Kingston General Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Collection
Category
Nursing
Nursing Uniforms
Classification
Nursing
Nursing Uniforms
Accession Number
995002020
Description
Navy wool nurse's cape with red wool lining; construction: two panels with centre back seam and shoulder dart for shaping; red lining sewn edge to edge and not free-hanging; mandarin-style collar; metal chain for hanging cape at inside neck; one brown button neck closure; "KGH" embroidered in gold …
Navy wool nurse's cape with red wool lining; construction: two panels with centre back seam and shoulder dart for shaping; red lining sewn edge to edge and not free-hanging; mandarin-style collar; metal chain for hanging cape at inside neck; one brown button neck closure; "KGH" embroidered in gold on both sides of collar.
Manufacturers woven tag reads: "Lac-Mac // Nurse's Cape // London // Canada"; embroidered to both sides of collar: "KGH"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010 Closet
Length
98.0 cm
Width
136.0 cm
Depth
0.3 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 98.0 cm x Width 136.0 cm x Depth 0.3 cm
Condition Remarks
#2: Inside collar facing is loose; small hole on back panel by seam; buttonhole is stretched.
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Person
Book
Portrait
Websites
Article
Reference Comments
Marilyn Boston, "Info Re KGH Nursing Uniforms"
Ann Baillie portrait
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
Mallory Warner, “Where is the missing piece of lining in this U.S. Navy nurse's cape?,” April 5, 2017. National Museum of American History, https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/us-navy-nurses-cape
Research Facts
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.
Nurses’ capes were an important part of the nurse’s uniform, and became a symbol of nursing and care in their own right outside of the rest of the uniform. The Red Cross, like Kingston General Hospital, lined the inside of their nurses’ capes with red, and the symbol of the red lined cape was used in recruiting posters for nurses during World War I, making the nurse look heroic. Nurses serving with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War also wore woollen cloaks, predecessors of the nursing cape. For many women, the cape was part of their identity as nurses.