A white one-piece knee-length nurse's surgical gown with a round collar, short sleeves and a pocket on the right side; cinched at the waist by a double-thickness fabric belt which is part of the dress; skirt has a wide hem.
A white one-piece knee-length nurse's surgical gown with a round collar, short sleeves and a pocket on the right side; cinched at the waist by a double-thickness fabric belt which is part of the dress; skirt has a wide hem.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Found in collection; possibly came from a donor in Cornwall (Cornwall was written on the Canada Post stamp on the envelope the material came in).
"Made by Lac-Mac // London.Can // Size 40" printed on a tag in the collar.
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0007
0007 Closet G
Length
112.0 cm
Width
78.5 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 112..0 cm x Width 78.5 cm
Condition Remarks
Some staining; the stitching around the pocket is coming loose.
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Websites
Reference Comments
Canadian Museum of History, "Symbol of a Profession: One Hundred Years of Nurses' Caps," https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/infirm/inint01e.html
"For Service to Humanity: Nursing Education at Kingston General Hospital," Museum of Health Care. https://www.museumofhealthcare.ca/explore/exhibitions/forservicetohumanity.html
Research Facts
Used by an operating room nurse in the early 1940s. The dress is meant to be pulled on over the head.
Throughout the twentieth century, nurses' uniforms changed, in particular with the rising of hemlines. The nurse's uniform was generally white, and Kingston General Hospital uniforms were once known for "turkey red" hemlines. Different levels of nursing education had different uniforms, in particular different caps, as graduate nurses had black bands on their caps to indicate their level of education.