St Boniface School of Nursing - Estole Fideles Yearbook (St Boniface, Manitoba Canada)

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(or is it just the smoke from the chimney pots) that it looks like rain. It is axiomatic that one doesn’t venture out sans raincoat, umbrella, etc., and on occasions I have wished for Dr. Bourgoin’s hip-boots. To the girls who are graduating this year I extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes and am sorry that I won’t be able to witness what will be cherished as one of the most happy events of their lives. That I have a personal interest in their future welfare which arises from associations both on the ward and in the classroom, is understood. I will not extoll the virtues of their professions or comment on the vigorous training undergone, for they will have heard enough of that by now. Nor will I offer advice about how to conduct themselves hence¬ forth, except as Longfellow once said: “Let us then, be up and doing. With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing Learn to labour — and to wait.” Sincerely, M. J. LEHMANN, M.D. — 11 —

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6 Bennington Terrace, Edinburgh 6, Scotland. My Dear Miss Kingsley: One’s memory performs its functions in diverse manner. In this case I had conveniently forgotten your request of a few months ago to write a letter to the editor depicting some experiences in and impressions of this country. On receiving a short note from you regarding this matter, a slight blush of embarrassment crept over me for I had hoped you would forget. Why any meagre efforts on my part should be honored to grace the pages of the Nurses’ Year Book is beyond comprehension, for there are many whose pens are much more gifted and extremely more fluent than mine. Perhaps it will afford a source of amusement in days to come to any who will thumb through the Journal and will then either reminisce or wonder! Although it is only about five months since I left St. Boniface Hospital, at times it feels much longer and in other instances I can’t perceive how the weeks have flitted by so rapidly. I won’t belabor you with a travelogue of places seen or visited for excellent descriptions are obtainable in catalogues from any Travel Bureau. Indeed, except for a week in London (spent with Dr. Miller) and a few days in the Lake District in Cumberland, I came straight to Edinburgh and have not had the opportunity to do much sightseeing. That will have to wait. Edinburgh is claimed to be a very beautiful city, but my first impression on arrival coincided with that of the person who called it “Auld Reekie,” because of the innumerable chimney pots that it possesses for its skyline. However, as the natives say “we have the most beautiful street in the world in the Princess Street,” and that is true. For about the mile that this street extends one side is taken up by gardens and monuments, the Museum and Art Gallery, and the street (and the whole city for that matter) is overlooked by stately Edinburgh Castle. I am waiting for the gardens to bloom, for I arrived too late to see them in all their glory and splendor. In addition there are numerous picturesque and historic places of interest, all steeped in heritage, that can be visited and I have availed myself of this as far as time permits. My reason for coming here, as you know, was not for pleasure, but for studies. These I might add, are progressing favourably. In addition to attending a strenuous course of lectures, we visit the different hospitals in small clinical groups to see cases, make ward rounds, watch operations and so forth. Heretofore it has all been very profitable. The courses end about May and after that . . . Because of the drawing power of its University, Edinburgh is really Cosmopolitan. Apart from the Poles attending the Polish Medical School, one sees people from India (Sikhs, Moslems and Hindu’s), Egypt, Arabia, Malaya, Malta, Baghdad, China, South Africa, West Indies, etc., etc. One’s whole time could be taken up just talking to these people about their countries, its customs and so forth. It seems that a letter from here should contain some mention about “austerity” and the “weather.” Regarding the former, as applied to conditions here at present, “austere” is a mild word and I shan’t dwell upon it. The weather though is a favorite topic of mine and I could go on for pages, but the descriptive language would be censored as unfit for consumption. Suffice to say that it intensifies and augments Vancouver’s worst winter weather by raining almost all the time, and that when it isn’t drizzling or raining the skies are so overcast with murky clouds

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A Review of Styles for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the St. Boniface School of Nursing TN THE YEAR 1700, the British Parliament passed a law providing that any woman who attempted to urge a man into matrimony “by means of scent or cosmetic washes, artificial teeth,, false hair, iron stays, hoops, high heeled shoes or bolstered hips” should draw upon herself the penalty prescribed for witchcraft and that the marriage would, in the eyes of the law “stand null and void.” Nowadays, if a girl hasn’t got an eighteen-inch waist (gained by false or true means), a hat that sits on the side of her head, a swing back coat that dips in the back and that smooth look,—well she just isn’t considered in. In reviewing the nurses’ uniforms (exclusive St. Boniface Hospital) I’m not going to start back in the eighteenth century—because for the simply obvious reason that a school of nursing wasn’t provided at St. Boniface Hospital until the nineteenth century—1897, to be exact. The first uniform was originated in 1899—it is not shown on the opposite page because I didn’t have room. 190’5—St. Boniface Hospital then consisted of 350 beds. The uniform was blue cotton with white maple leaves printed on it, over which went a white bib and apron. The collar was Victorian-high and stiff. The caps resembled an inverted paper bag tied in the middle. The length of the uniform was to the ankle. 1924—The number of hospital beds were now 475. The uniform was all white including shoes and stockings. The cap was changed for a flatter kind, the collars were lower but the length of the uniform remained the same. 1928—The nurses’ residence was first opened. What happened to this uniform? You’re asking! That is the $64 question. How did the waistline slip so low and the style change so drastically? 1931—The Sanatorium with 300 beds was opened two years previous to this. The girls in training at the time must have had to get up an hour early to do up all the buttons—there being two rows of them. The waistline was raised at least one whole inch and the length of the uniform was now a daring 13 inches from the floor. 1941—The St. Boniface Hospital had now 500 beds. Ah! now the uniform is getting closer to what it resembles today. The dress with long sleeves was blue. The apron and the bib were now back in force and a new cap was introduced. 1948—The St. Boniface Hospital now boasts 575 beds. The uniform of today is right in style with the “new look,” the length still being 13 inches from the floor. The apron is full, accentuating the hips and the waistline may be restricted to a dainty 18 inches (if you move the buttons over, and give up breathing). The sleeves are short and well starched which are supposed to give you a trim round shoulder effect so in style today, but which make me feel like a rugby player. Probably ten years from today we will think back and wonder how we ever wore those awful uniforms. Will you? . . . not me ... I like them. PAT WOOD. 12