Snapshots of the Past

[rusty_armour]

On Saturday, I visited Mackenzie House, Todmorden Mills, and Spadina House as part of a ghost research course. Yes, you read that correctly. And, no, I didn't have any paranormal experiences, but I did manage to take some rather nice pictures that I thought I'd share.

Mackenzie House

Reproduction of William Lyon Mackenzie's printing press.
A man has been seen walking through the press itself and
the wall behind it.



A slipper chair embroidered by one of Mackenzie's daughters



Room shared by Mackenzie's daughters



Master bedroom. This room is supposedly very haunted.
Some people have felt nauseous, while others have
fainted. I've felt uneasy both times I've been
inside the room, but this may be because I knew
the stories associated with it beforehand.

Todmorden Mills

Piano inside Helliwell House that has played by itself



Mourning portrait of Sarah Helliwell. It's not easy to see
in this picture, but you can tell it's a mourning portrait
because Sarah is holding a tiny coffin in her hand.



A church doll on one of the beds. Church dolls were meant to
keep children occupied in church. Because they were made of
cloth, they couldn't break or make any noise if they fell.



A courting candle. A father might say to his daughter's
suitor that he could stay for as long as the candle
burned. The father could use the candle holder to adjust
the length of the candle. If the suitor wasn't suitable
in the father's eyes, the candle would be very short.



Sugar was displayed in the window as a status symbol. If
you could afford sugar, you were doing pretty well. The
sugar was packed and tied in this manner for easy transport
on ships. The shape prevented it from toppling over when
seas got rough. If you required sugar from this sugar pillar,
you would cut off the number of lumps you required. This is
where the expression "taking your lumps" comes from.



A beautiful theatre in what was once a mill. The theatre is
said to be haunted. An old woman is sometimes seen, not to
mention a grey shape that flies twenty feet from the ground.

Spadina House

The following images are shots I took on the grounds of Spadina House. I do have some pictures of the fantastic interior, but the tour guide gave us permission to take photos on the condition that we didn't publish them anywhere. Therefore, if anyone is interested in seeing some pictures of the inside of Spadina House, please send me a private message through my LJ account and I'll give you the link to the album.

Comments

[karen9.livejournal.com]

Ghost research course! Is it a formal course or your own thing?

The printing press is interesting, so is seeing the rooms in situ.

I like the artifacts with your explanatory notes: the mourning portrait, church doll, courting candle, and the sugar pillar. I didn't know about any of them.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Ghost research course! Is it a formal course or your own thing?

Believe it or not, it's an actual course I took through the Toronto Board of Education. There was just the one two-hour class on Wednesday night and then the all day field trip on Saturday. This course has been around for about four years and is slowly gaining recognition and acceptance from the Toronto Board of Education. In fact, the instructor is hoping to introduce a ten week course that would cover various facets of the paranormal. I'm hoping she'll get approval.

The printing press is interesting, so is seeing the rooms in situ.

I'm glad you like the printing press. I think it's wonderful the way it has been set up at Mackenzie House. And it's a press that's actually in use. Visitors are given basic instruction and encouraged to add their names to existing plates using those tiny metal letters. It's a lot of fun.

I like the artifacts with your explanatory notes: the mourning portrait, church doll, courting candle, and the sugar pillar. I didn't know about any of them.

Oh, good! I found the artifacts quite fascinating, which is why I decided to take pictures and include them in my report. I'm happy you learned something new. :-)

[boobamiaow.livejournal.com]

I love your documented trips with explanations. I'd love to see the other pics if you fancy sending the link to my googlemail?

Is this research for a certain future project? ;)

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I love your documented trips with explanations.

That's very kind of you to say. Thanks, boobamiaow. :-)

I'd love to see the other pics if you fancy sending the link to my googlemail?

I've just sent you the link. I hope you like the pictures. :-)

Is this research for a certain future project? ;)

How perceptive of you! *g* Yes, I basically took the course to further my research for a certain future project, though I think I would have signed up for it even if I wasn't doing research as I find the subject fascinating.

[boobamiaow.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the link. What a shame you can't publish it-that building interior was stunning. I just loved everything about it!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I'm very happy you liked the pictures, boobamiaow. :-) Believe it or not, I don't think they do the place justice. I was really stunned by how beautiful each and every room was. I wish I'd taken more pictures now.

