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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Time Travel

Tourism and the Rise of the Living History Museum in Mid-Twentieth-Century Canada

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Time Travel

Tourism and the Rise of the Living History Museum in Mid-Twentieth-Century Canada

In the 1960s, Canadians could step through time to eighteenth-century trading posts or nineteenth-century pioneer towns. These living history museums promised authentic reconstructions of the past but, as Time Travel shows, they revealed more about mid-twentieth-century interests and perceptions of history than they reflected historical fact. These museums became important components of post-war government economic growth and employment policies. Shaped by political pressures and the need to balance education and entertainment, they reflected Canadians’ struggle to establish a pan-Canadian identity in the context of multiculturalism, competing nationalisms, First Nations resistance, and the growth of the state.

372 pages | © 2016


Table of Contents

Introduction: Living History Time Machines

Part 1: Foundations

1 History on Display

2 The Foundations of Living History in Canada

3 Tourism and History

Part 2: Structures

4 Pioneer Days

5 A Sense of the Past

6 Louisbourg and the Quest for Authenticity

Part 3: Connections

7 Fur and Gold

8 The Great Tradition of Western Empire

9 The Spirit of B & B

10 People and Place

11 Genuine Indians

Conclusion: The Limits of Time Travel

Notes

Index

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