Forrest Pass
@forrestpass.bsky.social
Historian, curator, heraldist, vexillologist, collector of arcane and eclectic Canadiana. All opinions my own. Likes, reskeets =/= endorsement.
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
And the original reference I had in mind, in a journal of a 1941 trip to Greenland by Naomi Jackson Groves (art historian and niece of Group of 7 member A.Y. Jackson). A party at Nuuk with the Cdn vice-consul. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
Groves, "My Greenland Caper," Northward Journal 31 (1983), p. 27
Groves, "My Greenland Caper," Northward Journal 31 (1983), p. 27
November 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"First" consulate in Greenland? When this news broke, I remembered encountering a reference to a Canadian Consulate in Greenland in the 1940s - and the 1946 Canada Year Book confirms it. Now to figure out when (and why) the first one closed! #cdnhist #cdnpoli
Canada Year Book, 1946, p. 88:
Canada Year Book, 1946, p. 88:
November 13, 2025 at 7:48 PM
These are my colleagues on our small but mighty Exhibitions team @library-archives.canada.ca - it's a pleasure and an honour to work with such clever and talented people! #cdnhist
What does #Reconciliation mean to you? How can you honour these values in your daily life?
Our exhibition preparators asked themselves these questions. One answer, as a concrete step towards reconciliation, was facilitating the transport and display of treaties for their communities. 1/5
Our exhibition preparators asked themselves these questions. One answer, as a concrete step towards reconciliation, was facilitating the transport and display of treaties for their communities. 1/5
November 13, 2025 at 3:24 PM
These are my colleagues on our small but mighty Exhibitions team @library-archives.canada.ca - it's a pleasure and an honour to work with such clever and talented people! #cdnhist
Sensing a certain theme among the flags of the various Vancouvers... #vexillology
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
November 12, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Sensing a certain theme among the flags of the various Vancouvers... #vexillology
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
Reposted by Forrest Pass
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
As a grad student, I pestered the poor guy who played cover songs at the UWO Grad Club until he added "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to his rotation. Not sure if he still plays it - anyone, @westernupubhist.bsky.social, @westernuhistory.bsky.social?
#cdnhist
#cdnhist
We remember the 29 men that were lost when the "Big Fitz" went down on #OnThisDay in 1975, just on Lake Superior. Join SSHSA's Aimee Bachari & Archivist for the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes Mark Sprang to reflect on the #50thanniversary of the sinking of the EDMUND FITZGERALD.
November 10, 2025 at 5:41 PM
As a grad student, I pestered the poor guy who played cover songs at the UWO Grad Club until he added "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to his rotation. Not sure if he still plays it - anyone, @westernupubhist.bsky.social, @westernuhistory.bsky.social?
#cdnhist
#cdnhist
Reposted by Forrest Pass
Sam Slick the Salesman: "Arriving at the farmhouse of Deacon Flint, Sam decides to sell his last clock, which the Squire describes as 'a gawdy, highly varnished, trumpery-looking affair.'"
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Sam Slick the Salesman: "Arriving at the farmhouse of Deacon Flint, Sam decides to sell his last clock, which the Squire describes as 'a gawdy, highly varnished, trumpery-looking affair.'"
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 PM
On a dark desert highway
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
[stomp stomp clap
stomp stomp clap
stomp stomp clap
stomp stomp clap]
Ozy you're a boy, makin' big works
Visage in the sand, gonna be a big MANdias
A cold sneer on your face
shattered remains
Nothin' but sand all 'round the decay
singin'
LEGS OF
LEGS OF
ROCK HEWN
LEGS OF
LEGS OF
ROCK HEWN
stomp stomp clap
stomp stomp clap
stomp stomp clap]
Ozy you're a boy, makin' big works
Visage in the sand, gonna be a big MANdias
A cold sneer on your face
shattered remains
Nothin' but sand all 'round the decay
singin'
LEGS OF
LEGS OF
ROCK HEWN
LEGS OF
LEGS OF
ROCK HEWN
Me and my boys went to a strange LAND
The sun beat down on the desert SAND
My man Ad-rock turned to us and said
Yo, you two see that BIG-ASS HEAD?
We approached this ancient, beat up MASS
We learned his name was OZYMANDIAS
A sign said take a look AND DESPAIR
But we saw no works, nothing was THERE
The sun beat down on the desert SAND
My man Ad-rock turned to us and said
Yo, you two see that BIG-ASS HEAD?
We approached this ancient, beat up MASS
We learned his name was OZYMANDIAS
A sign said take a look AND DESPAIR
But we saw no works, nothing was THERE
November 4, 2025 at 2:17 AM
On a dark desert highway
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
Of course it is: it was designed by a Canadian 😉 ! #vexillology #cdnhist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace...
October 31, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Of course it is: it was designed by a Canadian 😉 ! #vexillology #cdnhist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace...
17 yrs ago, I spoke to a campus radio station about Halloweens past - my 1st scholarly media spot. Host was completely unprepared, so the conversation was... err... "wideranging". She also forgot to turn off the mic after, so the on-air banter continued. Yes, it's still on my CV. #publichistory
October 31, 2025 at 4:17 PM
17 yrs ago, I spoke to a campus radio station about Halloweens past - my 1st scholarly media spot. Host was completely unprepared, so the conversation was... err... "wideranging". She also forgot to turn off the mic after, so the on-air banter continued. Yes, it's still on my CV. #publichistory
This early 20th c. pulp pamphlet promises so much: Vampires! Deathly Cars! Lady Grifters! Ferrets! Spoiler alert: it doesn't really deliver. The story is about charity fraud. #bookhistory #halloween
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
This early 20th c. pulp pamphlet promises so much: Vampires! Deathly Cars! Lady Grifters! Ferrets! Spoiler alert: it doesn't really deliver. The story is about charity fraud. #bookhistory #halloween
My eldest (age 10) decided he wanted to be @mark-carney.bsky.social for Halloween this year. No time to shop at Savile Row, but I think the Costume turned out all right "notwithstanding" (see what I did there?) #cdnpoli
October 31, 2025 at 11:50 AM
My eldest (age 10) decided he wanted to be @mark-carney.bsky.social for Halloween this year. No time to shop at Savile Row, but I think the Costume turned out all right "notwithstanding" (see what I did there?) #cdnpoli
Reposted by Forrest Pass
My latest in @dcb-dbc.bsky.social: an eccentric Vancouverite I first came across back in (ulp!) 2002. Years later, British Israelism - a seldom acknowledged influence on today's religious far right - continues to rear its at-best-odd-and-at-worst-downright-ugly head in my research. #bchist #cdnhist
#NewBio! Edward Odlum (1850-1935), militiaman, educator, geologist, ethnologist, businessman, lecturer, politician, and lay preacher.
His legacy is darker than he might have anticipated.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/odlum...
His legacy is darker than he might have anticipated.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/odlum...
October 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
My latest in @dcb-dbc.bsky.social: an eccentric Vancouverite I first came across back in (ulp!) 2002. Years later, British Israelism - a seldom acknowledged influence on today's religious far right - continues to rear its at-best-odd-and-at-worst-downright-ugly head in my research. #bchist #cdnhist