[funkyinfishnet.livejournal.com]

Wow, what beautiful historical sites you have out there :) It kinda reminds me of some of the places we have here in the UK. Anthony & I love going to those sort of places, especially castles. I'm a big castle fan :)

Thanks for sharing the photos. I'm glad you had such a good time there. It looks like fun and very interesting.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Wow, what beautiful historical sites you have out there :)

Thank you, funkyinfishnet. I have to admit that I used to take such places for granted and think they were inferior compared to what could be found across the ocean. However, in the last few years (probably due to the number of ghost walks I've taken), I've really come to appreciate such places and the role they've played in Canada's history.

It kinda reminds me of some of the places we have here in the UK. Anthony & I love going to those sort of places, especially castles. I'm a big castle fan :)

I can understand how these buildings would remind you of certain places in the UK considering the big influence Britain would have had on Canada in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. And I'm in total agreement with you about castles. I'm a castle whore and have enjoyed every one I've visited tremendously. :-)

BTW, Spadina House is actually across the street from a castle! Well, a castle of sorts: Casa Loma (http://casaloma.org)

Thanks for sharing the photos. I'm glad you had such a good time there. It looks like fun and very interesting.

I was more than happy to share my pictures and, yes, I had an awesome time on Saturday. :-)

[radiogaga80.livejournal.com]

First off - thanks for a very interesting read in my lunch break! :D I really enjoyed this report :)
Coincidentally, I looked into visiting a vintage printing museum last night!

RE: Sugar
I don't know how it was in Canada, but here, in the old days, when people were on benefit from the church, the vicar or reverend would occasionally visit people to see whether they really needed church benefit. Because they had quite a status, people always wanted to be favored by them. So, if a vicar or reverend appeared on your doorstep, you would give him your best. There are stories that when people gave them milk and sugar with their coffee, the vicar/reverend would say, "Well, if you can afford sugar, you're not doing so bad at all." and consequently reduce the church' donations to that family.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

First off - thanks for a very interesting read in my lunch break! :D I really enjoyed this report :)

That's great! I'm so happy you enjoyed the report, radiogaga80! :-D

Coincidentally, I looked into visiting a vintage printing museum last night!

That sounds like a wonderful opportunity, especially if you can watch a demo on how one or more of the printing presses work. If you have any interest in the subject, I'm sure it would be a really worthwhile visit.

RE: Sugar
I don't know how it was in Canada, but here, in the old days, when people were on benefit from the church, the vicar or reverend would occasionally visit people to see whether they really needed church benefit. Because they had quite a status, people always wanted to be favored by them. So, if a vicar or reverend appeared on your doorstep, you would give him your best. There are stories that when people gave them milk and sugar with their coffee, the vicar/reverend would say, "Well, if you can afford sugar, you're not doing so bad at all." and consequently reduce the church' donations to that family.

That's really interesting. I'd have to do a bit of digging to see if anything similar happened in Canada. It's certainly possibly considering that sugar was displayed as a status symbol and there may have been families looking for handouts. Thanks for sharing this bit of Dutch history. :-)

[sublunarfields.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. The historic facts and the paranormal parts too.

Feel free to ignore this (I'm probably just being silly), but sometimes I think I'm a little sensitive (as in very slightly psychic). Like I said, I'm probably completely wrong about this, but that bedroom that makes people uncomfortable - I didn't 'get' anything from that image. Maybe I wouldn't anyway, so it's nothing to go by and it's from a place on another continent too, but the theatre pic - well, I did get a rather unpleasant feeling from that. For what it's worth.

Oh, and I loved the bit about the church dolls and the courting candles. Very interesting.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. The historic facts and the paranormal parts too.

Thanks, sublunarfields. I'm glad this made interesting reading. :-)

Feel free to ignore this (I'm probably just being silly), but sometimes I think I'm a little sensitive (as in very slightly psychic). Like I said, I'm probably completely wrong about this, but that bedroom that makes people uncomfortable - I didn't 'get' anything from that image. Maybe I wouldn't anyway, so it's nothing to go by and it's from a place on another continent too, but the theatre pic - well, I did get a rather unpleasant feeling from that. For what it's worth.

