Français
Brink on some of Davidson’s photographs
Listen to or read Vernon Brink’s memories of John Davidson, including his descriptions of some of John Davidson’s lantern slides.
Please note: In the transcript below, Vernon Brink (VB) is always the speaker unless noted otherwise. David Brownstein (DB) is the interviewer.
Listen to the interview: “Brink on some of Davidson’s photographs” (streaming, 15.8 MB)
Stream the interview in an external player: “Brink on some of Davidson’s photographs” (MP3, 15.8 MB)
For sure, that’s dating the girls with the big, broad-rimmed hats and so on. Oh, I think the 1920s. They used to call them middies with the low-cut blouses and usually a bit of a scarf. And it was very popular with the students, and with young women when they went out on trips, botany trips, that sort of thing. An argument over whether it’s “Bootahnie” or “Botany” [spelling Botanie]; it was, I’m sure the original name was “Bootahnie” not “Botany” and people corrupted it because they had the botanic term.
I’m trying to think who. Maude Allen probably is there. They look like university students to me of that era. Well I’d say it goes back into the more the 1910s or earlier, you know. By the 1920s women were beginning to dispense with these heavy skirts and this kind of headwear when they went outside. In the 1920s the girls they still wore bloomers, which were pretty awkward I would think to wear. And then they actually got down to where they were wearing trouser type. But in the 1920s I think the women’s basketball championships were played with women wearing bloomers, which were pretty bulky in a way.
Ok, that’s Garibaldi crossing I think; I think that would be the Helm Glacier then. I think most of all would be using alpenstocks, instead of ice axes, and… that’s no way to handle a mountain party, there’s not nearly enough space between the… But they are roped and they are pretty much all using alpenstocks which pretty well dates them. That’s in the 1920s. There’s still a fair amount of snow up here on the slopes. I think that’s West bluff and that’s East bluff. From Black Tusk Meadows you’d be looking this way and you climb Black Tusk on this ridge here. I think it shows the Bishop which is a little side issue of volcanic rock. The botany trips were almost always one trip to the west bluff and another trip to the east bluff and then one of the later trips would be to the peak of Black Tusk. Empetrum Ridge would be over here some place. There’s still quite a bit of ice in here, which is all gone of course today. That’s on a cool slope.