Montague Garden of the Gulf Museum building a digital history
Some of the favourite items so far have been a pipe organ, a potato beetle machine and a wicker body bag
The Garden of the Gulf Museum in Montague, P.E.I. has hired two staff to sort through thousands of artifacts and add them to their growing digital catalogue so the public can have easier access to area history.
In the building, rows of metal shelves from floor to ceiling now hold thousands of carefully placed and catalogued artifacts, but Megan Chaumont and Sarah Jay say it wasn't always so neat.
"They kind of moved all the boxes from the museum but they didn't really go through them, so a lot of stuff was just kind of in a pile, it was a huge mess," Chaumont said.
For the last three months, Chaumont and Jay have been sorting through artifacts, everything from typewriters to farming equipment, all of them catalogued for the museum's digital system.
They were hired through a Skills PEI grant and are nearing the end of their term.
Wicker body bag
The women say some of the favourite items so far have been a pipe organ, a potato beetle machine and a wicker body bag.
"It's got some lining there, and the lid," Chaumont said. "And you basically just strap the body in to carry it. It's one of the strangest things we have by far. It's 1800s I think."
The head of the board of directors for the museum, John MacDonald, says until now, locating artifacts for the public, and the museum, was a bit of a challenge.
"For the making up of displays, you have to know where they are and we can rotate our displays more simply and effectively," he said.
Donations are constant, so work in the artifactory will continue, even after Chaumont and Jay finish up next month.
The museum board is looking for funds to continue the cataloguing project.