Forrest Pass
@forrestpass.bsky.social
Historian, curator, heraldist, vexillologist, collector of arcane and eclectic Canadiana. All opinions my own. Likes, reskeets =/= endorsement.
@cmedmoore.bsky.social, thought you might appreciate my 10-year-old's choice of bedtime reading tonight (he comes by the the Mark Carney Halloween costume honestly)! #cdnhist
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 AM
@cmedmoore.bsky.social, thought you might appreciate my 10-year-old's choice of bedtime reading tonight (he comes by the the Mark Carney Halloween costume honestly)! #cdnhist
Happy to have been able to circle back to this research (@medievalpenguin.bsky.social will recognize it!) in the context of this summer's droughts and resulting dry wells. #cdnhist #envhist
Today we have "On Drought, Dowsing, and Deep Drilling: Thinking About Groundwater History in an Age of Climate Emergency" by @forrestpass.bsky.social
“When European settlers arrived in the region in the nineteenth century, they found the groundwater perplexing.”
niche-canada.org/2025/11/28/o...
“When European settlers arrived in the region in the nineteenth century, they found the groundwater perplexing.”
niche-canada.org/2025/11/28/o...
On Drought, Dowsing, and Deep Drilling: Thinking About Groundwater History in an Age of Climate Emergency
Canada’s 2025 drought exposed groundwater precarity; in the past, Ottawa Valley settlers adapted to this precarity through dowsing, augers, and evolving well technologies.
niche-canada.org
November 28, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Happy to have been able to circle back to this research (@medievalpenguin.bsky.social will recognize it!) in the context of this summer's droughts and resulting dry wells. #cdnhist #envhist
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times
Blue Rodeo
The Arrogant Worms
The National Arts Centre Orchestra
Fred Penner
James Keelaghan
Blue Rodeo
The Arrogant Worms
The National Arts Centre Orchestra
Fred Penner
James Keelaghan
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times
They Might be Giants
Blue Scholars
The Get Up Kids
Less Than Jake
Damien Jurado
They Might be Giants
Blue Scholars
The Get Up Kids
Less Than Jake
Damien Jurado
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times
R.E.M.
OutKast
Radiohead
Beastie Boys
The Roots
R.E.M.
OutKast
Radiohead
Beastie Boys
The Roots
November 28, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times
Blue Rodeo
The Arrogant Worms
The National Arts Centre Orchestra
Fred Penner
James Keelaghan
Blue Rodeo
The Arrogant Worms
The National Arts Centre Orchestra
Fred Penner
James Keelaghan
Reposted by Forrest Pass
Found while looking for something else: PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau smiling for the camera with a former Gov of Pennsylvania and a real estate developer and his wife at a Council of Churches of the City of New York prize gala in 1981. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
November 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Found while looking for something else: PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau smiling for the camera with a former Gov of Pennsylvania and a real estate developer and his wife at a Council of Churches of the City of New York prize gala in 1981. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
Found while looking for something else: PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau smiling for the camera with a former Gov of Pennsylvania and a real estate developer and his wife at a Council of Churches of the City of New York prize gala in 1981. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
November 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Found while looking for something else: PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau smiling for the camera with a former Gov of Pennsylvania and a real estate developer and his wife at a Council of Churches of the City of New York prize gala in 1981. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Source: @library-archives.canada.ca)
Inspired by Lahontan's Voyages? #cdnhist
Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give A Dam
Just realized that the 18th c. French map of America by the Newberry Library Special Collections reading room is REALLY into Beavers! It illustrates nearly fifty of them hard at work... Building skills aside, they were probably featured because of the fur trade.
Just realized that the 18th c. French map of America by the Newberry Library Special Collections reading room is REALLY into Beavers! It illustrates nearly fifty of them hard at work... Building skills aside, they were probably featured because of the fur trade.
