Some interesting finds at the Fort Dauphin Museum (Manitoba)

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Schema
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Some interesting finds at the Fort Dauphin Museum (Manitoba)

Post by Schema »

Many of you know I grew up in a small town called Dauphin, located in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Dauphin (named for the French Prince) has a fascinating history, and there is the Fort Dauphin Museum to preserve and present artifacts from pioneer days, the fur trade, and so on. I went back for a family reunion over the summer, and took the time to visit the museum again (first time in about 15 years).

Oddly enough, they also have an exhibit of early technology. Some photos:

The main building.
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Early uniform from the North West Mounted Police (later to become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
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Early cash register.
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Early telephones.
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Early telephone exchange.
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Dictaphone #1
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Dictaphone #2
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Record Players
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Record Player and 8-Track Player in One
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Typewriters
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Early Computer
Image

Wait, what?
Image

Yup, they had chosen to include a good old VIC in their timeline of communication history! Keep in mind this museum is walking distance from the house I grew up in. I had no idea. I wonder whose VIC was originally?

Anyway, I chatted with the Curator for a while after, and offered to send them a copy of the Canadian Tire VIC-20 tape - a nice bit of Canadian history to tie-in with their "early computer".
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Post by joshuadenmark »

Really cool, so close and you never knew.

Thanks for sharing this, nice photos :D
Kind regards, Peter.
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Pedro Lambrini
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Post by Pedro Lambrini »

That is pretty cool. I presume there was a little flashback for you. I had a similar experience when I saw an old Spectrum in my museum. I'm not a Speccy fan by any stretch but it still took me back to the days of going around to my firend's house to play Harrier Attack...

Thanks for the photos. :)
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Post by Jeff-20 »

Too much of a coincidence. Wouldn't it be bizarre if that particular machine belonged to you? How many VICs would you guess were ever present in such a relatively small town?
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Post by joshuadenmark »

Like the size of the dictaphone :shock:
Kind regards, Peter.
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Post by Schema »

Jeff-20 wrote:Too much of a coincidence. Wouldn't it be bizarre if that particular machine belonged to you? How many VICs would you guess were ever present in such a relatively small town?
It's not mine, I still have my original VIC and it still works :wink:

There were probably quite a few VICs around - the local Canadian Tire sold them.
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Re: Some interesting finds at the Fort Dauphin Museum (Manit

Post by dan-man »

This post really made my day. I have family in Manitoba and whenever I visit them we go for "sight seeing" to whitehorse plains, the forks or take long drives to neighbouring cities. We went to that museum in february this year; I remember that vic20- Oh geez, I miss Manitoba. :D
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Witzo
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Post by Witzo »

The machine and the tape recorder look quite fresh. Do they still work?
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Post by OBSysteme »

LOL at the "early computer" tag... You should switch it for "awesome computer". No kidding, when I think of "early computer" I think of Bus s100 computers, VIC is too much cutting edge awesomness to be though of as an early computer :P
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Post by rhurst »

I just want that cool TV the VIC is (supposedly) hooked up too, heh. 8)
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Post by OBSysteme »

I agree there is something about those "cheap"-looking small plastic TV's that users used to use with the vic from that period. It feels "authentic"... I have a very nice little beige TV in my setup currently, but it is from the 1990's
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Post by Jeff-20 »

I am actively on the hunt for a great vintage tv. The only problem is finding one that doesn't crop the image too much. My early VIC days involved a TV that could only show 21 of the 22 screen columns!
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Post by matsondawson »

I have the exact TV in my collection except without that name on the front.
It's B&W, so prob. not best for a VIC-20
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Post by OBSysteme »

Jeff, here is what I use with my current vic setup, the color goes quite well with my war-zone vic (worn, yellow):

A Magnavox perfect view from late 1980's-early 1990's's, i've just repaired mine
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAGNAVOX-PERFEC ... 0872729838
That one is for sale on ebay (crazy price), but given its weight, probably not worth it.
On thing querky with it is that when plugged on a vic, black(no colors) appears grey instead of black. Other than that, the colors are crystal clear, so it is very enjoyable, even with its small size.

Have a look at this one, quite nice:
http://img.digitaltrends.com/image/old- ... -625x400-c

I do have another quite retro TV with fake wood panel, but given that all my RF modulators have gone bad I can't use it, and the interference is always a pain with those.... I wonder if somebody has a hack for adding RCA hack to older TVs?
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