No, I don't think you're being silly. A lot of people are sensitive to some degree, even if they aren't "psychic". I'm not sure how much can be picked up from just looking at an image. From what I've seen and heard, one usually has to be in the room itself to pick up any kind of vibes. However, I'm no expert, so I could be wrong.

Oh, and I loved the bit about the church dolls and the courting candles. Very interesting.

I'm glad to hear it. I found both objects so interesting that I had to take pictures of them. :-)

[sublunarfields.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think you're being silly. A lot of people are sensitive to some degree, even if they aren't "psychic". I'm not sure how much can be picked up from just looking at an image. From what I've seen and heard, one usually has to be in the room itself to pick up any kind of vibes. However, I'm no expert, so I could be wrong.

I hope you're right. It's just that occasionally my sister and I have had reactions from photos. Of course we've never had any actual feedback so we could easily be mistaken. We've been in places said to be haunted and sometimes had reactions and sometimes not. Maybe it varies from person to person and from place to place. In fact, it probably also varies depending on how you feel. Once we went on an outing to the place for a famous battle (which took place in the 15th century.) I was very sick at the time though we didn't know it, and anyway, mom, my sister and our dog were very uncomfortable there. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that no birds were singing.

[boobamiaow.livejournal.com]

The theatre pic makes me feel really uncomfrtable!! I couldn't even look at it properly. And I normally love anything theatre related.

[sublunarfields.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. :)

[sublunarfields.livejournal.com]

Oops, forgot to mention the sugar. Here too, sugar was made in that shape. I don't know why, maybe for the same reason as over there.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if sugar in Sweden was made in the same shape for the same reason. Sugar would have been transported by ship to many parts of the world, so maybe it was some kind of international standard.

[avictoriangirl]

Thank you so much for sharing these great pics! I have to admit that haunted houses really creep me out though. :/

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked the pictures, avictoriangirl. :-) I'm sorry that haunted houses creep you out. I probably shouldn't say this, but you've probably been in at least a couple of houses that contained spirits of some kind considering the number of old houses you've visited. And, of course, not all spirits are negative. A lot of spirits stick around because they loved their homes. :-)

[jackycomelately.livejournal.com]

What wonderful photographs! I kind of want the daughters' rooms. What creeps me out is the piano and the mourning painting. I love the morbid detail of the coffin. The church doll and the courting candle are so clever! I'm really looking forward to seeing what interesting tidbits you drop into your original work!

I'm really impressed by how much interesting local history you've found. I had no idea!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

What wonderful photographs! I kind of want the daughters' rooms.

Hey, you! I'm very happy you like the pictures! :-) The daughters' room is really nice, isn't it? I think it's great that there's a nightgown across the one bed and various other objects, such as the candlestick and the vases on the mantlepiece.

What creeps me out is the piano and the mourning painting. I love the morbid detail of the coffin.

Yeah, the piano and mourning painting are pretty creepy. However, like you, I found that detail about the coffin fascinating. I didn't realize they did that. Oh, and another thing. Artists would paint a number of portraits just featuring the dress and bonnet. Clients could then buy the paintings and have the face of their loved one added in. I guess it was faster and more economical that way.

The church doll and the courting candle are so clever!

Aren't they? What's great is that the inventor saw a specific problem and addressed it, providing the perfect solution. And these inventions aren't complicated or expensive and, yet, they're highly effective.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what interesting tidbits you drop into your original work!

Well...I don't know if these kinds of historical details are likely to crop up in my original work because it's set in the present (though the action will be taking place in an old building, so you never know). However, I've been playing with an idea for another work that would be set in the past. Herne only knows when (or even if) I'll write it, but I play around with the idea once in a while.

I'm really impressed by how much interesting local history you've found. I had no idea!

I think when it's your own city, you either don't know about these things or you take them for granted. Toronto has a number of historical buildings and museums that are open to the public.

I think you, me and E should visit Spadina House some time. You guys would just love the interior. I'm absolutely sure of it. I know you didn't ask, but I'm totally sending you the link for the pictures I took of the interior. They don't really do the place justice, but it might give you an idea of what I'm talking about.