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Bottle Opener
- Museum / Archive
- Elgin County Museum
- Artifact Type
- opener, bottle
- Material
- metal
- Museum / Archive
- Elgin County Museum
- Artifact Type
- opener, bottle
- Description
- Ceremonial bottle opener and ice scoop. Gold coloured bottle opener, shaped like a shovel. The shovel portion of the artifact is intended to be used as an ice scoop. The handle of the shovel, shaped like a triangle, has a tab on the inner surface to open bottles with. Written on the handle of the bottle opener, "FORD OF CANADA - ST. THOMAS ASSEMBLY PLANT - June 28, 1966".
The artifact comes inside its original box, a red and white cardboard box. The lid (b) is red and the base (c) is white. Stamped, in black ink, on the base of the box, "#270 - GOLDDIGGER - Bottle Opener - Ice Scoop".
- Material
- metal
- Category
- T&E for Materials
- Sub-category
- Food Processing & Preparation T&E
- Accession Number
- 017.085.011 a-c
- File Number
- 017.085
- Date Range
- 1966
- Origin City
- St. Thomas
- Origin Province
- Ontario
- Origin Country
- Canada
- Item History
- This artifact commemorates the ground breaking ceremony for the St. Thomas Ford Plany. On June 28th of 1966 construction on the St. Thomas Ford Assembly Plant, located on Sunset Road, Southwold. It was completed in 1967.
This artifact was likely purchased or presented to Vincent Barrie at the time of the ground breaking ceremony.
Vincent Barrie was born on August 9th, 1910 in Paris, Ontario. He died on September 2nd, 1982 in St. Thomas, Ontario.
He was mayor of St. Thomas from 1959 to 1964 and from 1967 to 1968.
During his lifetime Mr. Barrie had been a boxer, hotel owner, industrial promotor, alderman, mayor and humanitarian. V. A. Barrie park (formerly Spohn's Flats), located in St. Thomas, was named after him. He granted the city the segment of land in 1972 for $1.
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