Behind the scenes at the Bata Shoe Museum these days, we are working on a virtual exhibition that will be called Boots & Blades: The Story of Canadian Figure Skating. Launching on Family Day in 2022, it will explore both the artistry and athleticism of this thrilling sport, from its early beginnings in the 1600s […]
Shoes in Action: What is Damage?
The beginning of the professional tennis season starts with the Australian Open in January. With that in mind, let’s explore a donation of Nike Challenge Court tennis shoes autographed by John McEnroe in 1984. He gave them to Mrs. Bata after a Players International Championship match she attended at the National Tennis Centre at York […]
From the Vault: Venetian Men’s Slippers
Take a peek into our 14,000+ collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we’re sharing interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? This pair of Venetian men’s slippers date to the 1840s. They were acquired in 1988 […]
Conservation Blog – Jazz Age Dress
By Conservator Ada Hopkins Sometimes there isn’t enough time to perform a compete treatment on an object and the resulting work I refer to fondly as ‘guerilla conservation’. It is done quickly, with minimal materials, but conservation intervention is adequate for the purpose; in this case displaying a dress on a mannequin. For The Roaring […]
Upon Arrival: Cataloguing New Acquisitions
These carriage boots are a recent acquisition to the Bata Shoe Museum’s collection. They were worn in the early 20th century by Clara Fairbank-Ranney in Petrolia, Ontario, and were donated by her family. Hope everyone had a lovely holiday season! I’m writing this blog post in December 2020 and want to share a bit of […]
From the Vault: Keds Champion sneakers
Take a peek into our 14,000+ collection with our blog series, From the Vault! Every other week, we’re sharing interesting stories about one of our artefacts. What is the provenance of this pair? When did they enter the BSM collection? This pair of Keds sneakers date to 1916, the first year of Keds’ Champion line. […]
Travels to the Czech Republic: Part II
After spending 3 nights in Zlin it was time to travel to my next destination – the Egon Schiele Art Centrum (ESAC) in Český Krumlov. This part of the journey involved 3 buses: Zlin to Brno, Brno to Český Budějovice, then on to Krumlov. With all the transfer points it ended up being a 7-hour […]