quilt, Doreen Stead Thomas
Report a Mistake- Object Number 20080071-005
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Event
1939-1945 Second World War
1939-1945 The Home Front - Affiliation --
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer Maddison, Ms. Johnnene Themean
- Date Made 2004
- Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - Canada
- Category Communication artifacts
- Sub-category Art
- Department Art and Memorials
- Museum CWM
- Earliest 2004/01/01
- Latest 2004/12/31
- Inscription (recto): J Maddison (verso): Doreen Stead Thomas 2004 by Johnnene Maddison, London, Ontario, Hand-dyed fabric, photo transfer, hand and machine stitching, hand beading 62 x 47 cm Doreen Stead Thomas as a secretary in the Enforcement Department of the South Western Ontario Region of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board in the Dominion Building in London, Ontario. Windsor and Chatham were "hot spots for cattle rustling" leading to a flourishing black market in beef. Food was rationed and difficult to get, especially onions, which were dehydrated and sent overseas to the troops. She had a friend who would call her from Ross' Furs in London and tell her when a shipment of stockings came in and Doreen would hurry there to buy a pair. Doreen loved wearing hats and she asked that her piece be done in greens, one of her favourite colours.
- Medium mixed media
- Support fibreframe
- Materials Not applicable
- Person / Institution Subject, Thomas, Doreen SteadAssociated institution, Wartime Prices & Trade Board
- Measurements Height 62.0 cm, Width 47.0 cm
- Related activity War work
- Caption Stitches in Time
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Additional Information
“It is the intrinsically feminine task of mending and patching that enters my work today.” Johnnene Maddison
Through quilts, contemporary artist Johnnene Maddison interprets the unique ways in which Canadian women balanced work, family, and leisure in their wartime lives.
Johnnene Maddison's mother was one of millions of North American women, more than one million of whom were Canadian, who worked in a factory during the Second World War. Inspired by her mother's wartime experience, she searched for other women workers. Maddison found 37, each with a distinct story, but all with one thing in common: the need to balance work with family, motherhood, and leisure.
For Johnnene Maddison, quilts best express the texture of women's wartime experiences. Recycled fabrics recall women's thrift and ingenuity. The technique of photo-transfer, capturing women's memorabilia, makes each quilt a testament to personal experience. Patched and pieced together, the quilts evoke women's resourcefulness in holding together the home front while also supplying the needs of the military.
- Caption Doreen Stead Thomas
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Additional Information
“Doreen worked as a secretary in the South Western Ontario Region office of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. When she was hired, married women had to give up their dependents' allowance. But the Board had to change this rule to get more female workers. Doreen loved wearing hats, and she asked that her piece be done in greens, one of her favourite colours.”