Upcoming Speaker

OxHS Meeting Tonight – Wednesday, May 29, 2024!

by
Downtown Woodstock, Postcard from the Don Wilson Postcard Collection

Hello Everyone,

please join the Oxford Historical Society for our upcoming presentation:

Woodstock As It Was!

Join us as we step back in time and explore the many changes to this City over the decades. We will visit the Downtown, once a thriving main street, with shops like Lamons Bakery, shown above.  Museum Square about to undergo another transformation, the Hotel Oxford, the Capital Theater, Patullo Fountain, Southside Park and much more.  The City of Woodstock is embarking on an ambitious streetscape plan for the Downtown in 2024 – help us find ideas to promote Woodstock’s future by building on our knowledge of the past through this amazing collection of photographs and postcards.    

Presented by Eleanor Gardhouse, Director – Oxford Historical Society

Feel free to print and share this poster: Woodstock As It Was!

This presentation will take place at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. Doors open at 6:30pm and the meeting will start at 6:45pm. This is a free public meeting, all are welcome to attend.

The OxHS now has a Facebook page, to like us search: Oxford Historical Society 1897
Or click on the FB symbol on the top right of our website!

If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

OxHS Meeting- Wednesday, May 29, 2024!

by
Downtown Woodstock, Postcard from the Don Wilson Postcard Collection

Hello Everyone,

please join the Oxford Historical Society for our upcoming presentation:

Woodstock As It Was!

Join us as we step back in time and explore the many changes to this City over the decades. We will visit the Downtown, once a thriving main street, with shops like Lamons Bakery, shown above.  Museum Square about to undergo another transformation, the Hotel Oxford, the Capital Theater, Patullo Fountain, Southside Park and much more.  The City of Woodstock is embarking on an ambitious streetscape plan for the Downtown in 2024 – help us find ideas to promote Woodstock’s future by building on our knowledge of the past through this amazing collection of photographs and postcards.    

Presented by Eleanor Gardhouse, Director – Oxford Historical Society

Feel free to print and share this poster: Woodstock As It Was!

This presentation will take place at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. Doors open at 6:30pm and the meeting will start at 6:45pm. This is a free public meeting, all are welcome to attend.

The OxHS now has a Facebook page, to like us search: Oxford Historical Society 1897
Or click on the FB symbol on the top right of our website!

If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

OxHS Meeting Tonight – Wednesday, April 24, 2024!

by
Major E. C. Norsworthy

Hello Everyone,

please join the Oxford Historical Society for our upcoming presentation:

All the Eyes of Canada Are Upon Us!

With those words, Major Edward Cuthbert Norsworthy inspired his small band of soldiers to hold the line and stem the onslaught of horrors fraught by the German hordes during the opening night of the Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1917.  This act of heroism came at a deadly price but established the reputation for Canadian troops as some of the fiercest, bravest and best fighters of the Allied effort during the First World War.  ~  What drove this young man; this boy from Ingersoll? ~ His story will inspire you. Warning! You may experience chills and shivers of pride as you listen to his tale.

Presented by Scott Gilles, local historian, former museum curator Norwich Museum & Archives and Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum.

Feel free to print and share this poster: All the Eyes of Canada Are Upon Us!

This presentation will take place at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. Doors open at 6:30pm and the meeting will start at 6:45pm. This is a free public meeting, all are welcome to attend.

The OxHS now has a Facebook page, to like us search: Oxford Historical Society 1897
Or click on the FB symbol on the top right of our website!

If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

OxHS Meeting – Wednesday, April 24, 2024!

by
Major E. C. Norsworthy

Hello Everyone,

please join the Oxford Historical Society for our upcoming presentation:

All the Eyes of Canada Are Upon Us!

With those words, Major Edward Cuthbert Norsworthy inspired his small band of soldiers to hold the line and stem the onslaught of horrors fraught by the German hordes during the opening night of the Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1917.  This act of heroism came at a deadly price but established the reputation for Canadian troops as some of the fiercest, bravest and best fighters of the Allied effort during the First World War.  ~  What drove this young man; this boy from Ingersoll? ~ His story will inspire you. Warning! You may experience chills and shivers of pride as you listen to his tale.

Presented by Scott Gilles, local historian, former museum curator Norwich Museum & Archives and Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum.

Feel free to print and share this poster: All the Eyes of Canada Are Upon Us!

This presentation will take place at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. Doors open at 6:30pm and the meeting will start at 6:45pm. This is a free public meeting, all are welcome to attend.

The OxHS now has a Facebook page, to like us search: Oxford Historical Society 1897
Or click on the FB symbol on the top right of our website!

If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

OxHS Upcoming Presentation – Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 6:30pm!

by
Alice Munro – 1960

Hello Everyone,

please join the Oxford Historical Society for Brenda Boswell’s presentation : ‘Party Line – Supporting Homemakers Over the Airwaves’

From Brenda:

Alice Munro was invited into the homes of many women within the CKOX  listening area every day from 10:10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  CKOX introduced a new program “Party Line” in 1959 on an experimental basis.  Women’s Commentator, Alice Munro invited listeners to call in and describe any problem pertaining to Homemaking which might require an answer. Others in the listening audience were encouraged to phone and supply the answer. 

The show was so popular that Alice produced three booklets of “Hints and Recipes for the Homemaker” in 1960, 1961 and 1965 which were “must haves” for her followers.

Party Line was part of a bigger movement across North America to help women feel less isolated in their homes.  As many women who had joined the workplace during WWII were displaced by returning soldiers, popular culture encouraged women to return to domestic life and look after their family which included creating interesting meals, keeping the home spotless and stain free.  

While Alice Munro did not create the concept of reaching homemakers by the radio, she certainly captivated local homemakers.  How many of us remember the hour after the 10:00 a.m. as being a sacred time in the kitchen.  The presentation will explore some of the early homemakers tailored to reach an untapped part of the market and how the stringing of hydro lines brought the most isolated women a connection to the world.  It also provided a wonderful opportunity for broadcasters to sell advertising.

From Alice Munro to Martha Stewart and beyond, women continue to connect with each other via the media.  

Oh yes, we will also touch on the story of Aunt Sammy, a fictional character created by the US Bureau of Home Economics which focussed on rural farm women.  And how does this relate to the Queen of Romania you ask?  Set your dial to the Oxford Historical Society channel on Feb. 28th, to find out!

This presentation will take place at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. Doors open at 6:30pm and the meeting will start at 6:45pm. This is a free public meeting, all are welcome to attend.

If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca