White cotton nurse's uniform belt with hemmed edges and "O R" embroidered in red at one end.
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).
Dates
1940
1945
circa 1940-1945
Date Remarks
It was used in the early 1940s
Material
fabric: white; red
Inscriptions
"O R"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0007
0007 Box 6
Length
85.5 cm
Width
5.7 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 85.5 cm x Width 5.7 cm
Condition Remarks
#1: Almost like new.
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
"Information Re KGH Nursing Uniforms" by Marilyn Boston
Research Facts
Used by an operating room nurse in the early 1940s.
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.
The first Kingston General Hospital School of Nursing belts were red; belts changed to white in 1900; separate belt eliminated in 1967; width of belt varies only slightly in all that time -- usually around three inches (7.5 cm); 1938 graduation uniform had a two inch belt (5 cm).