November 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Inspired by Lahontan's Voyages? #cdnhist
Reposted by Forrest Pass
Latest #vexillology #ephemera find: a Jan 1965 magazine with the new Cdn flag on the cover. Or a version thereof, and a curious one: not quite Alan Beddoe's Oct 1964 model, but same as the flag used by Lib MPs to celebrate in Dec 1964. A flag-maker's error? More in alt-text. #cdnhist
November 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Latest #vexillology #ephemera find: a Jan 1965 magazine with the new Cdn flag on the cover. Or a version thereof, and a curious one: not quite Alan Beddoe's Oct 1964 model, but same as the flag used by Lib MPs to celebrate in Dec 1964. A flag-maker's error? More in alt-text. #cdnhist
Reposted by Forrest Pass
In 1894, @governmentofbc.bsky.social asked the Cdn govt to buy Point Roberts, allegedly a haven for unregulated fishing. Spoiler alert: nothing came of the request. (Welcome to Canada, @rubberduckmuseum.bsky.social!) #cdnhist #bchist #cdnpoli
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
November 25, 2025 at 5:01 PM
In 1894, @governmentofbc.bsky.social asked the Cdn govt to buy Point Roberts, allegedly a haven for unregulated fishing. Spoiler alert: nothing came of the request. (Welcome to Canada, @rubberduckmuseum.bsky.social!) #cdnhist #bchist #cdnpoli
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
In 1894, @governmentofbc.bsky.social asked the Cdn govt to buy Point Roberts, allegedly a haven for unregulated fishing. Spoiler alert: nothing came of the request. (Welcome to Canada, @rubberduckmuseum.bsky.social!) #cdnhist #bchist #cdnpoli
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
November 25, 2025 at 5:01 PM
In 1894, @governmentofbc.bsky.social asked the Cdn govt to buy Point Roberts, allegedly a haven for unregulated fishing. Spoiler alert: nothing came of the request. (Welcome to Canada, @rubberduckmuseum.bsky.social!) #cdnhist #bchist #cdnpoli
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
(Images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
Latest #vexillology #ephemera find: a Jan 1965 magazine with the new Cdn flag on the cover. Or a version thereof, and a curious one: not quite Alan Beddoe's Oct 1964 model, but same as the flag used by Lib MPs to celebrate in Dec 1964. A flag-maker's error? More in alt-text. #cdnhist
November 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Latest #vexillology #ephemera find: a Jan 1965 magazine with the new Cdn flag on the cover. Or a version thereof, and a curious one: not quite Alan Beddoe's Oct 1964 model, but same as the flag used by Lib MPs to celebrate in Dec 1964. A flag-maker's error? More in alt-text. #cdnhist
Attention Canadian teachers (high school through grad school) of Bsky! It would be great to get some keen young historians on this council: #cdnhist
Make your voice count — join LAC’s Youth Advisory Council!
Are you between 16 and 25? We’re looking for engaged, curious, and creative people who want to help shape the future of libraries and archives.
Ready to make a real difference? Apply by December 3!
www.canada.ca/en/library-a...
Are you between 16 and 25? We’re looking for engaged, curious, and creative people who want to help shape the future of libraries and archives.
Ready to make a real difference? Apply by December 3!
www.canada.ca/en/library-a...
November 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Attention Canadian teachers (high school through grad school) of Bsky! It would be great to get some keen young historians on this council: #cdnhist
Good, I guess, to have something to maybe, perhaps, tentatively celebrate today, now the International Procrastination Day has been postponed... again....
Happy World Indecisive Day everyone. Well, I think it is, but then again, I can't quite be sure.
November 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Good, I guess, to have something to maybe, perhaps, tentatively celebrate today, now the International Procrastination Day has been postponed... again....
Reposted by Forrest Pass
Not gonna lie: I read the title of this as "wok-ification" rather than "woke-ification," and the prospect of the classic CBC cooking show "Wok with Yan" being featured in museums struck me as much more interesting than the actual premise of the article. #cdnhist #publichistory #museums #glams
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Not gonna lie: I read the title of this as "wok-ification" rather than "woke-ification," and the prospect of the classic CBC cooking show "Wok with Yan" being featured in museums struck me as much more interesting than the actual premise of the article. #cdnhist #publichistory #museums #glams
Well worth a read - a welcome addition to the small-but-growing literature on provincial flags and emblems in Canada! #cdnhist #vexillology
Well, two years' work has come to fruition. This month, the journal Ontario History has published my article on the history of the Ontario flag. Check it out!
