 54). Secondly, Winston’s theory of technological innovation, diffusion and suppression helps inform a historical analysis that draws out a pattern where the desire for connectedness was confronted with political and economic dismissal, which then was met with local innovation to overcome the obstacles (1998). Edmontonians recognized the significance and utility of the telephone as a means of economic and social growth and used the leverage of the municipal government to further their aspirations. They continue to demonstrate civic pride, a hunger for connectedness and a willingness to use communication mediums like the internet to further their aspirations.”
From:
Dyck, Judith, Crystal Carwin Lee, Melissa Myskiw, and Teresa Sturgess. “The Role of the Telephone in Edmonton as an Expression of Civic Identity.” Paper for COMM 505:Using and Managing Communications Technologies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 2011.
The following publications were referenced in the above excerpt:
Ong, W. “Orality, literacy and modern media.” In Communication in history: Technology, culture, society, edited by D. Crowley and P. Heyer, 44-55. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2011.
Winston, B. Media technology and society: A history: from the telegraph to the internet. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998.