One Hour in the Past E705 - Sewing Machines

Welcome to One Hour in the Past, a podcast series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. Have you ever noticed that a simple information search can lead you in strange and wonderful directions? As in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, historical research can lead you down a winding rabbit hole that might take you off your original path and lead you to new and amazing historical places! This podcast series starts with that premise! Adrian Petry, Visitors Services Coordinator and Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and Curator, both from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, have challenged each other to explore the weird and wonderful places that one hour of research on a topic will take them. Join them as they share their findings! Adrian really has no idea what’s going on. Kathleen has selected the topics for research this season and only shares the next topic with Adrian a day or so before they record. The script too (including the famous dictionary definition) is only handed to Adrian just before they record. Any guesses as to what theme links the topics? Keep listening through season 7 of One Hour in the Past to find out. On this episode of One Hour in the Past, Kathleen and Adrian explore the local history of sewing machine manufacturing, a patent war, and the pivotal role of the lock stitch!