RUMMINGS BOTTLES MORE POPULAR THAN EVER
Rummings bottles, with their logo, a crossed pick and shovel, are as ‘Nanaimo’ as the Bastion, but don’t forget the much-sought-after bottles of John Mitchell, Union Brewery, Alex Phillips’ Pioneer Soda Water, and Louis Lawrence. W.E. Rumming siphon bottles. —www.theouthouse.ca Nanaimo is highly collectible these days. Old Nanaimo, that is. We’re talking pioneer bottlers: Besides Rummings bottles, Louis Lawrence, W.E. Rumming, John Mitchell and Union Brewery have become much sought-after since the bottle collecting craze arrived on Vamcouver Island in the 1960s. Although the hobby has lost some popularity since then, among the die-hards and a new generation of collectors, these old stalwarts have maintained their appeal and have appreciated in value at antique sales, flea markets and online. It was back in May 1886 that the Nanaimo Free Press mentioned John Mitchell of Bastion Street and his Pioneer...
Read MoreVANCOUVER’S OWN TRUNK MURDER
Although it doesn’t rank with the infamous trunk murders of Brighton, New Orleans and Winnie Ruth Judd, Vancouver does have its own sort-of ‘trunk murder.’ –Courtesy www.pinterest.com This bizarre case, which first broke the news with garish, glaring headlines in the July 12, 1969 Vancouver Sun—B.C. MURDER SUSPECT SEIZED WITH HOSTAGE; Buried Body Discovered—was described by an RCMP spokesman as one of “the most bizarre, unbelievable” cases ever recorded in B.C. The story broke with the arrest of former mental patient John Melville Ritcey, 24, near Prince George. Sought in connection with the discovery of a badly decomposed body near Hope. He was armed and had taken a 19-year-old Surrey man, Steve Thorlakson, hostage after commandeering his car (because he couldn’t drive) but surrendered without a struggle when pulled over on the John Hart Highway. Investigators had already identified...
Read MoreCharles Taylor remembered Alberni’s colourful pioneers
“And a very interesting man he was, too,” the late Charles Taylor remembered, years ago. He was referring to Robert Parkinson who appeared in the Alberni Valley in 1885 from London, Eng. A professional shoemarker, he settled beside the small bay which unofficially honours him. Although it’s not formally listed as such in the B.C. Gazetteer, locals have long known the indentation on the west side of Alberni Harbour as Shoemaker Bay. There has to be a story behind how a middle-aged man started life over again, a world away from home, in a cabin just 10 feet square. Its only contents were a bunk, a table, a workbench and a converted oil drum for a stove-heater. Whatever was Parkinson’s past, he kept it to himself. Alberni pioneers, identities unknown. —www.pinterest.com His needs were few; dinner was either salmon...
Read MoreWas Thigh Bone the Remains of Lost Airman?
What puzzled Ildstad most was the absence of clothing or foot wear–just bone fragments. The Consolidated (Model 28) PBY Catalina was one of the most widely used seaplanes in the USA and Allied air forces during the Second World War. Those built in Canada were known as Cansos.—http://aviation-history.com/consolidated The west coast of Vancouver Island is honeycombed with limestone caves, many of which were used as natural mausoleums by First Nations peoples. But, sometimes, they contained non-Aboriginal remains that posed so many questions as to relegate them to the status of mystery. (Of the 179 airmen known to have been killed or gone missing while training to fly at Patricia Bay Airport during the Second World War, many still haven’t been accounted for. Their final resting places in the B.C. wilderness as yet unknown. –See also Mount Bolduc bomber wreck...
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