It was a discussion by @spaikin.bsky.social on TVO that sparked my interest.
www.erudit.org/en/journals/...
#vexillology #cdnhist #ontario
It was a discussion by @spaikin.bsky.social on TVO that sparked my interest.
www.erudit.org/en/journals/...
#vexillology #cdnhist #ontario
“The prettiest and most soulfull flag—in all of Canada”: A History of the Flag of Ontario – Ontario History
An article from Ontario History, on Érudit.
www.erudit.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Well worth a read - a welcome addition to the small-but-growing literature on provincial flags and emblems in Canada! #cdnhist #vexillology
Not gonna lie: I read the title of this as "wok-ification" rather than "woke-ification," and the prospect of the classic CBC cooking show "Wok with Yan" being featured in museums struck me as much more interesting than the actual premise of the article. #cdnhist #publichistory #museums #glams
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Not gonna lie: I read the title of this as "wok-ification" rather than "woke-ification," and the prospect of the classic CBC cooking show "Wok with Yan" being featured in museums struck me as much more interesting than the actual premise of the article. #cdnhist #publichistory #museums #glams
Tired: Lions and tigers and bears. Wired: Unicorns and beavers and bison! (With some lions and bears for good measure...)
#heraldry #cdnhist
#heraldry #cdnhist
#OTD in 1921, King George V proclaimed the Coat of Arms of Canada. Tho' the debate over its design was tame compared to the Flag Debate 40 yrs later, there were a few "also-rans". Imagine your passport with one of these! A 🧵(All images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
November 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
#OTD in 1921, King George V proclaimed the Coat of Arms of Canada. Tho' the debate over its design was tame compared to the Flag Debate 40 yrs later, there were a few "also-rans". Imagine your passport with one of these! A 🧵(All images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
November 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM
#OTD in 1921, King George V proclaimed the Coat of Arms of Canada. Tho' the debate over its design was tame compared to the Flag Debate 40 yrs later, there were a few "also-rans". Imagine your passport with one of these! A 🧵(All images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
Spot the AI stock image!
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Spot the AI stock image!
November 19, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Happy Douglas Day to those who celebrate! First marked in the 1920s and officialized by the Douglas Day Act, 1959 (at 9 words, BC's shortest provincial statute), in 2025 the day marks 167 years since the proclamation of the colony. If nets are your thing, party like Century Sam! #cdnhist #bchist
November 19, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Pommes de terre julienned, jus and fécule coulis, unripened cow's milk cheese en graines....
I had this inflicted on me on tumblr and now I have to share it with my Canadian friends here because WHAT.
November 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Pommes de terre julienned, jus and fécule coulis, unripened cow's milk cheese en graines....
Reading this neat piece, I remembered seeing the front page of a Vancouver newspaper about a similar (copycat?) stunt. And a quick search turned up that @tomhawthorn.bsky.social wrote about it! #cdnhist #bchist
montecristomagazine.com/community/th...
montecristomagazine.com/community/th...
November 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reading this neat piece, I remembered seeing the front page of a Vancouver newspaper about a similar (copycat?) stunt. And a quick search turned up that @tomhawthorn.bsky.social wrote about it! #cdnhist #bchist
montecristomagazine.com/community/th...
montecristomagazine.com/community/th...
November 16, 2025 at 9:46 PM
A striking design: Per pale Sable and Argent an eye irradiated counterchanged? Or maybe "in splendour" sounds less clinical than "irradiated"? #vexillology #heraldry
November 15, 2025 at 4:42 PM
A striking design: Per pale Sable and Argent an eye irradiated counterchanged? Or maybe "in splendour" sounds less clinical than "irradiated"? #vexillology #heraldry
Very nice - the Dionne Quints (avid vexillophiles all) would have approved! #vexillology #cdnhist
November 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Very nice - the Dionne Quints (avid vexillophiles all) would have approved! #vexillology #cdnhist